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

By

WITHDRAWN: Bonhams Pulls “A Luke Skywalker Lightsaber used in Return of the Jedi” from “TCM Presents… Out Of This World!” Auction

Last week The Original Prop Blog published an article about the “A Luke Skywalker Lightsaber used in Return of the Jedi” prop up for public auction in their current “TCM Presents … Out of This World!” event scheduled to conclude on November 21st.  The description in the online catalog had been edited to remove the (vague) details about the provenance, and the piece in question seems to match a “Return of the Jedi” lightsaber prop that I wrote about in 2013 that was offered for sale on eBay and seemed to have a connection with Elstree Props.  Today, the lot is marked as “WITHDRAWN” on the item page. [Read more…]

By

“A Luke Skywalker Lightsaber used in Return of the Jedi” in Current Bonhams Auction Raises Questions

Bonhams has put up a piece for public auction in their current “TCM Presents … Out of This World!” event scheduled to conclude on November 21st – a prop which they describe as “A Luke Skywalker Lightsaber used in Return of the Jedi”.  The description in the online catalog has been edited to remove the (vague) details about the provenance, and the piece in question seems to match a “Return of the Jedi” lightsaber prop that I wrote about in 2013 that was offered for sale on eBay and seemed to have a connection with Elstree Props (and went unsold with a high bid of $5,101 not reaching the reserve).  The 2013 article about that “Return of the Jedi” lightsaber was one of a series of features published on the Original Prop Blog specifically about Elstree Props and lightsaber props attributed to Return of the Jedi (I even had an opportunity to ask Mark Hamill himself about one of these props at San Diego Comic Con in 2009). [Read more…]

By

Premiere Props ‘Hollywood VIP Auction III’ Auction Catalog Online, Television & Movie Prop and Costume Sale Event August 23

Premiere-Props-Hollywood-VIP-Auction-August-2014-Movie-Prop-Costume-Sale-Event-x380

Premiere Props have listed their next auction with online bidding partners iCollector, Invaluable (formerly ArtFact), and proxibid (replacing LiveAuctioneers) as part of their “Hollywood VIP Auction III”. The two-day auction is scheduled for August 23rd.  As with past auctions, the sale includes a mix of original props, costumes, and other film and television artifacts, as well as general Hollywood Memorabilia, all in no order or rhyme or reason apparent as to sequence or grouping. “Movie Props DNA (MPDNA)”, which seems to come and go with these sale events, is no where to be found in the lot descriptions this time around save for two lots (Lot #183 and Lot #224) out of more than 500. [Read more…]

By

Premiere Props ‘Hollywood Extravaganza XIV’ Auction Catalog Online, Television & Movie Prop and Costume Sale Event June 21-22

Premiere-Props-Hollywood-Auction-Extravaganza-XIV-June-2014-Movie-Prop-DNA-Costume-Sale-Event-MPDNA-x380-

Premiere Props have listed their next auction with online bidding partners iCollector, LiveAuctioneers, and Invaluable (formerly ArtFact) as part of their “Hollywood Extravaganza XIV”. The two-day auction is scheduled for June 21-22. As per usual, with less than a month before the sale, presumably a fraction of the full list of items have been put online as part of these auction catalogs. As with past auctions, the sale includes a mix of original props, costumes, and other film and television artifacts, as well as general Hollywood Memorabilia. “Movie Props DNA (MPDNA)”, which appeared absent in recent sales, is back and noted within some of the lot descriptions. [Read more…]

By

Premiere Props ‘Hollywood Extravaganza XIII’ Auction Catalog Online, Television & Movie Prop and Costume Sale Event March 22-23

Premiere-Props-Hollwyood-Extravaganza-XIII-Auction-iCollector-Invaluable-Artfact-LiveAuctioneers-TV-Movie-Prop-x380

Premiere Props have listed their next auction with online bidding partners iCollector, LiveAuctioneers, and Invaluable (formerly ArtFact) as part of their “Hollywood Extravaganza XIII”. The two-day auction is scheduled for this weekend, March 22-23.  The sale advertises over 1,000 lots (which includes a lot of autographed, posters, baseballs, and other memorabilia). As with past auctions, the sale includes a mix of original props, costumes, and other film and television artifacts, as well as general Hollywood Memorabilia. There are many vintage off the shelf antiques attributed to film and television productions with no explanation as to how and why such claims are made (like an ice cream scooper attributed to Back to the Future, a starfish from Jaws 2, or a Happy Days wooden box).  Can someone produce a screencap of this helmet used in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers? [Read more…]

By

Premiere Props ‘Hollywood Extravaganza XII’ Auction Catalog Online, Television & Movie Prop and Costume Sale Event November 23-24

Premiere-Props-Hollywood-Extravaganza-IXII-TV-Movie-Prop-Costume-Hollywood-Memorabilia-Live-Auction-Catalog-x380

Premiere Props have listed their next auction with online bidding partners iCollector, LiveAuctioneers, and ArtFact as part of their “Hollywood Extravaganza XII”. The two-day auction is scheduled for November 23-24, currently featuring over 1,000 lots (though it appears more than half of that are not props and costumes but comic books, posters, and other memorabilia). As with past auctions, the sale includes a mix of original props, costumes, and other film and television artifacts, as well as general Hollywood Memorabilia.  There are many vintage off the shelf antiques attributed to film and television productions with no explanation as to how and why such claims are made. [Read more…]

By

Premiere Props Does Soft Launch of New “MovieProps DNA (MPDNA)” Authentication System with DNA Ink and “Panel of Industry Experts”

Premiere-Props-MovieProps-DNA-MPDNA-Auction-DNA-Ink-Certificate-Authentication-COA-x380

As is their usual procedure, Premiere Props has put up a portion of the lots for their upcoming sale (Hollywood Extravaganza XI on September 28-29) with online bidding partner iCollector, though with these lots each includes boilerplate information about authentication that has not been part of past auctions.  Back in May, I made a public and literal plea for Premiere Props to put a real and substantive effort into authentication of their consignor-based auction material, and whether or not it is merely coincidental, it appears that they are doing just that starting with this upcoming auction, with “a panel of industry experts not affiliated with Premiere Props” called MovieProps DNA (MPDNA).  While the “soft launch” of these changes raises many questions (which I will outline below), it is certain a significant step in the right direction. [Read more…]

By

Yet Another Luke Skywalker “Screen Used” Return of the Jedi Lightsaber Movie Prop with Elstree Studios/Elstree Props/Danziger Collection Connections Surfaces on eBay

Piece-of-the-Stars-Memorabilia-Elstree-Props-Elstree-Studios-eBay-Auction-Star-Wars-Return-of-the-Jedi-Lightsaber-COA-x380

Continuing a long line of “screen used” Luke Skywalker prop lightsabers attributed to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi with connections to Elstree Studios/Elstree Props/The Danziger Collection, yet another one has surfaced for sale on eBay.  Although there are photos of the prop and related documents and certificates of authenticity (COAs) from “Piece of the Stars Memorabilia” (a company I have never heard of before), of course the resolution of these images are limited to 500px × 375px (do cameras still exist today that shoot at such a low resolution?), rendering examination challenging, to say the least.  In the interests of public debate and discussion, Original Prop Blog has long documented the public sale offerings of other prop lightsabers attributed to Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi that have similar origins and associations, which can be found HERE. [Read more…]