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Archives for January 2008

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Story on Premiere Props, Dan Levin, “27 Dresses” at Daily News Tribune

There is a news story today at the Daily News Tribune about the Premiere Props studio auctions for the film, “27 Dresses”.

This is the first interview with Dan Levin at Premiere Props that I can recall. It is interesting to have some insights into his view of the original prop hobby, and the role and function his company plays, as well as the profile of the typical customer for these auctions.

Of note is the view expressed as to the fate of many pieces offered in the marketplace by Premiere Props – buyers wearing the wardrobe pieces as well as using costume accessories. While I could personally care less about “The Devil Wears Prada” or “27 Dresses”, I’m not fond of the notion of original props and wardrobe being worn and/or used, in that actual artifacts from films should be preserved. [Read more…]

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Art Gallery Raided in Fraud Probe

An interesting story from the Chicago Tribune; unfortunately, no details present as to the nature of the fraud (full story here). Obviously, there are some significant parallels between the original prop hobby and the art world, in terms of inauthentic pieces being sold as authentic, so I think it is important to follow some of these newsworthy developments as a point of reference. Having said that, as noted, there are no details present in the story as to the nature of the fraud, so it could be unrelated to issues of authenticity. However, involvement of U.S. postal inspectors would lead one to believe it could have to do with actual transactions with customers. I would imagine that one possible reason to remove actual works would be for off-site analysis. [Read more…]

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eBay 2008 Update – Policy Changes Announced

eBay has announced a series of policy changes to be implemented over the next few months (thanks to Rik for the heads up):

eBay 2008 Update

The most interesting changes to me aren’t related to the “Reduced Listing Fees” or “Rewards for great sellers” but the “Feedback Changes”.

Here are the details on those changes, per eBay, with any comments from me included below those points: [Read more…]

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Guernsey’s Pugliese Pop Culture Collection Auction: Las Vegas, NV – March 15-16, 2008

As discussed in prior articles (“Guernsey’s Auction: “The Pugliese Collection“”, “Guernsey’s Auction: “The Pugliese Collection” – Delayed to Early Next Year“), this appears to be a significant original prop auction event. [Read more…]

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Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Update 2

Since publishing my lengthy and comprehensive article last week (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity“), which raises questions about the number of “original” and “authentic” Superman costumes in the marketplace, as well as the follow-up article (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Update“), I thought it would be productive to make a note of the results of the three current auctions (now ended) – all with COAs from “Super Hollywood” (AKA “super38“) that were discussed in the second article. [Read more…]

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Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show – The Video

As reported yesterday (see “Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show“), the 1/23/08 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show focused on “Classic Americana”. Part of the episode featured Dr. Brent Glass, Director of The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz were sent to the show from Washington, D.C., under the supervision of two armed guards and via first class air travel in a disguised box.

This segment has created some controversy (see misajane’s blog, The Orinda Group, Greetings from Taos…, and Oprah’s Discussion Forum) as a result of Oprah’s determination to personally handle the artifacts, which was counter to the museum director’s express wishes.

Below is the admittedly low tech video of the segment I uploaded to YouTube: [Read more…]