I was interviewed by The Telegraph back in July of last year, for a feature which was published in the UK newspaper today about collecting original movie props and costumes from Star Wars. In addition to myself, a who’s who of Star Wars collectors are featured in the piece, including Stephen Lane of Prop Store, legendary collector Gus Lopez, and Steve Sansweet of Rancho Obi-Wan, as well as Academy Award-winning set director Roger Christian. [Read more…]
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…]
So I was very busy last week with activities and events related to Colin Cantwell, who I helped to consign his memorabilia collection to Julien’s Auctions. I attended the VIP preview last Wednesday night, organized a meet and greet Friday, and was present to watch the auction unfold first thing Saturday morning. I thought I would share some thoughts about this experience, as well as some photos I took last week. And, as I expected, with the rare memorabilia becoming public (including the never before seen concept artwork and my interviews with Mr. Cantwell over the summer), so new information came as a result of work from other fans (all exclusively from Star Wars). Colin Cantwell famously made the first prototype models for George Lucas back in 1974/1975; the first realizations for the X-Wing Fighter, the Y-Wing Fighter, the Tie Fighter, the Star Destroyer, the Death Star, the Landspeeder, the Sandcrawler, and the Millennium Falcon, as well as the T-16 Skyhopper. [Read more…]
Colin Cantwell, who has an incredible career in science and the arts, will be doing an exclusive meet and greet at Julien’s Auctions on Friday, December 5th from 1:30 to 3:00. Colin Cantwell famously made the first prototype models for George Lucas back in 1974/1975; the first realizations for the X-Wing Fighter, the Y-Wing Fighter, the Tie Fighter, the Star Destroyer, the Death Star, the Landspeeder, the Sandcrawler, and the Millennium Falcon, as well as the T-16 Skyhopper. His original, never before seen concept artwork from 1974/1975 will be up for auction at Julien’s Auctions on Saturday, December 6th at 10 AM, as well as other artifacts from his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Omnimax/IMAX, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and WarGames, as well as the mission plans from his work with NASA and CBS on the Apollo XI moon landing mission in 1969. At 82 years old, this is Mr. Cantwell’s first meet and greet and autograph signing, so a very rare opportunity to meet a legend in classic science fiction film and television. [Read more…]
Colin Cantwell is a dreamer. However, he’s is one of those rare individuals who is not content to merely dream, but to imagine how to make dreams a reality, and takes action to make things happen. And if the tool or method that he requires does not exist, he will invent it. He is about thinking up possibilities that others would find… impossible. He is also quite modest, regardless of his incredible accomplishments across a broad spectrum of disciplines. He seems to be entirely self-motivated and has an internal engine driving him to achieve the results that bring his dreams to life. My other observation, through my conversations with him at his home in Colorado some months ago, is that he is not only brilliant, but he is unrestrained by the divisions and categorizations that frame the lives of most of the rest of us. Like the great Leonardo da Vinci, Colin Cantwell is gifted with a great diversity of talents, as a scientist, inventor, artist, special and computer effects wizard, architect, engineer, and I’m sure a number of other abilities. In my opinion, he is one of our great national treasures that “we” didn’t know about. He played a significant role in Star Wars: A New Hope, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Omnimax/IMAX, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and WarGames, working with some of our greatest film auteurs like George Lucas, Stanley Kubrick, and Steven Spielberg. He worked with NASA and CBS on the Apollo XI moon landing mission. He even won over “the greatest architect of all-time”, Frank Lloyd Wright. And at 82 years of age, he continues to work on his life achievements; with his concept of Cosmic Biodesics, only now is the rest of the world catching up to his ideas. [Read more…]
The past week has been a significant one for the original television and movie prop, wardrobe, and asset art market, with two of the biggest dealers in the business having their own live auction events. This marked the first big live auction for Prop Store, which held it’s “Auction of Film & Television Artefacts” on the 16th, and Profiles in History had a multi-day event for their “Hollywood Auction 65” and their Expendables Auction (“Hollywood Auction 67 & 68” – yes, the naming/numbering is confusing… see prior article). With over 2,600 lots offered for sale collectively, it provides an opportunity for some analysis of each sale on its own merits as well as comparing and contrasting the different companies and their approach with the marketplace. [Read more…]
ScreenUsed will be concluding their next live online auction on November 8th. The auction catalog is now available online via a PDF download via their official website and collectors can bid on iCollector. Featuring an assortment of original props, costumes, and other production material and memorabilia from film and television, this auction includes 475 lots. Highlights include an Imperial Stormtrooper blaster from Star Wars: A New Hope, and a variety of costumes from Breaking Bad, Hunger Games, and the Star Trek franchise. Per their tradition and unique to their events, ScreenUsed have lower starting prices than many competing auctions and no reserves. [Read more…]
In support of their upcoming live auction event, Prop Store has produced a number of high quality videos showcasing some of the props, costumes, vehicles, and other production items that comprise their “Live Auction of Film & Television Artefacts” sale, which will conclude on October 16th. I’ve often lamented the poor quality photos used by some of the auction houses in their respective auctions for television and movie memorabilia, so I thought the fact that Prop Store has gone to the other extreme – with extensive high definition videos – that it warranted a mention herein, as it is a positive step forward for this particular art market. [Read more…]