TORONTO (REUTERS) - Hundreds of people lined up at Toronto City Hall on Tuesday to buy a limited-edition bobblehead doll of embattled Toronto mayor Rob Ford, and by mid-afternoon some were on sale on eBay for more than 10 times their purchase price.

Mr Ford, who insists he will not step down, was on hand to sign the figurines but he avoided reporters' questions.

The sale of 1,000 "Robbie Bobbies" was conceived before Mr Ford admitted last week that he had smoked crack cocaine in "one of my drunken stupors". The furor did not mute demand for the little statuettes - a recreation of Mr Ford's head on a springy neck - with lines that stretched around the cavernous City Hall lobby.

"We're living in crazy times and it's probably going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to have a time stamp of a guy that smokes crack as a mayor," Mr Jay White, who lined up more than three hours early to get a doll, told the Toronto Star.

At City Hall, the 15cm dolls cost C$20 (S$24), with proceeds to the United Way charity.

By early afternoon, at least two were available on eBay, with one bid at US$280 (S$349) and the other at US$207.50.

The mayor's admission that he smoked crack came six months after the Star and media blog Gawker said they had seen a video of the mayor smoking crack and a few days after Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair confirmed the video existed.

Last week, the Star bought a separate video that showed Mr Ford in an expletive-laden rant, making unspecified threats and pounding his hands together. Mr Ford apologised and admitted he was "extremely inebriated".

Mr Ford has faced increasing calls to resign or take a break in the wake of the drug admission. On Wednesday, city council will consider a non-binding motion urging him to take a leave of absence.