Tribune Broadcasting’s New York flagship station, WPIX-TV (PIX11) in New Jersey, recently published a news report about the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office auctioning off memorabilia seized in 2007 – memorabilia that Prosecutor John Molinelli was warned included fake autographs. The report claims that a prior report revealed that the prosecutor’s office made false statements in an official document in order to get a no bid contract for their “handpicked” memorabilia authenticator. Purportedly, these news stories lead to refunds being offered to the buyers. One of the buyers subsequently filed a criminal complaint against the prosecutor which went to the Bergen County Policeand then to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Justice; the AG’s office then sent a letter to people who’d complained and it said that their information “was received and reviewed…The matter is now closed.” [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…]
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…]
Premiere Props Does Soft Launch of New “MovieProps DNA (MPDNA)” Authentication System with DNA Ink and “Panel of Industry Experts”
As is their usual procedure, Premiere Props has put up a portion of the lots for their upcoming sale (Hollywood Extravaganza XI on September 28-29) with online bidding partner iCollector, though with these lots each includes boilerplate information about authentication that has not been part of past auctions. Back in May, I made a public and literal plea for Premiere Props to put a real and substantive effort into authentication of their consignor-based auction material, and whether or not it is merely coincidental, it appears that they are doing just that starting with this upcoming auction, with “a panel of industry experts not affiliated with Premiere Props” called MovieProps DNA (MPDNA). While the “soft launch” of these changes raises many questions (which I will outline below), it is certain a significant step in the right direction. [Read more…]