Taboo Indiana Jones OR other film props.

kevin926

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
So as a collector and prop maker, I noticed I was shying away from a few items.

Got me thinking.,

Are there any props you wouldn't collect from Indiana Jones? Updated : or other movie props

I have decided against the following in my collection.

(Full disclaimer, I am not judging or attacking anyones collections or preferences. Please dont think I am in any way. )
NOR AM I ATTACKING SYMBOLS

Chalice of Kali. Reason is it just creeps me out.
Voodoo doll of Indy. I will keep reasons to myself


Added
Chilled monkey brains (yuk)

The other was the adding Hitlers signature to my diary. It think that one might be self explanatory


Does anyone else have items they would leave out of theirs collections? Or am I just being silly.
 
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I generally avoid collecting items containing Nazi iconography outside of modelling (like Luftwaffe airplanes, or a U-Boat submarine).
Here's an interesting sidenote regarding Nazi models. Since swastikas are illegal in Germany, a lot of model companies don't print their decals or box art showing a swastika on the model. They'll print it as 2 separate decals that make the swastika shape when put together. Look up the box art for nearly any Bf-109 model. There should be a swastika on the tail, but it's always omitted from the box art.

Oh great. Since I typed "swastika" 5 times in a post, I'm probably on some sort of watch list.
 
I eventually want to do a replica grail diary myself and hadn't considered before whether to include hitler's signature or not. After a bit of thought I don't think I do, however it is part of the grail story so what i might do is tear the corner out with only 'Ad' remaining.. actually even better, lightly burn the spot till the signature is illegible, like the nazi lettering on the Ark crate .

With the swastika, a number of other cultures used that symbol for thousands of years as a benevolent cosmic talisman before the nazis culturally appropriated it for their own evil purposes (just like they tried to do with the Grail) so i remind myself of that, depending on which context it's used.
 
I’ve had buyers request that I include a full “torn out” page with the Hitler signature on it, like Henry tore it out after getting the diary back. The original page and binding in the diary was left intact so the diary itself was still whole.
 
I’m not looking for a chalice of Kali myself, as it is I have a hat over my fertility idol so my granddaughters aren’t creeped out by it.
The wife would lose her —— over the chalice.

other than that, whatever I feel like collecting I get but it’s usually the ‘iconic’ type stuff and even then my wife is like ‘what the heck is that thing?’ and that’s coming from someone who has cosplayed as Marion.
 
Yeah, swastikas are a big problem here in Germany. You can get in real trouble, if you have these kind of stuff...

I don't collect bigger stuff. So, grail knight shield, sword, Belloques ceremonial stuff, etc. I simply don't know, where to put the stuff...
 
I have no interest in items like these but from a collectors perspective I can understand the appeal to round out your collection.
 
Only thing i have with a Nazi sign is my Belloq headpiece. If people cant seperate a movie prop from a nazi flag flying at your house then thats their problem and i dont usually associate with those kind of thin skinned types. I would have no problem with a Hitler signature in a diary. Its not going to change history and it will not hurt anyone.
 
So as a collector and prop maker, I noticed I was shying away from a few items.

Got me thinking.,

Are there any props you wouldn't collect from Indiana Jones?

Personally, I have no interest in the Kali chalice or chilled monkey brains just because they're rather disgusting looking (I don't want a giant snake on a platter either). I went more for items that are either relics/prizes or common tools/clothing Indy and others owned. Even so, I don't see the point in collecting the same brand shovels they used to dig up the Well of Souls. That's perhaps going a bit too far. I'm starting to think even collecting whiskey and shot glasses was perhaps a bit much, despite being in iconic scenes in the movie. It can be hard to draw a line after awhile. I was seriously thinking of buying a full size Ark recently (at the price of a used car that I wouldn't even be able to fit in my home theater room). I had to come to my senses. I somehow already went from collecting some items for decoration from some of my favorite movies for my home theater room to small time Indiana Jones collector fiend. I might need psychiatric help at this point to stop.... :D

Don't be scared of symbols.

That symbol was used as a peaceful symbol of good fortune for thousands of years in many parts of the world. It's amazing how people and governments let a batch of bad apples destroy the entire orchard right down to mustache styles and first names as well.

Yeah, swastikas are a big problem here in Germany. You can get in real trouble, if you have these kind of stuff...

It seems a bit ironic to me that a country that had such a massive dictatorship problem thinks that the solution to that problem is using more government mandated freedom destroying powers to prevent it from happening again, as if stifling basic human freedoms of expression somehow doesn't seem paradoxical or hypocritical or cause resentments thereof. I mean arresting tourists 2-3 generations removed for taking a tourist photo with a mock salute seems ridiculous to someone who grew up watching Hogan's Heroes. Sure, it was horrible (my grandfather fought in WWII), but two wrongs don't make a right either. Fighting to restore or preserve freedoms only to take it away again out of fear feels wrong to me.
 
Personally, I have no interest in the Kali chalice or chilled monkey brains just because they're rather disgusting looking (I don't want a giant snake on a platter either). I went more for items that are either relics/prizes or common tools/clothing Indy and others owned. Even so, I don't see the point in collecting the same brand shovels they used to dig up the Well of Souls. That's perhaps going a bit too far. I'm starting to think even collecting whiskey and shot glasses was perhaps a bit much, despite being in iconic scenes in the movie. It can be hard to draw a line after awhile. I was seriously thinking of buying a full size Ark recently (at the price of a used car that I wouldn't even be able to fit in my home theater room). I had to come to my senses. I somehow already went from collecting some items for decoration from some of my favorite movies for my home theater room to small time Indiana Jones collector fiend. I might need psychiatric help at this point to stop.... :D

Lol. I have always felt there's a fine line between collectors and hoarders.

I am nearing the end of my collectors hoard. Just a few more items and I'm calling it. I need 4 more carded kenner Indiana Jones figs and a complete box with inserts for my map room, 5 or 6 G.I. Joe figs.

Temple of doom had a few great props, but that monkey brains and chalice are not appealing to me. To each their own. Collections are about enjoying what you have, but if part of it creeps you out, than I just pass. Lol
 
I've got a Zunder 1000 lighter from the 1936 Olympics in Berlin with the Olympic symbols and another with the Brandenberg gate on it, but they're free of Nazi symbols (I thought the Olympic one seemed like a heck of collectors item given how much was destroyed in the war.). They are the same model lighters from Inglorious Basterds as well (you can only see the metal back of the lighter in the movie so who knows what design was on the front). I've got a leather wrapped one as well and one with a German ad for some product or company. They're nice automatic lighters (made in the '30s and '40s in Germany both before and after the war).
 
Yeah there is a line for me when collecting props and it's usually drawn at items that are sort of mundane and I only have a few exceptions to my personal rule about collecting props that are generally just for display only. I want to wear my costumes and use my props so having a shelf for display only sounds kind of boring.

I have a staff of Ra headpiece and a Toynk fertility idol but I'm not at all interested in whiskey bottles, lighters, pencils etc. Those things could easily be mistaken for ordinary objects and without the context of other props to identify or justify them they have no meaning to me.

You can't exactly mistake the most iconic Indy items for much else in my opinion.

Nazi items, the chalice of Kali, and stuff like that is too garish and ugly for me to have an interest in collecting either. But I wouldn't fault someone for wanting them in their collection. They just aren't for me.
 
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When there was a swastika on screen I also want my prop with this.For me its the same like WWII airplane models.
Without the swastika its not accurate.

And to own a prop with a swastika makes not a nazi from you. ;)

Oh and my wife would never allow a Chalice of Kali in our house. :eek:
 
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