Weirding Way Media.

Welcome to the special bonus episode of the Filmmentaries podcast, a bit of an out of the blue bonus episode.

This just a few days ago, I was contacted by a Brandon Allinger who runs Prop Store in la and, knowing that I'm London based because Brandon and I have had a few two and FROs over the years, a bit of conversation of the years, he invited me as a member of the press to a special press preview of the upcoming auction at prop Store, which includes some incredible items including a last Crusade whip and belt, a original James Fonder Barbarella costume and gun, and original Jaws clapperboard with the teeth, and what's got to be one of the biggest items to go through their hands and all their years, an original Empire Strikes Back and return of the Jedi Darth Vader lightsaber screen matched, photo matched well.

The estimate on it, I think is quite conservative.

I wouldn't be surprised if it goes well.

Beyond that, it's super iconic and just one of those items that you know is a shorthand for the movie.

Everybody knows what a lightsaber is, even if you're not a Star Wars fan.

So this morning, six of August, I went up to the Dorchester Hotel, very posh, very nice hotel and met up with a guy as a prop store and had a preview of these special items.

So what you're about to hear is a couple of interviews, one with Tim Laws, who's the director of consignment a prop store, and with Stephen Lane, the CEO and founder of prop Store.

Thank you to Brandon for the didn't manage to get to have a chat on Mike with Brandon, We did have a good chat off Mike, So I hope you enjoy my chat with Tim and Steven, and I'll be back at the end for very quick jabbing on.

Clapper boards are very sort of worker day items.

You know, it's not a prop, it's not something we see on screen.

Of course, we've seen it behind the scenes, but this one is particularly iconic because of its design.

Yeah, and there's a very famous picture of Steven Spielberg on the Orca holding their early in production.

And yeah, I don't think obviously it's got the distinctive teeth pattern where the normal clapper would be on a traditional clapperboard, but this one proved to be pretty I don't know if you've seen it in operation over there, it's not very efficient, and I think very early on into filming they decided it wasn't going to work and they went to a more traditional, fable majority of filming.

Jaws is one of those films where it hasn't got a huge collecting fan base as such, because a lot of the items were items from reality.

They weren't made specifically for the film.

You know.

Of course, we had the orco which came from the Warlock, and we have you know, all that, like the gun was a real gun and the halfpoon guns are a halfpoon gun.

But there's just something about just having your hands on something that existed in one of the most tumultuous and difficult productions.

I think that's very that's a very good point, because the production was so notoriously difficult, to have something that actually represents the filming of Jaws is actually, you know, kind of significant.

And I agree with you.

I think there is very little authentic out there from Jaws because it's all it was all off the shelf.

The only thing I could think of that would rival the flapperboard with maybe one of the yellow barrels.

That's the only thing I can think of that because that was the Shark and this was production and so yeah, this plapperboard kind of it's so displayable.

It's amazing.

Did I hear as well that Bruce's eyes are part of the Yeah?

I thought that was a really exciting, especially because you've got the whole quint speech of the doll's eyes dead eyes, you know, and as you have the eyes, I think is that's kind of a big deal.

Yeah, I love it.

It's great.

I wonder who are the potential buyers for an i'mli this also, do you know what the reserve is on it?

On the reserve estimate on the clap of board is forty thousand to eighty thousand, and I think on the eyes it's fifty thousand to one hundred thousand.

But that's actually a piece of the Shark.

I mean, that's that's as good as it gets, isn't It's amazing collect us for this, I think could be anyone because as you said earlier, there is so little authentic available from that movie, and it is the quintessential summer blockbuster.

I think there could be a lot of interest because it is maybe the only chance to get something in Jaws, So yeah, be interesting to see.

I also think Stephen hasn't got one from what I gathered, So I know he's the part of his career now where he's sort of very reflective.

Yeah.

In Theron Beezer's new documentary, you know, he gets quite emotional about that time and very open about it.

So maybe he's a potential wire well, I hope so.

But it's nice to see that somebody of his talent can be reflective on what he created, and even he appreciates the significance of it.

I think that's a big deal.

Yeah, I like it, Stephen.

You've had some iconic props go through your hands at prop store, it feels like none as iconic as this.

This seems to be one of those items that defines a movie.

It defines the core of the movie.

Tell me about this lightsaber that you've got.

Yeah.

Look, I mean, first of all, I think a lot of what's iconic is in the either Beholder, isn't it.

So you know, maybe if you're not such a Star Wars fan, maybe you're into Jaws or something like that, you might be more focused on something that's from a Jaws film, and that's such as the clappor board, such as the caapperboard movie.

Yeah, I mean that might be the piece for you.

But yeah, I mean, this is an incredibly exciting moment for us bringing the Hero visual effects lightsaber out from the darkness.

Really, I mean it's from the hands of the Dark Lord to prop store.

I mean it's literally been nowhere in the middle of that.

And the fact that there are only two Hero light sabers made for production.

One has already documented and is in a private collection has been known about for a number of years, but this has been missing for forty years.

Nobody's known where it's been, Nobody knew it even existed, and so it's such a discovery.

And I think, yeah, if you talk about some of the significant Star Wars props and costumes that have come to market over the years, of which there have been many.

We sold a model miniature X Wing a couple of years ago for two point five million dollars.

This is, you know, that's eclipse by a piece like this.

I don't think there is a Star Wars fan in the world.

I think there's a statistic out that the third of the planet has watched Star Wars, has seen Star Wars in some capacity or the other.

And here we have the lightsaber that has used for those pivotal dueling sequences, the good versus bad, Luke versus Vader.

You know, it's the whole essence of the movies.

And this is screen match to Jedi, it's photo match to Empire strikes back.

This is that saber and it's phenomenal.

Yeah, the lightsaber to me seems to be something that you know, even if you're not a Stars fan, if you're not one of the one third of the people that have seen the movie, you know, if you wave your hand around and make a certain noise, which.

That be Jomie current, you can do it for all.

I'll insert that from the movie.

You'll have the ring and I see your schwartz is as big as mine.

Hang on, that's not the right clip.

This is the right clip.

But you know, I remember being a kid and it was probably back then one of the most ripped off toys of the time.

You know, you could get a light saber spelt with an R with an R with a space with a dash from five quid to fifty quid.

Now we're talking you know, up to five six hundred one thousand.

Even this is in a league of its own though, because it's screen matched and photo matched.

Yeah.

I mean this is the pinnacle, isn't it.

It's the very top of the tree.

It's the first time, the first time of verified original trilogy Lightsaber has come to market, and I think that's just an amazing thing in itself.

The fact that there is an opportunity Okay, it's a lofty number, so it's not accessible to everybody, but there is an opportunity for a private individual on the fourth of September to walk away with Darth Vader's hero lifeab I mean, it's just nuts, isn't it.

Who would have thought that would have been possible?

Even you didn't think that was possible.

No, no, absolutely, yeah.

I mean it's staggering.

And that's what's so exciting about what prop Staw does is discovering these artifacts that have been lost, buried, hidden, in some instances, thought destroyed.

If we talk about the Jane Fonder costume from Barbarella, for example, that we've got in the room as well, and the blaster.

I was working with another client in Rome going back last year and they happened to mention that they thought that they might know somebody with another costume house who could possibly have or they certainly worked on Barbarella, but might have some stuff on the rails.

It took us a while to get connected within language barriers, and also a lot of people don't really understand what it is that we do and why is that we do it, and why there's any interest, especially when you're working in the industry.

You know, it's like a byproduct for of the filmmaking process for them.

But we ended up meeting at their warehouse and lo and the hold there's half a rail of these different costumes from Barbarella and they've been there since nineteen sixty eight, hanging on a rail.

And that's what's so exciting about what we do.

You never know what's going to turn up on what we can on earth.

Those production used items, those things we've seen on screen, like the lights say were like the costume you have talked about are one thing, but then you've got this Jaws clapperboard, which is an item that obviously isn't on screen.

It's a part of the worker day nature of shooting that film.

But there's something about that iconic design.

There's something about that difficult production as well that adds that kind of extra value to it.

Yeah.

Absolutely, I mean think, first of all, yeah, it's sort of like a it's not in front of camera piece except for when they're using it right in front of the camera, so it's not actually been filmed for general consumption, right.

So luckily it's well documented.

There's a making of book where there's a lovely shot of Steven Spielberg holding one of those, the fiftieth anniversary documentary that just came out recently.

Again it's featured in that as well, so it's recorded.

It's known that there are about four of those that were made for production, and like the production, I think the clapperboards themselves are quite troublesome as well.

I mean it's not really practical if you think what the purpose of a clapperboard is, it's obviously to mark the time ensure that there's sync between audio and visual, and that doesn't really do that at all.

So I think it's recognized that those four weren't heavily used.

They did use standard slates as well, but it's so emotive, isn't it, Seeing that the teeth shape carved into it.

I mean, whoever came up with that idea was genius, and they should all be like they should all be themed in the future.

I wonder if part of the reason that was designed is because of the amount of time they had not shooting the shark.

I know Richard Drapers told me he went and learned knitting with some old ladies in a shop in Edgar Town, So I wonder if that was the case.

Do you reckon there was just a prop guy.

I was like, you know what, I'm gonna whittle out four of these things.

It's going to take me eight months, but I'm going to get it done.

I don't know.

Maybe you're right.

It's like those T shirts.

The design T shirt's got Joe Alv's shark design on the front that Kevin Pike put through.

You know, did screen printing up in the shack where they had the sharks.

You know, if filming was going on, he probably wouldn't have had the time to do that.

Yeah, very very true.

Now it could be why of those those capitals exist.

Have you ever had any whisper of who was instrumental in coming up with that idea?

Or I haven't I'm going to have to ask a few people when I get home to see if they exactly Yeah, yeah, I.

Really understand that.

You know, is there an illustration of that board?

Did somebody sketch it out?

Is there a design for it?

Because there is a little bit of engineering that's gone into that to allow it to slide up and down reasonably freely, not perfectly, but reasonably freely.

So yeah, I mean, I think that's a great stort.

And you know, wouldn't it be great to find some behind the scenes shots of them being constructed?

For example, you know this there's going to have been at least a couple of people who are involved in that and a discussion, and then to get it in front of camera.

You know, Spielberg is obviously going to have to approve it and for him to stand there with it.

So yeah, there's got to maybe when you meet mister Spielberg, that's a good question for him.

Mate.

Yeah, there's always another question to ask.

Just remind us when the auction is and how people can get involved.

The auction takes place from the fourth to the sixth of September.

It's taking place in Los Angeles.

Day one is at the Pizzs and Museum in La so you can attend in person, but the whole event is streamed online as well, so if you just go to propstore dot com.

The Fault Catalog opens on the eighth of August, so it's just a day away now and registrations open right now as well, and it will be streamed live obviously, so everything will be fully accessible wherever you are in the world.

Thanks Stephen, thanks for your time.

Pleasure, but I hope you enjoyed my chat there with Tim and Steven.

Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise to be invited to that.

It was great to meet up with some of my fellow nerds, including Mark Nubold who's a fellow writer at ILM and Skywalk Sound.

We're actually working together on an article at the moment.

Also bumped into Matt Hudson of Star Wars Sessions and James Burns as well journalist writer Jedi News sky You will know James if you're a Star Wars fan.

It was great to meet up with those guys.

Coming up next on the podcast is my interview with puppeteer Dave Barkley, who has a biography out at the moment.

Dave is an old friend and I've made a short documentary about him.

He's also been on the podcast as part of the Jabber crew, but Dave is so much more than Jabber, as you're here in the upcoming interview.

Thanks for joining me for this special, bonus, last minute episode of podcast, and I hope you could join me for the next one.

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