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

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Profiles in History’s “Easy Rider” Movie Prop Captain America Motorcycle at Auction: Sold for $1.35 Million… or Not Sold?

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There was a tremendous amount of pre-auction mainstream media coverage about the motorcycle put on the auction block by Profiles in History last month, a lot of it generated from an AP story picked up by many news outlets that was titled “‘Easy Rider’ chopper at auction might be phony” (as of this time, that keyword search is resulting in 22,500 hits on Google).  The day of the auction, and for a few days following, the most used headline was a variation on proclamations that it sold for $1.35 million.  But, as a matter of public record, did it really sell?  And if not, why has no media outlet (to my knowledge) reported on the sale falling through? [Read more…]

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Gallerist Feature Tackles Auction House (Hidden) Reserves and Transparency – Heritage Auctions Leading in This Regard with Publicly Disclosed Reserves

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Daniel Grant, writing for Gallerist, published an interesting article a few days ago about auction houses, reserves, and transparency (see “How Low Can You Go?: Should Auction Reserve Prices Be More Transparent?”).  In his feature, he talks about how in nearly all cases, auction houses do not openly disclose the reserve (the lowest amount for which an item will sell at auction), and provides a variety of differing perspectives on how this practice impacts their respective markets and its participants.  Of the auction houses specifically discussed in the article, only one – Heritage Auction – makes it known to the public what the reserve price is for every item that they offer for sale. [Read more…]

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New York Times Article Highlights Issues of Auction Oversight & Transparency; Discusses Use of Chandelier and Sham Bids in Art Market

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This week The New York Times published an interesting article (“As Art Values Rise, So Do Concerns About Market’s Oversight”) about customs in the high end art market auction world that are not favorable to consumers.  Though the article is specific to the art market and New York (and their own laws, rules, and regulations), some of the issues are very much the same ones we face in the original film and television artifacts market, and is “must” reading for anyone involved in buying and selling original TV and movie props, costumes and other production material sold in the marketplace. [Read more…]

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eBay Shill Bidder Ordered By Judge To Pay £5,000

As reported back in April (see New eBay Legal Development in the UK – Seller to be Fined up to £50,000 for Shill Bidding), an eBay seller in the UK, Paul Barrett, plead guilty to shill bidding his own auctions. Yesterday, the judge in the case ordered Barrett to pay £5,000 in fines and court costs and to do 250 hours of community service. [Read more…]

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New eBay Legal Development in the UK – Seller to be Fined up to £50,000 for Shill Bidding

The latest in a series of interesting legal developments related to eBay in the past few years, breaking news today is the case of an eBay seller in the UK who faces up to £50,000 in fines for shill bidding his own auctions.  The Daily Mail reports this is the first case in which someone is being fined for such activities. [Read more…]

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Update on New York State Assembly Bill A01730/S4313B: Seeks More Transparency For Auction Houses

This article serves as an update to a feature published one year ago (see Latest Version of New York State Assembly Bill A01730: Seeks Prohibition of Auction House “Sham” Bids Without Disclosure).  [Read more…]

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Annual Holiday Warning About Buying Fake and Fraudulent Movie Props, Costumes, and Memorabilia as Gifts

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Since today is “Black Friday”, I thought it would be appropriate to republish an editorial that I posted last year as the holiday season approached, warning consumers against the purchase of television and movie props, costumes, and other assets as gifts for loved ones.  [Read more…]

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Classic Car Auction Company Kruse International Rates “F” with Better Business Bureau Leading Into Labor Day Event

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The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Indiana reports that classic car auction company Kruse International has been the subject of numerous complaints with the Better Business Bureau by consignors who claim that the auction house has failed to make timely payments on sold goods.  Owner and CEO Dean Kruse acknowledges the problem and pledges that debts owned to consignors from past events will be paid following this Labor Day’s annual auction event. [Read more…]