Large auction today with a lot of original film concept art 0

[SquareChaos]

58 minutes ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

True. And generic Western props probably won't command much. But, what if it's the Lone Ranger's mask from the classic series? Or John Wayne's eyepatch from True Grit? Or Clint Eastwood's poncho from Fist Full of Dollars?

Westerns may not be what they once were as a genre. But some of those movie props are iconic.

 

The real question isn't so much what would they go for today, it is what would that sale look like compared to what those pieces may have gone for when Westerns were all the rage (inflation / standard market return comparison, etc)? I think that may be the analogy to this (dubious 1 of 1) Star Lord mask that has been talked about a bit in this thread.

[comiconxion]

I'm one of the few that's started crossing over and exploring the world of original movie and TV props market in recent years so I thought I'd comment.  At the core, there are a lot of similarities between the original art market and prop market.

• They are both very nostalgia driven hobbies and the question of what will happen as the current group of collectors age is always under debate.  But, from what I've seen, I expect to see more "new" collectors entering the movie prop hobby as movies/TV shows are more accessible than comics these days and many TV shows and movies are making props available for sale to the public once they have wrapped a production.
• There are no true price guides for either - you have to follow the market and relative pricing to understand what is going on.  It helps to get perspectives from others in the market as you make decisions.
• "Screen used" like "published art" is more valuable than other pieces that were reproductions or made for production, but ultimately not used.

There are also some differences:

• While original art typically has "one" original, there are typically multiple props for each production.  For example, for Back to the Future, there were at least 30 "Marty" hoverboards produced.   Some were made of foam that they screwed to Michael J. Fox's shoes for the flying scenes, some were made of wood for carrying around, and at least one had a spring on it for special effects.  Some were screen used, some were used for alternate takes, and some were back-ups.  Some had a lenticular pattern on them and some had the design printed on them.  Some have a footpad and some had it removed.  All have a legitimate claim as an "original."   The good news about having more than one piece floating around is that it does allow the market to establish prices for rather unique items, but it does take a little more research to understand exactly what you're buying and how it should stack up to other similar sales.
• Provenance is much more important.  In recent years, studios have realized the importance and value of the props and have clamped down on what gets out.  Things can still be taken off production sets by people working there.  At the same time, pieces could be legitimately be gifted to people or charities.  So, it's important to know where a piece comes from to ensure you're not dealing with stolen goods.  True, the provenance of the early Marvel art still gets questioned now and then, but when dealing with props, understanding the provenance is important even with recent productions.  Additionally, there are a lot more fakes and fan made reproductions that can get passed off as originals.  In this case, it helps to compare examples to other known originals and/or talk with people that are intimately familiar with the way a piece was made for a production. 
• At the higher-end of the market, props seem to have more people entering the market at the higher-end (including institutions) that can drive prices high on high visibility pieces.   

As far as the situation with the Guardians helmet, here's why the price was so high:

• Marvel hasn't yet held an auction to sell Guardians props.  This particular piece was given away as a prize and was purchased from the prize owner. 
• As mentioned, this is a Hero helmet - about as desirable as you can get.  To a collector of Marvel props, this would present well with a Captain America shield and Thor Hammer.   Nice Thor and Cap pieces with solid provenance can go for $50-100k, but are more plentiful (although Marvel still has most of them in their archives).  So, a premium was paid here, likely because of the uncertainty if another one would be legitimately offered in the years to come.

Is it a good investment?   My guess is that's not the first question the buyer asked.  There are a lot of variables that will have to play out, the biggest two being availability of other Starlord Masks on the market in the future and continued popularity of the characters.  But, I think most people in the prop market were surprised by how high this Guardians piece went for as well.   But, how many of us watched sales of the Hulk #180 end page and said the same thing (although Wolverine has a bit more of a track record)? 

As far as reputation, Prop Store has one of the best in the biz for researching the pieces they sell.  So, if you had to bid in an auction, there's is a good one to bid in, especially if you're new to the hobby.

If anyone from the comic art community wants to learn more about the prop market, I'm happy to impart whatever wisdom I've learned over the years.  There's still a lot more to learn, but it's a fun kind of learning!

[The Voord]

Great post, comiconxion, thanks for taking the time and effort in shedding some light on your experiences within this collecting focus.

On a personal level, I'd love to own some of the props from the 1960s TV show, The Outer Limits. 

I found this auction to be quite interesting.  During the past couple of years I've been collecting movie poster originals - which was represented by a few paintings on offer in this auction.  Other than the Star Wars painting (too expensive for me to want to pursue), there was nothing of real interest for me.  The Vic Fair Mary Poppins poster art had a missing element, so was incomplete (Fair would frequently use paste-ups in the composition of his artworks and I guess part of this one became detached and subsequently lost).  Also, the work looked more like a prototype, rather than a finished painting (as such, I don't go with the description).

If you have a collection worth sharing, I'd love for you to post some of your stuff on this thread . . .

 

Edited October 5, 2017 by The Voord

[Bronty]

Yes, excellent write up, thanks Chuck

[cstojano]

http://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/ripleys-brought-home-monumental-goodies/

 

What, no Star Lord helmet for them?