Why has prop collecting become so popular over the last 20 years?

I had a rare and wonderful opportunity to spend some time with a gentleman (in his late 70's) who is a retired set designer. He has a pretty impressive resume including the Ten Commandments and Cleopatra just to name a few. He's worked on close to 100 films. He showed me a few items that he has collected over the years such as helmets, shields, swords, and even a few costumes. Nothing major but many of these items were easily screen matched, usually as background pieces.
We spoke in length about his experiences and why he picked up a few of these artifacts. He said that "back then", nobody cared about props, costumes or set pieces. Matter of fact, after production they were more of a bourdon. They couldn't GIVE them away! These items were either offered back to the suppliers or just thrown away. Sometimes they had to hire trucks to haul this stuff away, usually to get burned. Anyone that wanted any of this stuff were more than welcome to it, but nobody wanted it! The travesty! He kept a few items from the films he enjoyed working on just as "simple mementos". Imagine his surprise when I told him that it's now a major hobby with millions of dollars being spent by collectors.
Naturally the conversation shifted to WHY the sudden interest in props when once upon a time nobody seemed to care about these items. He feels that interest most likely started in the 80's with the development of home video, not to mention now with DVDs and the Internet. He said that nowadays you can own a screen used piece, buy the movie, pause it and point to your friends, "You see THAT sword? This is it!" Which makes the artifact much more exciting. Before the birth of home video you couldn't do that. People just had to take your word for it unless you went to the theater and watched the movie then pointing out the piece to your friends.
I guess I just never thought about it in that respect.

I would love love to hear different points of view by others!

i would guess it has a direct correlation with the growth in comic book, gaming, and movie conventions.

first off cosplayers had to build their own costumes...so when you look up "how to make"..this that and the other ....it draws you right in the direction of movie prop builders.

and since the movies have been about comics as of the early 2000's...the movie industry has walked it's way into comic cons.
then all of a sudden you have a bunch of comic collectors come to the realization that they can collect more things then comic books and have them go up in value just the same.

this all boils down to big bang prop explosion!

that's my theory anyway.

The unwashed masses finally," got it", and became cool!

I think alot has to do with technology these days. Back when movies were getting started people didnt see the tech of the big screen to progress like it has. Most things that were practical props back in the 80s would be cg now. also most people collect props as a reminder of a great movie or scene that they loved. I think the big reason is nostalgia. Most people are collecting the props from the movies they grew up watching and every time they see that item it takes them back to a time when the props and special effects were amazing even if they were chicken wire and brown clay. lol For the most part we have learned that this is a valid part of human history and like all before it needs to be preserved and appriciated for what it is, creativity, passion, art.

I think with the advent of the internet, it has gotten easier to find reference about props; to build, collect, or even just to know they exist. I think about how hard it was to find reference for prop replicas that I built back in the 70's or 80's. I had to try to pause videotapes or use a magnifying glass on bubblegum cards. If I found a magazine article with photos, it was like GOLD! Now you type any esoteric prop into Google, and pages of reference are instantly available.

I also think that the original Star Wars movie is partly responsible for the growth in prop collecting. Prior to that film, there was almost no merchandising for movies. George easily kept the merchandising rights to Star Wars because the studios thought they were worthless. Ole George has made WAY more money from products associated with his films than he has from the films themselves. It made the studios sit up and notice, and now there are product tie-ins for tons of movies.

It's because everyone that grew up on films that had amazing effects are now adults with money. Science Fiction and Fantasy wasn't as main stream to the Baby Boomers after WWII. It wasn't until their kids (My Gen, the X'ers) got to grow up with what was really the first generation of higher quality main stream Sci-Fi Fantasy films that relied heavily on props and cutting edge effects that interest grew beyond the camp of the 50's and 60's. I'd hazard a guess that the 70's was the beginning of higher quality film effects and all us little kids at the time were heavily influenced by Star Wars, and they now have kids.

Nerds have now grown up and are main stream and like I said, we've got money to buy the things we love. It's also perfectly acceptable to be a nerd today. When I was a kid, liking Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Tron would get you beat up.

At least, that's my perspective on it.

mm.

If you wanted an original prop prior to the internet then you either needed to be local to the film company or have a contact to the film to have any change of getting one. now we have the internet then information and availability of the props is far easier. Easier supply makes for grater demand and higher prices.

opcornChasing the mighty dollar...yep us humans are cash driven because our freaking monetary system requires most of us to make money to survive and live..... so eventually making money from movie-props and prop replicas on a much bigger scale was going to happen. It was inevitable. We humans leave no stone unturned.
Prop replicas came onto the scene in a big way in the past few decades by manufacturer's, fan-websites and also fueled by people's hunger for all sorts of movie & cartoon memorabilia. As Alric (and others) mentioned above..... Escalated exponentially with the introduction of the WORLD WIDE WEB.... The internet.

Accessibility...

I think it comes down to nostalgia in the first place, then technology. And the growth of companies such as prop store. And also to people who own things and that materialistic envy sometimes. Like "wow I want this too, this is cool!"

For me it's always been a combination of love of the tactile, and the want to possess something that ties you to your interests.

Society as a whole seems to be pushing away from the hand made, technology gets slimmer, cleaner, less cluttered. I barely use actual currency, card for most transactions.

So to that extent, being able to hold something in your hands that has craftsmanship like Deckards blaster or a minted coin from John Wick is immensely appealing to me because it's just so far removed from the day to day.

But additionally actually owning that object makes it feel like I own a little part of that world.

Internet
Profit

I think all of the previously mentioned points are valid. For me personally, I would also factor in a desire to distance myself from an increasingly harsh world, albeit temporarily.

We go on holiday to escape the stress and/or routine of our day job; For a short while, we can forget about the default world and relax, escape and explore. We might then bring back souvenirs, keepsakes, or photos, which serve as pleasant reminders of the event.

In a similar way, we watch movies and visit another world temporarily. It fires our imagination and provides a few hours of escapism. Maybe our fascination with props can be compared to collecting souvenirs from that imaginary place. More than that, we are bringing something fictional back, into our world, giving us the chance to purchase or make something tangible in the process. It's a kind of therapy for our (often neglected) imaginations and creative urges.

My personal obsession. I'm going to let this little toy be the scapegoat. that and I was a spoiled brat.:devil

sean said:

My personal obsession. I'm going to let this little toy be the scapegoat. View attachment 589654 that and I was a spoiled brat.:devil

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I just bought a resin kit! I always liked the design. Hoping to light it up too.

There have been isolated examples of props or film memorabilia that were offered to the general public, but it seems like the first big leap in collecting started with the MGM auction in 1970. Items were now individually valued that previously were just liabilities to the studio.

David

If I can add to this thread- In my OP- because films have visually got better. SFX and VFX have grown immensely since the 80's

For me it was thinking they just would t be available to the public outside of exhibits, once I saw on the internet I could get a replica of a prop, I suddenly found how big it was and now there is no looking back