PHILADELPHIA It's bronze, it's on eBay, it's Rocky!

EBay failed Harvey Abrams; so too, the U.S. Olympic Committee and Stallone himself.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Yo, tough guy! You want a piece of the Italian Stallion? Come up with $3 million and you can get the whole thing -- larger than life, cast in bronze, and quite a statement for the front lawn.
A fledgling organization in central Pennsylvania with little money but big dreams for a 300-acre sports museum and library is trying to auction one of sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg's three "Rocky" statues.
"We're using 'Rocky' as a fund-raising event and to try and generate publicity for the project," said Harvey Abrams, president of the International Institute for Sport and Olympic History.
Because the organization is incorporated as a nonprofit, Abrams says it will "give away" the statue to the first person to donate $3 million. If the auction on eBay expires Thursday without a bidder, which he acknowledges is likely, Abrams said he will entertain other offers and -- attention bargain hunters -- he may let "Rocky" go for as low as $1 million.
Abrams said he has an agreement with Schomberg that if a donor comes up with the money, the institute will pay the sculptor $700,000 to buy his two other "Rocky" statues. The donor would get one and the other would be displayed at the planned museum.
Cynthia Schomberg, the sculptor's wife and agent, confirmed the agreement details. The molds for the two statues are identical to the original "Rocky" that stands outside the Wachovia Spectrum arena, she said.
Abrams, a rare-books dealer in State College who specializes in Olympic and sports history, hopes that "Rocky" will kick-start a fund-raising campaign that would include selling naming rights to the library, theater and museum -- at $25 million apiece.
"Right now we have less than $1,000 in the bank. ... It's been a rocky road," acknowledged Abrams, no pun intended.
The tale of Rocky Balboa, the prizefighting palooka with a heart of gold, won the 1976 Academy Award for best film, made a star of Sylvester Stallone and spurred four sequels.
The original bronze statue of the fictional South Philadelphia fighter was commissioned by Stallone for "Rocky III" (1982) and also appeared in "Rocky V" (1990). After the fifth and final Rocky film, Stallone donated the statue to the city -- and a new battle began.
Site dispute
Stallone and some officials wanted the 8 1/2-foot statue of the actor's alter ego, boxing gloves raised in victory, to be permanently installed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Rocky bounded up 72 steps as moviegoers cheered.
They lost the bout to museum officials and art aficionados who argued that the bronze Balboa was a movie prop, not art, and that "its exaggerated proportions and caricature" would sully the internationally renowned museum's image.
After much bobbing and weaving about where the exiled 2,000-pound pugilist should call home, it eventually came to rest at the South Philadelphia stadium complex.
Earlier failures
Abrams has tried online auction site eBay before, putting "Rocky" on the block in May for a $5 million donation to no avail, and said he has also been unable to spark the interest of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the brawny brawler himself.
"We tried to talk to Sly. He wouldn't respond," Abrams said.
Stallone was out of the country and could not be reached for comment, his publicist Michelle Bega said.