Props lost or destroyed

[Martin-El]

All four versions of the Blue Thunder Helicopter no longer exist. The fully-functional 'primary' chopper and backup were broken down for parts after a few failed attermpts to sell it complete at airshows;

What I would'nt give to borrow the DeLorean to go back there with a suitcase full o' cash...

Somebody already mentioned the canopy mockup left to rot on the MGM backlot for decades - despite a fan-led attempt to salvage it MGM refused and it was destroyed a few years ago. And if you've watched the end of the film you'll know what happened to chopper No.4...

 

[Nwerke]

Have we mentioned the Tyrell Pyramid? Or the USS Cygnus?

 

[drthomasholmes]

I always wondered what happened to Karloff's neck electrodes?

 

[mrsmartypants]

@Johnny fever.
That's the story I knew, they were trying to give it away, and no one took it, so they scrapped it.

Yep, that's what I heard too. There was a newspaper article about it at the time that I remember reading. I think it was yours free if you paid to transport it from where it was being stored. So sad that there were no takers....

 

[mrsmartypants]

I believe the wagon that transported Charlton Heston and the other slaves around in Planet of the Apes used to be on display outside some diner or truck stop around the Sacramento area. At least it was several years ago along with a sign describing its use in the film. So sad to see it just rotting away in the elements.

 

[SciFiMuseum]

Have we mentioned the Tyrell Pyramid? Or the USS Cygnus?

The Tyrell building model is on display in New York at MOMI (Museum of the Moving Image).

 

[handler]

I believe the wagon that transported Charlton Heston and the other slaves around in Planet of the Apes used to be on display outside some diner or truck stop around the Sacramento area. At least it was several years ago along with a sign describing its use in the film. So sad to see it just rotting away in the elements.

Well, wagons have sat in the elements for years from the pioneer days, so, if there's any respite, maybe someone will pick it up one day before time really takes its toll.

 

[Nwerke]

The Tyrell building model is on display in New York at MOMI (Museum of the Moving Image).

Sadly, that's only the closeup insert model. The big one was redressed as a different building for Downtown, but caught fire during filming and was largely destroyed.

 

[Trap Joe]

I wonder where Gregory Peck´s Ahab costume from Moby Dick is. Never heared where it would be. :darnkids:confused

 

[KingNothing]

I know we destroyed a ton of stuff on Inception. But I don't think there was a market for pieces of the fortress in the end of the movie. Hahaha

 

[greatwazoo42]

Are you kidding? People will collect anything if you can prove it's authentic and screen used.

 

[KingNothing]

Well maybe I should list some stuff from Inception up in the junkyard....

 

[greatwazoo42]

Can't hurt.

 

[marooncartoon]

I know the lion suit from the Wizard of Oz was found in a skip outside the WB studios a few years back. How insane is that!!!

 

[marooncartoon]

Also, a few DeLoreans were destroyed in the BTTF trilogy :-(

 

[marooncartoon]

Not sure if it exactly fits in to this topic, as it's a set, but from Santa Claus The Movie (1985) I know set (all of which was a fully connected and working... including the telescope) was all destroyed. It was originally intended to be an attraction/christmas experience at Pinewood Studios

 

[marooncartoon]

I had an original costume worn by Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan. I sold it to a memorabilia store in Florida. They then decided to chop the jacket up (which was also an original WW2 jacket) and sell the pieces on eBay. With MY companies COA accompanying it.

Boo-urns.

That's just disgusting IMO... it's a piece of film history. Boo-urns indeed

 

[Holluba]

From what I understand, a lot of stuff from the early years of Dr Who have gone to the great scrapheap in the sky. Most of the well known robots have disappeared without a trace, such as the War Machines, the White Void Robots, the Mechanoids and so on, even a number of early Dalek props have disappeared without a trace too. So have most of the original Tardis consoles.

There's an episode of The New Avengers in which we see the Tardis Police Box prop from the two Dalek movies getting blown to pieces for some reason or another. I know a couple of other Tardis props from the classic series survive, but I'm not sure how many.

In the 1990s, there was a fire at the Longleat Dr Who exhibition, so that killed off a few more pieces, though a lot did survive that, even if they were scorched and smoke damaged, making them unfit for display purposes.

It's always a shame when props and costumes that we've seen on the television or up on the cinema screens get lost to time, but as we all know, nothing lasts forever, unfortunately.

Holluba

 

[TomGLFan]

I wonder how much of Forry Ackerman's stuff is going to vanish now that he's gone and the estate is breaking up the rest of the collection.

I got to tour the Ackermansion back in the late 1970's when you could just drive up to Forry's place and his wife would make you tea while he took you around the collection. Nicest people in the world, and he had stuff that I thought was long gone even back then.

 

[drusselmeyer]

Lots of stuff from Forry's place disappeared while he was around.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Batgirl's Batcycle. No one seems to know where it even came from let alone where it went. The guy who claimed to have built it didn't even know which brand it was. So obviously, his story about acquiring it originally from the manufacturer cannot be believed.

I was almost witness to one of these sad loss stories several years ago. While driving in Calif, I caught a familiar shape out of the corner of my eye. I turned the car around and went back. I had accidentally rediscovered Barris' place. In the back garage, the doors had been left open while they were cleaning some old junk. There under a pile of stuff, was the Lincoln and (I think ) number 2 Batmobiles.

Both had tires going flat and a thick layer of dust on them. The workers were also using them to climb upon to reach things on a shelf.

Luckily, at some point they were cleaned up again and weren't damaged in their time of neglect.