Heritage Holiday Catalog of High End Collectibles Includes Sub from “The Spy Who Loved Me”

Heritage Auction Galleries is hosting their annual “Heritage for the Holidays” catalog on their HA.com website.  The catalog includes “rare and appealing treasures” of fixed price (non auction) collectible items including stamps, comic books, sports memorabilia, art, book first editions, currency, historical artifacts. Read more

Recent Court Rulings and Legal Actions Make Publishing Comments Via the Internet a Little Less Anonymous

There have been a number of recent developments involving lawsuits and legal motions filed intended to reveal the authors of comments published on the Internet anonymously.  Read more

Heritage Auction Galleries Lawsuit In The News; Claims of “Fake Bidder” N.P. Gresham, Auction Manipulation

Last month, there were a number of mainstream media outlets reporting on a lawsuit filed against Heritage Auction Galleries by a former employee who charges, among other things, that the auction house utilizes a fictitious bidder – “N.P. Gresham” – to participate in bidding in its own auction events.  Read more

Heritage Auction Galleries November 2009 “Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction″ Catalog Available Online

The Heritage Auction Galleries website now offers the online catalog and listings for their upcoming event, “Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – Auction #7011″, to be held November 6-7, 2009 in Dallas, Texas.

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Heritage Auction Galleries June 2009 “Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction″ Catalog Available Online

The Heritage Auction Galleries website now offers the online catalog and listings for their upcoming event, “Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – Auction #7006″, to be held June 5-6, 2009 in Dallas, Texas.

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Heritage Auction Galleries “Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction″ Catalog Available Online (February 2009)

The Heritage Auction Galleries website now offers the online catalog and listings for their upcoming event, “Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – Auction #7004″, to be held February 21-22, 2009 in Dallas, Texas.

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Heritage Auction Galleries “Holiday Catalog” Of High End Collectibles, Includes F-16 Falcon From X-Men 2

Heritage Auction Galleries is hosting their “Heritage for the Holidays” catalog on their HA.com website.  Among “holy grail” of offerings – including stamps, comic books, sports memorabilia, art, book first editions, currency, historical artifacts, – are a handful of movie-related memorabilia pieces.  Included is an F-16 Fighting Falcon attributed to X-Men 2 and Independence Day. Read more

Heritage Auction Galleries “Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction″ Catalog Available Online (October 2008)

The Heritage Auction Galleries website now offers the online catalog and listings for their upcoming event, “Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – Auction #696″, to be held October 4-6 in Dallas, Texas.

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Heritage Auction Galleries Forms Media and Client Relations Division

Excerpts from a Heritage Auction Galleries press release (found at news-antique.com): Read more

Heritage Auction Galleries April 2008 Signature Auction Catalog Available Online

The Heritage Auction Galleries “2008 April Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Signature Auction #688″ catalog is available online: Read more

Heritage Auction Galleries “Superman III” Costume – Update

In performing research for my continuing series of past public auction house events, archiving and sharing information about Superman costumes offered for sale historically (of costumes attributed to use by Christopher Reeve in the Superman films of the 70s and 80s), I noticed a change on one of the “Auction Archives” listings on the Heritage Auction Galleries website. 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

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

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

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

Heritage Auction Galleries: Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Signature Auction – Dallas, April 4-6, 2008

Heritage Auction Galleries next Music & Entertainment Memorabilia auction will be held in Dallas, Texas on April 4-6, 2008. Read more

“Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty Prop – Update, SciFiNow Magazine

As discussed previously (see “Planet of the Apes Statue of Liberty Prop“), a Statue of Liberty prop head – attributed to use in Planet of the Apes (1968) – was consigned with Profiles in History (where it failed to sell) and, subsequently, Heritage Auction Galleries (where it was pulled prior to auction).

This piece has generated much discussion in the hobby, yet many questions remain unanswered.

Les Hemstock purportedly consigned the Statue of Liberty piece to Profiles in History for their Hollywood Auction 28, held August 2-3, 2007.

In the last article, I posted a series of files (images and text) that were circulating among collectors, which illustrated an extensive restoration and reconstruction of the piece. Even assuming the piece is original and was from the production (which has not been publicly proven), those elements which would have been seen on screen (the back of the head and the spikes), per these files, they appear to be replicas (the spikes) or not exist (the back of the head).

This update is to provide additional facts and information. Read more

“Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty Prop – Restoration Information, Outstanding Questions

As discussed in prior articles (see Profiles in History Auction 28 Catalog Available Online, Profiles in History 28 Held Yesterday, Today, Heritage Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – October 6-7, 2007, October’s Heritage Auction Addendum: “Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty Prop Removed from Catalog), a Statue of Liberty prop head – attributed to use in Planet of the Apes (1968) – was consigned with Profiles in History (where it failed to sell) and, subsequently, Heritage Auction Galleries (where it was pulled prior to auction).

This piece has generated much discussion in the hobby, yet many questions remain unanswered. Read more

Christopher Lee’s Dracula Cape Find: Consigned with Heritage?

I came across what appears to be a press release included in a discussion on the Classic Horror Film Board, in the topic “Jack Pierce Scrapbook pages“. I have not been able to find the release anywhere else on the web to verify it, including a search of the official press releases found at HA.com.

Interestingly, if accurate and if not retracted, it would seem the Christopher Lee Dracula cape claimed to have recently been discovered by Angels as reported by the BBC just a few weeks ago (see article, BBC News: “Lee’s Dracula Cape Found in Store”) has been consigned with Heritage Auction Galleries for an event in April: Read more

October’s Heritage Auction Addendum: “Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty Prop Removed from Catalog

Though the Heritage auction was held last week, I just now looked to see the results of the Statue of Liberty head attributed to Planet of the Apes that was one of the Featured Items (which was the cover specimen of Profiles in History’s auction this past August, and went unsold – see prior article, “Heritage Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – October 6-7, 2007“). Read more

Heritage Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – UPDATE

As reported on the 12th (LINK), the next Heritage Auction Galleries Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction is scheduled for October 6-7, 2007. Read more

Heritage Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – October 6-7, 2007

The next Heritage Auction Galleries Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction is scheduled for October 6-7, 2007. Read more

Auction House Buying Considerations, Part I: Overview

I have had very limited experiences in buying direct from auction houses, but there are terms and conditions of sale, unique to each company/event, that can differ from other buying experiences. I would highly recommend that any collector, before participating in such an auction, carefully review the terms and conditions of the sale, typically outlined in the catalog. Even with the same company, these are prone to change catalog to catalog, sale to sale. Read more

Heritage Auction Galleries & L.A. Prop & Wardrobe Company

Article Summary: A report on Rick Spector’s findings discussed on the Movie Prop Forum related to concerns of props and costumes consigned to Heritage Auction Galleries by L.A. Prop and Wardrobe being inauthentic. Read more