Meet Jamie Knoll O'Neill: Inside the Collection
Her collection has what it takes to outwit, outplay and outlast just about any other collection around. Take a look!
May. 12, 2024
The tribe has spoken: Jamie Knoll O'Neill has the best Survivor collection in the country.
Jamie inherited both the collection and her love for the game from her late father, who spent decades hunting down iconic pieces from one of the most popular reality shows in TV history.
With props, costumes and other memorabilia dating back to season one, Jamie is in charge of managing and maintaining the Vintage Survivor Store and collection, with the hope that it gets passed along to future generations.
Lisa Whelchel became part expert during this episode because of her past experience as a Survivor fan and former competitor. The Queen herself tied for 2nd place on Survivor: Philippines in 2012 and won the popular vote during her season.
We also brought along a fellow Survivor legend — the three-time player and season three Survivor: Africa winner, Ethan Zohn. The pair of former Survivor competitors revisited their triumphs and failures from their own 39-day adventures!
For Jamie, collecting Survivor memorabilia is part of a family tradition. She remembers watching the series with her family and grew up to be quite the fan, as you can see from her collection.
This collection is full of heart and soul, and maybe some blood and sweat, depending on which contestant's items she owns. Her collection has what it takes to outwit, outplay and outlast just about any other collection around. Don't believe us? Take a look!
1. Torch from Survivor: The Australian Outback
This is just one of the many iconic torches seen on Survivor. It's a competitor's lifeline in the game, and once the light goes out, the game is over.
Although this torch has been put out, the collection is alive and well.
This torch belonged to Elisabeth Hasselbeck who could be seen in Survivor: The Australian Outback in season two. She came in fourth place in her season and was fan-favorite for many Survivor fans.
According to Jamie, her dad collected many torches from the show, but Elisabeth's torch seems to be the most unique. It's about 56 inches in height, painted and is very delicate.
The original price of this piece is unknown, but today it would be worth around $30,000.
2. Jeff Probst's signed and screen-used shirts
All Survivor fans will recognize this iconic piece of clothing! Survivor's host, Jeff Probst, can be seen rocking this look in every season, location and episode.
One of these famous shirts dates back to season one of Survivor, while the other is featured in season three.
From season one to season two, Jeff Probst wore the tan Columbia-branded shirt. However, in season three, production switched to the blue shirt and removed the Columbia logo in order to make the shirt stand out more on-screen.
With Jeff Probst's signatures included on the shirts, the pair would be worth around $40,000 today.
3. Immunity necklace from Survivor: Borneo
The immunity necklace is a life-saver in the game of Survivor! Having an immunity necklace is essential for any player and collector.
This iconic immunity necklace is from Survivor: Borneo and was worn by many lucky competitors in season one.
Fun fact: The winner of season one, Richard Hatch, wore this exact immunity necklace a total of four times throughout the season. That's one lucky piece!
According to our expert, if this item was sold at an auction it would go for $175,000.
4. Game-used clothing from Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains
These outfits and accessories belonged to Survivor icon Sandra Diaz and could be seen in season 20, Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains.
Sandra Diaz played the game of Survivor five times, winning the title of Sole Survivor twice. She is affectionately known as the Queen of Survivor because she is the only two-time woman winner in Survivor history!
Today these items would be worth a total of $20,000.
5. Coloring book pages from Survivor: The Australian Outback
These coloring book pages add a little bit of color to Jamie's incredible Survivor collection! These coloring book pages are from Survivor: The Australian Outback.
The pages and crayons were shared with fellow competitors by contestant Jeff Varner in season two.
According to our expert, during the old school days of Survivor, contestants were allowed to bring one thing from home that reminded them of their life outside the series.
Jeff Varner brought a coloring book and had the goal of getting all of his fellow contestants to color a page out of the book. After his season was over, he auctioned off the pages to charity. A very colorful way to raise some money!
These would be worth around $5,000 for all four.
6. Survivor: Borneo final tribal council urn and votes
It's time to tally the votes!
You and 52 million other viewers may recognize this iconic set from the season finale of Survivor: Borneo.
This is the original voting urn and seven of the votes in contained during the season one finale. Owning this incredible piece would be every Survivor fan's dream, and luckily, it's in good hands with Jamie.
This iconic piece would be worth around $500,000 altogether.
7. The total value of this Survivor collection:
7 Comments
All of the items looked so much better on the series of course but the urn & votes would be the coolest to have.
