Raiders of the Lost Ark, Smith & Wesson sells for $65,000 at auction.

agent5

agent5

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The 1917 Smith & Wesson .45 Hand Ejector used by Harrison Ford in several scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark sold today at auction. I knew it was up for auction for a while now but even with the projected estimate at $2000-$4000, it was still out of my range at the moment.

It sold today closing at $65,000. Yes, that is the correct amount of zero's. A Club Obi-Wan member was there and witnessed the insanity. There were alot of other film used firearms as well as many prop guns. Among them was the Han Solo ANH blaster as has already been mentioned.
 
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When I see people paying what can only be described as stupid or irresponsible sums for things like this, it absolutley confounds me, especially when the identical, real world item can be had for reasonable amounts of money. Why pay $140,000 for a graflex saber when you can have one for $200.00? Okay, so Mark Hamill didn't hold it on screen. For all you know, the same holds true of the $140,000 one. Could you even tell the difference? Same for this gun. I found an original online in less than five minutes, exact same gun with the original military holster for $1300.00

For certain things that may be iconic in some way, I can see some kind of premium being placed on an item. But, when someone is willing to pay that kind of money for something like this...I think they should be on medication. Especially when you're talking about a rotting hunk of plastic, like a stormtrooper helmet, or a gun that you could buy on your own for hundreds, or maybe a few thousand dollars. It's just as "authentic".

I love all these films, characters and props. I have obsessed over them to some degree for most of my life. But, come on. Nostalgia has its limits.
 
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Jedi-72 said:
When I see people paying what can only be described as stupid or irresponsible sums for things like this, it absolutley confounds me, especially when the identical, real world item can be had for reasonable amounts of money. Why pay $140,000 for a graflex saber when you can have one for $200.00? Okay, so Mark Hamill didn't hold it on screen. For all you know, the same holds true of the $140,000 one. Could you even tell the difference? Same for this gun. I found an original online in less than five minutes, exact same gun with the original military holster for $1300.00

For certain things that may be iconic in some way, I can see some kind of premium being placed on an item. But, when someone is willing to pay that kind of money for something like this...I think they should be on medication. Especially when you're talking about a rotting hunk of plastic, like a stormtrooper helmet, or a gun that you could buy on your own for hundreds, or maybe a few thousand dollars. It's just as "authentic".

I love all these films, characters and props. I have obsessed over them to some degree for most of my life. But, come on. Nostalgia has its limits.
Click to expand...

Amen!
 
Jedi-72 said:
When I see people paying what can only be described as stupid or irresponsible sums for things like this, it absolutley confounds me, especially when the identical, real world item can be had for reasonable amounts of money. Why pay $140,000 for a graflex saber when you can have one for $200.00? Okay, so Mark Hamill didn't hold it on screen. For all you know, the same holds true of the $140,000 one. Could you even tell the difference? Same for this gun. I found an original online in less than five minutes, exact same gun with the original military holster for $1300.00

For certain things that may be iconic in some way, I can see some kind of premium being placed on an item. But, when someone is willing to pay that kind of money for something like this...I think they should be on medication. Especially when you're talking about a rotting hunk of plastic, like a stormtrooper helmet, or a gun that you could buy on your own for hundreds, or maybe a few thousand dollars. It's just as "authentic".

I love all these films, characters and props. I have obsessed over them to some degree for most of my life. But, come on. Nostalgia has its limits.
Click to expand...


Very well put. I almost had a stroke when I found out an Obi-Wan cloak sold for 104k.
 
It's not stupid or irresponsible when $65,000 is the equivilant of say, $500 to someone who has the money. Your statement makes total sense when refering to the majority of people on this board though. Still, $65,000 is alot of money for any prop.
 
I disagree. But, fools and their money... Only a fool would throw away tens of thousands on something that in reality, is worth no more than a few grand at best when in perfect working condition, regardless of who may or may not have held it at some point. It's no different than the morons you seen on ebay paying more than retail for readily available products. I don't know if it is some insane competitive drive to win the auction, or sheer stupidity, or both. People with tons of cash can also use stacks of twenty dollar bills as toilet paper because to them, "twenty dollars is nothing". Doesn't make it any less a waste of money.

Add to that the fact that so many props were taken as mementos by the entire cast and crew from Spileberg and Ford on down, that the likelihood that you're getting the molecules that appeared on screen is in the extreme. Much of the hero stuff was taken by or given to Ford, Spielberg, etc.. I know he has a lot of the hero stuff from Raiders. I saw him interviewed years ago and I know that he mentioned, when asked, that he had the hat, the jacket, and the whip.

Most of the time, I'll bet that many of these higher-proflile props that are being sold for looney amounts, are probably back ups and spares that were left lying around after the production, or not even used at all. Some of this stuff is made in droves. Made for such and such a movie? Yes. Intended for use by such and such actor? Yes. ACTUALLLY the prop that you saw on screen? Who the hell knows? But, with films like this one, I'd wager against it.
 
Jedi-72 said:
When I see people paying what can only be described as stupid or irresponsible sums for things like this, it absolutley confounds me, especially when the identical, real world item can be had for reasonable amounts of money. Why pay $140,000 for a graflex saber when you can have one for $200.00? Okay, so Mark Hamill didn't hold it on screen. For all you know, the same holds true of the $140,000 one. Could you even tell the difference? Same for this gun. I found an original online in less than five minutes, exact same gun with the original military holster for $1300.00
Click to expand...

I can appreciate your perspective; some of the prices realized for original props are incredible, and not something some of us "mere mortals" would be in a position to contemplate (myself included!).

Having said that, an authentic and iconic artifact from a classic film is something special. It is part of our popular culture. It is a piece of art. Many times, such things are one of a kind.

More, with a property like Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Star Wars, an authentic original prop that can be owned "in the clear" is a rare thing.

Lucasfilm archives everything. Many of the few authentic original props that are "out there" may not officially be "out there".

Because studios and productions often don't own the firearms that are used in the films (for a variety of reasons), this is one piece that can be owned, legally, openly, and notoriously.

There is great value in that.

Is it "worth" $180,000? Well, to one person it is. Going by the bidding, having watched it, two people think it's worth $170,000. I lost track of when the third person went out, but to three, it's worth a bit less than that.

Me? I'd rather have a wide variety of pieces that add up to $180,000 (if I had that much to spend on props - I don't).

But yes, you can buy the same type of piece for little money. But having the one that was used by Harrison Ford, in the production of the film, and seen on screen...

That's an important piece from an important film.

And we're all here for love of films. I think we all just have different ways of appreciating them and paying tribute to those icons we see on screen.

If anything, the event of the sale of this piece makes for an interesting conversation. :)

Jason
 
Jedi-72 said:
When I see people paying what can only be described as stupid or irresponsible sums for things like this, it absolutley confounds me, especially when the identical, real world item can be had for reasonable amounts of money. Why pay $140,000 for a graflex saber when you can have one for $200.00? Okay, so Mark Hamill didn't hold it on screen. For all you know, the same holds true of the $140,000 one. Could you even tell the difference? Same for this gun. I found an original online in less than five minutes, exact same gun with the original military holster for $1300.00

For certain things that may be iconic in some way, I can see some kind of premium being placed on an item. But, when someone is willing to pay that kind of money for something like this...I think they should be on medication. Especially when you're talking about a rotting hunk of plastic, like a stormtrooper helmet, or a gun that you could buy on your own for hundreds, or maybe a few thousand dollars. It's just as "authentic".

I love all these films, characters and props. I have obsessed over them to some degree for most of my life. But, come on. Nostalgia has its limits.
Click to expand...

I disagree... if you've got the means, then why the heck not? I know plenty of people that would think people are crazy for paying $700.00 for a raw cast of a Vader lid, that is 'bout 10 generations from the original. All of this stuff is only worth what people will pay for it, and that's a lot, it seems.

You obviously just don't get it.
 
I have to agree with Jason and some others. That Indy revolver is an amazing piece of history. Considering the provenance, that it's "in the clear" and the film classic it's from, the price doesn't surprise me one bit.

Tom
 
ACTUALLLY the prop that you saw on screen? Who the hell knows? But, with films like this one, I'd wager against it.
Click to expand...

I know a bit about this piece. It went back to the gunsmith who made it for the production and a very lucky few have seen it and even been able to shoot it after Raiders came out. There are a few tells on the gun which give it away. The gun sold IS the gun used in all 3 screen caps posted above. There was one other, similar revolver used by Harrison Ford in Raiders and I'm not sure where that is today. Perhaps that is in the care of the archives.

You have to remember that many of the costumes and props, guns especially, are rented out for the production and returned. You just have to do your homework.

I fully agree that if you have the means, it is in no way a stupid or irresponsible purchase for such an incredible piece of film history. If I was the Bill Gates type, that gun would be in my hands right now and I'd feel pretty damn good about spending the $65,000 on it, which to him is about the equililvant of $1. Maybe less.
 
I agree that if you have the money readily available and want something, then buy it. The collector who bought this for $65,000 wanted it and obviously could afford it. Bully for him. If I had readily available large sums of cash kickin' around, I'd buy things like this too.

Outta curiousity, if we compare wealth - If someone had $100,000 in savings, this gun would have cost them $0.16 cents to purchase if you were to compare 100 grand to Bill Gates $40 billion! :)
 
Obviously I agree with the fellows above. Sure, you can run out and buy a copy for a few bucks... big whoop. I can run out and buy a print of a Da Vinci drawing for a few bucks. Most people are naturally sentimental though. Having an item that was actually used in a film that had such a significant impact on pop culture as Star Wars or Raiders... I can easily see the values skyrocketing to these levels.

Value is as value is perceived to be.
 
Bought the same model about 15 years ago for $200.00 + a correct altered 4" barrel and grips from Lee Keppler. Had it reblued as it was parkerized and now I have an exact gun as used in RAIDERS. Can't imagine paying 65,000 for a screen used gun when I can get the same thing for about 350.00. I also own a Webley Mark 6.
 
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