Super Bowl's pricing is land of excess

INDIANAPOLIS -- With the gates of Lucas Oil Stadium opening nearly five hours before the kickoff of Super Bowl XLVI yesterday, what were fans expected to do to kill all that time?

How about some shopping! And eating!

As you might imagine, there's much more than just hot dogs, nachos and beer at the Super Bowl. Here's a look around at some of the most interesting and unusual items -- and outrageous prices -- that Newsday observed before the Giants and New England Patriots took the field:

The Super Bowl needs a super sandwich. It's called "Fan Vs Food," a four-tier sandwich made of pork, pork and more pork. The cost? Only $40.

Standing nearly a foot tall, it features layers of pork tenderloin, bacon, ham and BBQ pork, with some lettuce and tomato mixed in for good measure.

According to the concessionaires, after three hours in which it was available, only three people had been brave enough to order it.

That wasn't the only over-sized edible item for sale.

There was a $30 jumbo shrimp cocktail as well as a large popcorn ($20) that came with a souvenir tub.

Fans looking for a healthy oversized food item were in luck, too. One stand sold "The Combine Veggie," a $12 sandwich that included portobello mushroom, eggplant, zucchini, squash, provolone, lettuce, tomato, red pepper, hummus and pesto.

After spending several thousand dollars for a Super Bowl ticket, what's another $5,900 for dueling Giants and Patriots helmets signed by the players and enclosed in a glass case?

Yes, they do accept credit cards.

If that's too expensive, how about a Giants helmet signed by the entire Super Bowl team ($3,250)?

Or a framed Super Bowl poster featuring the Vince Lombardi Trophy signed by all of the Giants ($2,250)?

Helmets were a popular item for sale throughout the stadium. At the various NFL Shop locations, you could get a Giants helmet -- not signed -- for $199, or a miniature one for $43.