The Prop Store of London provided information today regarding an Indiana Jones costume (fedora, jacket, and bullwhip) being offered for sale in the marketplace with a “Lucas Film Ltd.” Certificate of Authenticity which appears to be a fraudulent document made using the distinct Warner Bros. “DNA Authentic”style COA as a model along with a photo of a genuine costume from the Lucasfilm archives.
I have in my possession a series of e-mails between prop dealer Scott Dunkel and “Michelle K”/”Jeremy Stokes” of “MedStudios”. These exchanges include offers to sell a number of “original” props and wardrobe, including a shirt attributed to use by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale with a “Paramount Props” COA and LOA from “Eon Productions Wardrobe department”, Pierce Brosnan’s “screen-worn Omega Seamaster” from Tomorrow Never Dies, and from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade the “Production used Harrison Ford Distressed Jacket / Whip / Hat C.O.A. LucasFilms Inc.“, along with other items.
Below is the photo of the “Lucas Film Ltd.” Certificate of Authenticity presented along with the offer to sell “the used 3-piece outfit from Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade” of jacket, fedora, and whip for the “reduced” price of $12,100:
Per the e-mail exchanges, the second photo is supposed to highlight the document’s “watermark”:
In researching this article, I was able to find the exact photo used in the “Lucas Film” COA. This photo can be found on the ActionExhibit.org website, from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The photo is described as “Courtesy of Lucasfilm Archives”:
Link to Full Page: http://www.actionexhibit.org/props06.html
Archive of Full Page:
Below is the Lucasfilm Archive photo superimposed over the “Lucas Film” COA for direct comparison:
Note: The photo as found on the ActionExhibit.org site did not need to be resized to match the size of the photo used on the “Lucas Film” COA at it’s default resolution.
I also found the “DNA Authentic” graphic portion of the logo in the bottom left corner of the “Lucas Film” COA online at InnovaCorp.ca (more information can be found at the DNA Technologies website).
Again, it did not need to be resized to match the logo as seen on the Indiana Jones COA:
It appears that the bottom 1/3 of the DNA Technologies logo archived above was cropped, and the word “Authentic” typed in black Times New Roman positioned next to the cropped “DNA Technologies” logo. See mock-up (right, white background) superimposed over the document in close-up:
Below is the unaltered “DNA Technologies” logo superimposed over the “Lucas Film” COA for direct comparison:
Below is a photo of a Warner Bros. “DNA Authentic”-style COA from an item offered for sale on eBay in the past:
I have only seen this “DNA Authentic” service employed by Warner Bros. and no other studios.
Note that most of the language, wording, layout, and even signature of the Warner Bros. technician match that of the “Lucas Film Technician”.
Below is the Warner Bros. signature superimposed over the “Lucas Film” COA for direct comparison:
One interesting typo on the “Lucas Film” COA is mistaking the word “ink” for “mk”:
Rather than correctly stating “It has been marked by DNA Technologies, Inc’s proprietary DNA ink”, it reads “proprietary DNA mk”.
Below is an “anatomy” of the documents and collateral highlighting the similarities and matches:
Below are excerpts from the long series of e-mail exchanges directly related the Indiana Jones set, offered for sale at $12,700 (later discounted to $12,100):
The actual market value of a genuine fedora, jacket, and bullwhip from one of the first three Indiana Jones films – with studio paperwork – would range from $50,000 to $100,00+ for each of the three items.
More, I am not aware of Lucasfilm selling any Star Wars or Indiana Jones original film artifacts from their archives except under very unique circumstances. The most recent I am aware of being after the 9/11 attacks on the nation, which was in 2001. Those few pieces were sold to raise funds for charitable causes and it was public and highly publicized.
COA analysis aside, $4,000 each for three of the most iconic and sought after pieces in the hobby is simply not plausible.
Below is the text from one of the e-mails which references two eBay accounts that are currently “NARU”/suspended status (“No Longer A Registered User”):
From: jeremy stokes <[EDIT]@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: danile craig shirt and wire transfer
To: [EDIT]@yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009, 5:45 PMHello Scott.
nice to hear from you.
Good news about the sale.Are you wanting us to ship it to your customer,(sale price withheld) or yourselves?
in reply to your erlier email,
I understand buyers completely.
Yes the exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, London, opened on April 17th and runs until March 1st 2009. It is a big exhibition. have you been? It is really a good exhibition and well worth a visit.
With this shirt, and with most wardrobe used items, there are always more than one. With Casino Royale’s blood-stained distressed T&A shirt (Turnbull & Asser) 3 identicals were used for the filming, the duraion of filming shot at Barrandov Studios in Prague. Also a numerous number of identical suits were also used for different scenes. One of the shirts is currently in the exhibition, and will probably go back to Eon Prod. at the close of the exhibition for their own in-house display, or I think it will be given to Daniel Craig himself for charity. I believe one will also probably be auctioned, if it hasn’t already. We have one of the three identical shirts used, and was itself displayed in the exhibition, and then rotated.
Like most other props we have, and others that are for sale by other companies, they come from the source, wardrobe dep. of the prod. comp.
We have had the item for about 7 weeks now, having dealt with Paramount Props in aquiring it. (I dont know if you have heard of Paramount Props, they deal with a lot of studios and companies, and are one of the most respected. Once being the sole supplier for a complete exhibition of Lord of the Rings original items. They can be found on ebay, through ‘find a member’ advanced search, under paramountprops_online, but I think they just deal privately now, not public on ebay anymore, but their previous selling record for ebay is still there and can be viewed, along with their 100% record feedback of over 2000 sales. Which shows what type of a company they are.
Your buyer, or yourselves, can look up our company on ebay, Medstudios219-2009 and take a look at what other items we are selling, and indeed, Paramount Props as well, being under paramountprops_online
As already mentioned, the blood-stained dress shirt & black tie comes with ParamountProp’s certificate and also the LOA from Eon Productions Wadrobe department.I think I have covered everything for you.
If you want Jeremy Stoke’s contact details for MedStudios, here it is for you, or inded your buyer as well. His partner, Mrs Cross isn’t contactable, having no dealings in the running of the company. I also give you permission to forward on this email, or any of its contents to your buyer as well, if you so desire.
Jeremy Stokes
MedStudios Inc.
[EDIT]
[EDIT]
Malta
Tel: Malta (+356) [EDIT]Thank you Scott
Kind regards
Michelle,
Sales AD – MS
eBay “No Longer A Registered User”: medstudios219-2009
eBay “No Longer A Registered User”: paramountprops_online
The name listed in the wiring instructions for the purchase discussed in the e-mail exchanges is under the account name “H M Williams” for a bank account in the United Kingdom.
Having read through the series of e-mail exchanges between Scott Dunkel and “Michelle K” (though the e-mail account appeared to transmit under the name “Jeremy Stokes”), they would appear to be of interest to many studios (Lucasfilm Ltd., EON Productions, Paramount Pictures, etc.).
If indeed fraudulent, documents certifying and guaranteeing the authenticity of props and wardrobe selling for thousands and tens of thousands of dollars would create issues for those companies named on the documents (in this instance Lucasfilm Ltd., DNA Technologies, etc.).
I am familiar with Scott Dunkel in that he has sent me unsolicited and unwanted “for sale” lists of props and costumes in the past, from which I learned he frequently offers items for sale that he does not actually own (some of which were actively and publicly available for purchase on various prop dealer websites for less money).
In reviewing these e-mails, it would appear that Mr. Dunkel sells pieces that he not only does not own, but in some cases items which are never taken into his custody or examined by him, instead having the actual seller merely ship memorabilia directly to his “customers”. This reckless activity brings additional risks upon the consumer, in that neither he/she nor Mr. Dunkel may have any idea who they are dealing with or where the props and costumes are coming from, or to whom payment is ultimately being sent.
For more information about Mr. Dunkel, see the Movie Prop Forum topic: Scott Dunkel: Warning, Selling fake and replica props…
If anyone has any additional information that would be of interest with regards to these items and activities, please contact me.
Jason De Bord