Props lost or destroyed

Martin-El

All four versions of the Blue Thunder Helicopter no longer exist. The fully-functional 'primary' chopper and backup were broken down for parts after a few failed attermpts to sell it complete at airshows;



What I would'nt give to borrow the DeLorean to go back there with a suitcase full o' cash...

Somebody already mentioned the canopy mockup left to rot on the MGM backlot for decades - despite a fan-led attempt to salvage it MGM refused and it was destroyed a few years ago. And if you've watched the end of the film you'll know what happened to chopper No.4...

Nwerke

Have we mentioned the Tyrell Pyramid? Or the USS Cygnus?

drthomasholmes

I always wondered what happened to Karloff's neck electrodes?

mrsmartypants

Yep, that's what I heard too. There was a newspaper article about it at the time that I remember reading. I think it was yours free if you paid to transport it from where it was being stored. So sad that there were no takers....

mrsmartypants

I believe the wagon that transported Charlton Heston and the other slaves around in Planet of the Apes used to be on display outside some diner or truck stop around the Sacramento area. At least it was several years ago along with a sign describing its use in the film. So sad to see it just rotting away in the elements.

SciFiMuseum

The Tyrell building model is on display in New York at MOMI (Museum of the Moving Image).

Attached Thumbnails

 

handler

Well, wagons have sat in the elements for years from the pioneer days, so, if there's any respite, maybe someone will pick it up one day before time really takes its toll.

Nwerke

Sadly, that's only the closeup insert model. The big one was redressed as a different building for Downtown, but caught fire during filming and was largely destroyed.

Trap Joe

I wonder where Gregory Peck´s Ahab costume from Moby Dick is. Never heared where it would be.

KingNothing

I know we destroyed a ton of stuff on Inception. But I don't think there was a market for pieces of the fortress in the end of the movie. Hahaha

greatwazoo42

Are you kidding? People will collect anything if you can prove it's authentic and screen used.

KingNothing

Well maybe I should list some stuff from Inception up in the junkyard....

greatwazoo42

Can't hurt.

marooncartoon

I know the lion suit from the Wizard of Oz was found in a skip outside the WB studios a few years back. How insane is that!!!

marooncartoon

Also, a few DeLoreans were destroyed in the BTTF trilogy :-(

marooncartoon

Not sure if it exactly fits in to this topic, as it's a set, but from Santa Claus The Movie (1985) I know set (all of which was a fully connected and working... including the telescope) was all destroyed. It was originally intended to be an attraction/christmas experience at Pinewood Studios

marooncartoon

That's just disgusting IMO... it's a piece of film history. Boo-urns indeed

Holluba

From what I understand, a lot of stuff from the early years of Dr Who have gone to the great scrapheap in the sky. Most of the well known robots have disappeared without a trace, such as the War Machines, the White Void Robots, the Mechanoids and so on, even a number of early Dalek props have disappeared without a trace too. So have most of the original Tardis consoles.

There's an episode of The New Avengers in which we see the Tardis Police Box prop from the two Dalek movies getting blown to pieces for some reason or another. I know a couple of other Tardis props from the classic series survive, but I'm not sure how many.

In the 1990s, there was a fire at the Longleat Dr Who exhibition, so that killed off a few more pieces, though a lot did survive that, even if they were scorched and smoke damaged, making them unfit for display purposes.

It's always a shame when props and costumes that we've seen on the television or up on the cinema screens get lost to time, but as we all know, nothing lasts forever, unfortunately.

Holluba

TomGLFan

I wonder how much of Forry Ackerman's stuff is going to vanish now that he's gone and the estate is breaking up the rest of the collection.

I got to tour the Ackermansion back in the late 1970's when you could just drive up to Forry's place and his wife would make you tea while he took you around the collection. Nicest people in the world, and he had stuff that I thought was long gone even back then.

drusselmeyer

Lots of stuff from Forry's place disappeared while he was around.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Batgirl's Batcycle. No one seems to know where it even came from let alone where it went. The guy who claimed to have built it didn't even know which brand it was. So obviously, his story about acquiring it originally from the manufacturer cannot be believed.

I was almost witness to one of these sad loss stories several years ago. While driving in Calif, I caught a familiar shape out of the corner of my eye. I turned the car around and went back. I had accidentally rediscovered Barris' place. In the back garage, the doors had been left open while they were cleaning some old junk. There under a pile of stuff, was the Lincoln and (I think ) number 2 Batmobiles.

Both had tires going flat and a thick layer of dust on them. The workers were also using them to climb upon to reach things on a shelf.

Luckily, at some point they were cleaned up again and weren't damaged in their time of neglect.

Skaar

This thread makes me sad

Why do the studios let this happen?!?!

poormansjb

I don't know that it's "the studios'" fault; there are so many niche companies involved in producing a film today that there's likely some question a the end of the day as to who exactly owns what. Add to that the sheer volume of material, storage requirements, no clear-cut means of "disposal" (that is, do they just put it up on CraigsList? Make a deal with the Devil -- like the Prop Store -- ? "Loan" it to Planet Hollywood ... oops, not an option anymore), and you've got something of conundrum.

Some of this thread reminds me of an incident with a former employer: I had become something of the de facto historian so other employees (including senior management) would bring me prototypes that had been used to obtain patents, product used and returned by NASA, last known examples, and more.

I was away from the office for a week and came back to find all of it gone. "What happened?," I asked my boss. "Threw it all out," he told me. "Why?!" "I don't like to have old things around, I only want to see new stuff."

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

But that's another story.

TheProhammer

In this old days, such stuff was studio stored (aka 'fold and hold') since it was studio made and property. It took too much lot space to so that. They sold off items or trashed them or items walked away (LOL). Areas of studios get cleared out to be remolded because prop storage is dead space and not making much money like needed production office space for new rentals. But, now the studios just subcontract or rent space to productions that have their own crews to built items many times. It's then owned by the production company which may hold onto items or store them for a wildly successful film's sequel or prequel.
In the old studio days, I really wonder what happened to those iconic props or set pieces like the giant ants from 'Them', the Krell lab from 'Forbidden Planet' or the like. I know some props just get re-made or re-issued once the studio trademark or copyright licensing is agreed to and allowed.

greatwazoo42

Matt Irvine is still kicking himself to this day for throwing the season 14 console he built onto the rubbish tip.

poormansjb

The ants were likely too recognizable (besides, name a production that could have utilized them) but bits from the Krell labs turned-up in MGM films for a good many years to follow as well as television series like The Twilight Zone.