John Wayne Auction Pieces That Defy Logic

[Stairstars]

Sorry, to be back again, with report of an auction next month, of the most fantastical John Wayne fakes ever. What makes it worse, is that it comes from a once respected Western (genre) authority.

They can be found on LIVEAUCTIONEERS.com. All purport to come, third hand, from a costume house employee (of several!) who worked 60 years in the business, yet it not listed in the 1957 Costume Annual Directory, which lists every house and all the studio costumers. The labels are a joke, with most being crossed stitched, look bleached, and all fail to have any inventory numbers, as the 132 costume pieces sold from the Wayne estate all had on them at HERITAGE in 2011.

Notice, they are all typed at a time neither Western nor United did that. IN FACT, UNITED COSTUME COMPANY was long gone, as an entity, when all these film were made. In addition, these labels were not even the style used at the time of their demise.
United labels were also color coded. Here is a sample of them, through the years, although I have removed all the notes identifying them:

Note, none are typed and all are stitched on with a machine while the garment was being made - not added after.

And, look at the claim made in the same letter that accompanies all these lots:

Yes, too expensive to find warehouse space at studios that often were 40 acres large, with dozens of huge buildings or at WESTERN COSTUME, who was in a 6 story building back then. Just EVERYTHING thrown away...start new everyday.

Of course, the historical facts refutes all these lies.

And, where have these 'treasures' been hiding all these years? The COA is dated Nov. of 2018.

Forewarned is forearmed...

rick

 

[dbuck]

I looked at one auction piece. This particular piece isn’t even close. The movie coat is a four button officer sack coat and the auction piece a five button.

 

[goldcylon]

I looked at one auction piece. This particular piece isn’t even close. The movie coat is a four button officer sack coat and the auction piece a five button.

Even the lapels are off. Clearly not the same coat

Nice work above on the documentation as well.

 

[joberg]

I looked at one auction piece. This particular piece isn’t even close. The movie coat is a four button officer sack coat and the auction piece a five button.

And the bottom of the coat is straight while the auction one has a slight curve

 

[dbuck]

And the bottom of the coat is straight while the auction one has a slight curve

Yeah, nothing is close. The collars, the bottom, the buttons……. The only thing that’s even close is that they used pretty accurate officer shoulder tabs but those are not hard to buy. I also guarantee the wool fabric wouldn’t be the same weight if you could actually compare it to the original. It looks more like a modern reenacting coat rather than a Hollywood wardrobe piece.

 

[Dr Jones Sr]

The kepi is totally different too, if the two photos are a screen shot and the new auction hat.

 

[goldcylon]

Well as they always say buyer beware but the auction house should have higher standards as well. Thanks for keeping us in the know Stairstars!

Also Hollywood hardly throws any costumes and props away. I have lost count of how many Battlestar Galactica pieces made into Buck Rodgers and Knight Rider costume and prop wise. All reused along the way.

 

[Stairstars]

Thanks.

I too, am surprised how they could be taken in with such a letter. One vague letter, with a stupid claim to cover all nine pieces. Unreal.

But, the unspoken truth is, if this guy worked for all these costume houses, how did he acquire so many BATJAC properties? They never belonged to the costume houses. When making THE ALAMO, Wayne hired Luster Bayless from Western Costume, who would be his costumer until he died. At this point, Wayne stopped renting from WCC, and bought all his wardrobe - which he wore the rest of his life. It stayed locked up for decades after his death, in a storage facility near his home in Newport Beach. Ethan, his son, as head of the Wayne Foundation, sold off a large chunk of it to buy out his sister in 2011. The CAHILL hat was sold there.

What they are also not aware, is that in the late 1990's, Michael Wayne, his oldest son, producer, and head of BATJAC, went to Western and bought three racks of older rental pieces his father had worn. These, too, were part of the estate sale. Real Wayne pieces, in the wild, are almost unheard of.

rick

 

[Stairstars]

The auction is tonight, and the pieces have been pulled.

 

[joberg]

^^
Good news ...at least there are some people in this world who are still concerned with their reputation
They either looked at this thread, or someone talked to the auction house...

 

[Stairstars]

An advanced John Wayne collector I had sent the post to, took it upon himself to contact the auction house.

 

[Tommy]

An advanced John Wayne collector I had sent the post to, took it upon himself to contact the auction house.

Congrats - I know it feels good on the rare occasion that you manage to convince an auction house to admit improper authentication to the point of actually pulling a lot. I've only achieved this once so far, and it took an absurd amount of reference material for a piece that I immediately recognized as definitively fake (down to precisely which replicator made it). If only the DL-44 builders had your luck with the Han "blaster" that just sold...

 

[Stairstars]

Thanks.

I've been doing this so long, most of the major auction houses know me. The problem is with these new ones cropping up on online platforms.

I must say, that I do limit myself to hard facts, that if served legally, I am confident I will be victorious in court. There are pieces I 'know' are wrong, but, I do not have smoking gun proof to take a stand.

I appreciate the RPF, being an open source forum, getting notice on Google, is a big help in getting the word out.

rick

 

[simiouno]

Thanks.

I've been doing this so long, most of the major auction houses know me. The problem is with these new ones cropping up on online platforms.

I must say, that I do limit myself to hard facts, that if served legally, I am confident I will be victorious in court. There are pieces I 'know' are wrong, but, I do not have smoking gun proof to take a stand.

I appreciate the RPF, being an open source forum, getting notice on Google, is a big help in getting the word out.

rick

some labels from john wayne the genuine article book . Bad pic but makes a ref.

 

[Stairstars]

Those are gleaned from the estate sale in 2011. If, any of those come back, they should have their JW ESTATE tags attached to them, and will be in the database.

 

[simiouno]

Those are gleaned from the estate sale in 2011. If, any of those come back, they should have their JW ESTATE tags attached to them, and will be in the database.
View attachment 1612908

Nice detail .. Do you have any Duke stuff or props ?

 

[Stairstars]

Yes, I have shown off my costume here before, so you can do a search if you wish to see it.

 

[simiouno]

Oh nice . What's title is it under please . I love Duke stuff and have cobbled together a few repop props . Working on getting the right catalin gun grips .

 

[Stairstars]

Strange...I can't find it...
Here it is on yourprops:

John Wayne Costume

 

[simiouno]

Strange...I can't find it...
Here it is on yourprops:

John Wayne Costume

fantastic, great costume .. Another I liked was Rooster Cogburn and the Lady , Richard Jordan was a great bad guy ! He would have been a perfect Johnny Ringo at the time .