LAUDERHILL, Fla. -- A South Florida man who created a 9,000-pound rubber band ball out of more than 720,000 rubber bands sold his creation to the company whose show inspired it.

Joel Waul is a so-called rubber band expert.

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"These are the ones you can get at your local office store, like Staples. I also go to the post office," Waul said as he fingered through his colorful stash.

The 28-year-old Lauderhill man has thousands and he puts them all to good use. Waul is a professional rubber band ball builder. He's even got sponsors who provide him with supplies. Each one of his elaborate creations begins small. How they end is simply amazing.

"It's not really an obsession. I figure it just got out of hand. I can't believe it's in my front yard," said Waul of his largest piece to date.

At 6 feet tall and more than 9,000 pounds, with a circumference of 25 feet, Waul has built the largest rubber band ball in the world. He's appropriately named it "Megaton."

"I just wrapped rubber bands around each other. That's it. I used small ones until the ball got to 3,000 pounds, then I needed bigger ones."

Waul said it took nearly one million rubber bands and a lot of bruises to make Megaton.

"It's pretty dangerous. It's like a knife when one of the bands snaps. It can take out an eye. I've sprained my foot when it rolled over it," he said.

This project began five years ago after Waul saw a rubber band ball on the television show "Ripley's Believe It or Not."

"I just decided right then and there I was going to build one and started that night," he said.

The ball grew so big Waul needed industrial size bands. He also had to move the ball outside to his front yard. Along the way, he rolled into the Guinness Book of World Records and became a neighborhood celebrity.

On Thursday, Waul's ball was hauled away. Megaton is going to tour the world. Ripley's Believe It or Not, the company behind the show that inspired it all, bought it.

A nervous Waul watched as his man-made world floated off. He said he's done with rubber bands for now.

"People say I smell like it. It's embedded in my skin," said Waul.

Now that he has time and not rubber bands on his hands, he said he will train to be a stuntman.

Wail could not say how much Ripley's paid for it, but he will use the money for school.