Lone Ranger Keepsakes Ride the E-Frontier

The felt on the leather in front has worn away, and you can see the back has been patched and touched up with dye. But the price isn't quite as shabby; $30,000 is the starting bid set by Sotheby's for the mask worn by Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger in the 1950s television series. Also on the block are hundreds of other props, wardrobe accessories and memorabilia from the estate of the late actor, who died at 85 in December.

If you don't have $30,000 or more to drop, there's a corral-full of lobby cards, posters and toys starting at well under $100. Better still, you don't even have to change out of your bathrobe to bid. It's all online, happening now through Monday at http://www.sothebys.amazon.com.

Dawn Moore, 42, only child of the late actor, says the mask was one of three preserved in a case in her father's den. "There were probably dozens made, but they got huge abuse: Fifty years of personal appearances and children tugging on them and rolling in the dirt and everything else."

Worn under studio lights or the desert sun, these masks were drenched in sweat, stretched and softened over the years, eventually conforming more exactly to the actor's facial structure. Of the three in her father's collection, the mask on sale is the most well-worn and comfortable, and therefore the actor's favorite.

A high roller looking for a Halloween costume could complement the mask with an authentic Lone Ranger outfit. The two-piece superhero-tight baby-blue ensemble crafted by Nudies Rodeo Tailors consists of a shirt with Robin Hood lacing at the collar and pants with Velcro tabs to make sure the masked role model never rode off into the sunset with shirttail flapping.

Boots and red neckerchief are included in this outfit's $30,000 starting bid, but you'll need at least an additional $40,000 for matching black-gun rig, and $6,000 for the Stetson. As of Tuesday, the fifth day of the auction, there are no bids on any of this costuming, though more moderately priced items are drawing plenty of offers.

"The nice thing is, there's a broad price range," says Moore. "My father wanted these pieces accessible to everyone the character touched and influenced." In particular, she says, that influence had a powerful effect on future law enforcement officers, many of whom sent the actor mail crediting him with their career choice. A flurry of early bidding on a collection of sheriff and police badges presented to the actor as gifts seems to point to this.