history

January 1, 2017 By Jason DeBord

The 10th Annual Original Prop Blog “Year in Review” for 2016: News, Developments, and Trends in Collecting Original TV & Movie Props, Costumes and Pop Culture Memorabilia

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), 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. A look back at interesting trends, developments, and news stories from 2016. As is always the case, this is a completely subjective exercise, and merely touches on the developments and events that relate to the hobby. [Read more…]

January 4, 2016 By Jason DeBord

The 9th Annual Original Prop Blog “Year in Review” for 2015: News, Developments, and Trends in Collecting Original TV & Movie Props, Costumes and Pop Culture Memorabilia

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), 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. A look back at interesting trends, developments, and news stories from 2015. As is always the case, this is a completely subjective exercise, and merely touches on the developments and events that relate to the hobby. [Read more…]

May 17, 2015 By Jason DeBord

Flash Gordon Rocketship Featured on “Pawn Stars” Listed on eBay for $100,000

As mentioned a few days ago, the latest episode of Pawn Stars features a rocketship model claimed to have been used in the Flash Gordon serials from the 1930s. What appears to be the same model is now listed for public sale on eBay for a $100,000 “Buy It Now” price, stating that it is “an original movie studio prop – NOT a copy or reproduction” and that “[t]he model for sale here is an 18” prototype model — possibly the only one remaining — and may have been used for still shots on the ground and used with charges“. [Read more…]

May 15, 2015 By Jason DeBord

Jason DeBord of Original Prop Blog Featured as Memorabilia Expert Authenticator on Latest “Pawn Stars” Episode (“Rick’s Roulette”) for Flash Gordon Prop Rocketship

I am featured in the History Channel’s popular cable reality series, Pawn Stars, in the latest episode debuting this week, “Rick’s Roulette” (Season 2015, Episode 27). I served as the Hollywood memorabilia expert and authenticator for one of the segments of this episode, taking a look at a prop model attributed to the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s. This was filmed in December 2014 at Julien’s Auctions, when I was in town helping Colin Cantwell bring his Star Wars original artwork from 1974/1975 and other movie and television memorabilia to auction. I wanted to share some thoughts about the Flash Gordon prop rocketship model and appearing on the show in general. [Read more…]

February 17, 2015 By Jason DeBord

CNN Visits Warner Bros’ “Secret Movie Prop Archives” [Video]

CNN recently paid a visit to their “corporate cousin” and the Warner Bros. Archives in the UK – reported as the first such visit by mainstream media that has featured authorized video of the facility within it’s “secret London location”. While this resulted in just 23 still photos and a short 3-minute video barely touches on the 10,000 props and 3,000 costumes within the “vault”, it is worth a look for sure. [Read more…]

January 5, 2015 By Jason DeBord

The 8th Annual Original Prop Blog “Year in Review” for 2014: News, Developments, and Trends in Collecting Original TV & Movie Props, Costumes and Pop Culture Memorabilia

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), 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 – looking back at the top trends, developments, and news stories of 2014. As is always the case, this is a completely subjective exercise, and merely touches on the developments and events that relate to the hobby. [Read more…]

November 7, 2014 By Jason DeBord

Profiles in History’s “Easy Rider” Movie Prop Captain America Motorcycle at Auction: Sold for $1.35 Million… or Not Sold?

There was a tremendous amount of pre-auction mainstream media coverage about the motorcycle put on the auction block by Profiles in History last month, a lot of it generated from an AP story picked up by many news outlets that was titled “‘Easy Rider’ chopper at auction might be phony” (as of this time, that keyword search is resulting in 22,500 hits on Google). The day of the auction, and for a few days following, the most used headline was a variation on proclamations that it sold for $1.35 million. But, as a matter of public record, did it really sell? And if not, why has no media outlet (to my knowledge) reported on the sale falling through? [Read more…]

October 23, 2014 By Jason DeBord

Trying to Make Sense of Profiles in History’s “Hollywood Auction” Event Naming/Numbering Conventions

Maybe most don’t pay enough attention to notice or care, but I’ve had an increasingly challenging time trying to make sense of the numbering convention employed by Profiles in History in naming their auction events. It reminds me a little bit of Microsoft and how they name their gaming consoles (Xbox to Xbox 360 to Xbox One) or even their PC operating systems (Windows 95 to 98 to ME to 2000 to XP to Vista to 7 to 8 to 10)…. In the early days, it was pretty straight forward with Profiles, with their “Collector’s Ransom” (and later, “Hollywood Auction”) events going from 1 to 2 to 3, etc. At some point, they started folding in non-Hollywood auctions (Animation, Historical Documents, Rare Books and Manuscripts) and special one off events into the same numbering sequence… In any event, I’ve taken the time to try to make sense of it for my own records, and I thought I would share the results below in the event it would be helpful to others, or for others to suggest corrections… [Read more…]