Best ways to aquire original props (NO-dealers)

[vince182]

In your experiences, what are the best ways to get a hold of original props/wardrobe? (of all kinds)

NOT including dealers/auctions/re-sellers.


I mean like contacting production companies, studios, etc...... is it possible? how?

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i may be just dreaming here, but im sure its possible someway or another!

 

[Apollo]

Most will turn you away as a lot of Studios have established Companies do that for them now.

Never hurts to try though!

 

[vince182]

I appreciate the input. yeah ive been turned away a few times.

What im really getting at, is trying to get a hold of "prop masters" or builders on set, that can take. remove, give out props, before they're demolished and or trashed.

Its just the worst feeling in the world hearing of props being destroyed or thrown away. im even open to the larger props that require freight shipping!! ha

 

[Guardian Devil]

That's a very tricky question, of course it's possible, but people who work on films value their jobs and contracts a lot more than letting collectors they don't know get hold of property that belongs to the production companies they work for. Anybody who does have contacts of this kind are extremely unlikely to share them I'm afraid. If these things were easy to get, they wouldn't command such high price tags.
Nowadays there's a lot of collectors who all want the same items and all want access to the same contacts. Things are rarely trashed because nobody wants them, it's usually because they don't want anybody to have them. Companies who officially part with items rarely do it on an individual basis, but instead high profile auctions or through the dealers.

 

[WelshSith]

I think Guardian Devil has hit the nail squarely on the head there. Go back to the pre Star Wars era and movie merchandise and prop collecting was a very different animal, and a lot was destroyed or just thrown out/given away because the studios saw no intrinsic value to them and there was no secondary market to speak of. These days anything with the phrase 'screen-used' attached to it has a value, down to the lowliest wing nut, and most production companies are going to try and milk that cash cow dry (not sure how many more metaphors I could have mixed there, but you know what I mean ). Some lucky people do still have the kind on 'contacts' you're talking about, but most of those will have been long term going back to the good old days of throwaway props. I used to know a guy who worked at Elstree and did some prop design work and building for film and TV and he passed a few items on over the years, but there were risks involved even for him and even though he's now in a different line of work he still wouldn't want me mentioning his name on an open forum.

 

[Birdie]

When I was 13 my dad did some contract work at Pinewood Studios when they were filming Flash Gordon. He mentioned that his kid was into sci-fi, and they gave him one of the huge Hawkman cannons for me. That was his version anyway :lol

It wouldn't happen now, for the reasons stated above. There are ways and means outside of the usual avenues, but you're still talking $$.

 

[vince182]

Ahhh yes.... Yeah all very valid points. Thanks for the input!

 

[Pippspriller]

I build a lot of stuff for commercials and catalog photography, and even in that lower tier world we often have agreements that a piece MUST be destroyed after shooting wraps. It varies, but the client may 1. buy unlimited license to the piece, 2. sometimes keep it themselves for later use, 3. Order it destroyed, or 4. Let us retain the license and rent/reuse/modify

 

[Pippspriller]

I've ordered a set destroyed myself once- a spaceship interior section that was getting too tired to reuse, and it wasn't worth bringing it back to my studio to smash it up. I had their P.A.s break it and toss it in a dumpster then send me iPhone pictures to confirm. That was kinda sucky.