Mythbusters is paying tribute to one of its own. A year after series star Grant Imahara died suddenly after suffering a brain aneurysm at the age of 49, the popular Discovery Channel series is honoring him with a special online charity auction giving fans the chance to own a prop from Mythbusters.
Hosted by Prop Store, the auction began on Aug. 20 and runs through Wednesday, Sept. 1, with all proceeds going directly to the Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation, which was created by Imahara’s mother, Carolyn Imahara, and his friends following his death. The non-profit aims to “inspire emerging talent and empower underserved youth in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math education” and carry on Imahara’s “legacy of giving back to communities in need through mentorships, grants, and scholarships.”
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In a statement obtained by Collider after the auction was announced, Carolyn said she was “so grateful for this opportunity to raise funds that benefit the Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation” and thanked “Discovery Channel, Beyond Productions, and Prop Store for helping us bring these artifacts from Mythbusters—some of which were built by my son—to fans worldwide, while contributing to a cause very dear to Grant.”
The auction includes more than 80 items from Mythbusters‘ history. The popular series,— which saw the cast putting questions, myths and urban legends to discover which myths are true and which are not — ran for 17 seasons between 2003 and 2014. Imahara joined the series alongside Kari Byron and Tory Bellici during its third season, becoming part of the Build Team, replacing welder Scottie Chapman. He appeared in more than 200 episodes, during which he made the robots and other electronics needed for the experiments on the series.
Among the items up for grabs are multiple iterations of Buster, the test dummy used in many of the Mythbusters tests. The Fireworks Man II Buster, used in the 2012 episode “Revenge of the Myth” to test the myth proving that a person can be launched over a lake using fireworks, has a current bid of $700. Boasting a black and white striped jumpsuit, The Search Finale Buster from 2017’s “Exploding Grand Finale” is currently at a bidding price of $450. Other items in the auction include the Bruce the Jaws Mechanical Shark, which was used in the “Shark Week Special 2” episode to test if a person can successfully find and gouge the shark’s eyes during a shark attack. It has a current bid of $1,100. You can see the all items up for auction by clicking here.
