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The Movie Prop Forum

JumanjiFan112

JumanjiFan112

Well-Known Member
Sup guys, I have always wanted to explore deeper into original prop collecting and such. But upon trying to sign up on The MPF site, it tells me that the Admin isn't accepting any new applications at the moment. Which it has been for at least a year or more. I know the site isnt dead because they show when their newest posts were (similar to the RPF) directly on their front page, and the last post was yesterday. So, does anyone know why they arent letting anyone new in? Or when they will be? It's kind of frustrating and annoying that I cant contact the Admins directly. Most of their links lead to the same "sorry you dont have permission for that" message.

So, if anyone has any information on this, it would be great to understand their reasoning. And I know how these people are, thinking they are better than someone because they can afford to buy screen used props, so it just puts this image in my mind like "haha you cant get in because you arent me"
 
You have to be referred by 2 members who know you. The admin is very wary of scammers and troublemakers.
 
Sounds to me like a place I wouldn't want to be, only 541 members total? Surely discussions must get a tad stagnant? No offence intended of course to those that are members there and here, just my thoughts :D
 
I am a member there, and the rules are in place for a few reasons -

As pointed out above, they want to keep scammers and "studio spies" out. Which is understandable. When dealing with items in the thousands of dollars at times, its good to have that extra veil of confidence. Im sure there HAVE been incidents on the site, but I havent seen any.

Also - To be honest, a lot of the members post pictures of props that they do NOT want to get out there and have replicated....

It's not a bunch of inner circle "prop jerks." Its a very nice and informed and helpful community, small as it may be.
 
It's a strange decision in my opinion to decide to close off memberships to other screen used collectors who would otherwise add positive contributions to the site in order to "protect" yourself. They make it so difficult to become a member that it really detracts from their community. It's basically a community in "hiding".

I looked into acquiring a membership not too long ago with fruitless results. Oh well,... this site seems more worth it...
 
its a privately owned forum made up of friends and friends of friends. Nothing elitist or such about it. To get into why its private you would have to comprehend the "battles" waged on past incarnations of this forum and others. In the grand scheme of things, it makes perfect sense to be a private forum.
 
So what with all the issues we get around here on a regular basis, from recasting/reselling of other people work as well as the general arguments etc etc we all know what happens on this forum from time to time. Does this mean that this forum should be made private just to avoid these problems?

Taking the issues we are all aware of into account, I think it can be worth SOME of the hassles to have a forum like this, it's open to new people thus new inputs, and new props etc. Surely if a group is closed off you will be missing out on new things, for instance there is bound to be thousands out here that buy screen used props and want to share in the same way they do on that forum but can't because they have to be a friend of a friend just to join???

Either way way I guess it's each to there own if it works for you guys on there then all good, but I guess it's good for us here because they will just come and share here instead :D:thumbsup
 
I guess that depends on each admin. FOr sure if you make a forum and keep it for a living (say ad space, membership fees, etc) you need it to be 100% public and open.

Thempf does not need that, actually. As stated above, it's not about someone being better than anyone, but just trying to keep thing as much "controlled" as possible...

And one of the KEY points is the VALUE of the pieces being COLLECTED, and being DEMISHED by replicas... it's as simple as that.
Other points include, as stated above, studio spies, trolls (almost every public forum has one-a-month of these), and such.
 
bolsoncerrado said:
I guess that depends on each admin. FOr sure if you make a forum and keep it for a living (say ad space, membership fees, etc) you need it to be 100% public and open.

Thempf does not need that, actually. As stated above, it's not about someone being better than anyone, but just trying to keep thing as much "controlled" as possible...

And one of the KEY points is the VALUE of the pieces being COLLECTED, and being DEMISHED by replicas... it's as simple as that.
Other points include, as stated above, studio spies, trolls (almost every public forum has one-a-month of these), and such.
Click to expand...

Very good point! I haven't found anyone on the MPF to act better than anyone not on the forum. In fact I find them very generous with their knowledge but I frankly feel safer on their showing my collection and making deals because it is a controlled forum. Fewer scammers and frankly I don't like that everything under the sun is being replicated.
 
There are certain studios that will go to great lengths to reclaim props that haven't been sanctioned for release into the market - Warners & Harry Potter being a good example. That alone makes the MPF policy a necessity.

Another reason is caution over replication. The majority of MPF members are solely collectors of SU pieces. Anyone who collects original items knows the problems surrounding authentication, and the amount of fakes that are passed off as original. A lot of collectors are reluctant to give out information or images of high end pieces they own or wish to trade/sell for fear of aiding in the creation of fakes. A private forum with referred membership goes a good way to easing such concerns.

It is a shame that this situation exists, but it does go hand in hand with that end of the hobby. Membership has been open in the past, but created a lot of problems, as Rob alluded to. There are some real crazies in the SU world, particularly on Ebay, and they will kick up merry hell when denounced. I don't think it is unreasonable for the admins to want to protect themselves from that.
 
Birdie said:
There are some real crazies in the SU world...
Click to expand...

dzza6a.jpg
 
Well after hearing some of your explanations I can understand why you have a closed forum, it does make sense for the many reasons stated. I am, however one of the people that are massively glad of the 'replication' of props, as I am one of the thousands who just can't afford the 'real deal', and the fact that there is usually only one or two of each screen used items it's obviously not possible for everyone to own those pieces you want.

I only have a few select screen used items from just my favourite TV/Films and I have not shared here either so I guess I can understand why you guys want a closed forum as you want to own one off props that no one else has, kinda makes it special I guess.

Well done guys and gals you have converted me haha :D
 
You have to keep in mind that there was a time when the original prop / replica prop communities were VERY segregated. Many original prop owners expressed a lot of disdain for those who made and collected replicas. Some still do. However, that segregation has somewhat diminished over the years as original props have become much more common-place and mainstream thanks to eBay and companies like Prop Store. Where you once only had a hand-full of extremely expensive props that only a few could afford to pass back and forth between each other, original props now span an entire range of price points and almost anyone can afford some type of original prop. So you now have a LOT of people with mixed collections. The insanely expensive pieces they could never afford as an original, they own replicas of and the ones that are more reasonably priced or accessible, they own the original. The Movie Prop Forum probably has more of the "purists" than any other place but many of the people you see posting there either still collect replicas as well or did collect replicas at one time. Still, you have many of the old guard there (who have amazing collections) who want to be closed off from the world and aren't very keen on adding to the fold. That is part of why we have this forum; to be a stepping stone for those who want to get into the original prop world.



Drac said:
Well after hearing some of your explanations I can understand why you have a closed forum, it does make sense for the many reasons stated. I am, however one of the people that are massively glad of the 'replication' of props, as I am one of the thousands who just can't afford the 'real deal', and the fact that there is usually only one or two of each screen used items it's obviously not possible for everyone to own those pieces you want.

I only have a few select screen used items from just my favourite TV/Films and I have not shared here either so I guess I can understand why you guys want a closed forum as you want to own one off props that no one else has, kinda makes it special I guess.

Well done guys and gals you have converted me haha :D
Click to expand...
 
I can can understand where your coming from :)

Art Andrews said:
You have to keep in mind that there was a time when the original prop / replica prop communities were VERY segregated. Many original prop owners expressed a lot of disdain for those who made and collected replicas. Some still do. However, that segregation has somewhat diminished over the years as original props have become much more common-place and mainstream thanks to eBay and companies like Prop Store. Where you once only had a hand-full of extremely expensive props that only a few could afford to pass back and forth between each other, original props now span an entire range of price points and almost anyone can afford some type of original prop. So you now have a LOT of people with mixed collections. The insanely expensive pieces they could never afford as an original, they own replicas of and the ones that are more reasonably priced or accessible, they own the original. The Movie Prop Forum probably has more of the "purists" than any other place but many of the people you see posting there either still collect replicas as well or did collect replicas at one time. Still, you have many of the old guard there (who have amazing collections) who want to be closed off from the world and aren't very keen on adding to the fold. That is part of why we have this forum; to be a stepping stone for those who want to get into the original prop world.
Click to expand...
 
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