Prince William and Kate Middleton Pez auction at $12,800 and counting (updated)

The auction of a Pez figure featuring busts of Kate Middleton and Prince William has skyrocketed on eBay. That's news that hasn't gotten nearly the attention it deserves.

On Thursday at 2:00 p.m. in London, the auction had reached £7,841.51, or $12,803.57 — a steep price, especially considering that the figures look as much like Monica Lewinsky and John Boehner as they do the royal couple.

The Pez dispenser is a one-of-a-kind, and it was "purely hand made except for the base," according to Pez. Sadly, the dispenser hardly does justice to Kate Middleton's royal assets the way these Vanity Fair photos do. And a GlobalPost source points out that "they defn (sic) gave Prince William way too much hair." (The source requested anonymity to protect any potential future prospects with Prince William, wedding or no wedding.)

Still, Pez is Pez, and as Pez put it: "One of the world's most iconic brands has created one of the year's most iconic collectibles."

So it's anyone's guess how high the price will rise, with three days, five hours and eight minutes remaining, and 30 bidders competing for the candy dispenser. The auction will be fittingly exclusive, however. It is only open to pre-approved bidders, according to eBay. 

The proceeds will go to a charity of Prince William and Kate Middleton's choosing. That charity, according to eBay, is the Starlight Children's Foundation, which "brightens the lives of seriously and terminally ill children." A worthy cause, no doubt.

And this just in: ABC News, which sent a crew to Pez headquarters, reports that "it's only the second time that Pez has made dispensers modeled after living people who aren't fictional characters. The first ones: the guys from Orange County Choppers."

Not only is the royal Pez auction compelling in its own right, but Pez points out that there's a neat back story here as well: Pez was the inspiration for eBay. "Silicon Valley mavens know [that] the idea for eBay was based on founder Pierre Omidyar's girlfriend who was a keen PEZ collector and wanted to set up an online platform for exchanging the PEZ figurines," according to Pez's website.

We'll stay on top of this story, for the sake of those who "can't get enough of the buildup to England's royal wedding," as CNN put it in its (all too) brief coverage of the William and Kate Pez story. (With a crew of 500 covering the royal wedding, you'd think they could dedicate more than 30 seconds to the Pez story, eh?)

Follow David Case on Twitter: @DavidCaseReport