Gowns, glamour and a time travelling Delorean star at Propstore’s LA sale
23 June 2023 From coveted collectibles to cult curios there’s plenty of movie magic to be found a Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction next week.Running from June 28-30 there are nearly 1500 items to bid on, including paraphernalia from Ghostbusters, Star Trek, the Alien franchise, various Batman films, the Karate Kid movies and more.
Expect anything from posters to grizzly prosthetics to posters and much more memorabilia and reproductions from films spanning the Classic era to recent productions.
At this sale you might bid on both an Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-65) hand-drawn opening title card and a set of knuckle dusters from Bullet Train (2023).
Below we’ll look at a few highlights coming up. If you don’t see your favourite film represented, check out the full sale here.
The sale takes place in Valencia, California, so if placing a bid overseas, get to know the firm’s shipping policy and advice – and consider the potential fragility of various lots.
Star Wars
Star Wars memorabilia is a well-known money maker at auction, and many of the items on offer at Prop Store come straight from the set.
The highlight is a Princess Leia costume (see below), but there is also Darth Maul’s lightsaber from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), estimated at $50,000-100,000 and a screen-matched miniature asteroid model from The Empire Strikes Back pitched at $20,000-40,000. If you’re budget is a bit stricter, there are also lower value offerings such as an annotated copy of the opening crawl storyboard from the original film produced before the title lost the “The” before Star Wars.
It has an estimate of $600-1200.
Top Costumes
Among the top estimated lots going under the hammer at the auction is another Star Wars lot: Princess Leia’s ceremonial dress worn in the original 1977 film. Estimated at $1m-2m, the costume was long thought to be lost but was in fact stored for man years in an attic in London. After rediscovery it underwent an eight-month professional restoration project and is now offered for on a custom-made mannequin.
Very different in mood, there are several helmets and masks from various franchises, such as this Iron Man helmet used by Robert Downey Jr’s character in Iron Man 3. It was likely never meant to be worn by the actor, but the light-up mask likely appeared on screen either on a puppet or as set decoration. It has an estimate of $30,000-60,000. Or, different again, there’s a costume worn by Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding’s in the perennial favourite The Shawshank Redemption (1994).
Other standout screen garb includes the coat worn by Rose DeWitt, played by Kate Winslet, in the 1997 film Titanic. During filming, Winslet was often submerged for hours at a time in the coat, so several were produced. This one has an estimate of $100,000-200,000.
Back to the Future
You’ve seen it countless times on telly – now own a little piece for yourself. Back to the Future is widely represented at Propstore, notably in the Delorean time machine replica, but also in smaller-value lots including a futuristic Pepsi bottle, a couple of hoverboards and the production-made newspaper reporting on the lightning strike that crucially stops the town clock, which has an estimate of $2000-4000.
Wes Anderson
Thanks to social media, AI and a strong visual style, Wes Anderson is enjoying a moment – coinciding perfectly with the release of his newest film Asteroid City and this auction. Tik-Tok users are restaging both classic films and their own homes – and even their lives – in his colourful yet muted style. In addition to his live-action films are his animated films including Fantastic Mr Fox from 2009. Propstore offers a miniature set from the film of Mr Boggis’ farm for $6000-12,000.