Profiles in History 32 was held yesterday and today, with the vintage photos and related material making up Day 1 and posters, one sheets, props, costumes, and related material making up Day 2. The auction was held on site at Profiles in Calabasas Hills, with off-site bidding available over the Internet via eBay Live Auctions, by fax, and by phone.
Overall, it appears to have been a another success, going by the prices realized on the offerings and the low percentage of unsold lots. As has been the trend, Profiles continues to be the venue that realizes benchmark values for the original prop and wardrobe hobby.
Of the nearly 1,200 lots, only approximately 10% went unsold. I cannot obtain exact results for firearms-related lots, which were removed by eBay for online monitoring, so this does not reflect those pieces (though I heard they went for around the low estimates).
Of course, the most important piece in the auction was the Tie Fighter miniature from Star Wars: A New Hope. This prop realized $350,000 (plus Buyer’s Premium of 15-20%). A fantastic piece.
Though not movie memorabilia, the autographed Abraham Lincoln photo fetched an impressive $180,000 (plus Buyer’s Premium) – the second highest price realized of all pieces auctioned over the two day period.
James Bond-related lots realized very high values, which is consistent with other key Bond material that has been sold at auction houses in the past few years. The Ian Fleming manuscript for From Russia With Love sold for $65,000 (+BP), the original screenplay for You Only Live Twice realized $42,500 (+BP), signed copies of Octopussy and The Living Daylights along with an original drawing and seashell related to the dustjacket illustration for Octopussy fetched $32,500 (+BP), and the screenplay, treatment, and outline for Dr. No sold for $15,000 (+BP).
Below are the results of the Stan Winston Collection lots:
- 763: Animatronic male Velociraptor – Jurassic Park III – $60,000 (+BP)
- 752: Male T-Rex head from The Lost World Jurassic Park – $47,500 (+BP)
- 762: Full-scale Velociraptor suit – Jurassic Park III – $35,000 (+BP)
- 757: Stegosaur maquette The Lost World Jurassic Park II – $22,500 (+BP)
- 784: Screen-used complete Hell Knight suit from Doom – $22,500 (+BP)
- 771: T-1 Battle Drone maquette from Terminator 3 – $20,000 (+BP)
- 781: Teddy character from A.I.: Artificial Intelligence – $18,000 (+BP)
- 751: Brachiosaur study maquette from Jurassic Park – $17,000 (+BP)
- 785: Budweiser frog and lizard display from commercials – $15,000 (+BP)
- 761: Wall-mounted Pteranodon from Jurassic Park III – $12,000 (+BP)
- 764: Female Velociraptor insert head Jurassic Park III – $12,000 (+BP)
- 772: Grey gorilla study maquette from Congo – $11,000 (+BP)
- The rest sold for under $10,000 (+BP)
Lots selling for $20,000 or more (excluding Day 1 lots, minerals, and posters):
- 839: Charlton Heston Ten Commandments Tablets – $60,000 (+BP)
- 957: Michael J. Fox hoverboard – Back to the Future II – $55,000 (+BP)
- 1049: Original Ben Affleck Daredevil hero costume – $50,000 (+BP)
- 881: Original hero ray gun & holster – Forbidden Planet – $40,000 (+BP)
- 841: Archive of original Ben-Hur concept artwork – $35,000 (+BP)
- 978: Jack Skellington house Nightmare Before Christmas – $35,000 (+BP)
- 1057: Hugh Jackman signature costume from Van Helsing – $32,500 (+BP)
- 985: Mel Gibson complete battle costume from Braveheart – $30,000 (+BP)
- 1013: Ian Mckellen & Anna Paquin costumes from X-Men – $30,000 (+BP)
- 1012: Hugh Jackman Wolverine leather jacket from X-Men – $27,500 (+BP)
- 910: Jack Nicholson prop axe from The Shining – $25,000 (+BP)
- 939: Arnold Schwarzenegger sword – Conan the Barbarian – $25,000 (+BP)
- 1023: James Duval Frank The Rabbit mask – Donnie Darko – $25,000 (+BP)
- 1085: Original Bruce Lee black Gung Fu jacket – $24,000 (+BP)
- 843: Charlton Heston kaftan and Pallium from Ben-Hur – $22,500 (+BP)
- 916: Holy Grail – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – $22,500 (+BP)
- 1063: Michael Fassbender Stelios hero costume from 300 – $22,500 (+BP)
- 811: Drawings & blueprints of Sleeping Beauty?s Castle – $20,000 (+BP)
- 818: Original Winkie spear from The Wizard of Oz – $20,000 (+BP)
- 973: Bill Campbell hero Rocketeer helmet The Rocketeer – $20,000 (+BP)
- 1014: Sabertooth and Toad costumes from X-Men – $20,000 (+BP)
The highest valued offering that went unsold, in spite of mention in most of the publicity opportunities related to the event, was Lot 909, the “Christopher Reeve complete Superman costume”, which was discussed in a previous article. This had an opening bid amount of $60,000 and went unsold with no bids.
Other high value pieces that went unsold include:
- 1047: Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst costumes SPIDER-MAN ($35,000 reserve)
- 905: Master male molds for X-Wing fuselage – Star Wars ($30,000 reserve)
- 704: Lyn Osborn Cadet Happy jumpsuit from Space Patrol ($25,000 reserve)
- 1036: Dr. Evil & Mini Me spacesuits from Austin Powers ($20,000 reserve)
- 902: C-3PO feet from Star Wars: A New Hope ($20,000 reserve)
- 913: Ronald Lacey melting skull Raiders of the Lost Ark ($20,000 reserve)
Given the state of the economy in the U.S., I would imagine PiH must be very pleased with the results – most especially the low percentage of pieces that went unsold. As I observed following the last auction (see Profiles in History 31 Held Yesterday, Today), it seems the higher end pieces performed better overall compared with the $5,000 or less set, which illustrates the fact that the higher end, recognizable pieces are really what attracts collector dollars.
Jason De Bord