TEXT: Scene: The apartment. Sheldon: Well, this sandwich is an unmitigated disaster. I asked for turkey and roast beef with lettuce and swiss on wholewheat. Raj: What did they give you? Sheldon: Turkey and roast beef with swiss and lettuce on wholewheat. It's the right ingredients but in the wrong order. In a proper sandwich the cheese is adjacent to the bread to create a moisture barrier against the lettuce. They might as well have dragged this thing through a car wash. Leonard: I don't believe it. Sheldon: I know, it's basic culinary science. Leonard: Some guy is auctioning off a miniature time machine prop from the original film and no-one is bidding on it. Howard: A time machine from the movie The Time Machine? Leonard: No, a time machine from Sophie's Choice. Raj: Boy, Sophie could have used a time machine in that movie. Did you see it, it's rough. Howard: Oh, that's cool. Leonard: Uh-huh. Raj: It's only $800? Leonard: Yeah. And that's my bid. Sheldon: You bid $800. Leonard: It was a spur of the moment thing, I figured it would go for thousands and I just wanted to be a part of it. Sheldon: There's only 30 seconds left in the auction. Howard: Do you have $800? Leonard: Not to blow on a miniature time machine. Howard: Don't worry, the way these things work there's people waiting 'til the last second to bid, and then they swoop in and get it, it's called sniping. Raj: Fifteen seconds. Leonard: Come on, snipers. Raj: Ten, nine, eight... Leonard: Where are your snipers? Raj: Five. Leonard: Snipe. Raj: Four. Leonard: Snipe. Raj: Three. Leonard: Snipe! Raj: Two. Leonard: SNIPE! Raj: One. Leonard: Aaaa-aw! Raj: Congratulations, you are the proud owner of a miniature time machine. Howard: You lucky duck. Sheldon: I
SUMMARY:
In an online auction, Leonard buys a full-sized replica of the time machine from the 1960 film The Time Machine, believing it to be a miniature. The men's efforts to move the cumbersome object into the apartment cause Penny to lose a work shift, and she lashes out at them for their obsession with childish memorabilia. This upsets Leonard, who decides to sell all his collectibles. His friends try to dissuade him, but they also want his collectibles and argue over who should get what. Sheldon later accuses Penny of hypocrisy, pointing out her own love of such things as Hello Kitty or Care Bears. Penny apologizes to Leonard and dissuades him from abandoning the things he loves; he decides to keep his belongings. His hope of a relationship with her is thus very briefly renewed until her current boyfriend Mike appears and pulls her into her apartment. Sheldon later has nightmares of being attacked by Morlocks, and persuades Leonard to return the time machine replica.