The print and online catalogs are now available for Prop Store’s second annual Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction. It will be held at the Odeon BFI IMAX in Waterloo, London on September 23rd. The live event features more than 450 lots of props, costumes and other film and television memorabilia. [Read more…]
Prop Store’s second annual Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction will be held at the Odeon BFI IMAX in Waterloo, London on September 23rd. The live event will feature more than 450 lots of props, costumes and other film and television memorabilia. The catalog is due out on September 26th, and there will be a two week long exhibition leading up to the auction. [Read more…]
Official Pix is offering their first signing opportunity to get autographs and personalized sketches from Colin Cantwell. At 82 years old today, Colin Cantwell famously made the first prototype models for the first Star Wars films for George Lucas back in 1974/1975; the first realizations for the X-Wing Fighter, the Y-Wing Fighter, the Tie Fighter, the Star Destroyer, the Death Star, the Landspeeder, the Sandcrawler, and the Millennium Falcon, as well as the T-16 Skyhopper that Mark Hamill is seen using in the final cut of the film. Prior to building these prototype models, Colin created original full color artwork as well as sketches based on his discussions with George Lucas in 1974, and was one of the very first artists to work on Star Wars. I worked with Mr. Cantwell in 2014, helping him to bring some rare memorabilia to auction with Julien’s Auctions as well as recording a number of video interview with him about his work in and out of the film and television industries (see all Original Prop Blog articles about Colin Cantwell here: LINK). [Read more…]
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…]
“Cocksucker”… “Motherfucker”… “Asshole”… Just a few of the expletives shouted at me by Joe Maddalena, President of Profiles in History, on the floor of the main exhibit hall at Comic Con yesterday. I was in the midst of a friendly conversation with Brian Chanes and his 9 year old son, with my own 14 year old nephew standing behind me when Mr. Maddalena approached me and interrupted us, attacking me with “R-Rated” language in front of a crowd of onlookers. As registered press with Comic Con International, I had additionally been personally invited via e-mail by Profiles in History’s own public relations agent to do my annual report on their exhibit this year – “[w]e would appreciate your coverage” – so I have no idea what prompted the very public barrage of insults and being told “get out!” and “leave!”. He even shouted “you can quote me on that!” following some of the expletives. Regardless, their overall exhibit is probably the best it has ever looked, with fewer items, some nicely showcased in well-lit closed displays and larger ones in open air, with room to walk about and explore the collection of material associated with McCune Masterworks, who are co-branded with this year’s exhibition. The key piece on display was the fantastic screen-used Blockade Runner from the original Star Wars film, Episode IV: A New Hope. [Read more…]
This is part of my ongoing coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2015. This is an off year for Marvel Entertainment, meaning that they elected to not have much of a presence or major announcements at Comic Con this time around. They do have a giant space on the exhibitor floor, so rather than vacate it completely, they brought their stage and one costume for display – one of the Ant-Man costumes from the film of the same name, due to hit theaters on July 17th. DC Entertainment, in contrast, have a lot going on at their own space within Comic Con, with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman costumes (duplicated at their two booths) from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as well as a variety of costumes from their television series The Flash and Arrow (see prior article). With Disney owning both Marvel Entertainment and Star Wars, it might be more about competing with Comic Con than anything else (there is not much Star Wars activity this time around, and with the conclusion of Celebration in April, they announced the 2016 Celebration will be held in London just a week after next year’s Comic Con. [Read more…]
ScreenUsed will be concluding their next live online auction on July 18th. The auction catalog is now available online in your web browser or via a PDF download on their official website and collectors can bid on iCollector. Featuring an assortment of original props, costumes, and other production material and memorabilia from film and television, this auction includes 425 lots. As with their past auctions, ScreenUsed strive to have lower starting prices than many competing auctions, no estimates and no reserves. [Read more…]
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…]