So I was very busy last week with activities and events related to Colin Cantwell, who I helped to consign his memorabilia collection to Julien’s Auctions. I attended the VIP preview last Wednesday night, organized a meet and greet Friday, and was present to watch the auction unfold first thing Saturday morning. I thought I would share some thoughts about this experience, as well as some photos I took last week. And, as I expected, with the rare memorabilia becoming public (including the never before seen concept artwork and my interviews with Mr. Cantwell over the summer), so new information came as a result of work from other fans (all exclusively from Star Wars). Colin Cantwell famously made the first prototype models for George Lucas back in 1974/1975; the first realizations for the X-Wing Fighter, the Y-Wing Fighter, the Tie Fighter, the Star Destroyer, the Death Star, the Landspeeder, the Sandcrawler, and the Millennium Falcon, as well as the T-16 Skyhopper. [Read more…]
Meet Colin Cantwell – Creator of X-Wing, Tie Fighter, Death Star Prototype Models & Artwork for Star Wars and More – At Julien’s Auctions on Friday, December 5th
Colin Cantwell, who has an incredible career in science and the arts, will be doing an exclusive meet and greet at Julien’s Auctions on Friday, December 5th from 1:30 to 3:00. Colin Cantwell famously made the first prototype models for George Lucas back in 1974/1975; the first realizations for the X-Wing Fighter, the Y-Wing Fighter, the Tie Fighter, the Star Destroyer, the Death Star, the Landspeeder, the Sandcrawler, and the Millennium Falcon, as well as the T-16 Skyhopper. His original, never before seen concept artwork from 1974/1975 will be up for auction at Julien’s Auctions on Saturday, December 6th at 10 AM, as well as other artifacts from his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Omnimax/IMAX, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and WarGames, as well as the mission plans from his work with NASA and CBS on the Apollo XI moon landing mission in 1969. At 82 years old, this is Mr. Cantwell’s first meet and greet and autograph signing, so a very rare opportunity to meet a legend in classic science fiction film and television. [Read more…]
Julien’s Auctions December Events: “Icons & Idols”, Marilyn Monroe, Pawn Stars, Burt Reynolds, & Dianna, Princess of Wales; Online-Only Sports Sale
Julien’s Auctions will be holding several events next month, including their Icons & Idols event on December 5th & 6th in Beverly Hills (with collections including Property From The Life and Career of Marilyn Monroe and Property From The Gold and Silver Pawnshop (featured on the popular television series Pawn Stars), as well as an online-only Sports sale concluding December 1st. The Icons & Idols sale will also include a collection of wardrobe from Diana, Princess of Wales, property from the estate of Gypsy Rose Lee, and the Colin Cantwell Collection (already featured on the Original Prop Blog). Their Property From The Life and Career of Burt Reynolds December will be held on December 11th & 12th at The Palms in Las Vegas. [Read more…]
EXCLUSIVE: Video Interview with Colin Cantwell on ’74/’75 Star Wars Prototypes & Never Publicly Shown Concept Art, The Apollo XI Moon Landing with NASA & CBS, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, WarGames and More
Colin Cantwell is a dreamer. However, he’s is one of those rare individuals who is not content to merely dream, but to imagine how to make dreams a reality, and takes action to make things happen. And if the tool or method that he requires does not exist, he will invent it. He is about thinking up possibilities that others would find… impossible. He is also quite modest, regardless of his incredible accomplishments across a broad spectrum of disciplines. He seems to be entirely self-motivated and has an internal engine driving him to achieve the results that bring his dreams to life. My other observation, through my conversations with him at his home in Colorado some months ago, is that he is not only brilliant, but he is unrestrained by the divisions and categorizations that frame the lives of most of the rest of us. Like the great Leonardo da Vinci, Colin Cantwell is gifted with a great diversity of talents, as a scientist, inventor, artist, special and computer effects wizard, architect, engineer, and I’m sure a number of other abilities. In my opinion, he is one of our great national treasures that “we” didn’t know about. He played a significant role in Star Wars: A New Hope, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Omnimax/IMAX, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and WarGames, working with some of our greatest film auteurs like George Lucas, Stanley Kubrick, and Steven Spielberg. He worked with NASA and CBS on the Apollo XI moon landing mission. He even won over “the greatest architect of all-time”, Frank Lloyd Wright. And at 82 years of age, he continues to work on his life achievements; with his concept of Cosmic Biodesics, only now is the rest of the world catching up to his ideas. [Read more…]
Julien’s Auctions ‘Hollywood Legends’ Featuring David Hasselhoff – Catalog Online, Event to be Held in Beverly Hills April 11th & 12th
Julien’s Auctions has published the online catalog for their upcoming sale – “Hollywood Legends: Featuring Property from the Career of David Hasselhoff” – which will be held at their Beverly Hills gallery on April 11th and 12th. The auction will feature property from the career of David Hasselhoff, the estates of Jonathan Winters and Greta Garbo, and consignments with proceeds marked for a variety of charitable causes as featured in the new unscripted Lifetime series, Celebrity Home Raiders. The two day sale will feature a variety of Hollywood memorabilia with 811 lots. [Read more…]
Exclusive Preview: John Rhys-Davies’ Personal Screen-Used Hero Gimli Axe From Lord of the Rings Features in Julien’s Auctions “Hollywood Legends” Sale in April
On the heels of their “Trilogy Collection” auction of Lord of the Rings material late last year, next month Julien’s Auctions will feature the best piece from Peter Jackson’s Academy Award-winning franchise yet: a screen-used hero Gimli double-headed axe, from the personal collection of John Rhys-Davies. This piece was given to Rhys-Davies on the last day of filming by Peter Jackson himself. The hero axe was used in The Two Towers. Julien’s Auctions full catalog for this sale will be debuting next week (see Hollywood Legends). [Read more…]
Julien’s Auctions Featured in New Lifetime Unscripted Cable Television Series, “Celebrity Home Raiders”, Premiering March 6th
Lifetime today announced that a new series – Celebrity Home Raiders – featuring Darren Julien and Martin Nolan and Julien’s Auctions, will premiere on March 6th. The half-hour unscripted series promises a look into the homes of celebrities and some of their “prized possessions”. Featured in the show will be David Hasselhoff, Ice T, Lance Bass, Fran Drescher, David Cassidy, Debbie Gibson, The Simmons Family, and Rick Harrison. [Read more…]
Observations from Julien’s Auctions “The Trilogy Collection: Props and Costumes From Middle-Earth” Sale of Lord of the Rings Assets
As noted in my interview with Troika Brodsky, the owner of the Lord of the Rings collection consigned to Julien’s Auctions, we have been friends for around a decade, so I was particularly interested in this auction. Julien’s Auctions held their “The Trilogy Collection: Props and Costumes from Middle-Earth” sale event this past Thursday, which featured 92 lots of original production assets from the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films made by Peter Jackson. I went down to Beverly Hills to attend the auction, so I thought I would share some thoughts and observations on the sale. [Read more…]