Tom Spina Designs – Han Solo in Carbonite Desk

While this isn’t an original prop-related article, I thought it was a neat piece and worth making a note of, especially since Tom Spina is an important figure in the hobby, as a driving force in preservation and restoration of props (see OPB Featured Interview).

Tom and Richard Riley of Tom Spina Designs created a really cool “one off” piece of functional film art – a desk designed and fabricated for the home theater/office of Mark Hall, lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning group Casting Crowns. The desk features the iconic Han Solo in Carbonite from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Read more

Guernsey’s Pugliese Pop Culture Collection Auction: HD Images from Today Show Feature

Here are a few HD screencaps from the Today Show broadcast aired this morning (see prior article for videos). This is only from the second segment, as I don’t believe the first segment airs in my market. All are 1920×1080 (click for high resolution). Read more

Guernsey’s Pugliese Pop Culture Collection Auction: Featured on the Today Show

The broadcast of The Today Show featured a preview of Guernsey’s Pugliese Prop Culture Collection auction, to be held at the Palm in Las Vegas March 15-16, 2008.

Here are links to the two video segments hosted on the Today Show website: Read more

Barret-Jackson Collector Car Auction Event: Palm Beach, FL – March 26-30, 2008

Barrett-Jackson is holding a Collector Car Event in Palm Beach, Florida from March 26-30, 2008. This auction will include 600 vehicles at auction, all no reserve, and will be broadcast on Speed.

This auction will include some cars used in television programs, including 13 cars from The Sopranos and “Super KITT” and “Attack Mode KITT” from the recent Knight Rider NBC special which aired this month. Read more

Star Trek TOS Original Series Tricorder Prop – eBay Seller Response

As written in yesterday’s article, “eBay Auction: Star Trek TOS Original Series Tricorder Prop“, an item was listed on eBay yesterday, marketed as an original tricorder prop from Star Trek: The Original Series, with an opening bid amount of $12,000, which has raised some concerns in the Star Trek collecting community as to it’s authenticity: “Star Trek TOS Original Series Tricorder Prop (1966-69)” (eBay Item #280203748990).

Alec Peters of the Star Trek Prop, Costume, and Auction Blog wrote an article about this auction on his blog today, “Alledged TOS Tricorder on ebay – Mark English replica?“. Read more

eBay Auction: Star Trek TOS Original Series Tricorder Prop

An item was listed on eBay yesterday, marketed as an original tricorder prop from Star Trek: The Original Series, with an opening bid amount of $12,000, which has raised some concerns in the Star Trek collecting community as to it’s authenticity: Read more

80th Academy Awards Ceremony Tonight

Tonight is the 80th Academy Awards ceremony. The telecast for the Academy Awards for outstanding achievements of 2007 are being presented at the Kodak Theatre starting at 5PM PST.

All details can be found at Oscar.com and Oscars.org. Read more

Profiles in History, Star Wares Featured on CBS News Sunday Morning

I missed the broadcast, but if I can find the video on the Internet, I’ll post an update with the link.

In any event, Bill Geist of CBS visited both Profiles in History and StarWares in covering movie props and costumes, given that tonight is the Academy Awards.

While I can only speak to the print version of the story, it is somewhat typical of mainstream media coverage of the hobby – focused on price and value with no mention of the importance of authentication.

The print version of the story appears in it’s entirety at CBSNews.com (LINK): Read more

Third Wave of NBC Universal Studio Auctions Begin March 3, 2008

NBC Universal is hosting a third wave of direct from the studio auctions starting March 3, 2008. The first two sets of auctions listed included original props, wardrobe, and set-pieces from Heroes, The Office, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, and Las Vegas.

More details can be found at www.nbc.com/Shop/auctions/ Read more

Authentic Superman Costume In The Marketplace – The Prop Store of London

Yesterday The Prop Store of London listed as “Sold” on their site an original Superman III body suit with a COA from Warner Bros.

I thought it appropriate to make note of this piece here, along with photos, as an archive reference of what an authentic suit looks like.

Of particular note is that the very few I’ve seen with impeccable provenance (such as the costume sold by ScreenUsed) have a very distinct features which differ from those that have no studio paperwork, such as the distinctly shaped collars, the “S” symbol sewn “into” the costume, rather than “onto” the costume, etc.

It is also interesting that the suits with questionable provenance never include high resolution, full coverage (front, back, close-up) photos for comparison.

The Prop Store of London Description: Read more

Guernsey’s Pugliese Pop Culture Collection Auction: Hardcopy Catalogs Out

Today I received the hardcopy catalog from Guernsey’s “Pugliese Pop Culture Collection” auction, which can be purchased directly from their site.

If anyone was curious as to what it looks like, I’ve snapped a few photos as a preview. It is an attractive book with a lot of photos and information. As one who enjoys collecting auction catalogs, I would characterize this one as a must have. Read more

Guernsey’s Pugliese Pop Culture Collection Auction: Lot Sale History Online

Guernsey’s website now hosts a listing of the source of many of the items consigned to the “Pugliese Pop Culture Collection” auction, and can be downloaded in PDF format directly from their site or here from the link below: Read more

Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibit – Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has an upcoming exhibition titled “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy“.

It is described as follows: Read more

Michael of JudyGarland.com and His Thoughts on Heritage Auction Galleries

Michael Siewert of JudyGarland.com was kind enough to share some thoughts about his experience with Heritage Auction Galleries and other auction houses, and I felt his comments were worth highlighting by reposting them from the Reader Comments in the recent Heritage-related articles. I do not know Mr. Siewert, but thought we could open a discussion about some of the ideas and opinions he raised in his comments, in hopes of initiating a productive dialogue about not just Heritage, but experiences and opinions about auction houses in general. Read more

Official Toshiba Press Release: “Discontinuation of HD DVD Business”

As reported Saturday, Toshiba has decided to abandon it’s HD DVD in the format war with competitor Sony and it’s Blu-Ray Disc. Read more

Statement from Guernsey’s Regarding Pugliese Collection Auction Event

The following statement was released to me from Guernsey’s this morning, in regards to their upcoming event (see list of OPB articles below): Read more

‘It’s A Wrap!’ Star Trek Auctions: Positive Customer Reports

As reported in late September and early November, hobbyists spanning several online discussion forums (primarily The Movie Prop Forum and the Star Trek Props, Costumes & Auctions Forum) had been outspoken about a variety of customer service complaints with It’s a Wrap and their handling of the official CBS ~ Paramount Television Star Trek auctions.

In monitoring the discussion forums and talking with collectors privately, it seems as though It’s A Wrap has turned things around significantly. I have learned from many collectors that customer service has improved significantly, auction wins have been delivered quickly/timely, and there seems to be much more positive buzz about the weekly auction events. I hope for both It’s A Wrap and their customers that these trends continue. Read more

WonderCon 2008 – February 22-24, 2008

This coming weekend is the annual WonderCon in San Francisco. While WonderCon and ComicCon in San Diego both began as comic conventions, they’ve really evolved into being more about all facets of pop culture, so there is typically items and events of interest for original prop collectors. Read more

Reports: Format War Over, Toshiba To Exit HD DVD Business

Reuters and others are reporting the end of the HD format war (LINK to full story), with Toshiba expected to make a formal announcement regarding their exit of the HD DVD business this coming week. This concludes the format war with the Sony-backed Blu-Ray Disc. Read more

Guernsey’s Pugliese Pop Culture Collection Auction: Full Catalog Online

As discussed in prior articles (”Guernsey’s Auction: “The Pugliese Collection“”, “Guernsey’s Auction: “The Pugliese Collection” – Delayed to Early Next Year“, “Guernsey’s Pugliese Pop Culture Collection Auction: Las Vegas, NV – March 15-16, 2008“), this appears to be an interesting auction event, and the full catalog is now available to view online. It appears that movie-related memorabilia will be auctioned on the first day of the event, Saturday March 15th, in two sessions, while television and all other categories will be auctioned in two sessions on Sunday March 16th.

I received an e-mail today from Guernsey’s informing me that the hard copy version of the catalogs would likely be mailed out today to those who have ordered them. Read more

HD Format War News Reports: Toshiba Expected To “Pull The Plug… In The Coming Weeks”

I know it’s only been a few days since my last update of the HD format war between Blu-Ray Disc and HD DVD, but there are more articles and developments on the tech sites (Engadget: “Toshiba gearing up to drop HD DVD?“; Home Media Magazine: “HD DVD Format on Death Watch“; Gizmodo: “Toshiba Finally Taking HD DVD Off Life Support“; The Hollywood Reporter: “Toshiba to drop HD DVD, sources say“.

All articles report that sources claim Toshiba will drop the format in the coming weeks. Read more

News Reports: Heritage Filed Suit Against L.A. Prop & Wardrobe in Dallas County District Court Wednesday

According to multiple news/media reports (The Dallas Morning News: “Dallas’ Heritage Auction sues Hollywood memorabilia dealers“; The Houston Chronicle: “Auction house files lawsuit over alleged bogus memorabilia“; The Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Dallas auction house says it was conned into selling fakes“; and story originator WFAA-TV: “Dallas auction house claims multi-million dollar reputation damaged“), Heritage Auction Galleries filed suit on Wednesday in Dallas County District Court against Mississippi-based L.A. Prop & Wardrobe Co. and its owners, John Tarter and Billie Null.

According to The Houston Chronicle, the lawsuit filed yesterday “alleges fraud, negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract”. The Chronicle story also claims that “a listing could not be found for L.A. Prop” and that “[m]essages left with the L.A. Prop officials listed in the lawsuit were not immediately returned Thursday.” Read more

1920′s, 1930′s Movie Theater Memorabilia Auction: Keith Albee Theater in WV – February 17, 2008

There is quite an interesting find of vintage movie theater memorabilia being auctioned this weekend at the Keith Albee Theater in Downtown Huntington, WV. Read more

Writers’ Strike Ends

The three month long writers’ strike that has paralyzed the entertainment industry is over.

There are countless analytical articles on the web going into the details of “who won?” and “was it worth it?”.

Also, there does seem to be a consensus that the strike will lead to other changes in the industry that were not a part of any deal, but a consequence of it.

In any event, I am personally happy to see that those in the industry having an opportunity to get back to work, as I know it has been a challenge and struggle for many. Read more

HD Format War – Two More Blows Against HD DVD

As reported previously (see “HD Format War Developments“, “More HD War Developments Out of CES“, “HD Format War – More Bad News for HD DVD“), Toshiba’s HD DVD format has suffered some severe blows of late, particularly since the start of the new year.

As a quick update, the latest two unfavorable developments for the format come from Best Buy and Netflix. Read more

eBay Auction: Greatest American Hero Costume – Update

As reported in late December (see “eBay Auction: Greatest American Hero Costume“), there was an eBay listing for an “original” William Katt Greatest American Hero costume (eBay Item #220184242364) which raised concerns as to authenticity, and was determined to have been a replica by an expert on these wardrobe pieces.

As explained previously, because an original suit was purportedly copied many years ago, replica suits were introduced into the marketplace as “original”, making authentication of these suits highly problematic. Read more

LFL Files Suit Against GenCon for Nearly $1M – Failure to Deliver Proceeds of Charity Auction from Celebration IV

LucasFilm LTD filed suit against Gen Con LLC for “breach of contract, conversion, and unjust enrichment” in regards to the Star Wars Celebration IV convention held in Los Angeles in May 2007.

According to the suit, LFL provided rare Star Wars memorabilia from the Archive to be auctioned (via a live auction and a silent auction) at the Celebration fan convention, with the net proceeds of the charity intended for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Per the suit, the auction events raised “at least $150,000 from the sale of LFL’s archive items”. Read more

WFAA Television News Report Update: Heritage Auction To Sue L.A. Prop and Wardrobe

A second report was broadcast by WFAA TV’s Channel 8, based on David Schechter’s investigation into items consigned by L.A. Prop and Wardrobe Company and sold by Heritage Auction Galleries (see Heritage Auction Galleries & L.A. Prop & Wardrobe Company, WFAA Television News Report…, More on Heritage Auction Galleries, L.A. Prop & Wardrobe).

In this update, Mr. Schechter reports that Heritage Auction Galleries will “sue L.A. Prop for knowingly providing bogus items for sale and damaging the auction house’s reputation”.

Here is a link to the full video report at WFAA.com: Read more

Ten Outstanding Questions About “Super Hollywood” Superman Costumes in the Marketplace

Now that Mr. Alvarez (“Super Hollywood”, super38 on eBay) has registered for the Original Prop Blog and posted a series of statements (see “Costume Junkie” Response, “Super Hollywood” Response), I would like to provide him an opportunity to address the series of questions and concerns raised in the prior articles about Superman costumes in the marketplace (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity“, “Update“, “Update 2“, “Update 3“). Read more

Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: “Super Hollywood” Response

As noted in my article yesterday (…”Costume Junkie” Response), I have been contacted by both Mr. Armando Alvarez (”Super Hollywood”, “super38“) as well as Mr. Edward Pugia (”Costume Junkie”, “costumejunkie“) in regards to my articles about Superman costumes in the marketplace (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity“, “Update“, “Update 2“, “Update 3“).

I spoke with Mr. Alvarez on the phone at length on 1/27 and 1/28, and invited him to share on this blog as much information as he is able to, in the form of a Reader Comment, and I would quote such statements in an update article to provide him an opportunity to address outstanding questions about the Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, and Greatest American Hero costumes with “Super Hollywood” provenance/Certificates of Authenticity/Letters of Authenticity. Read more

Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: “Costume Junkie” Response

I have been contacted by both Mr. Armando Alvarez (“Super Hollywood”, “super38“) as well as Mr. Edward Pugia (“Costume Junkie”, “costumejunkie“) in regards to my articles about Superman costumes in the marketplace (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity“, “Update“, “Update 2“, “Update 3“).

I spoke with Mr. Alvarez on the phone at length on 1/27 and 1/28, and invited him to share on this blog as much information as he is able to, in the form of a Reader Comment, and I would quote such statements in an update article to provide him an opportunity to address outstanding questions about the Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, and Greatest American Hero costumes with “Super Hollywood” provenance/Certificates of Authenticity/Letters of Authenticity. Read more

Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz, The Oprah Winfrey Show, YouTube, and Copyright

As reported in late January (see “Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show“, “Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show – The Video“), the 1/23/08 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show focused on “Classic Americana”. Part of the episode featured Dr. Brent Glass, Director of The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz were sent to the show from Washington, D.C., under the supervision of two armed guards and via first class air travel in a disguised box. There was some controversy across the Internet as a result of Oprah’s handling of the artifacts.

I posted a video clip from this segment on YouTube, and noticed that the clip has since been removed, with the following explanation: Read more

More on Heritage Auction Galleries, L.A. Prop & Wardrobe

I have many thoughts and reactions to the WFAA Television investigative report that aired last night, as covered in the article posted this morning, (see WFAA Television News Report on Heritage Auction Galleries, L.A. Prop and Wardrobe: “Systematic Misrepresentation of Provenance”). Read more

WFAA Television News Report on Heritage Auction Galleries, L.A. Prop and Wardrobe: “Systematic Misrepresentation of Provenance”

Dallas/Fort Worth’s WFAA TV Channel 8 aired a report last night about Heritage Auction Galleries and L.A. Prop and Wardrobe, based in part on Rick Spector’s research and investigation early last year (see OPB article, “Heritage Auction Galleries & L.A. Prop & Wardrobe Company“), and Rick Spector is interviewed and featured in the news investigation.

I was also contacted last week by WFAA reporter David Schechter, and supplied him with e-mails from my correspondence with Heritage Auction Galleries as part of their investigation, and as evidence that myself and other collectors questioned the provenance of certain offerings and the consignor, L.A. Prop & Wardrobe. Read more

Second Wave of NBC Auctions: Results (1/21-1/30)

I thought I would recap the results of the second wave of NBC Universal auctions, as I did with the first (see “First Wave of NBC Auctions: Results (11/19-12/3)“).

As discussed in prior articles (“Reported Plans for NBC Studio Auction Event“, “NBC Universal Auctions Live“, “First Wave of NBC Auctions: Results (11/19-12/3)“, “Second Wave of NBC Universal Studio Auctions Begin January 21, 2008“), NBC Universal launched a website offering direct from the studio auctions back in November. Read more

Tom Spina Designs: Product Line Update – Deluxe Mannequins/Forms

Tom Spina of Tom Spina Designs (see Featured Interview) has expanded his product line of offerings tailored to prop collectors to include “Deluxe Poseable Mannequins and Forms” (male and female, various sizes and colors, and other options). I have always wanted to get one of these mannequins, but never have seen one in person, though I’ve heard they are very nice, especially the ability to display in custom poses. Read more

Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Update 3

One of the Superman costume eBay listings remarked on previously, that went unsold, has been relisted with some changes to the marketing description. This auction and Superman costumes in general have been topics of discussion in prior articles (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity“, “Update“, “Update 2“). Read more

Palm Beach Event Underscores Oversight Efforts in the Art World

There are a lot of reports in the news about the Palm Beach America’s International Fine Art and Antique Fair (see PalmBeachFair.com). This event is scheduled to run from February 1-10, 2008. Read more

The Life Cycle of a Blog Post Per WIRED

I read an interesting feature in WIRED this month about “The Life Cycle of a Blog Post” by Frank Rose. This is actually available online as an interactive Flash-based graph and worth checking out. I’m still not sure I totally understand it… :) Read more

Original Prop Blog: Continued Growth & Interest

I am still surprised at the end of every month when the site seems to reach new heights, in terms of growth and activity. I honestly expect it to level off or drop off at some point. In any event, January was a month with significant growth over the previous high in the preceding month, so sincere thanks to all who take the time to read and participate. Read more

Charity Auction: Keira Knightley’s Dress From Best Picture Academy Award Nominee “Atonement”

Clothes Off Our Back has a series of charity auctions in support of The Children’s Charity of Southern California. One of the highlights is Keira Knightly’s green dress from Atonement (LINK to auction): Read more