On a side note, I've been going over a few more items in the auction, and on some, they've done a good job on some the descriptions outlining facts as they know them. For example, the
Johnny Lawrence Cobra Kai Costume.
In the description, they note:
William Zabka "Johnny Lawrence" Cobra Kai Gi Jacket and Production Used Pants from The Karate Kid (Columbia, 1984). Vintage original Gi jacket with gold piping at collar and down open front and with 2.75" round embroidered "Johnny" fist patch affixed to left chest and 6.5" x 8" "Cobra Kai" patch affixed to the central back of the garment. Accompanied with (1) pair of black canvas draw-string pants with 3-embroidered patches on the left leg including 1-Bruce Lee Core symbol, 1-Ninja patch and 1-Bushido patch and with 1-yin and yang embroidered patch on the left leg. While the Costume Designer attributes the pants to being used by William Zabka, they are not seen worn on screen by the actor and are most likely used by another Cobra Kai member at the tournament. Both garments exhibit minor production wear, age, and handling. In vintage Fine condition. Accompanied by a LOA from credited Costume Designer on the film, Richard Bruno, stating that after production he kept this Gi, worn by Zabka during the tournament sequence. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions.
The line about the Costume Designer's attribution is great. They address the question of screen matching the pants clearly enough, and offer a possible explanation. At that point, it's up to the buyer to decide if that's enough evidence for them to decide it they want it or not. I'd be relatively comfortable bidding on this one, just because they laid out the doubts.
Then there is this one, right between the clapperboards.
Dustin Hoffman Papillon Costume.
From the description:
Dustin Hoffman "Louis Dega" Devil's Island Prisoner Costume from Papillon. (Solar Prod., 1973) Vintage original heavy canvas pink and white striped (3) piece prison ensemble including (1) tunic-style pullover shirt with long sleeves and deep v-neck, (1) matching pair of pants, handwritten on interior waistband, "Dustin Hoffman II", and (1) matching prison cap, handwritten on interior, "Dustin Hoffman". Exhibiting studio distress and wear. In vintage very good to fine condition. Provenance: Profiles in History Auction 120, Nov. 2020. Lot 278. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions.
Now, I've not seen Papillon in probably 20 years, so I don't have any special knowledge of the movie, nor really any memory of the specific costumes, so this makes it a good test case. All of the above photos are in the auction description. And the offered costume in no way resembles the screen shots THEY chose. Here is a cleaner photo of Hoffman, and another showing some of the other characters.
The costume they are saying is from Papillon is a pullover with a deep "v" neck. The best I can tell from stills from the movie is that all of the shirts are collared pullovers with 3 buttons. The offered costume has no visible buttons, buttonholes, collar, or plackert. There are horizontal shoulder yokes on the shirts in the movie, which is not present or visible on the HA shirt. The direction of the arm stripes on Hoffman's shirt at least match, but that's about the only thing.
It literally took me a single Google image search, and about 10 seconds, for me to decide that there were serious questions about the attribution of this piece to being Dustin Hoffman's costume, let alone even being from Papillion.
Ten more seconds of searching led to this:
Bonham's A DUSTIN HOFFMAN SHIRT AND PANTS FROM PAPILLON
A DUSTIN HOFFMAN SHIRT AND PANTS FROM PAPILLON
Allied Artists, 1973. Rough cotton collared pullover shirt with red and beige stripes, inscribed on the interior, "Corky," and bearing a red-lettered Western Costume Co. Hollywood label with the typed inscription, "Dustin Hoffman / No. 2193 / Chest 38 Sleeve 33 / collar 16," with an additional stamp from Western Costume. Together with a matching pair of red and beige-striped pants with buckle on the back, patch at crotch, and ragged hems. Bearing Western Costume stamps and red-lettered Western Costume Co. label with the typed inscription, "No. 2090- / Dustin Hoffman / Waist 31 Inseam 29 1/2."
Provenance: the Comisar Collection.
Ouch. That one sure resembles the one in the movie...I'm not sure about the pants being torn, because one screen grab shows them being intact, but again, I haven't seen the movie in decades. But it sure looks a lot closer! Oh, and another few seconds later:
A PAIR OF DUSTIN HOFFMAN PANTS FROM PAPILLON
Maybe the pants got separated, maybe from a different scene, no idea. They have a Western Costume Co tag like the jacket, with a matching serial number, 2193. I think that's a darn good match! I feel pretty satisfied that these appear authentic, and match the screenshots.
All in all, from just a few minutes of research (and way too much typing!) from the safety of my office, I think I have a much better feel for the "authenticity" of the pants then whoever cataloged the HA pants. I at least tried to make sure that the object matched the screenshots... As things stand, I don't think the HA costume was anywhere near the set of Papillon.
Sorry to go down a rabbit hole here, I just wanted to demonstrate that sometimes the research isn't hard, and doesn't necessarily require any sort of insider knowledge or contacts to get a feel for the authenticity of an objects. To be fair, it's rarely this clear or easy, and I literally had no idea where this object would lead. I just chose the next item in the auction after the Jaws stuff.
All of this leads me to believe that there seems to be little or no vetting of some of the items that are being offered, and it's very much a case of buyer beware. I don't like not being able to trust auction descriptions. It's a lot of extra work for me, sure, and sometimes I get paid to do it, but I don't enjoy the lack of trust between the buyer's and sellers of these things.
In short, I'd hoped for better, because sometimes, it's not that hard.
