JAWS shark eyes expected to sell for HUGE amount at auction
“You know the thing about a shark is he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be livin’… until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’.”
Fifty years on, Jaws hasn’t lost its bite — and now, a piece of Bruce himself is surfacing at auction. The original animatronic shark’s unmistakable bug-eyed gaze is headed to the block, and collectors will need a shark-sized stack of cash to snag it.
The set of eyes, taken from one of the three full-scale mechanical sharks built for Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, has been photo-matched to behind-the-scenes images. Still mounted on the original armature, they remain every bit as unsettlingly lifeless as they were when Bruce first terrorized Amity Island.
Special effects pioneer Robert A. Mattey, who engineered Bruce, gifted the eyes to a neighbor back in 1980 after they witnessed the shark being assembled in his garage. More than four decades later, they’ve survived in remarkable condition — looking like they just rolled off the Universal lot.
Estimated to fetch between $50,000 and $100,000, the eyes will hit the auction block during Propstore’s Los Angeles Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction, running September 4–6.
Shark fans, keep your eyes peeled — this bidding war is bound to be a feeding frenzy.
Ian Shaw JAWS 50th Anniversary Interview
Presented by Stern Pinball, Ian Shaw’s interview is available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts