Movie Prop Collecting with Jason DeBord's Original Prop Blog Film & TV Prop, Costume, Hollywood Memorablia Pop Culture Resource

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Revisiting Ellis Props & Graphics – Certificates of Authenticity (COAs) Assigned to TV and Movie Props, Set Pieces, & Costumes Circulating in the Marketplace

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For reasons unknown to me, I continue to receive communications from recent buyers of memorabilia attributed to film and television productions, who believe I have something to do with various eBay sellers and/or Ellis Props (see article from one month ago today, “NOTICE: Original Prop Blog Does Not/Will Not Supply Props to Dealers “jnsmcmahan”, “jsnent”, John Tarter, Billie Null, Mark Sullivan, L.A. Prop & Wardrobe, Hollywood Prop Supply, Studio West Prop, Ellis Props, et al“).  In any event, with one of these more recent contacts, I asked the buyer of one of these pieces to send me a photo of the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) supplied with the item purchased (in this case the COA provided was one that originally appears to be from Ellis Props).  A long time trusted collector in the field was kind enough to forward to me some images of confirmed legitimate examples of Ellis Props COAs obtained during the sales/liquidation circa ’99/’00, and that COA is very different from the one just obtained by a buyer from a piece purchased on eBay.  [Read more…]

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Pawn Stars Authentication of “Star Trek: The Original Series” TV Props (Communicator, Phaser, Tribble)

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I truly found “reality” series Pawn Stars enjoyable when it first came on the air on History back in 2009, but it has become more and more character oriented over the years.  But I always watch an episode if someone tells me that something is brought onto the show to sell that I might find interesting to watch.  This past week was one of those times, with the episode “Beam Me Up” which features a woman bringing in a collection of Star Trek memorabilia associated with the television shows and movies featuring The Original Series cast.  Obviously, the point of this show is to both entertain and educate. [Read more…]

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Vintage Poster Scandal Update: 1931 Dracula Poster Lawsuits & Default Judgments – Profiles in History vs. Thomas Rega / Thomas Rega vs. Studio Conservation

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One of the most significant scandals to hit Hollywood memorabilia collecting in the past decade was a series of discoveries in the poster community relating to purported fraudulent movie posters and one sheets.  A new update was published yesterday on the MoPo Mailing List at FilmFan.com by Dianne Jeffrey, President and CEO of Studio Conservation Inc.   Ms. Jeffrey was the professional who did some of the restoration work (in good faith) on the Dracula poster consigned to a Profiles in History auction in which it was featured on the cover of their “Hollywood Auction 37” sale event in 2009. Ms. Jeffrey has stated on MoPo that she received notice of a default judgment against her from Thomas Rega “in the amount of $263,312.50, plus attorney fees of $18,134.80”; she is a resident of California and the lawsuit was filed against her in New Jersey and she did not represent herself and/or her business in court.  Interestingly, Profiles in History was previously awarded a default judgment against Thomas Rega in their own lawsuit filed against him in California. [Read more…]

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Vintage Poster Scandal Update: Judge Sentences Kerry Haggard to over 6 years in Federal Prison and Orders to Pay $1,380,000 in Restitution to Victims

This is an update to the ongoing series of articles into various claims and charges of fraud in the posters, one sheets, and lobby cards art market that have rocked the collectibles industry over the past two and a half years. Today, per reports from Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the Athens Banner-Herald, and other mainstream media sources, Kerry Haggard was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon to six years and six months in federal prison.  The court also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1.38 million dollars. [Read more…]

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The Original Prop Blog Celebrates Its Five Year Anniversary

Today – April 5th, 2012 – marks the five year anniversary of launching this website, the Original Prop Blog.  In Spring 2007, I published the first article, “The Hobby Without A Name…”, though I didn’t have any idea I would still be writing articles five years later, and I wouldn’t have imagined writing approximately 1,559 of them (currently a 5 year average of 0.87 articles per day since launch, which is quite a lot considering I am the sole contributor). [Read more…]

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‘Comic Book Men’ AMC TV Series Features Laughable Star Wars Luke Skywalker Lightsaber Movie Prop Authentication & Valuation

Filmmaker Kevin Smith’s new television series on AMC, Comic Book Men, recently featured in its second episode (“Life After Clerks”) an individual bringing a prop into the comic book store, claiming it was an original lightsaber used in Star Wars: A New Hope.  The shop brought in a third party “expert” to authenticate and value the piece, though no information was provided as to who the authenticator was, or what his qualifications were in being cited as an expert.  Having reviewed the segment, in my personal opinion and subjective reaction, the entire affair was quite laughable, from the positive authentication to the assessed value of $7,000 for an original Luke Skywalker lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back. [Read more…]

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Pawn Stars Latest Episode Features Civil War Jacket – “TBS” Stamp – Inspector’s Mark or “The Burbank Studios”?

Friends and Original Prop Blog readers Jen and Bryce wrote to me today in regards to one of the latest episodes of Pawn Stars, which premiered last night. In the episode, “Late Night Chum”, a customer brings in what appears to be a Civil War jacket. Mark, the Administrator from the Clark County Museum, is called on to help authenticate it, and speculates that the stamped letters, “TBS”, might be an inspector’s mark. With an alternate assessment, and based on their experience with classic movie memorabilia, props, and wardrobe, and having found the same mark on studio-used garments, Jen and Bryce believe that it might actually be a mark indicating prior ownership by “The Burbank Studios”. [Read more…]

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Pawn Stars: Harry Houdini Straight Jacket Matched to Vintage Photo from January 1, 1915 – For Sale On eBay

Last week’s episode of Pawn Stars featured a gentleman who brought in a vintage straight jacket that he believed to have been owned by magician Harry Houdini.  In the episode, Rick calls in Murray SawChuck to help authenticate the piece, which he ultimately believes he does irrefutably via matching details (stitching, buttons, placement and style thereof) to a very high resolution vintage photo from January 1, 1915.  If correct, it marks the pieces as extraordinarily rare and historically important, yet the owner of the piece and Rick cannot come to terms, with the owner at $30,000 and Rick at $25,000.  It would seem to be much more valuable than that, by my estimation, and is currently listed for sale on eBay for $149,000. [Read more…]