Jimmy McNulty’s Jacket From ‘The Wire’ Was Auctioned Off For Baltimore Public Schools

Jimmy McNulty’s Marine Unit jacket from season 2 of The Wire was up for auction this weekend. According to The Baltimore Sun, David Simon provided the jacket to a fundraiser for Baltimore public schools at the Thomas Johnson Elementary Middle School Fall Festival. It seems the auction off to a slow start as the bidding was only up to $250 with less than 3 hours remaining. So Simon tweeted about the jacket and teased throwing in a bottle of Jameson and it ended up going for $3,350.

That’s good for the school, but how in the world did such an amazing piece of memorabilia, from what was arguably the greatest television show of all-time, only go for $3,350? Compare the Marine Unit jack to another piece of aquatic pop culture memorabilia – James Bond’s Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me. Elon Musk paid nearly a million dollars for that car in 2013 and the seller didn’t even include a martini! Not to mention Simon threw in a signed script. Who knows what fans of The Wire would have paid for that combination online.

Finally, the winning bidder of Jimmy’s jacket was one Kevin McNutly. And yes he has a son named James who should wear this jacket every day for the rest of his life and then name his own son James so he can do the same. Simon posed for a picture with new owner McNulty, his jacket and a bottle of Jamey. The only problem with this (besides the incredible bargain) is that Jimmy wouldn’t keep that kind bottle in his jacket. You just can’t authenticate that.

(Via Baltimore Sun, KomoNews/AP)