ANAKIN MANNEQUIN LEADS UNITED WAY TO CYBERSPACE

Anakin Skywalker is leading the Area Wide United Way into the cyber-auction world.

The non-profit organization is putting up for bids a mannequin of Anakin, the boy from "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," that was donated by JCPenney. But instead of a local auction, the United Way will auction the mannequin on eBay, the online auction house. The bidding should begin today and will remain open through Nov. 28."EBay offers a bigger market and it will attract more attention than something we could do locally," said Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the Area Wide United Way.

This is the first time the local United Way has attempted an online auction, and Jernigan said she isn't sure what to expect. But registering to sell merchandise on eBay was easy, said Kim Mitchell, a member of the United Way education/marketing committee. Cost to auction items on eBay is based on how much the item sells for, but shouldn't be much more than $100, Jernigan said.

The minimum bid for the Anakin mannequin, which is about four-feet high and comes with a rock to mount the figure on, is $500, but Jernigan said she hopes to get much more than that. The mannequin is one of those made for the JCPenney chain and distributed to the company's top-selling children's departments. Anakin has been on display at the Cape Girardeau store since the movie opened last summer. It will be displayed in a glass case at the store's mall entrance for the next several weeks, Jernigan said.

A picture of the mannequin will be mounted on the Area Wide United Way's Web site, www.rosecity.net/unitedway.

To bid on the mannequin, log onto eBay (www.ebay.com) and follow the instructions there. "We're hoping this will be a successful fund-raiser for us," Jernigan said.