Nicolas Cage’s best-documented unusual purchases include a dinosaur fossil he returned, a Superman comic that was stolen and later sold, and a Lamborghini once associated with the Shah of Iran. Stories about his octopus, cobras, castles and former New Orleans mansion add to the picture—but the available reporting does not establish 15 distinct purchases or a definitive ranking. Here are the notable examples, with their reported prices and ownership histories where known.
The purchases with the clearest paper trail
The Tarbosaurus bataar skull
Cage paid a reported $276,000 for a dinosaur skull at auction in 2007. It was identified in reporting as a Tarbosaurus bataar, not a Tyrannosaurus rex. After learning that the fossil had been removed from Mongolia illegally, Cage returned it. He later described it as an unfortunate purchase. Vanity Fair’s 2019 interview and the Irish Examiner’s republication of the interview report the purchase and return.
Action Comics No. 1
Cage bought a copy of Action Comics No. 1—the 1938 issue that introduced Superman—for $150,000 in 1996, according to the Associated Press. The comic was stolen from his Los Angeles home in 2000, recovered in 2011 and returned to him. Cage sold it at auction six months later for $2.2 million. The original is no longer his possession; this is the history of his copy, not a claim that it is available to buy. Discussing how its value rose after the theft and recovery, Metropolis Collectibles/ComicConnect CEO Stephen Fishler told the AP, “The thief made Nicolas Cage a lot of money by stealing it.”
A Lamborghini linked to the Shah of Iran
The Los Angeles Times reported in 2009 that Cage had bought a Lamborghini Miura SVJ associated with the Shah of Iran for nearly $500,000. That is a historical reported purchase price, not a current valuation. The car’s provenance is what makes the story unusual; the report does not establish that Cage still owns it.
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Animals Cage was reported to have owned
The pet octopus
Cage has referred to having a pet octopus. In a 2023 CBS News / 60 Minutes interview, he joked, “It wasn’t because I spent $80 on an octopus.” The $80 is Cage’s quoted figure, not a verified total cost of caring for the animal.
Two king cobras
Retrospective and contemporary reporting recounts Cage keeping two king cobras, named Sheba and Moby in coverage. Neighbors objected, and the snakes were later rehomed at a zoo, according to the Washington Post. They were historical pets, not evidence of current ownership.
A two-headed snake
The Guardian’s 2023 profile lists a two-headed snake among Cage’s unusual animals. In a WIRED interview, Cage told a story about a friend finding one after Cage had expressed interest. That anecdote does not establish a conventional retail purchase, so it is better described as an unusual acquisition story than a confirmed shopping transaction.
Properties that became part of the stories
Castles, islands and other homes
Cage’s real-estate history includes several separate properties, rather than a single novelty purchase. In 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported that his holdings included multiple homes, an English castle, a German estate and two Bahamian islands. In 2023, Cage acknowledged castles in Germany and England, an island and a New Orleans mansion in his CBS interview. These accounts describe properties he had owned; they should not be read as a current inventory.
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The LaLaurie mansion
The notorious LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans is among Cage’s former properties, according to The Guardian. Its dark history gives the house its cultural notoriety; it is distinct from the animal and collectible stories, and Cage does not own it now.
Rhode Island property and the Holy Grail
Vanity Fair’s 2019 interview connects discussion of Cage’s Rhode Island property with his personal search for the Holy Grail. The account does not establish that he bought the property solely to find the Grail, so the connection is best treated as part of his personal interests rather than a proven purchase motive.
Objects that need careful attribution
Shrunken heads and historical artifacts
In the interview excerpt republished by the Irish Examiner, Cage discussed shrunken heads and his interest in history and objects. The account supports saying that he spoke about them; it does not independently verify the provenance or status of particular objects. Sensational descriptions should not be mistaken for a documented purchase record.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the purchases say about Cage’s finances
The octopus became a punchline, but Cage identified real estate as the larger financial problem. In the 2023 CBS interview, he said, “I was over-invested in real estate,” and, “The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time.” He told CBS he had repaid about $6 million in debts and taxes. These are Cage’s statements in that interview, not an independent accounting of every purchase or financial obligation.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →That context matters when interpreting the list: a reported purchase price, a returned fossil, a sold comic and former homes describe different things. They do not add up to a complete ledger of Cage’s spending, and the reporting does not supply 15 separately verified purchases to rank.
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