In November, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the sale at auction of a Rocky statue — a replica of one at the Philadelphia Museum of Art used in the “Rocky III” film of 1982.
It went for $403,657 to a “private buyer,” name undisclosed.
Now we know who bought it: Rocky Balboa himself — Sylvester Stallone.
Stallone fetched the 9-foot, 1,800-pound statue from the San Diego Hall of Champions sports museum in, aptly, Balboa Park.
The statue’s owner outed the news via Instagram, standing beside former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and in front of the bronze with its arms raised.
“Well look who drop by on Christmas,” Stallone said. “@schwarzenegger always fills the room with positive energy!”
TMZ also confirmed that Stallone bought the statue.
“What a perfect Christmas gift for Stallone to get himself,” said the IBTimes, “and just in time for ‘Creed II,’ as well, which he mentioned on Instagram will be coming to theaters during Thanksgiving 2018.”
IBTimes added: “There were only two Rocky statues made by the original artist, A. Thomas Schomberg, and one of them is on display in Phildelphia, while the other is now in the prized possession of Stallone. The actor, who was in two movies in 2017, as well as had a guest spot on NBC’s ‘This Is Us,’ is reportedly worth $400 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, making this purchase just a drop in the bucket.”