I received an e-mail from Steve Knight of RareProps today in regards to my article inquiring as to the possibility of props from other WB productions being reused in the film, 300:
Mr. Knight was made aware of my article at the time of the auction. He did indeed update his marketing description before the close of the auction, which ended July 9th, and has now today informed me of this (an oversight on my part – I did not notice the edit).
Here is the amended language from the auction (“FRANK MILLER 300 original film prop Hero sword Ephialte“):
we have had certain questions regarding this sword and it is indeed similar to RUBBER weapons used in troy, we can confirm items from Troy and other movies were shipped for use on 300 , this also explains why there is no credited armourer this is not uncommon in the movie industry Eragon reused items from Kingdom Of Heaven, Blood Diamond reused items from Sahara etc etc This is the Hero Bronze sword used by Ephialtes in the film 300 telling the story of the Spartans battle with the Persians , this is very heavy solid bronze with costume tape on blade naming weapon to Ephialtes, , A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY IS ALSO INCLUDED
I appreciate Mr. Knight pointing out this change, so as to share additional information with the readers as to the use and reuse of some of these props in multiple productions. I have invited Mr. Knight to forward any additional information he would like to share with readers, should he wish, and if so, I will post an additional update.
As noted in the last Update, the outstanding question and concern is how to identify which props were used in which films, and which were used in multiple films. In my opinion, this should be something that hobbyists interested in these films should be cognizant of. My personal view is that “dual use” props should be assumed as used in the originating production only, unless otherwise demonstrated. This, of course, would require an extraordinary demonstration by way or provenance to authenticate such a piece.
As an aside, with the film 300 arriving on DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray Disc next Tuesday (7/31), close study of the film will be helpful to collectors in determining the actual props employed and usage by specific characters.
If anyone else has any other insights or opinions to contribute to this dialogue, please feel free to comment below or contact me directly.
Thanks,
Jason De Bord