From August 15 to August 18, film and television prop and memorabilia curator Propstore will be holding their semi-annual auction. This month’s features over 1,900 pieces of entertainment history. Estimating over $10 million in value, the auction features a collection of various items from an eclectic assortment of genres and projects, from horror classics like Scream and The Shining, to legendary sci-fi masterpieces like Alien and Star Wars. The event takes place at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, and features live, over the phone, and remote auctions.
Wednesday August 14 from 6PM to 9:30PM features a VIP preview, so RSVP soon. Attendees can enjoy food, drinks, and a special exhibition of some of the items up for auction. Additionally, join special guest John de Lancie (Star Trek, Breaking Bad) for a Q&A session during the event. Register for the preview event here.
Interview and Tour with Chuck Costas, VP of Business Development and Marketing at Propstore
Video and interview by Nick Williams.
Thursday August 15 is the live auction open to the public, where attendees bid in person. Please note, this is the only in-person bidding day. From August 16 through 18, you can bid via absentee and telephone bids. Notably, different item lots are auctioned off each day, so keep track using their catalogue.
Register to participate in the auction here. Moreover, browse the full 1,900+ piece catalogue here.
Auction Highlights
- Alien, the USCSS Nostromo: Used as a principal filming model for Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, this 11-foot “miniature” is the largest item available. Estimated value: $250k – $500k.
- Scream, Ghostface mask: The mask worn during Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich0) and Stu Macher’s (Matthew Lillard) first encounter with Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Estimated value: $50k – $100k.
- Forrest Gump, Box of Chocolates: A real Russell Stover chocolate gift box, the real candies were removed and the box was weighted to help it feel real for Tom Hanks. Estimated value: $20k – $40k.
- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi scout trooper helmet: Roughly 24 – 30 of these helmets were made for production, making this an extremely rare and valuable piece of memorabilia. Estimated value: $250k – $500k.
- Batman, Batwing 6-foot model: Created for the climax of the film, it’s one of several miniatures made for close-up purposes; the piece is motorized, allowing for the weapons to move and the giant scissors to protrude. Estimated value: $250k – $500k.
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indy’s hat: Worn by both Harrison Ford and stunt performer Dean Ferrandini, Indy’s fedora from Temple of Doom is one of many used by the production team. Estimated value: $250k – $500k.
- Skyfall, James Bond’s Tom Ford suit: Tom Ford custom made suits for all of Daniel Craig’s outings as Agent 007. Estimated value: $25k – $50.
Each piece is rigorously screen- and photo-matched to ensure its authenticity. Propstore incurs an enormous amount of memorabilia to sift through. Also, anything not verified through the matching process is not auctioned off. Learn more about Propstore’s screen-matching process in our interview with Chuck Costas, VP of Business Development and Marketing at Propstore.
About Propstore
In 1998, Propstore founder Stephen Lane’s love for movies led him to begin hunting for the same props and costumes that were used to create his favourite films. He found that he could not only provide collectors with access to their most coveted pieces, but also establish archival standards for this new, pop-culture hybrid of fine art and memorabilia collecting—prop art.
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