By Karla Zimmerman

"Five, five, five — do I hear five? Ten dollars for the pair? SOLD!"

Nothing beats the thrill of buying at a live auction. Sure, you could get those same two antique plates online at eBay, but then you'll miss pleasures like the warp-speed, sing-song voice of the auctioneer, and the chance to stare down and outbid your competition face-to-face.

Even if you don't plan to loosen the purse strings, it's fun to roam live auctions and browse the quirky commodities on offer. The following events are sure to entertain — particularly those in the market for a dairy cow, vintage car, or a first-edition Spiderman comic.

Car bonnet ornament from vintage car at Barrett-Jackson
Classic Car Auction.
© Brent Winebrenner. Lonely Planet Images.

Browse Cows at Amish Auctions

In northern Indiana's Amish Country, follow the horse-drawn buggies to the massive, white-washed barn in Shipshewana. Many of the town's 530 residents show up here on Wednesdays for the livestock auction and on Fridays for the horse auction.

Long-bearded men in wide-brimmed hats, white shirts, and suspender-hitched trousers fill the benches alongside local farmers. Everyone looks hard at the pigs, cows, lambs, and horses that parade around the dirt floor in front. The auctioneer talks fast into the crackling microphone, prices volley back and forth, and by mid-afternoon scores of animals hoof it into trailers with their proud new owners.

Antiques also go on the block Wednesdays in Shipshewana. The scene is even more chaotic since eight to 10 auctioneers cry out bids at once. The cacophony overwhelms in the echo-y building, though frenzied buyers striving for that perfect wagon wheel, old piano, or cast-iron kettle don't seem to notice — especially at such winning prices.

Ohio's Amish community hosts another popular livestock sale. The Kidron Auction takes place on Thursdays, about 60 miles south of Cleveland. Walk inside the town's main barn, past the buggy-filled hitching posts, and check out the mooing merchandise. Who knows — you might return home with a large, grass-eating pet.

Collect Cars in the Desert

In Scottsdale, Ariz., chrome and steel gleam on the brightly lit stage. A big-finned, cherry-red, 1963 Chevy Impala takes the spotlight. A '66 Shelby Cobra follows, in all its cobalt-blue, 800-horsepower, twin-supercharged glory. Gasps ensue. And bids fly — about $63 million worth, all tallied, at the six-day Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction.

The auction is the biggest of its kind in the U.S., attracting a quarter-million car fanatics annually. They flock to Scottsdale, as well as to similar auctions in Las Vegas and Palm Beach, to ogle muscle cars and classic cars from Mustangs to DeLoreans. Celebrity cars ride onto the block, too, like Evel Knievel's 1984 Aston Martin Lagonda, with cream leather upholstery and a mirrored finish on the hood's underside. The winning bid for Evel's wheels? $35,200. And that shiny Cobra? It raked in a record-high $5.5 million, the price fueled by its one-of-a-kind status.

Bid on Darth Vader's Light Saber

If you ever fancied wielding Darth Vader's light saber or donning the Wicked Witch of the West's pointy hat, the Hollywood auctions run by Profiles in History provide the best opportunity. The suburban L.A.-based company specializes in obtaining props from local TV and movie studios, and it comes up with some doozies. The namesake statue from "The Maltese Falcon," the "Ten Commandments" holy tablets, and the gauzy pantaloons from "I Dream of Jeannie" are among the wares. They're the real deal, and while you can name your price, rest assured it'll be lofty (Darth's saber fetched $60,000).

Raise Your Hand for Coins and Comics

It's a good thing some folks never throw away anything. Otherwise, collectible auctioneers would lack for old pennies, Marvel comic books, and 1930s postage stamps of zeppelins to sell. These items are big business and stoke intense passion among collectors. Consider a roomful of people "oohing" and "aahing," faces flushed with excitement as they look at small copper coins and coo, "Isn't it the most beautiful thing?" So the live auctions put on around the country by companies like Dallas-based Heritage Galleries can get spirited.

Walk into any auction and you'll most likely see bidders gawk at their objects of desire, scribble numbers in their catalogs, and shoot their hands in the air when the auctioneer calls out the right price. Winners smile, losers drop their heads in despair, and everyone agrees live auctions surge adrenaline far more than the online versions.

Karla Zimmerman has written more than a dozen books for Lonely Planet. Based in Chicago, she's been exploring the region's lakes, dunes, pie shops, and yes, auctions, for the past 20 years.

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