Well, since GSN finished their initial run of syndie "Sale of the Century" episodes, I figured it was time to compare the four Lot winners from the shopping era. Even though the last one hasn't had his run air on GSN yet, I still feel obligated to mention him since he is the all-time winner during regular play in the history of American "Sale of the Century".
John Goss
John Goss had previously been a big winner on "Now You See It" in 1974 (winning the $7,000 solo round) and "The New $25,000 Pyramid" in 1983 (winning over $38,300 in cash during his five-day run, plus a videotape recorder and camera, as well as a trip to Japan) before making his Sale debut in episode 16 (which was one of the few episodes that was not part of the syndie package on GSN), which was also, coincidentally, the first episode with the revised Sale prices. As mentioned in the previous posting, originally $610 was need to buy the Car at Level 6, followed by $720 for all six major prizes on stage at Level 7, and finally the LOT (all the prizes PLUS the Cash Jackpot for totaling well over $100,000) at $830. Here, the Car was now priced at $530, followed by $640 for the six major prizes, and $750 for the Lot. John was on for eight shows, and racked up EXACTLY $750 to buy $131,933 in cash and prizes, including a Nissan 300ZX and a $72,000 Cash Jackpot, for a grand total of $156,339. In his eight shows (I should point out that his seventh was also not part of the GSN package), John averaged $94 per episode (for the purposes of this blog, I will round off all average scores to the nearest dollar) and surpassed the "Century Mark" ($100 during the main game) three times (in his second, fifth, and sixth episodes).
Helaine Lowery
Helaine Lowery was the second to win the Lot on the syndicated version of "Sale", with her $130,850 Lot including a BMW 528e sedan, and a $64,000 Cash Jackpot, for a grand total of $142,974. On her first show, in episode 31, she defeated a champion that had scored $134 in his previous episode, and she accumulated $783 in her eight shows, averaging $98 per episode. Helaine managed to reach the Century Mark four times during her run (in her second, fifth, sixth, and seventh episodes), and she was pushed to the limit during her Lot-clinching episode, being tied with her opponent during the third Instant Bargain, and even trailing by $5 at the start of the Speed Round. But despite this, she persevered, thanks also to some incorrect answers by her opponent.
Alice Conkwright
Ah, yes. We had to get to her sooner or later. Alice Conkwright is infamous among the "Sale of the Century" fanbase for never buying one Instant Bargain. Not one. She drove Jim Perry to tears, she got him on his knees begging, she even got him to throw a temper tantrum one time when she didn't buy. But regardless, she still picked up some cash and prizes on the Fame Game board, and ultimately won the $136,275 Lot in six days, which is a "Sale of the Century" record. Her major prizes included an Audi 5000 (which, incidentally, is one of the most infamous cars of the 1980s), and a $77,000 Cash Jackpot. Her steadfast refusal to buy Instant Bargains resulted in her reaching the Century Mark in every one of her six games (oh, I should also point out that in her first game, episode 61, she defeated Michael Friedman, a student at USC who was playing for the Lot himself, and, to my knowledge, he is the only player in American Sale history to play for the Lot and lose), averaging $129 per show (her total bank was $775, just for the record). She also managed to tie the highest one-game score of $145 TWICE during her run, in her third and fourth episodes.
Tim Holleran
While Tim Holleran's episodes were not part of the original syndie GSN package, I had to include him because he is the all-time regular winner in the history of American "Sale of the Century", plus his episodes recently aired on GSN (November 11-20, for the record). He made his debut in the last episode of season 1 (episode 100), and lasted for eight shows, earning $802 in his bank, and a total of $166,875 in cash and prizes, including an Alfa Romeo Spider and a $90,000 Cash Jackpot (which is the second-highest Cash Jackpot in American Sale history on record). He reached the Century Mark four times during his run (with scores of $100, $105, $120, and $125 in his first, second, fourth, and sixth episodes, respectively), and like Alice Conwright before him, is one of the few champions to average the Century Mark throughout his run (he averaged about $100 per show, just for the record). Tim was in a position to win the $156,561 Lot in his seventh episode, as he had $637, but he ultimately won it in the following episode.
And that's all from me for now. I'll have more later. See ya.
