As mentioned back in April, I had assisted Julien’s Auctions in cataloging “The James L. Schoppe Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Production Archive” that was featured in their “Hollywood Legends” auction this past weekend at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The highlight of the collection was an original Han Solo blaster movie prop from Return of the Jedi; James Schoppe served as the Art Director on the film, and was gifted several original props at the conclusion of the film production. The collection was sold in live auction on Saturday, June 23rd, and the Han Solo blaster sold for $550,000 including Buyer’s Premium, and the winning bidder was Ripley’s Believe it or Not. I was actually present for the auction, as well as shot video of some of the lots, so I thought I would share a few thoughts as well as the video of the Han Solo blaster selling [Read more…]
Luke Skywalker Movie Prop Blaster from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” Fails to Sell at Nate D. Sanders Auction
A stunt blaster prop attributed to use by Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back failed to attract any bids at it’s hopeful $200,000 starting price in the most recent Nate D. Sanders auction last week. Though featuring an interesting history and a prior sale at Sotheby’s, as well as a lot of mainstream media attention leading up to the auction (see CNBC, CBS, Reuters, MSN, EW, Daily Mail, NBC, etc.), the “jackpot” reserve strategy employed by Hollywood memorabilia auction houses that I’ve frequently written about seemed to be the barrier to sale. [Read more…]
Julien’s Auctions ‘Icons and Idols’ Movie Prop Guns Supplemental: James Bond 007’s Walther PPK from “Licence to Kill”, Al Pacino’s Colt from Michael Mann’s “Heat”, Pam Grier’s .38 Detective Special from Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown” and More
Since I have been publishing the Original Prop Blog for about six and a half years as a free resource to the public, I thought I would add one article (about of about 1,645 to date) to make note of and promote a few of my own auction consignments in the upcoming Julien’s Auctions “Icons and Idols” sale taking place in Beverly Hills on November 8th, 9th, and 10th. Items from my personal collection included in this sale include six movie prop pistols: a Walther PPK used by Timothy Dalton as James Bond in Licence To Kill, a Colt pistol used by Al Pacino in Michael Mann’s Heat, the .38 Detective Special pistol used by both Pam Grier and Robert Forester in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, a customized pistol used by Bridget Fonda in Point Of No Return, a Winchester shotgun used by Juliette Lewis In Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, and a Glock 17 pistol used by Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Ultimatum. [Read more…]
Forward/Repost: “A Message from Bob Gale, Co-Creator, Co-Writer and Co-Producer of the Back to the Future Trilogy” on Original DeLorean Car Movie Prop Restoration
Bob Gale has circulated some information about efforts to restore the “A” car DeLorean from the Back to the Future trilogy, so I thought I would pass along to the readers of the Original Prop Blog in the event someone is in a position to help. [Read more…]
Christie’s “Pop Culture” Auction Held Today: James Bond Pistol Exceeds Expectations, Darth Vader Costume Goes Unsold
Christie’s “Pop Culture: Film and Entertainment” auction (Sale 5570) was held today at South Kensington, London. Results from two of the highlight lots have been widely covered in Reuters and the AP, and picked up by mainstream media worldwide. [Read more…]
NRA National Firearms Museum “Hollywood Guns” TV and Movie Prop Catalog Supplements Exhibit
As mentioned in past articles, the NRA’s National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia has been hosting a “Hollywood Guns” exhibit this year, and now a 46-page catalog of the pieces on display has been made available. Many of these pieces have been featured on their “Curator’s Corner” video series. [Read more…]
The Golden Closet Offers Original Blank Fire & Non-Firing Pistols Used by Angelina Jolie in “Salt”
The Golden Closet has yesterday announced the sale of original prop blank fire and non-firing weapons used in Salt, starring Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt. In addition to Certificate of Authenticity from The Golden Closet are copies of the original rental agreements from the armorer who worked on the production and call sheets from related scenes. [Read more…]
Latest in NRA’s “Curator’s Corner” Video Series Features Set of Movie Prop Guns from Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed”
The NRA’s National Firearms Museum has published another video as part of their “Curator’s Corner” series. The latest features a set of hero pistols used in Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-winning film, The Departed (2006), including pieces used by Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Jack Nicholson. [Read more…]