A JURASSIC Park fanatic took his obsession to the next level when he bought a 9ft model dinosaur leg used in the original film off eBay.
Joel Squires, 24, of Rutland Avenue, Southend, and George Ross, spent £820 on the leg used in the first film in 1993.
Jurassic Park was directed by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg and proved a global smash hit which spawned a film franchise that continued this year with the release of Jurassic World in cinemas.
Joel has already been to see the new film five times and dresses up as an explorer for the occasions.
He hoped the dino legwould fit in his lounge, but is glad to own a piece of film history.
He said: “I have seen the film thousands of times, I am obsessed.
“I was searching eBay with a friend as the new Jurassic World came out.
“We came across the leg and made a bid, never thinking we would actually get it as we thought it would go for thousands.
“There was a £2,000 bid that beat us, but they pulled out and we won. We were so excited.”
Joel had to hire a van to bring back the leg, which was being looked after in Norwich.
He said: “I collected the leg with a friend who’s also a huge fan, from the seller in Norwich.
“The journey home was funny as we got stuck in traffic and decided to make bets with families around us to guess what was in our van.
They were shocked when they found out.”
The super-fan contacted film experts in America to make sure it was an original leg and they told him that was 99 per cent certain.
He was told parts of an animated dinosaur used in the film had been lost when it was brought over by boat from America 15 years ago.
Joel added: “Now it won’t fit in the lounge we haven’t decided yet what we are going to do with it, we might even give it to a museum. I’m sure in years to come it will be worth a lot.”
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