The massive Profiles in History “Icons & Legends of Hollywood” four day auction concluded on Friday, and it certainly illustrates some different results when compared to past sales held by the entertainment memorabilia auction house. With over 2,000 lots, it was a tremendous amount of material for the market to absorb all at once, and I suspect that this was reflected in the results. Though the official results have not yet been published on the official Profiles website as of the time of this writing, in going through the results published by internet bidding partner iCollector (and under the assumption that these results also reflect floor and phone bids), it would appear that approximately 45% of the lots were passed over with no bids. I counted approximately 922 unsold lots, and adding up the total it appears that in the final sale that there were 2,050 lots (with 39 lots pulled prior to auction?)… But the other compounding factor is how many lots were sold for far less than one might expect based on past sales. Items that would ordinarily pull in $5,000+ were going for under $2,000 and sometimes even under $1,000. With so much to choose from, it may have become a buyer’s market and it seemed as though some collectors were looking for deals – and finding them.
However, it seemed as though Profiles in many cases moved away from the “jackpot” reserve/estimate model (with a perceived higher than market value minimum bid required, so as to only require one bidder for a lot to realize a very high price), as many of the reserves/estimates on the lower and mid-level material seemed quite reasonable.
Of course, there was the periodic “home run” result, but these were few and far between overall, and there were some big misses in this regard as well.
I was fascinated reading the chat from collectors in various groups/forums as the sale carried on, as the reactions were quite different from what I’ve come to expect from these big Profiles events.
Leading into the auction, there was significant talk about issues with authentication and some of the descriptions as well as some pieces being outright wrong (leading out with the Obi-Wan lightsaber being pulled the same day the catalog was released online, and hence a number of lots being pulled pre-auction), so there was some added caution among savvy buyers, feeling an even bigger burden than usual to do their own research on lots that they were interested in buying (which everyone should always do anyway, regardless of the auction house).
Of course, one of the perplexing elements of this sale was the fact that a significant number of lots (though certainly not all) were identified by collectors as pieces from Planet Hollywood, yet “Planet Hollywood” appears no where in the catalog and auction descriptions. So that critical piece of the history of the related items was not declared in the descriptions, and in some cases may be lost on the winning bidders of these items. In this market, provenance and authenticity is everything, and in this case, a critical piece of information was not provided to potential buyers.
More, there is specific history with some of the pieces coming from Planet Hollywood that was lost in the translation. As an example, prior to the auction I was in communication with Jim Latta, who worked with Planet Hollywood in acquisitions back in the day. A friend of mine was interested in a high end piece in the auction, so I asked Jim about it. He remembered that he was asked to take the lead in its restoration, as it was incomplete. None of this history regarding restoration was part of the auction description.
I had a number of people reach out to me with specific concerns about specific pieces; some of these were pulled prior to auction and some were not.
I took a cursory skim through the results published on iCollector and have prepared some examples and highlights below… All results include Buyer’s Premium.
Home Runs:
- Lot 380 Charlton Heston “Judah Ben-Hur” practice chariot from Ben-Hur – $153,600
- Lot 530 Cesar Romero “The Joker” costume from Batman – $89,600
- Lot 611 Jane Fonda “Barbarella” futuristic rifle from Barbarella – $281,600
- Lot 612 Jane Fonda “Barbarella” space rifle from the 1968 Life Magazine cover feature on Barbarella – $89,600
- Lot 732 Roy Scheider “Brody” M1 Garand rifle from Jaws – $89,600
- Lot 776 Alec Guinness “Obi-Wan ‘Ben’ Kenobi” screen used Lightsaber chest from Star Wars: A New Hope – $140,800
- Lot 779 Industrial Light and Magic “Death Star” model from Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – $256,000
- Lot 858 Sigourney Weaver “Ellen Ripley” spacesuit from Alien – $204,800
- Lot 859 Sigourney Weaver “Ellen Ripley” flamethrower from Aliens – $108,000
- Lot 997 Ed Harris “John Glenn” Spacesuit from The Right Stuff – $60,800
- Lot 998 Clint Eastwood “Harry Callahan” Smith & Wesson .44 magnum revolver with case from Sudden Impact – $89,600
- Lot 1323 Arnold Schwarzenegger “Terminator” screen-used 1991 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle from T2 – $512,000
- Lot 1608 The hero GM Bus “2525” from Speed – $102,400
- Lot 1909 Rowan Atkinson “Mr. Bean” British Leyland Mini 1000 from Bean – $89,600
High Profile Pass:
- Lot 154 Olivia de Havilland “Melanie Hamilton” nightgown from Gone With the Wind – UNSOLD (est. $20,000-$30,000)
- Lot 340 James Dean “Jett Rink” tuxedo ensemble and accessories from Giant – UNSOLD (Est. $25,000-$35,000)
- Lot 519 Luke Perry “Dylan McKay” 1964 covertible Porsche from Beverly Hills, 90210 – UNSOLD (Est. $60,000-$80,000)
- Lot 777 Industrial Light and Magic life-size “C-3PO” from Star Wars – UNSOLD (Est. $60,000-$80,000)
- Lot 778 Industrial Light and Magic life-size “Darth Vader” figure from Star Wars – UNSOLD (Est. $60,000-$80,000)
- Lot 868 Screen-used Colonial Marines “Drop-ship” filming miniature from Aliens – UNSOLD (Est. $150,000-$250,000)
- Lot 895 Modified 1973 “Herbie” Volkswagen Beetle from Herbie Goes Bananas – UNSOLD (Est. $80,000-$120,000)
- Lot 977 Richard Gere “Zack Mayo” 1978 Triumph Bonneville 750 from An Officer and a Gentleman – UNSOLD (Est. $30,000-$50,000)
- Lot 1236 Michael J. Fox “Marty McFly” Western costume from Back to the Future Part III – UNSOLD (Est. $20,000-$30,000)
- Lot 1708 “Saracen” screen-used tank prop vehicle from Judge Dredd – UNSOLD (Est. $30,000-$50,000)
- Lot 1933 Jupiter-1 spacecraft hero filming miniature from Lost in Space – UNSOLD (Est. $30,000-$50,000)
Overall, this is the breakdown by bracket:
- Six Figure sales ($100,000+): 9 lots or 0.4% of the total
- Five Figure sales ($10,000-$99,999): 93 lots or 4.5% of the total
- Four Figure sales ($1,000-$9,999): 654 lots or 32% of the total
- Three Figure sales ($100-$999): 372 lots or 18% of the total
- UNSOLD ($0): 922 lots or 45% of the total
Again, I am assuming that the iCollector results also reflect floor and phone bidders.
Per the Associated Press, the total for the sale was $6M.
Profiles in History has rightfully cultivated a reputation over the years of being THE go to auction house to get the highest (and sometimes “home run” and “jackpot”) results for your genre (sci-fi, action, fantasy, horror, etc) props and costumes. While it is only one auction event, the management and results of this auction may alter that perception somewhat. With almost half of lots passed and many going for below typical market value, it does not create a great sales pitch to future consignors. More, their auctions seem to be getting bigger and bigger… creating a perception that there is way too much to promote pre-auction, and maybe too much for the market to absorb in one event. Great pieces could easily get lost in the shuffle. But this would attract buyers looking for deals. So maybe a shift from seller’s market to buyer’s market.
I would imagine that if this sale was broken into two events – even if they were held just a few weeks apart – the pass rate would not have been as high, and the (relatively) lower end of the spectrum would have fared better. But this is just my third party opinion (as someone who is not in the auction business).
It will be interesting to see if this is the start of an ongoing series of Planet Hollywood auctions or a one off event.
Jason DeBord