Barker Signing Off After 35 Years on Price is Right

If you have yet to be inspired by Bob Barker's pleas to have your pet spayed or neutered, time is running out. The 17-time Emmy Award winner, host of the long-running game show The Price is Right is retiring June 15 after one last Showcase Showdown.

Barker, 83, became a staple in American homes for more than three decades, hosting the show every day for 35 years, that's right, 35 years -- a span of over 9,000 episodes and countless spins of the big wheel. You have to imagine he's got quite a bit of vacation time built up with that sort of attendance record. Overall, Barker was in television 50 years, having hosted Truth or Consequences prior to The Price is Right.

To put the 9,000-show streak into perspective, Cal Ripken, Jr., baseball's Iron Man, played 3,001 games, including 2,131 straight to break Lou Gehrig's long standing record many felt would never be touched. Barker calmly lapsed that three times. No doubt wearing a suit for 9,000 shows requires less endurance than suiting up for 3,000 baseball games, but then again it was no easy task on Barker who had to endure countless smooches, hugs and general smothering from overzealous contestants.

If you want to bid on a piece of television history, check out the Bob Barker microphone auction on eBay, which ends on his last day, June 15.

'Webkinz' Most Popular Search on eBay

Move over, PS3. Watch out, Wii. One iota, iPod.

In case you hadn't noticed, these long standing faves have recently been dethroned as the most popular search term on eBay, a title now held by none other than Webkinz. Web what? Webkinz are the latest craze for kids and can be described as snugly stuffed toy meets Second Life meets under-bottle-cap code redemption meets online shopping 1.0.

An article on About.com does a nice job explaining Webkinz, but briefly, when kids (or parents) purchase one of many variations of Webkinz toys on eBay or at an offline store, it contains a tag with a distinctive code which is input at Webkinz.com. The code let's a child "adopt" the virtual pet, and redeem virtual currency points for food, water and other fun items for pets to live in comfort within the Webkinz world.

Once kids input the code, they have a full year to play with the pet online. Not a bad option for junior who keeps asking for a puppy for an upcoming birthday -- no potty training, no shedding and no ugly lawsuits from the your postal carrier.

Some of more popular Webkinz toys on eBay include the Horse (3,300 sold over the last two weeks), Polar Bear (2,400), Chihuahua (2,300), Golden Retriever and Dalmatian (about 2,100 each), while the Black Lab is on the move, up 60 percent over the last two weeks.

LeBron Winning Battle Over Spurs on eBay

While the San Antonio Spurs are certainly winning the war in the NBA Finals, Cleveland's LeBron James is single-handedly winning the battle when it comes to memorabilia sales on eBay. According to eBay market data, nearly 2,000 James' items have sold over the past two weeks compared to 1,700 Spurs items have sold over that time. In fact, James-related items are up 117 percent since June 1.

With his outstanding playoff run, James is even out-pacing perennial sales powers Chicago Bulls (1,300) (mainly due to the connection of Michael Jordan) and Kobe Bryant (1,250), and has put the Cavs in a position to win its first NBA title in 43 years. While that seems unlikely with the Spurs up 3-0 as of Wednesday, James certainly has solidified his place in the memorabilia world by taking his team to the finals in just his fourth season at the age of 22.