Movie Prop Collecting with Jason DeBord's Original Prop Blog Film & TV Prop, Costume, Hollywood Memorablia Pop Culture Resource

Archives for October 2007

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Elstree Props Return of the Jedi Lightsaber Auction – Update 3

This is a follow-up to the other two topics (LINK, LINK, LINK) discussing the Elstree Props Luke Skywalker Return of the Jedi lightsaber offered at auction by Auction Specialists.

There has been ongoing discussions in dedicated topics on the Movie Prop Forum and Replica Prop Forum:

The Replica Prop Forum (the RPF): Elstree Props “Original” ROTJ Lightsaber
The Movie Prop Forum: ROTJ Lightsaber

The RPF is a great resource for learning the details and history of a great many props, those from Star Wars films in particular. [Read more…]

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Original Prop Marketplace Oversight

One topic that comes up with original prop collectors now and again is the notion of “marketplace oversight”. Given the nature of these collectibles, where value is intrinsically tied to provenance and authenticity, how do we, as a hobby, move away from the “Wild West” environment, and perhaps implement some sort of oversight (whether organized or informal) to help guide and share information with new and seasoned collectors and identify those individuals or entities that trade in inauthentic pieces? [Read more…]

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Anonymity, Transparency, & The “Real World”

There are several very interesting and very active topics running on the Movie Prop Forum, which have engaged hobbyists on a variety of important issues related to the hobby of collecting original props. [Read more…]

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Elstree Props Return of the Jedi Lightsaber Auction – Update 2

Some additional information pertaining to this story reported last week (see “Elstree Props “Original” Return of the Jedi Lightsaber at Auction“, “Elstree Props Return of the Jedi Lightsaber Auction – Update 1“)…

Per a report on the Movie Prop Forum (see “ROTJ Lightsaber“), in addition to the Luke Skywalker Return of the Jedi lightsaber listed for sale with Specialist Auctions by Elstree Props, and the one on the Elstree Props website that appears to be a different version of the same prop (see comparison photos in Update 1 article), a hobbyist on the discussion forum claims that Elstree sold presumably a third Luke Skywalker Return of the Jedi lightsaber at a charity auction (I do not have any verification of this at this point). If this information and these observations are accurate, that would indicate Elstree Props has/had as many as three or more of these props. [Read more…]

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BBC News: “Lee’s Dracula Cape Found in Store”

The following story was reported by BBC News (LINK), wherein it is claimed that Christopher Lee’s cape from Dracula (1958) was found in a London store. I’d be interested in learning the details of how Angles authenticated it. Going by the story, Lee verifying it 50 years later sounds implausible on the face of it, but maybe there are identifying marks/labels to supplement this examination. [Read more…]

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News Story Flashback: “Rummaging for a Piece of Tim Burton”

This is an article from 2005, but interesting none the less. The original article can still be found at the New York Times website.

There was a related topic on the Movie Prop Forum at the time, “Tim Burton’s Prop Collection“.

It is an interesting example of an event in which original props/artifacts are released into the open marketplace and how that news travels and things play out. [Read more…]