I recently obtained scans of historic photos taken at the Lucasfilm Archives at Skywalker Ranch circa 1996/1997, depicting original props, costumes, models, and other assets from the original Star Wars trilogy (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) as well as the Indiana Jones franchise (Raiders of the Lost Ark , Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade). [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), 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 2013. 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…]
Christie’s “Pop Culture” catalog is now available online at Christies.com. The entertainment memorabilia sale includes 100 lots of film, television, and music-related material, celebrating 100 years of Pop Culture, running through December 5th. [Read more…]
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…]
ScreenUsed will be concluding their next live online auction on November 2nd. 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 300 lots. Highlights include a number of original lightsabers from the Star Wars Prequel films, two sets of Wolverine’s prop claws used in X-Men: Origins, and a Nostromo pistol from Alien. Per their tradition and unique to their events, ScreenUsed have lower starting prices and reserves than many competing auctions. [Read more…]
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…]
I spoke with Tim Lawes of Prop Store today on the last day of Comic Con International: San Diego for 2013. Below is the video interview… [Read more…]
Joe Maddalena of Profiles in History took the time to talk about his company and upcoming auctions at Comic Con International: San Diego this weekend. Below is the video interview… [Read more…]