My personal thoughts and feelings about Stan Lee and his contributions to comic books and pop culture. Growing up with Marvel Comics. Stan Lee passed away yesterday at the age of 95. [Read more…]
ScreenUsed Closed
Truly pioneers in this art market for the past 15 years, the men behind online retailer and auction house ScreenUsed have been viewed by myself and many others as “collectors first”, as their passion for the artifacts that they’ve found, archived, and brought to market has always been quite evident if you’ve ever had the opportunity to talk with either of them in person or on the phone. These have always been two guys that love film and television, and have always been excited by the magic of holding something special from a favorite movie or TV show. Today, visitors to their famous website at www.ScreenUsed.com learned that they’ve decided to close up shop. [Read more…]
Hollywood Reporter Feature: “A Marvel Heist and the Booming Business (and Seedy Underworld) of Movie Collectibles”
Writer Gary Baum has written an interesting primer on the art market for original production material from film and television for Hollywood Reporter, which was published today. It takes a look at the market from several viewpoints – the increasing market and values, theft and fraud, some of the motivations behind collecting – and he interviewed principals in the industry such as Max Anderson of the Stan Lee Museum, Steve Sansweet of Rancho Obi-Wan, Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions, James Comisar of the Comisar Collection, Joe Maddalena of Profiles in History, collector David Mandel, Jeff Pirtle of NBCUniversal, Brandon Alinger of Prop Store, Catherin Williamson of Bonhams, Laura Woolley of The Collector’s Lab, Jacob McMurray of Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture, Margaret Barrett of Heritage Auctions as well as law enforcement, and it also gives some history of the hobby (and business) of buying and selling high end memorabilia. [Read more…]
Prop Store Holds Online Star Wars & Star Trek Blueprint Auction April 14th-28th
Today Prop Store announced their latest online sale, Star Wars & Star Trek Blueprint Auction. The catalog will be available on April 14th, with the auction concluding on April 28th. [Read more…]
WIRED’s Look Into Collecting the Most Iconic Franchise Movie Props in Modern Cinema
My friend Dan Lanigan is the focus of a new article published by WIRED magazine titled “Inside the Deeply Nerdy—and Insanely Expensive—World of Hollywood Prop Collecting“. Written by Rene Chun with photography by Dan Winters, it takes a close look at select high end movie props… [Read more…]
Brandon Alinger Appears on Mark Hamill’s “Pop Culture Quest” with the Original Return of the Jedi Lightsaber Prop
GeekTyrant has a special sneak preview of an upcoming episode of Pop Culture Quest featuring Mark Hamill, who of course played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films. Prop Store’s Brandon Alinger appears with Mr. Hamill and shows him the original hero lightsaber that he used in Return of the Jedi, which was also used by Alec Guinness in A New Hope. You can check out a preview of the scene on YouTube. [Read more…]
San Diego Comic-Con 2015: Prop Store Exhibit of TV and Movie Props, Costumes, Models, Memorabilia (#SDCC)
This is part of my ongoing coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2015. Prop Store has an excellent exhibition this year, featuring a preview of material from their second annual live auction coming to London later this year. Heavy on action and sci-fi, it drew a constant crowd of Comic Con attendees, many of which are fans of these genre films. As with Star Wars Celebration earlier this year, Prop Store continue to find new and exciting Star Wars material, such as the stormtrooper helmet – the first time being offered to the public. [Read more…]
Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015: “Star Wars Original Props and Costumes” Discussion Panel
From Luke’s yellow ladder A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back to his hero lightsaber from Return of the Jedi, the “Star Wars Original Props and Costumes” discussion panel at Star Wars Celebration 2015 in Anaheim ran the gamut of obscure background props to the best of the best. Participants included Stephen Lane and Brandon Alinger from Prop Store, Tom Spina from Tom Spina Designs, and legendary collector Gus Lopez, creator of the Star Wars Collectors Archive. Each panelist took us through one of their own “prop story” tales, showcasing the background of one of the prized pieces in their own collection. Of note was that this was the first public announcement by Brandon Alinger that he owns what is essentially the hero Luke Skywalker lightsaber from Return of the Jedi, which was also used by Sir Alec Guiness in A New Hope as a fighting lightsaber (and not to be left out, it was also a practice dueling saber employed in The Empire Strikes Back). It was an incredible display of both knowledge and images, and overall it underscored the importance of collectors in tracking down, identifying, restoring and preserving these important pop culture artifacts. [Read more…]