A customer of Profiles in History, Dwight Manley, has this week filed a lawsuit against the auction house in Los Angeles Superior Court. Manley is suing over a costume worn by James Gandolfini in the final episode of The Sopranos, and has also named The Golden Closet as a Defendant as the company was the consignor of the item in question. His complaint alleges fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of express warranty. [Read more…]
Arguably the most exciting piece that ScreenBid has brought to auction to date is this original Spider-Man costume worn by Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and provided by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE). The timed online-only auction is scheduled to end on December 18th at 6:00 AM PST. 90% of the hammer price from the auction (prior to 24% buyer’s premium) will benefit Toys for Tots Foundation. [Read more…]
The Denver Post published a nice piece by John Wenzel about Colin Cantwell last week, going over his contributions to Star Wars: A New Hope and other accomplishments. You can check it out on their official website: “He kept his Star Wars legacy a secret in Boulder for decades. At 85, the sci-fi pioneer is ready to step out.“ [Read more…]
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 Today, the lot is marked as “WITHDRAWN” on the item page.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…]
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…]
With Profiles in History doing fewer and fewer (and bigger and bigger) Hollywood auctions – relative to past years – it was a big question within the market as to how well this massive three-day sale would do. With nearly 2,000 lots, some with estimates exceeding $1M, it was a tremendous amount of high end material for this market to absorb over the course of a few days. While there were “hits” and “misses”, as there are with every big auction by the leading auction houses, there was a fair share of “home runs” that auctioneers dream of and that can leave some collectors with their jaws on the floor… [Read more…]
Profiles in History have announced their latest “Hollywood Auction” event, built upon a 672 page auction catalog featuring 1,981 lots. Participants can bid online at Invaluable.com. The three-day auction will be held June 26th, 27th, and 28th. [Read more…]
This is part of my ongoing coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2016. This year, auction house Profiles in History had an all-artwork exhibit, with pieces from their upcoming Frank Darabont Collection on display, including Frank Frazetta works among the highlights. Profiles has marketed “Sea Witch” as “The Only Million Dollar Art Piece at Comic-Con” and “The Single Most Important and Most Valuable Frazetta Painting to EVER be Offered At Auction (pre-sale estimate of $1,000,000 – $1,500,000)”, so it will be interesting to see if it meets the reserve at the July 30th auction. I have been reporting on Profiles in History as registered press at Comic Con International every year for the past nine years (see articles from 2008, 2009 Part 1 & 2009 Part 2, 2010 Part 1 & 2010 Part 2, 2011, 2012, 2013 Part 1 & 2013 Part 2, 2014, 2015), but this is the first in which they did not exhibit any TV and/or movie props and costumes. [Read more…]