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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…]

February 27, 2014 By Jason DeBord

Nate D. Sanders Turns $7,000 eBay Auction Win into $50,000 In Less Than Two Months with “Jaws” Memorabilia Lot

Sometimes I get busy and simply don’t have the time to publish a preview of each and every auction, particularly ongoing, monthly, online-only auctions (though I list everything of relevance that I am aware of in my monthly auction calendar feature). This site and my efforts here are all done essentially pro bono (any advertising revenue collected does not come close to offsetting my costs accrued over the years), so I’m always a bit surprised when dealers get demanding with me for overlooking whatever for profit endeavor that they expect me to promote for them (gratis), especially when they’ve never made any contribution to the resource that is this website…. In any event, I was on the receiving end of e-mails and a phone call from the people at Nate D. Sanders in the past few weeks for not previewing their February auction (which is listed in my February calendar); said auction ended yesterday. One of the notable sales was a collection of Jaws memorabilia, but more interesting to me was that the lot that realized $50,000 with Nate D. Sanders could have been had for around $7,000 at public auction on eBay two months ago. [Read more…]

December 20, 2012 By Jason DeBord

Southern California’s NBC-4 “I-Team” Investigation into Julien’s Auctions Michael Jackson Autographs from Costume Designer Michael Bush

NBC-4 in Southern California have broadcast a report on their news program and published an accompanying story on their official site looking into claims made by third parties that items offered for sale by Julien’s Auctions, sourced from Michael Jackson’s costume designer Michael Bush, feature Michael Jackson autographs that are not authentic. [Read more…]

October 31, 2012 By Jason DeBord

The Rebellion Surrenders to the Galactic Empire for $4.05 Billion Dollars (i.e. Disney Buys Lucasfilm and All Rights To Star Wars)

Yesterday’s announcement that George Lucas struck a deal to sell Lucasfilm Ltd (and related companies and properties, like ILM and Skywalker Sound, and the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises) came as a surprise to many. Along with the announcement were details about a third Star Wars trilogy with Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy as Executive Producer – Episodes 7 (already scheduled for a 2015 release), 8, and 9… in the event the news in general didn’t warrant enough of a reaction on its own. For me, the most surprising aspect of the deal is that circa the 70s, George Lucas was known as being quite anti-establishment… a rebel and innovator, working outside of the system, and, well, Disney (which owns ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Touchstone, Marvel Entertainment, theme parks, resorts, cruise lines, television stations, etc.) is about as establishment and corporate-oriented as they come. Disney bought Marvel in 2009 (for $0.05 billion less), and hasn’t ruined it or anything, but Marvel is not Star Wars, and what little I’ve already seen worries me. 24 hours into this new Disney/Star Wars era, and a video is already released with Stormtroopers wearing Mickey Mouse ears riding a merry-go-round with Darth Vader. Really? [Read more…]

February 27, 2011 By Jason DeBord

Padmé “Phantom Menace”/”French & Saunders” Costume Update (BBC, Angels Costumiers, Cameo Fine Art Auctioneers, Profiles in History, eBay)

Thanks to input from readers and friends of the OPB, I have more information to share regarding the article published last night about the “Padmé” costume that appears to have been made for and used in the BBC televsion series, French & Saunders, not the film at the source of their parody, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. [Read more…]

February 27, 2011 By Jason DeBord

Padmé Costume with BBC Wardrobe Tag – “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” or “French & Saunders”? (Rebelscum Story/Discussion)

A few days ago, the popular Star Wars fan site Rebelscum published an “eBay Today Express” article about a costume attributed to use by Natalie Portman as Padmé in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), and subsequently posted a retraction based on further research. Per the article, it appeared to match a costume worn on the BBC series, French & Saunders in a parody Christmas 1999 episode titled “The Phantom Millennium”. [Read more…]