Profiles in History’s Winter auction catalog, “Hollywood Auction 62”, is now available in print as well as online, via their official site. This sale is scheduled for December 21st at their Calabasas Hills facility. Kudos to Profiles, as it seems that they generally have changed their reserves/estimates strategy on much of the catalog, and steered away from the hopeful jackpot estimates that have plagued their sales more and more in the past year or two. It is another massive catalog, and though a good portion of it is familiar, there are some really interesting pieces in the Western Costume and Sound of Music sections in particular. [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…]
James Bond Lotus Esprit Movie Prop Car Submarine from “The Spy Who Loved Me” Sells for Nearly $1M in RM Auctions Sale
One of the more interesting lots in the RM Auctions sale in London this week – the highly customized Lotus Esprit that was converted into a submarine in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) – hammered for £550,000, which translates to about $968,000 with fees. While it did not meet pre-sale estimate expectations that were set at £650,000-£950,000, it is a significant sale none the less, and certainly improves upon the price paid by the buyer who purchased the contents of a New York storage container for a mere $100 about 24 years ago. [Read more…]
Profiles in History ‘Hollywood Auction 56’, ‘Dreier Collection, Part 2’ Post Auction Reaction – Update on “Jackpot Reserves/Estimates Finally Out of Control?” (8 Months Later)
Profiles in History had a tremendously heavy auction schedule at the end of July, holding no less than four auctions across five consecutive days (Property from the Estate of Milton H. Greene on 7/27, Hollywood Auction 56 on 7/28-7/29, The Dreier Collection Part 2 on 7/30, and their Animation Auction 58 on 7/31), though they also held their Rare Books and Manuscripts Auction 55 earlier in July, and had their huge San Diego Comic Con display in-between sale events. These were their first big sales of 2013 (apart from the awkwardly titled, adjective-heavy The Property of a Distinguished American Private Collector, Part 2). The last of their traditional Hollywood Auction events was in December of last year and, as written at the time, it seemed to indicate a collision of escalating reserves/estimates and some push back from the marketplace on the same. Taking a top down view of these latest sales, the same mixed bag would seem to now be a trend, rather than a one off occurrence. [Read more…]
Profiles in History ‘Hollywood Auction 56′ TV & Movie Prop Catalog Available Online for Sale Event July 28-29
Profiles in History’s Summer auction catalog, “Hollywood Auction 56” is now available in print as well as online, via their official site. This sale is scheduled for July 28th & 29th at their Calabasas Hills facility. [Read more…]
Christie’s “Pop Culture” Live Auction June 26th in London, eCatalogue and PDF Catalog Online
Christie’s “Pop Culture” catalog is now available online in a downloadable PDF format as well as an online eCatalogue at Christies.com. The entertainment memorabilia sale includes 252 lots of film, television, and music-related material. [Read more…]
Yet Another Luke Skywalker “Screen Used” Return of the Jedi Lightsaber Movie Prop with Elstree Studios/Elstree Props/Danziger Collection Connections Surfaces on eBay
Continuing a long line of “screen used” Luke Skywalker prop lightsabers attributed to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi with connections to Elstree Studios/Elstree Props/The Danziger Collection, yet another one has surfaced for sale on eBay. Although there are photos of the prop and related documents and certificates of authenticity (COAs) from “Piece of the Stars Memorabilia” (a company I have never heard of before), of course the resolution of these images are limited to 500px × 375px (do cameras still exist today that shoot at such a low resolution?), rendering examination challenging, to say the least. In the interests of public debate and discussion, Original Prop Blog has long documented the public sale offerings of other prop lightsabers attributed to Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi that have similar origins and associations, which can be found HERE. [Read more…]
James Bond Original Movie Prop & Costume Exhibition in Shanghai China’s Minsheng Art Museum from March 28th to May 31st
An impressive exhibition of original movie props, costumes, vehicles, and other James Bond artifacts is being held at the Minsheng Art Museum in Shanghai, China from March 28th through May 31st. CCTV News has produced a video showing some of the highlights, which can be viewed at their official site or via the embedded player below. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of 007, the exhibit boasts about 550 items spanning all of the films starring Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. [Read more…]