“ComicLink” Superman Costume Auction & Questions for Jim Hambrick (Super Museum / Supermuseum)

A few collectors have directed my attention to an active auction on the website ComicLink.com, for a “Superman III” costume with a notarized “Letter of Authenticity” from Jim Hambrick of the “Super Museum” (also referred to as “Supermuseum”). Given that the auction includes quality photos, I have made direct comparisons to the “Superman III” reference costume (see High Resolution Photo Reference Archive: “Original Superman III Christopher Reeve Costume”) that was sent to me for analysis and has been determined to be inauthentic by a multiple collectors/experts, as well as made comparisons with confirmed authentic costumes also featured in prior articles.

I respectfully request that Jim Hambrick of the Super Museum publicly account for and affirm his conclusion that this costume is “original”, “authentic” and “screen worn” by Christopher Reeve in the Superman films based on the following factors: 1) Mr. Hambrick has given a formal written assessment and authentication of the “ComicLink” costume, 2) The costume is characterized as “from the collection/archives of the Supermuseum in Metropolis Illinois”, 3) Mr. Hambrick positions himself as the self-proclaimed “expert on all Superman related mediums”, 4) in his Letter of Authenticity, Mr. Hambrick pledges his “personal guarantee” with regards to authenticity, and 5) there are a number of questions raised about the authenticity of this costume based on the following research.

“ComicLink”/”Super Museum” Superman Costume Auction

Below are the details of the current Superman costume offered for sale publicly at auction by “ComicLink”. It appears to be scheduled to end 08/28/08.

“ComicLink” Auction Archive (LIVE LINK):

“ComicLink” Marketing Description:

“ComicLink” Marketing Photos:

I contacted “ComicLink” directly and obtained scans of the referenced “Letter of Authenticity” from Jim Hambrick, Supermuseum.

“ComicLink” Scans of “Supermuseum Letter of Authenticity”:

“ComicLink” Text from “Supermuseum Letter of Authenticity”:

In reviewing the Letter of Authenticity, there do not appear to be any material details outlining how or why this costume was determined to have been “worn by Christopher Reeve in Superman III”. The three pages are merely descriptive, with no mention of source, chain of ownership, or other details that would support provenance.

“ComicLink”/”Super Museum” Superman Costume & “Superman III” Reference Costume: Comparison

Below are comparison photos between the “ComicLink” costume marketed with a Letter of Authenticity from Jim Hambrick, Supermuseum and the assumed inauthentic “Superman III” reference costume (see High Resolution Photo Reference Archive: “Original Superman III Christopher Reeve Costume”).

Color Comparison: Superman Blue

Building on the color analysis performed earlier this month (see Superman Costume Color Analysis & Reference: BLUE), I have created color swatches from the photos of the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume, to compare with the confirmed authentic Prop Store of London and ScreenUsed costumes (with Warner Bros. COAs) as well as the presumed inauthentic “Superman III” reference costume.

As noted, while past articles have touched on the colors, as well as the texture of the fabric and other attributes, the following provides a closer look at one of the three primary colors of the Superman costume – blue – in that there seems to be a wide variety of discrepancies with this color, along with the actual fabric itself.

The two costumes that I am aware of that have sold into the marketplace with Warner Bros. Certificates of Authenticity are the partial Superman III costume sold by ScreenUsed in August of 2006 and the Superman III bodysuit sold by The Prop Store of London in February 2008 (both covered in the first article in this series, Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity).

I have created swatch samples of the blue color from the two authentic costumes by opening sample photos within Photoshop and extracting the range of tones from darkest to lightest and made a graphic of nine quadrants. I then took this graphic and used the “Surface Blur” tool, set to a radius of 100 pixels and a threshold of 255 pixels to create a transitional gradient color sample.

Below is a thumbnail of the swatch samples (photo crop, color grids, blur gradient) of the confirmed authentic Prop Store of London Superman III costume with the Warner Bros. COA and provenance:

Below is a thumbnail of the swatch samples (photo crop, color grids, blur gradient) of the confirmed authentic ScreenUsed Superman III costume with the Warner Bros. COA and provenance:

It is readily apparent that the two confirmed authentic Superman III costumes with Warner Bros. documentation reflect the same colors, tones, and range, in spite of differing photography conditions.

Below is a thumbnail of the swatch samples (photo crop, color grids, blur gradient) of the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” Superman III costume with the LOA signed and notarized by Jim Hambrick:

Below is a thumbnail of the swatch samples (photo crop, color grids, blur gradient) of the “Superman III” reference costume that was sent to me for analysis, which has been determined to be inauthentic by a number of experts (see High Resolution Photo Reference Archive: “Original Superman III Christopher Reeve Costume”):

Fabric Comparison: Superman Weave

As noted in prior articles (example: “Prop Store Collection” Superman Costume, Fabric Discussion Continued, Part 2), there were striking differences between the verified “original” material used in the Superman costumes and the material used to make the “Superman III” reference costume.

The ”Original Fabric Sample” is top, the “Superman III” reference costume fabric is bottom:

While the “ComicLink” photos are of high quality, such a close-up comparison is not possible. However, as seen in the analysis further above, the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume fabric appears to closely resemble the “Superman III” reference costume, and differs in appearance from the two confirmed authentic costumes with the Warner Bros. COAs.

Photo Comparison: “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” Costume & Confirmed Authentic Examples – Chest Area

Below is a comparison between the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume and three confirmed authentic costumes archived in prior articles, focusing on the upper/chest area of the costume:

Note the differences in the bodysuit and “S” chest emblems – the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume is significantly different in color and fabric type, as previously noted, and the cut of the neckline, seams, and tailoring is significantly different from the examples. Also note the sizing of the “S” emblem, the positioning, the design and sizing, and corners.

Photo Comparison: “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” Costume & Confirmed Authentic Examples – Shorts

Below is a comparison between the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume and three confirmed authentic costumes archived in prior articles, focusing on the shorts component of the costume:

Note the differences in the length and cut of the shorts – the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume is significantly longer in length and appears that it is not tailored to any specific fit while the comparison examples (though detatched) differ significantly in many regards.

Photo Comparison: “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” Costume & Film Image

Below is a comparison between a cropped image from one of the Superman films and a cropped image from one of the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume photos:

Also, as noted in prior articles, this scan of a publicity still auctioned by Bonhams earlier this year (see Superman Publicity Photo in Bonhams Auction) shows in great detail the fabric/weave of the material, the fit of the costume, the shape/style/stitching of the “S” emblem, etc.

Click for Full Resolution

Below is a comparison between the Bonhams publicity photo and the “Prop Store Collection” Superman Costume currently on display at the Movieum and the “Superman III” reference costume:

High Resolution Archive: Superman Costume Comparison

Note there are similarities between the costume in the Bonhams publicity photo and the “Prop Store Collection” – the rounded corners of the “S” emblem and the texture/weave of the blue part of the costume matching the material used in the emblem – whereas the “Superman III” Reference costume does not seem to share those same attributes, as well as being smaller when looking at the full costumes.

As a follow-up to the shorts earlier shorts comparison, below is a photo of the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume and a publicity photo, to highlight the differences between the shorts:

Other comparisons can also be made, such as the sheen of the fabric, size and style of the “S” emblem, and overall tailoring of the costume.

Futher Comparison: “Superman Celebration” Auction Costumes, eBay Seller “battttttman”

In addition to some of the “Super Hollywood” / superhollywood / super38 (Armando Alvarez, Ana Mungia) certified costumes (such as the “Costume Junkie” / costumejunkie and the Bruce Hubbard / Williams Collection / bedlum.net costumes featured in prior articles), the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume also resembles the one offered at auction at the Superman Celebration event in 2006, as previously archived (see Superman Celebration 2006 & 2008 Auctions: “Disney MGM Studios”?).

The photos below are from an auction at Superman Celebration 2006 (images of individuals obscured):

The reader who sent me these photos claims that Jim Hambrick opened the auction for this Superman costume for $10,000.00 and it did not sell.

Though the bottom of the boots differ from the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume, the color, design, and fabric type of the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume resembles the “Superman Celebration 2006” costume.

What appears to be this same “Superman Celebration 2006” costume has been listed and relisted on eBay by seller batttttman (determined by matching marks on the bottom of the boots in comparing photos).

Below is an archive from the March article of one of “battttman’s” eBay auction listings offering his costume for sale (see eBay Item #120235006516):

“batttttman” eBay Auction Marketing Description:

“batttttman” eBay Auction Photos:

The last eBay listing ended 06/30/08 with no sale (see eBay Item #120276822227). The revised description was as follows:

Questions about both the “Superman III” reference costume and the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume:

1. Why do they both appear to be brand new and in unused/unworn condition?

2. Why are there no authentic Bermans & Nathans tags, or other tagging as found in confirmed authentic costumes?

3. Why is a completely different type and style of fabric used?

4. Why do the colors differ from the confirmed authentic costumes and what is seen on screen in the films?

5. Why does the pattern of the suit appear to not be tailored for Mr. Reeve, or match what is seen in the films, as noted in detail above?

“Superman Superstore” Costume

The “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume also differs from the costume currently offered for sale (for $75,000.00) on the SupermanSuperstore.com website (DIRECT LINK), “[p]roudly brought to you by SuperMuseum.com and SupermanHomepage.com”:

“Superman Superstore” Archive:

“Superman Superstore” Marketing Description:

“Superman Superstore” Marketing Photos:

If one Superman costume authenticated by Jim Hambrick receives no bids starting at $10,000 at the “Superman Celebration”, and further receives no bids starting at $7,500 on eBay, why is this other Superman costume authenticated by Jim Hambrick valued at $75,000 – ten times higher? And why does it not match the “ComicLink”/”Super Museum” costume?

Questions for Jim Hambrick, Super Museum – An Invitation for Response

I have sent an e-mail to Jim Hambrick at [email protected] with a direct link to this article, and invite him to respond by publishing his own “Reader Comment” below.

Given that Mr. Hambrick promotes himself as the Superman expert, has personally both sold and authenticated a number of Superman costumes with Letters of Authenticity, and in light of the number of material questions outstanding with regards to authenticity, I believe that an open, public, and transparent dialogue is appropriate and productive.

1. How many Superman costumes have you authenticated? How many Letters of Authenticity have you issued? How many full or partial costumes have you personally sold? How many authentic Superman costumes do you believe are in the marketplace today?

2. Of all the Superman costumes you have examined, how many failed to meet your standards for “original” and “authentic”? If any Superman costumes failed your standards, what distinguished them from those costumes that you have authenticated and determined to be genuine?

3. With regards to the “ComicLink” costume archived above, how did you determine that this specific costume was authentic to your standards? What is the provenance and chain of ownership of the “ComicLink” costume?

4. How do you account for the discrepancies between the confirmed authentic costume and the “ComicLink” costume as outlined above?

5. How do you account for the similarities between the presumed inauthentic “Superman III” reference costume and the “ComicLink” costume as outlined above?

6. Do you maintain today that the “ComicLink” costume is authentic and that it was worn by Christopher Reeve in the Superman films of the 70s and 80s?

7. Have you ever authenticated any costumes sourced from Super Hollywood, Armando Alvarez, and/or Ana Mungia? Of those you have examined, how many did you determine to be authentic and how many did you determine to be inauthentic?

8. In your notarized “Letter of Authenticity”, you write, “[l]et this letter serve as my personal guarantee that this Complete Superman Costume is authentic”. If this or any other costume or costume part that you have sold and/or authenticated is proven to be inauthentic, do you provide refunds as part of your guarantee? If so, what are the parameters (i.e. is there a time limit, does it need to be the original buyer, etc.)?

Jason De Bord