Profiles in History’s Hollywood Auction 37 was held Thursday and Friday, which offered a number of original television and movie props, costumes, and other memorabilia. The auction was held on site at the Profiles in History offices in Calabasas Hills, with off-site bidding available over the Internet via iCollector, as well as direct via mail, fax, and by phone.
Prior Original Prop Blog coverage on the event – including interviews with Joe Maddalena and high resolution photos and video – can be found here:
iCollector
With this event, Profiles has left LiveAuctioneers (which handled their April/May 2009 auctions) and now partners with iCollector for their online bidding partner (after years of using the now defunct eBay Live Auctions).
In watching the auction, it is my opinion that iCollector has improved greatly over the past year, and is much preferred to LiveAuctioneers.
While streaming video was not employed with this event, iCollector does have the capability, and I know from talking with Profiles in History that it is a feature that they are working to add to the experience in the future.
Below is a sample screencapture of the iCollector online live bidding window:
Compared with my observations of the service as employed in a Premiere Props auction earlier this year (see “Underworld” Live Auction: Impressions of The Event, Premiere Props, & The iCollector Service), there does seem to be some improvement, and I think the fact that the video was not embedded in the same window in the Premiere Props event (and was of a low quality), it detracted from the experience with that event and left me with a much more unfavorable opinion.
With this week’s event, sans video, it appeared very functional and serviceable, though I still prefer the Auction Network software and remarkable video and production values (though I am unsure if they are even servicing this space at this point – they appear to be focused on real estate auctions). In any event, the iCollector bidding functionality appears robust with features and, in my experience as a viewer (not a bidding participant), it was glitch-free. I also did not observe any “lag” that I have seen previously with other only bidding providers (i.e. the “last call” seemed to allow enough time for online participants to compete).
All results for this event can be found at iCollector.com:
Based on a review of the results, I would offer the opinion that, directly following the December 2008 event, this is the third of their regularly scheduled auction events which reflects the downturn of the global economy. Though, as we saw with the Spring 2009 sale, there are always some surprises, and some marquee pieces did quite well.
As has been the consistently been the case, Profiles continues to be the venue that realizes benchmark values for the original prop and wardrobe hobby. But with this sale, there were some notably lower values on some pieces and some passed lots as well, which reflects the overall state of the economy.
“Hollywood Auction 37”
This catalog represents the second of just two primary auctions held by Profiles this year (with three auctions typically taking place in the Spring, Summer, and Winter). In addition, also special to this auction were selections from key principals in the entertainment industry as well as studios, including Stan Winston Studios, George Pal, Paramount Studios, Stephen Sommers, Bay Films, and Richard Edlund.
Day 1
Day 1 of this catalog, as is tradition, included hundreds of photos, portraits, negatives, title cards, lobby cards, posters, one-sheets, costume sketches, storyboard art, concept art, production art, poster art, scripts, and other memorabilia. As this is not material that is the focus of the OPB, I do not review any of this in depth.
Of note, the cover-featured item, a Dracula poster, was pulled prior to auction (see “1931″ Dracula One Sheet Poster Determined to be Fake, Pulled from Next Week’s Profiles in History Auction), as reported on previously.
Day 2
Day 2 is the content that is of primary interest to the Original Prop Blog – original props, wardrobe, and other assets from film and television.
NOTE: Prices realized as listed below do not reflect the Buyer’s Premium of 15%-18%, which is added to the hammer price.
George Pal Puppets/Puppetoons
Among the many lots featuring pieces from George Pal’s “Puppetoons” films, highlights included:
- Lot 568 – $13,000 – “Collection of 40+ puppet elements from The Gay Knighties”
- Lot 572 – $22,500 – “Collection of 22 “Screwballs” puppets from Tulips Shall Grow and Bravo, Mr. Strauss”
- Lot 574 – $15,000 – “Collection of 100+ puppet elements from Mr. Strauss Takes a Walk and Bravo, Mr. Strauss”
- Lot 576 – $17,000 – “Collection of 50+ puppet elements from John Henry and the Inky-Poo”
- Lot 578 – $22,500 – “Collection of 50+ puppets from Wilbur the Lion”
- Lot 584 – $20,000 – “20 T-Rex puppets from The Beast of Hollow Mountain”
- Lot 585 – $60,000 – “Archive of 1,300+ puppets and set pieces from Emilio and His Magical Bull”
This collection of material did very well, as seen by the five figure values realized in the highlights above.
Vintage Era Memorabilia
Other vintage-era highlights include:
- Lot 586 – $60,000 – “Walker Edmiston archive of Time for Beany show puppets and memorabilia”
- Lot 589 – $50,000 – “John Steed derby hat from The Avengers”
- Lot 590 – $16,000 – “Robert Conrad “Jim West” complete signature costume from The Wild, Wild West”
- Lot 688 – $15,000 – “Charlton Heston signature “Ben-Hur” chariot racing helmet from Ben-Hur”
- Lot 690 – $45,000 – “Stephen Boyd complete “Messala” charioteer costume from the iconic chariot race sequence in Ben-Hur”
- Lot 706 – $42,500 – “Hero laser rifle from Forbidden Planet”
However, many of the vintage-era props and costumes did not garner high prices. As an example, the 1978-1979 Tonight Show Emmy went unsold, with a $12,000 start price. So much of this material was hit or miss.
Star Trek
There were a number of lots featuring pieces from the various Star Trek television series and films.
Lot 604, “The Largest Privately Held Photographic Archive of Star Trek Images”, sold for $20,000. Only a two other lots broke the five figure mark – Lot 613 a TOS Women’s Starfleet Uniform and Lot 627 a Hero Tricorder from ST:TNG – with other items selling for relatively modest prices and some lots being passed altogether.
Guns/Firearms
All four firearms used in HBO’s The Sopranos passed with no bids, likely a result of the high starting prices.
Similarly, the guns from The Professional (Lot 789, starting at $30,000), Judge Dredd (Lot 791, starting at $12,00), and The Fifth Element (Lot 804, starting at $15,000) all went unsold.
In the past, “real” firearms offered by Profiles have generally not performed well, with some speculation in the eBay Live Auctioneers era that it was due to their not being advertised and available for bids online due to eBay’s restrictions with real and real-looking firearms. In this case, with no such restrictions with iCollector, none of the available weapons sold, so it may be that there is not as much interest in such pieces or the high starting prices, or some combination thereof. Having said that, the real but “sci-fi-looking” Blade Runner pistol which was on the cover of the last auction did very well, selling for $225,000.
Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Action
The two Plant of the Apes costumes on display figures (Lots 714-715) passed with no bids at their $8,000 and $12,000 starting bids, as did the John Chambers mutant mask (Lot 716) with it’s $4,000 start bid.
The Christopher Reeve “Evil” Superman costume from Superman III (Lot 725) sold for $30,000.
The Harrison Ford bullwhip from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (Lot 735) commanded $47,500. Relative to prices in this range at this and other auctions, in my opinion this was a bargain for a piece that is truly iconic and with solid provenance. Also, provenance on key pieces would appear to continue to be of increasing relevance, in that another Indy whip with “Elstree/Norank” ties went unsold in the “Hollywood Auction 33” sale.
The original Alien stunt head (Lot 751) sold for $40,000.
The Batmobile filming miniature (Lot 815) sold for $30,000.
The two Kill Bill-related lots (855 – “Pair of Crazy 88 masks, Daryl Hannah nurse eye patch & Uma Thurman sword & scabbard” and 856 – “Crazy 88s katana sword from Kill Bill”) also passed unsold. With regards to the latter, I suspect overexposure may be one of the reasons, as I’ve personally seen that piece (or an identical one) offered for sale many times over the years on eBay and the RPF and Movie Prop Forum, and have never found any matching examples in study of the film.
The assortment of weapons from Daredevil (Lot 857) also passed unsold with the $12,00 starting price for the impressive assortment of pieces.
The two Austin Powers costumes, Austin Powers (Lot 834) and Dr. Evil (Lot 835) sold for $6,500 and $17,000 respectively.
Return of the Jedi Stormtrooper Helmet
One of the auction highlights, the original Stormtrooper helmet from Return of the Jedi (Lot 728), sold for $70,000.
This illustrates the remarkable rate at which key Star Wars pieces continue to rise in demand and value, year after year.
By way of benchmarks, two stormtrooper helmets from A New Hope were sold by Christies in 2005 for approximately $32,000 and $34,000 (including premium) and another from the John Mollo Collection realized approximately $34,000 in 2003.
In 2004, Christie’s auctioned another helmet that was used in both A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back – this realized approximately $25,ooo as was resold in Profiles in History in 2005 for $30,000 (note: this is the same helmet featured in yesterday’s article about the Out of this World exhibit).
Helmets from A New Hope and/or The Empire Strikes Back would generally be valued much higher than one from Return of the Jedi (though the one sold today is in incredible condition), so I believe this shows how much movement there continues to be in the value of key props and costumes from the original Star Wars trilogy, even in spite of the recession. The one sold today realized a price of more than double these other pieces sold in recent years, which is astonishing.
Costume Recap
Notable costumes that passed unsold with no bids include:
- Lot 736 – “Robert Englund complete “Freddy Kreuger” costume from A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” ($20,000 starting price)
- Lot 763 – “Gary Oldman signature “Count Dracula” silk suit from Dracula” ($15,000 starting price)
- Lot 784 – “Brandon Lee hero costume from The Crow” ($12,000 starting price)
- Lot 805 – “Michael Jai White “Spawn” hero battle suit and display from Spawn” ($12,000 starting price)
- Lot 807 – “Wesley Snipes hero “Blade” costume from Blade” ($12,000 starting price)
- Lot 811 – “Wesley Snipes hero “Blade” costume from Blade II” ($8,000 starting price)
- Lot 813 – “Wesley Snipes hero “Blade” costume from Blade: Trinity” ($8,000 starting price)
- Lot 814 – “Michael Keaton hero “Batman” costume and display from Batman Returns” ($60,000 starting price)
- Lot 822 – “Chris O’Donnell “Robin” ice suit from Batman & Robin” ($15,000 starting price)
- Lot 824 – “Arnold Schwarzenegger “Mr. Freeze” hero metal helmet” ($20,000 starting price)
- Lot 832 – “Complete Vin Diesel “Private Adrian Caparzo” costume from Saving Private Ryan” ($4,500 starting price)
- Lot 833 – “Complete Jeremy Davies “Cpl. Timothy E. Upham” costume from Saving Private Ryan” ($4,500 starting price)
- Lot 836 – “Female android airline stewardess costume from Bicentennial Man” ($4,000 starting price)
- Lot 849 – “Tom Hanks signature “Michael Sullivan” overcoat and black fedora from Road to Perdition” ($3,000 starting price)
- Lot 860 – “Heath Ledger vintage Hawaiian shirt from Lords of Dogtown” ($3,000 starting price)
- Lot 870 – “Tom Hanks complete hero costume with shoes from The Da Vinci Code” ($3,000 starting price)
Notable costumes from various franchises that did sell include:
- Lot 750 – $25,000 – “Bill Campbell “Cliff Secord” hero helmet and costume from The Rocketeer”
- Lot 794 – $12,000 – “Mel Gibson “William Wallace” signature kilt from Braveheart”
- Lot 844 – $25,000 – “Russell Crowe two hero costumes from Gladiator”
- Lot 847 – $11,000 – “Johnny Depp signature “Jack Sparrow” vest from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl”
- Lot 1060 – $20,000 – “Hero Headless Horseman costume from Sleepy Hollow”
Back to the Future
Back to the Future pieces did fairly well:
- Lot 738 – $20,000 – “Michael J. Fox “Marty McFly” jacket from Back to the Future II”
- Lot 739 – $4,000 – “DeLorean Plutonium fuel cell from Back to the Future”
- Lot 740 – $15,000 – “Lea Thompson “Lorraine Baines McFly” high school dress from Back to the Future”
- Lot 741 – $3,000 – “Crispin Glover “George McFly” period sport jacket from Back to the Future”
- Lot 742 – $6000 – “Original prop Grays Sports Almanac from Back to the Future II”
Terminator
There were some Terminator-related pieces consigned to the sale outside of the Stan Winston Collection pieces – highlights include:
- Lot 756 – $6,000 – “Hero Endo plasma rifle from Terminator 2: Judgment Day”
- Lot 757 – $47,500 – “Screen-used flying Hunter/Killer from Terminator 2: Judgment Day”
- Lot 758 – $6,000 – “Robert Patrick “T-1000” metal pointing finger from Terminator 2: Judgment Day”
Schindler’s List
The Schindler’s List pieces did not appear to perform well, with about half of items going unsold.
G.I. Joe
The lots from the recent G.I. Joe film did fairly well:
- Lot 871 – $6,000 – “Storm Shadow combat costume with 2 hero katana fighting swords from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
- Lot 872 – $4,500 – “Sienna Miller “Baroness” costume from G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra”
- Lot 873 – $3,500 – “Rachel Nichols “Shana ‘Scarlett’ O’Hara” hero combat costume from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
- Lot 874 – $1,700 – “Original G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra production clapboard signed by various members of the cast”
The costumes from G.I. Joe seemed to have performed better than comparable pieces from Transformers – could be a result from a variety of factors (three lots compared with dozens, the the robots are the main draw for the Transformers films while the human characters are from G.I. Joe, and/or the proceeds from the sale of these pieces benefited a school). The Storm Shadow lot also included two hero (metal) swords, which added to the value.
Stan Winston Studios
As seen in coverage leading up to this event, many of the pieces from Stan Winston Studios are very, very impressive. Highlights include:
- Lot 875 – $16,000 – “T-800 Terminator 1/3-scale endoskeleton statue”
- Lot 876 – $20,000 – “Screen-used hero T-800 Terminator endo arm and shoulder from The Terminator”
- Lot 877 – $15,000 – “Screen-used “close-up” T-800 Terminator endo eyes in skull assembly from Terminator 2: Judgment Day”
- Lot 880 – $40,000 – “Screen-used Terminator T-800 complete costume and display from Terminator 2: Judgment Day”
- Lot 881 – $80,000 – “Original hero screen-used T-800 endoskeleton from T2 3-D: Battle Across Time”
- Lot 882 – $60,000 – “Original full-scale T-800 endoskeleton from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
- Lot 884 – $40,000 – “Screen-used full-scale T-X “Terminatrix” endoskeleton from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
- Lot 885 – $18,000 – “Hero animatronic T-X “Terminatrix” endo skull and neck from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
- Lot 888 – $10,000 – “Kristanna Loken “T-X” Terminator Circular Saw arm & Plasma Cannon arm from Terminator 3”
- Lot 890 – $40,000 – “Full-size “Predator” display from Predator and Predator 2”
- Lot 892 – $40,000 – “T-Rex maquette from Jurassic Park”
- Lot 893 – $65,000 – “Full-scale Velociraptor maquette from Jurassic Park”
- Lot 895 – $13,000 – “Pair of screen-used Compsognathus (Compy) puppets from The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2”
- Lot 896 – $42,500 – “Full-scale male T-Rex head display from Jurassic Park”
- Lot 923 – $30,000 – “Screen-used Robot from Zathura: A Space Adventure”
- Lot 927 – $27,500 – “Screen-used animatronic E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial puppet used in BT television commercials”
Among concept art by Mark “Crash” McCreery, the highest price realized was Lot 942 – the full-figure Edward Scissorhands drawing – which fetched $15,000 (strangely, the “hands” drawing, Lot 943, went unsold with a starting price of $800).
Richard Edlund
Highlights among the pieces consigned by Richard Edlund:
- Lot 964 – $6,000 – “Complete rolling camera dolly used for filming Star Wars”
- Lot 965 – $9,000 – “Original screen-used sectional piece of the Death Star surface from Star Wars”
- Lot 969 – $4,750 – “Ronald Lacey “Major Arnold Toht” prop melting skull from Raiders of the Lost Ark”
- Lot 971 – $16,000 – “Gozer Temple filming miniature from Ghostbusters”
- Lot 972 – $8,500 – “Gozer Temple matte painting from Ghostbusters”
- Lot 973 – $4,500 – “Pair of Sta-Puft marshmallow man face armatures from Ghost Busters”
- Lot 974 – $3,250 – “Library ghost armature from Ghostbusters”
- Lot 978 – $65,000 – “Large-scale model of front section of Discovery ship from 2010”
- Lot 989 – $12,000 – “Skeletor’s barge from Masters of the Universe”
- Lot 1003 – $13,000 – “Sylvester Stallone “kicker puppet” from Cliffhanger”
Nightmare Before Christmas
Pieces from the film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, generally do very well at auction with Profiles in History, and this event offered a number of lots. As an example, in the last auction, a miniature duck sold for $32,500. Highlights from this event include:
- Lot 1021 – $27,500 – “Santa Jack’s gift list naming crew members from The Nightmare Before Christmas”
- Lot 1036 – $27,500 – “Werewolf puppet from The Nightmare Before Christmas”
- Lot 1044 – $40,000 – “Screen-used Oogie Boogie stop-motion puppet from The Nightmare Before Christmas”
- Lot 1045 – $55,000 – “Oogie Boogie puppet from The Nightmare Before Christmas”
- Lot 1055 – $30,000 – “Pair of Real World Disney pajama kid puppets from The Nightmare Before Christmas”
However, some pieces sold for less than one might expect, and a few items did pass with no bids.
Transformers
Included in this auction were approximately 80 lots made up of assets from Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen from Producer/Director Michael Bay and Paramount Pictures.
Overall, there were few stand outs in terms of prices realized, with many items selling for less than $100 and quite a large percentage of passed lots. However, this can be attributed to the fact that there were such a large number of items, which includes more “common pieces”, as well as the fact that the pieces are from recent films.
Material such as this is frequently handled by “studio reseller” agents with the bulk of the pieces auctioned with no reserves on eBay, so the prices here may reflect that and a different buyer profile with Profiles in History.
The Megan Fox costumes, which were expected to be some of the more popular items, sold for between $1,700 to $3,750. Most of the Shia LeBeouf costumes went unsold, event with $400 to $600 starting prices. Overall, the costumes did not seem to do very well at all. Nearly all of the weapons sold for under $1,000.
The top two pieces were Bumblebee in car mode (a real 1977 Chevy Camaro, Lot 1145) which sold for $27,500 and the 16 foot 1:1 scale Bumblebee robot, which sold for $75,000.
No other items broke the five figure mark, and very few items sold for over $1,000.
Non-Film/Television Memorabilia
The auction closed with some material that is not of particular interest to the Original Prop Blog – a series of Michael Jackson items (the top piece being the illumination glove (Lot 1163), which sold for the opening bid of $60,000, some Elvis memorabilia (a karate gi that sold for $25,000 and guitar that fetched $90,000) and wardrobe from more modern acts (Fergie, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake – all unsold).
The much publicized Amelia Earhart flight goggles (Lot 1180) sold for $120,000.
Concluding Remarks
Overall, as with the last sale in the Spring, the results do appear to be mixed.
I think one benefit in favor of Profiles was the fact that this was the first sale since April/May 2009, and last of two instead of three sales this year, so that should have brought in more concentrated resources.
In my view, the items that performed best are those from principals in the industry and those in which provenance is not a question or concern. This would include the lots from Stan Winston Studios and the Richard Edlund consignments, as well as collections like the George Pal puppets.
Conversely, provenance is not everything, as the Transformers pieces – direct from Paramount Pictures – would appear to have underperformed. Assets from newer releases in large quantities may not have as much of a draw for the Profiles audience, which I would imagine are generally well-financed and more challenging to impress, seeking more iconic pieces from time-tested and proven properties. It will be interesting to see how the LOST auction unfolds by comparison, in that it is comparable, yet different. With a standalone auction and venue and promotion direct to those fans, the sale of the assets from ABC/Disney’s LOST, I predict, will be much more successful compared with including a large number of lots of Transformers pieces within the larger, traditional Profiles event.
As noted above, the Stormtrooper helmet sets a new benchmark for Original Trilogy Star Wars and that specific type of piece in particular.
I am a little surprised that the Indy whip did not perform a bit better, in that Indiana Jones is as classic and timeless as Star Wars (at least the first three films), and with that property, it really comes down to Indy’s outfit and accessories, and a few key props, whereas Star Wars has a seemingly infinite number of highly recognizable and important props and costumes. With Indiana Jones, I would put forth that the whip would be the top item from the franchise.
In any event, it was a very impressive catalog and interesting auction to watch, and enjoyed the real-time chat session with other collectors on the Original Prop Community forum as the action unfolded.
As was the case with the Spring auction, given the poor state of the economy and continuing uncertainty, the sale of many, many pieces of memorabilia for thousands and tens of thousands of dollars is quite a feat, and as always serves as a barometer of the state of the hobby and trends in demand and values in the marketplace.
Jason De Bord