What are these figures?  

I have no idea.....but there...
I have no idea.....but there pretty damn cool!

bid
I couldnt believe how high the bid went. I imagined maybe they were made by a famous artist that the bidders recognized, but perhaps they are just well liked art by an unknown artist.

Hmmm
They certainly look like some form of ethnographic art. If authentic, and since there are so many of them, the price seems quite reasonable.

I dunno but the photos give m...
I dunno but the photos give me the willies.

They have a bit of an...
They have a bit of an alien/extraterrestrial look. They probably went so high because two bidders believed they were artifacts from space, left behind by alien visitors 😉

Private auction - Can't judge item value from bids.
That seller usually has interesting little sculptures or objects for sale, but he nearly always makes his auctions private, even though there's no legitimate reason to do that anymore (except maybe for some items in the Mature Audiences category, etc.).
If his auctions are actually honest, I'd really like to know why he doesn't make them public.

I'm often suspicious of 'private' auctions too.
But I'm not quite sure why. If "private" shows up on my feedback, I feel as though anyone seeing it would assume I'd bought sex toys (when in fact, it's something totally L7, like comfort-foam bed pillows or gel innersoles).
Why would the private format aid in dishonesty?
I kinda like these rough-hewn extraterrestrial figures-- but not for that price.

WHC
In a private auction, all bidders' identities are secret, so it's way easier to shill because legitimate bidders can't recognize the signs of a shill bidder.
http://www.google.com/search?q=ebay+%22private+auction%22+shill

Aliens among us
Another one on the Radar.
http://www.designaddict.com/design_radar/index.cfm/fuseaction/design_rad...