I have had an ongoing tradition of publishing an annual review of my personal observations and opinions with regards to the business of buying, collecting, selling, and preserving original pop culture artifacts used in film and television productions (see 2007 Year in Review, 2008 Year in Review, 2009 Year in Review, 2010 Year in Review, 2011 Year in Review, 2012 Year in Review, 2013 Year in Review, 2014 Year in Review, 2015 Year in Review, 2016 Year in Review, 2017 Year in Review, 2018 Year in Review). This will be the first year since launching the Original Prop Blog that I won’t be publishing such a review. [Read more…]
YouTube Edition – The 12th Annual Original Prop Blog “Year in Review” for 2018 – Original TV & Movie Props, Costumes and Pop Culture Memorabilia
This is part of my new, ongoing series of YouTube videos. As per tradition, (see 2007 Year in Review, 2008 Year in Review, 2009 Year in Review, 2010 Year in Review, 2011 Year in Review, 2012 Year in Review, 2013 Year in Review, 2014 Year in Review, 2015 Year in Review, 2016 Year in Review, 2017 Year in Review), what follows is an editorial featuring my personal observations and opinions with regards to the business of buying, collecting, selling, and preserving original pop culture artifacts used in film and television productions. A look back at interesting trends, developments, and news stories from 2018. As is always the case, this is a completely subjective exercise, and merely touches on the developments and events that relate to the hobby and art market. 2018 marks the first year that this will be published exclusively in video form on YouTube. [Read more…]
Hollywood Reporter Feature: “A Marvel Heist and the Booming Business (and Seedy Underworld) of Movie Collectibles”
Writer Gary Baum has written an interesting primer on the art market for original production material from film and television for Hollywood Reporter, which was published today. It takes a look at the market from several viewpoints – the increasing market and values, theft and fraud, some of the motivations behind collecting – and he interviewed principals in the industry such as Max Anderson of the Stan Lee Museum, Steve Sansweet of Rancho Obi-Wan, Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions, James Comisar of the Comisar Collection, Joe Maddalena of Profiles in History, collector David Mandel, Jeff Pirtle of NBCUniversal, Brandon Alinger of Prop Store, Catherin Williamson of Bonhams, Laura Woolley of The Collector’s Lab, Jacob McMurray of Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture, Margaret Barrett of Heritage Auctions as well as law enforcement, and it also gives some history of the hobby (and business) of buying and selling high end memorabilia. [Read more…]
Premiere Props ‘Hollywood VIP Auction III’ Auction Catalog Online, Television & Movie Prop and Costume Sale Event August 23
Premiere Props have listed their next auction with online bidding partners iCollector, Invaluable (formerly ArtFact), and proxibid (replacing LiveAuctioneers) as part of their “Hollywood VIP Auction III”. The two-day auction is scheduled for August 23rd. As with past auctions, the sale includes a mix of original props, costumes, and other film and television artifacts, as well as general Hollywood Memorabilia, all in no order or rhyme or reason apparent as to sequence or grouping. “Movie Props DNA (MPDNA)”, which seems to come and go with these sale events, is no where to be found in the lot descriptions this time around save for two lots (Lot #183 and Lot #224) out of more than 500. [Read more…]
James Comisar Featured in Latest Issue of American Way Magazine with His “Magnificent Obsession”
Renowned pop culture expect and collector James Comisar is featured in the latest issue of American Way magazine, in an article called “Magnificent Obsession” by Ken Wysocky. It provides an excellent overview into Mr. Comisar’s backgrounds and origins in collecting as well as his future objectives in establishing his Museum of Television. [Read more…]
Premiere Props ‘Hollywood Extravaganza XIV’ Auction Catalog Online, Television & Movie Prop and Costume Sale Event June 21-22
Premiere Props have listed their next auction with online bidding partners iCollector, LiveAuctioneers, and Invaluable (formerly ArtFact) as part of their “Hollywood Extravaganza XIV”. The two-day auction is scheduled for June 21-22. As per usual, with less than a month before the sale, presumably a fraction of the full list of items have been put online as part of these auction catalogs. As with past auctions, the sale includes a mix of original props, costumes, and other film and television artifacts, as well as general Hollywood Memorabilia. “Movie Props DNA (MPDNA)”, which appeared absent in recent sales, is back and noted within some of the lot descriptions. [Read more…]
Premiere Props ‘Hollywood Extravaganza XIII’ Auction Catalog Online, Television & Movie Prop and Costume Sale Event March 22-23
Premiere Props have listed their next auction with online bidding partners iCollector, LiveAuctioneers, and Invaluable (formerly ArtFact) as part of their “Hollywood Extravaganza XIII”. The two-day auction is scheduled for this weekend, March 22-23. The sale advertises over 1,000 lots (which includes a lot of autographed, posters, baseballs, and other memorabilia). As with past auctions, the sale includes a mix of original props, costumes, and other film and television artifacts, as well as general Hollywood Memorabilia. There are many vintage off the shelf antiques attributed to film and television productions with no explanation as to how and why such claims are made (like an ice cream scooper attributed to Back to the Future, a starfish from Jaws 2, or a Happy Days wooden box). Can someone produce a screencap of this helmet used in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers? [Read more…]
Premiere Props ‘Hollywood Extravaganza XII’ Auction Catalog Online, Television & Movie Prop and Costume Sale Event November 23-24
Premiere Props have listed their next auction with online bidding partners iCollector, LiveAuctioneers, and ArtFact as part of their “Hollywood Extravaganza XII”. The two-day auction is scheduled for November 23-24, currently featuring over 1,000 lots (though it appears more than half of that are not props and costumes but comic books, posters, and other memorabilia). As with past auctions, the sale includes a mix of original props, costumes, and other film and television artifacts, as well as general Hollywood Memorabilia. There are many vintage off the shelf antiques attributed to film and television productions with no explanation as to how and why such claims are made. [Read more…]