By Jason DeBord
As reported previously (see “HD Format War Developments“, “More HD War Developments Out of CES“, “HD Format War – More Bad News for HD DVD“), Toshiba’s HD DVD format has suffered some severe blows of late, particularly since the start of the new year.
As a quick update, the latest two unfavorable developments for the format come from Best Buy and Netflix. [Read more…]
By Jason DeBord
As reported in late December (see “eBay Auction: Greatest American Hero Costume“), there was an eBay listing for an “original” William Katt Greatest American Hero costume (eBay Item #220184242364) which raised concerns as to authenticity, and was determined to have been a replica by an expert on these wardrobe pieces.
As explained previously, because an original suit was purportedly copied many years ago, replica suits were introduced into the marketplace as “original”, making authentication of these suits highly problematic. [Read more…]
By Jason DeBord
LucasFilm LTD filed suit against Gen Con LLC for “breach of contract, conversion, and unjust enrichment” in regards to the Star Wars Celebration IV convention held in Los Angeles in May 2007.
According to the suit, LFL provided rare Star Wars memorabilia from the Archive to be auctioned (via a live auction and a silent auction) at the Celebration fan convention, with the net proceeds of the charity intended for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Per the suit, the auction events raised “at least $150,000 from the sale of LFL’s archive items”. [Read more…]
By Jason DeBord
A second report was broadcast by WFAA TV’s Channel 8, based on David Schechter’s investigation into items consigned by L.A. Prop and Wardrobe Company and sold by Heritage Auction Galleries (see Heritage Auction Galleries & L.A. Prop & Wardrobe Company, WFAA Television News Report…, More on Heritage Auction Galleries, L.A. Prop & Wardrobe).
In this update, Mr. Schechter reports that Heritage Auction Galleries will “sue L.A. Prop for knowingly providing bogus items for sale and damaging the auction house’s reputation”.
Here is a link to the full video report at WFAA.com: [Read more…]
By Jason DeBord
Now that Mr. Alvarez (“Super Hollywood”, super38 on eBay) has registered for the Original Prop Blog and posted a series of statements (see “Costume Junkie” Response, “Super Hollywood” Response), I would like to provide him an opportunity to address the series of questions and concerns raised in the prior articles about Superman costumes in the marketplace (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity“, “Update“, “Update 2“, “Update 3“). [Read more…]
By Jason DeBord
As noted in my article yesterday (…”Costume Junkie” Response), I have been contacted by both Mr. Armando Alvarez (”Super Hollywood”, “super38“) as well as Mr. Edward Pugia (”Costume Junkie”, “costumejunkie“) in regards to my articles about Superman costumes in the marketplace (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity“, “Update“, “Update 2“, “Update 3“).
I spoke with Mr. Alvarez on the phone at length on 1/27 and 1/28, and invited him to share on this blog as much information as he is able to, in the form of a Reader Comment, and I would quote such statements in an update article to provide him an opportunity to address outstanding questions about the Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, and Greatest American Hero costumes with “Super Hollywood” provenance/Certificates of Authenticity/Letters of Authenticity. [Read more…]
By Jason DeBord
I have been contacted by both Mr. Armando Alvarez (“Super Hollywood”, “super38“) as well as Mr. Edward Pugia (“Costume Junkie”, “costumejunkie“) in regards to my articles about Superman costumes in the marketplace (see “Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity“, “Update“, “Update 2“, “Update 3“).
I spoke with Mr. Alvarez on the phone at length on 1/27 and 1/28, and invited him to share on this blog as much information as he is able to, in the form of a Reader Comment, and I would quote such statements in an update article to provide him an opportunity to address outstanding questions about the Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, and Greatest American Hero costumes with “Super Hollywood” provenance/Certificates of Authenticity/Letters of Authenticity. [Read more…]
By Jason DeBord
As reported in late January (see “Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show“, “Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show – The Video“), 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. There was some controversy across the Internet as a result of Oprah’s handling of the artifacts.
I posted a video clip from this segment on YouTube, and noticed that the clip has since been removed, with the following explanation: [Read more…]