I was just having an interesting conversation with my good friend and fellow RPF'er @Pitbull about this. We were discussing the way we collect props and why we do it. This has been discussed several times and sometimes it's been hard to figure out why some of us collect and WHAT we collect.
I have been around building and collecting for over 15 years and I have a collection that I adore...BUT I could get rid of in a second if I chose or needed to. Luckily that day has never come. There are many members that have needed and requested to be banned just so they can curb their obsession. THIS is problem number one. DO NOT obsess over these items. They are just that, ITEMS. They don't define you, make you smarter, better looking, a better person. They are simply items that are replaceable (sometimes at a lower cost than what you paid for them) and are only eye candy to remind you of a movie that you enjoyed. I always quantified them as "3D movie posters".
There are times when I will watch a movie with my kids and I will have them pick out or I will volunteer a prop that I have from that movie. It's fun to have a tangible item to play with or look at that connects you with that movie. But what else are props to us.
Not only are they a connection with the movie or time of the past but they are art. Pure and simple. The mere fact that the prop dept of a studio or a independent prop shop will always be labeled as part of the ART DEPT shows us what we always knew. We are art collectors. Members like myself and @asavage will collect certain props not only for the physical connection to a film but because of the beauty and masterful artistry that went into a particular prop. Props like the Blade Runner PKD or the 5th Element Zorg ZF-1 rifle are well crafted works of art. They intrigue us even more so than the film ever could. These props are so enticing that we just want to hold them, feel the weight or the texture of a grip, barrel or action of the trigger. This holds true for props like the NIKE MAG's from Back to the Future. I always wanted to just know what it felt like to look down at these shoes while wearing them. Or walk around at night with them.
There is also a sect of certain makers that want the journey. They want to get inside the original builder head. They want top experience what these builders went through "back in the day". These are the people who will wait YEARS and spend hundreds if not thousands of hours to find every single vintage model kit piece, rare British helicopter part or base pistol/rifle to start their accurate build from. They will research for months and "go down the rabbit hole" in google. It can be fun, frustrating and fulfilling. But this is the ultimate prop builder experience.
It's always fun to think about this but to really nail down why we do what we do is the real treat.
I have been around building and collecting for over 15 years and I have a collection that I adore...BUT I could get rid of in a second if I chose or needed to. Luckily that day has never come. There are many members that have needed and requested to be banned just so they can curb their obsession. THIS is problem number one. DO NOT obsess over these items. They are just that, ITEMS. They don't define you, make you smarter, better looking, a better person. They are simply items that are replaceable (sometimes at a lower cost than what you paid for them) and are only eye candy to remind you of a movie that you enjoyed. I always quantified them as "3D movie posters".
There are times when I will watch a movie with my kids and I will have them pick out or I will volunteer a prop that I have from that movie. It's fun to have a tangible item to play with or look at that connects you with that movie. But what else are props to us.
Not only are they a connection with the movie or time of the past but they are art. Pure and simple. The mere fact that the prop dept of a studio or a independent prop shop will always be labeled as part of the ART DEPT shows us what we always knew. We are art collectors. Members like myself and @asavage will collect certain props not only for the physical connection to a film but because of the beauty and masterful artistry that went into a particular prop. Props like the Blade Runner PKD or the 5th Element Zorg ZF-1 rifle are well crafted works of art. They intrigue us even more so than the film ever could. These props are so enticing that we just want to hold them, feel the weight or the texture of a grip, barrel or action of the trigger. This holds true for props like the NIKE MAG's from Back to the Future. I always wanted to just know what it felt like to look down at these shoes while wearing them. Or walk around at night with them.
There is also a sect of certain makers that want the journey. They want to get inside the original builder head. They want top experience what these builders went through "back in the day". These are the people who will wait YEARS and spend hundreds if not thousands of hours to find every single vintage model kit piece, rare British helicopter part or base pistol/rifle to start their accurate build from. They will research for months and "go down the rabbit hole" in google. It can be fun, frustrating and fulfilling. But this is the ultimate prop builder experience.
It's always fun to think about this but to really nail down why we do what we do is the real treat.
