Dorothy IV From Twister Will Be Auctioned Off on eBay

About 20 years ago, the blockbuster disaster movie Twister tore into theaters. If you’ve remained a die-hard fan through the years, you’ll soon have the chance to bid on one of the most memorable props featured in the film. The original "Dorothy IV" weather device used during production will soon be auctioned off on eBay, The Washington Post reports.

The plot of the movie centers around a band of storm hunters attempting to place "Dorothy"—a large barrel full of weather-measuring sensors—in the path of a tornado. Dorothy I through III are all unsuccessful, and it’s Dorothy IV that’s finally picked up by the storm during the film’s adrenaline-pumping climax.

The prop should appeal to both cinema fanatics and weather nerds alike. It was inspired by a real-life apparatus created by the National Severe Storms Laboratory. The "Totable Tornado Observatory" or TOTO also borrowed its name from a character from The Wizard of Oz (1939), and it was designed for the same purpose as its fictional counterpart. It was carried around in the back of pickup truck and deployed in front of tornados at the last minute. But like Dorothy, the device had trouble collecting any valuable data. It was toppled over in 1984 by the edge of a weak tornado due to its high center of gravity, but unlike the model from the film, that was the closest it ever came to a successful run.

TOTO. Image credit: NOAA via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Online bidding for Dorothy IV will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 1. The starting price is set at $2000, and the auctioneers, Profiles in History, expect the piece of movie memorabilia to sell for between $2000 and $3000.

[h/t The Washington Post]