Profiles in History’s Hollywood Auction 35 (“Historic Hollywood Wax Museum Auction”) and Hollywood Auction 36 (“The Forrest J Ackerman Estate”) were held Thursday and Friday, which offered a number of original movie and television props, costumes, and other memorabilia as well as the special Wax Museum catalog. The auction was held on site at the Profiles in History offices in Calabasas Hills, with off-site bidding available over the Internet via LiveAuctioneers, as well as direct via mail, fax, and by phone.
Unfortunately, performing a postmortem of the results via LiveAuctioneers is not as productive as doing so via the now defunct eBay Live Auctions, which was put out of service following the Profiles event at the end of last year. LiveAuctioneers does not have the capability to sort of any variables (price, bids, etc.), which makes analysis more challenging and a manual process.
All results can be found at LiveAucitoneers.com:
Based on a review of the results, I would offer the opinion that, directly following the December 2008 event, this is the second of their regularly scheduled auction events which reflects the downturn of the global economy. Even so, there are always some surprises, and some marquee pieces did quite well.
As has been the consistently been the case, Profiles continues to be the venue that realizes benchmark values for the original prop and wardrobe hobby. But with this sale, there were some notably lower values on some pieces and some passed lots as well, which reflects some new trending.
Hollywood Auction 35 – “Historic Hollywood Wax Museum Auction”
Since these pieces are not “original” memorabilia (i.e. not made for or used in film and television), I do not have much to offer as far as any analysis, in that this collection is more along the lines of “memorabilia”, and of little interest to the subject of this website.
Reviewing the results, it appeared that the sales of the Wax Museum figures were generally unspectacular, with most selling for between $500 – $3,000, and with many going unsold with no bids.
Even the entire M*A*S*H* set of 8 principal cast members only realized $5,000.
Hollywood Auction 36 – “The Forrest J Ackerman Estate”
This catalog represented the first of what will likely be three of the primary auctions held by Profiles this year (with auctions typically taking place in the Spring, Summer, and Winter). In addition, also special to this auction was the Forry Ackerman Estate as well as a special selection of pieces from the latest Friday the 13th film from Platinum Dunes Productions.
Day 1
Day 1 of this catalog, as is tradition, included hundreds of photos, portraits, negatives, title cards, lobby cards, posters, one-sheets, costume sketches, storyboard art, concept art, production art, poster art, scripts, and other memorabilia.
Day 2
Day 2 is the content that is of primary interest to the Original Prop Blog – original props, wardrobe, and other assets from film and television.
NOTE: Prices realized as listed below do not reflect the Buyer’s Premium of 15%-18%.
With regards to the Forry Ackerman collection, highlights include:
Lot 660 – 1st American Edition of Dracula signed by Bram Stoker and others – $25,000
Lot 661 – Bela Lugosi Dracula Ring – $40,000
Lot 662 – Bela Lugosi Vampire Cape worn in The Raven, etc. – $32,500
Lot 669 – Lon Chaney Vampire top hat London After Midnight – $27,500
Lot 674 – Forry’s Metropolis Marina Robot – $40,000
Many of the pieces from the Ackerman Estate sold for less than $1,000 and even for just a few hundred dollars, which is great for collectors who wanted a keepsake from the popular and beloved Ackerman.
The result of the Dracula Ring is lower than what many might have expected. This piece was analyzed in detail in a prior article (see Debate & Analysis: Forry Ackerman’s “Dracula” Ring (Profiles in History)).
One of the highlights of the auction, Lot 792 – Rita Wayworth’s signature gown from Gilda – appears to have been pulled from the auction, as it does not appear in the LiveAuctioneers catalog. It’s original estimate was $30,000-$50,000.
Lot 801 – The Creature from the Black Lagoon Gill Man mask – sold for $70,000.
Lots 802 and 803 – costumes from Forbidden Planet, sold for $20,000 and $14,000 respectively.
Lot 805 – a Mole mask from The Mole People – fetched $22,500.
The Charlton Heston costume from Planet of the Apes (Lot 833) sold for $40,000, as did the Dr. Zaius costume (Lot 834).
Star Wars, which has always been a top franchise as far as pieces achieving high sales at auction, generally did not fare well with this event.
Lot 864 – the Darth Maul fighting lightsaber with an LOA from Ray Park did well, and realized $40,000.
However, Lot 863 – an Obi-Wan Kenobi stunt lightsaber from Episode I – passed with no bids, even with a $15,00-$20,000 estimate. By comparison, the Hollywood Auction 28 in August 2007 had a similar Obi Wan stunt realized $42,500 and an Anakin Skywalker stunt saber from Episode II sold for $40,000.
Lot 860 – the Droid Caller attributed to Star Wars: A New Hope – with a Gary Kurtz LOA, passed with no bids, even with a $12,000-$15,000 estimate. I found no matching stills from the film for this piece. The droid callers used in the film were originally “off the shelf” found props based on vintage camera parts that were used during the production.
The marquee, catalog cover-featured piece for the auction, the hero Blade Runner blaster used by Harrison Ford as Deckard, sold for $225,000. The three Deckard costumes (Lots 877, 878, and 879) fetched $40,000, $16,000, and $10,000.
On balance, sci-fi costumes from 80s films did not fare too well, with the Last Starfighter costume (Lot 890) only realizing $3,500, a set of three Running Man costumes fetching $4,000, and the Spengler Jumpsuit from Ghostbusters II (Lot 951) failing to sell at the $4,000 opening bid.
However, comedy did much better, at least for Ferris Bueller, with the jacket from …Day Off (Lot 901) realizing $35,000.
Lot 909 – the Crypt Keeper house from HBO’s Tales from the Crypt – sold for a healthy $22,500 (approximately double the estimate).
The Baywatch franchise appears to have been deflated, with main cast swimsuits selling for little or not at all.
Original paintings from Killer Clowns from Outer Space (Lots 904-908) all went unsold.
The Terminator franchise made a strong showing, with the Tank and Aerial Hunter Killer props (Lots 919 and 920) selling for $30,000 and $55,000 respectively. A stunt Gatling Gun (lot 921) from T2 sold for $25,000. Other T2 pieces did fairly well, selling between $6,000-$14,000.
While there has been a steady flow of Batman (pre-Begins and Dark Knight) suits, cowls, and capes in these auctions for some time, the three primary Bat-suit pieces failed to sell in this event, with Lot 945 (Val Kilmer Batsuit, Batman Forever), Lot 953 (Val Kilmer Cowl), and Lot 954 (George Clooney Cowl) passing with no bids. By contrast, a Keaton Batman costume sold in Hollywood Auction 31 for $90,000.
The Mr. Freeze rifle (Lot 955) also passed with no bids. However, Lot 956, the full Mr. Freeze costume worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger, sold for a hefty $60,000.
Lot 974 – the pair of costumes worn by Tom Hanks and Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan – sold for $30,000, the top end of the estimate.
The collection of costumes and props from the Kevin Smith films (Lots 975-986, 1000-1006) sold for reasonable amounts under $1,000, from $200-$900.
The Tony Soprano costume worn by James Gandolfini (Lot 1008) went for $3,000, more or less on par with similar costumes sold by Christie’s in two sales in 2008 (see Sale 2012, New York and Sale 5425, London). A pistol from the series (Lot 1009) sold for $6,000.
Like Star Wars, X-Men has long been a staple of these auctions, with props and particularly costumes achieving extremely high values at auction. While this auction did not have as impressive assortment of offerings in this regard, compared with more recent sales, they still did not perform nearly as well.
The Hugh Jackman Wolverine civilian costume from X-Men (Lot 1010) realized only $15,000, which is lower than I would expect, considering the new film X-Men Origins: Wolverine opened yesterday, the same day as the auction.
Some Wolverine dog tags (Lot 1012) went for $4,000, a Rogue costume (Lot 1013) for $5,000, a Pyro costume (lot 1014) for $2,000, and a Deathstrike stunt suit failed to sell. Lot 1011, the Wolverine Claws from X-Men 3, appear to have been pulled from the auction.
Another franchise that has appeared from auction to auction is 300, particularly the Spartan costumes. This sale (Lot 1035) of $7,000 for a background costume is approximately the same amount for which they are currently offered for sale on the Prop Store website (while in the past principal/hero costumes sold for nearly $20,000). A Hero Immortal Mask (Lot 1037) fetched $6,000.
Another downward trend would appear to have materialized from the Underworld franchise, with a full Kate Beckinsale costume on display selling for just $4,000, when in the past these were realizing well over $10,000.
Other pieces from more recently released film and television programs had, on balance, unremarkable results:
Lot 1023 – Green Goblin Trident from Spider-Man – No Sale
Lot 1024 – Top hats from Gangs of New York – No Sale
Lot 1026 – Dr. Frankenstein Costume from Van Helsing – No Sale
Lot 1031 – Orlando Bloom Bow and Arrows from Troy – No Sale
Lot 1032 – Ian McShane Suit from Deadwood – No Sale
Lot 1033 – Hiro and Adam Samuria Costumes from Heroes – No Sale
Lot 1034 – Antonio Banderas Costume from The Legend of Zorro – No Sale
Conversely, some of the key pieces from the new Friday the 13th film sold for remarkable amounts, considering it is a horror franchise (which tend to have limited appeal) in the double digits.
The top piece, the Jason Voorhees costume (Lot 1045), sold for an incredible $45,000. The metal machete (Lot 1047) realized $13,000. The majority of the pieces sold for well under $1,000.
Some of the most successful pieces at auction were those from The Nightmare Before Christmas, with top pieces selling for five figures – a Reindeer puppet (Lot 1100) for $11,000, the Duck toy (Lot 1101) for $32,500, the Elven bed and Elves (Lot 1102) for $40,000, and the Christmas Town building (Lot 1103) for $25,000.
Also from the world of Tim Burton, the puppet from Mars Attacks! (Lot 1104) realized $22,500 and a Golden Ticket and Wonka Chocolate Bar (Lot 1108) sold for $6,000. Johnny Depp’s cane from the same film (Lot 1109) fetched $11,000.
Pieces from the Corpse Bride did very well, with puppets going for $10,000-$17,000 and buildings going for $4,000-$11,000.
As with recent auctions, this event included pieces from Stan Winston Studios. The top piece sold was Lot 1143, a diorama from Jurassic Park for $42,500.
Pieces from Steven Spielberg’s A.I. did extremely well, with a Teddy puppet (Lot 1154) fetching $40,000 (comparable to the $45,000 realized by one sold in Profiles 30), the Femecha Nanny (Lot 1155) selling for $19,000, a Gardener Mecha (Lot 1156) realizing $32,500, and mecha heads (Lot 1157) selling for $25,000.
Overall, the results do appear to be mixed, but this was an interesting assortment compared with past catalogs. In my subjective opinion, many of the pieces have appeared in the marketplace previously (including past Profiles auctions), so it felt as though there was less to be excited about. As expected, the Blade Runner blaster did very well, but I don’t know that there were any other truly stand out, iconic pieces that generated the same amount of interest and excitement.
Given the poor state of the economy and future prospects of things turning around anytime soon, the auction is still impressive overall, that this number of pieces can be sold into the marketplace, many at very high values.
Jason De Bord