The Prop Stop
Sr Member
Items will be up soon from Superman, Star Trek, The Abyss, 2 Guns, Gremlins, Edward Scissorhands, Terminator, yadda yada
Theme Park connection prop and wardrobe Icollector auction 28th March 2015
- Thread starter The Prop Stop
- Start date
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The Prop Stop
Sr Member
Even more stuff has been added and continues to be
http://www.icollector.com/Theme-Park-Connection-March-Madness-auction_as36139
Stallones Expendables armor
An almost complete set of Sharlto Copley Exo armor
The Abyss helmet and equipment from the deep suit worn in the film
Terminator Salvation Sam Worthington costume
and much more
http://www.icollector.com/Theme-Park-Connection-March-Madness-auction_as36139
Stallones Expendables armor
An almost complete set of Sharlto Copley Exo armor
The Abyss helmet and equipment from the deep suit worn in the film
Terminator Salvation Sam Worthington costume
and much more
EvilRocketeer
Master Member
Isn't this the same company that bought spare costumes from hunger games and passed them off as screen used when the seller told the company they weren't
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yep! They have a "questionable" reputation at times.
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The Prop Stop
Sr Member
Wow. That is pretty heavy stuff you just said there...
i would say as I posted on the Propstop I heard the same thing when I wrote my initial propstop article questioning what some of the pieces were and then I took a few minutes to actually call the company and discovered that lions gate was pretty much dictating how it was sold and how it was presented to them.
after a few days the lots were taken down or altered and production used was widely put on pieces were the true history wasn't known.
I stand by my original article but I also stand by the second Article where they with help from the community cleaned up the auction pretty much overnight.
https://thepropstop.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/theme-park-connection-starts-to-clean-up-its-hunger-games-auctions/
If if you know something I don't please feel free to add it here.
i would say as I posted on the Propstop I heard the same thing when I wrote my initial propstop article questioning what some of the pieces were and then I took a few minutes to actually call the company and discovered that lions gate was pretty much dictating how it was sold and how it was presented to them.
after a few days the lots were taken down or altered and production used was widely put on pieces were the true history wasn't known.
I stand by my original article but I also stand by the second Article where they with help from the community cleaned up the auction pretty much overnight.
https://thepropstop.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/theme-park-connection-starts-to-clean-up-its-hunger-games-auctions/
If if you know something I don't please feel free to add it here.
Rik1138
Sr Member
They have a history of occasional shady auctions from I've read. Back when they were selling the JP Raptor cage there was a lot of talk about them. I had never heard of them, but I remember people talking about them misrepresenting things... Nothing I know first hand though, you'd have to search back through the posts from back then...
But hopefully it's all a thing of the past (if the claims are really legit in the first place)...
But hopefully it's all a thing of the past (if the claims are really legit in the first place)...
The Prop Stop
Sr Member
The place to find the auction is earlier up the thread.
"History" implies they are the new Premier props....and with that you pretty much damn them.
They don't have a history. From my checking of the RPF threads Rylo brought up a thread that died after one extra person chiming in...I can't comment on it because I know nothing about Disney signage and wouldn't know a replica from original.
http://www.therpf.com/f9/theme-park-connection-their-hot-descriptions-216651/?highlight=theme+park+connection
and then the Jurassic Park thread where the item had alot of press online and then sold overseas as I read from the thread after substantial ebay fake bids etc the thing finally sold.
Finally the infamous hunger games thread which I partly initiated on my site and others which after I called them I found out that alot of the pressure from what to say was coming from Lions gate itself, and on top of that generally having never really dealt with props and wardrobe before they were genuinely befuddled with some items missing tags and not labelled until a few members from the community stepped forward and put them to rights....pretty much dealing with the problem.
So people make mistakes and so has every prop and wardrobe company ever.....its what you do to correct it that matters.
"History" implies they are the new Premier props....and with that you pretty much damn them.
They don't have a history. From my checking of the RPF threads Rylo brought up a thread that died after one extra person chiming in...I can't comment on it because I know nothing about Disney signage and wouldn't know a replica from original.
http://www.therpf.com/f9/theme-park-connection-their-hot-descriptions-216651/?highlight=theme+park+connection
and then the Jurassic Park thread where the item had alot of press online and then sold overseas as I read from the thread after substantial ebay fake bids etc the thing finally sold.
Finally the infamous hunger games thread which I partly initiated on my site and others which after I called them I found out that alot of the pressure from what to say was coming from Lions gate itself, and on top of that generally having never really dealt with props and wardrobe before they were genuinely befuddled with some items missing tags and not labelled until a few members from the community stepped forward and put them to rights....pretty much dealing with the problem.
So people make mistakes and so has every prop and wardrobe company ever.....its what you do to correct it that matters.
Where can the auction items be "inspected" prior to the auction. I am interested in looking at a few items before bidding.
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The Prop Stop
Sr Member
According to icollector on the right side of the page it says you can look at stuff at the Florida location. Otherwise im sure they can arrange photos of certain parts of the costumes or props you need to see. Some stuff like Superman has to be shipped from other locations.
Rik1138
Sr Member
Yeah, that was it... I forgot all about the Disney memorabilia... That's where their history is, there have been some accusations of them reproducing Disney theme park props and selling them as real. They claim they will provide paperwork proving the items are legit (and refund your money if you aren't satisfied), but that's like producing Warner Bros paperwork to prove all your Harry Potter props are legit. Disney does not sell these things to the public (except in very rare instances), they have to 'leave the property' first. So even if it is legit, they have no way of proving it unless you find a cast member that admits to stealing it.
Hopefully they treat props a little differently... Certainly a lot of us will notice if they start selling more than one of something that they shouldn't have more than one of...
EvilRocketeer
Master Member
I read some where on one of these forums that theme park got their hunger game items from a person name fong. Fong kept the screenused items and auctioned them off. The non screen used items and extras that were not used were sold to theme park. According to what I read, fong made sure and told them the items were extras doubles and stunts. I read it online which is why I am askin if this was the company
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The Prop Stop
Sr Member
https://thepropstop.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/theme-park-connection-hunger-games-auction-raises-a-number-of-issues/
that at was my original article written in the first few days of the auction
to be honest what was written in the follow up article days later was just the top of the iceberg as lots was happening with tpc.
There are always two sides to every story and pethsps i recieved more of one side than the other. Certainly lions gate asked them to remove pictures of the actors... Something not unheard of in auction circles. Items that I bought came with tags when I did from TPC A majority of hero stuff sold in the first blacksparrow auction was tagged hero but if course the other items weren't just hero but stunt, stunt for actress, dble and photo double. This stuff would always be less clearly marked. Then representatives from lionsgate came to "help them" and started ... Well .. "Helping".
Certainly they learmed a lot and have continued to with key members of the community that production used is sometimes s better te than trying to say this is from a specific scene which is never a smart move... Even with a tag.
This is was theme parks very first major attempt at selling Screenused items and looking back sure they messed up. They didn't understand the concepts that collectors covert but after several people called them and explained that it was important they cleaned up. They learnt. That was the second article written slightly after. As usual more people saw the "panic what's going on" article than the "good job guys for listening " article.
that at was my original article written in the first few days of the auction
to be honest what was written in the follow up article days later was just the top of the iceberg as lots was happening with tpc.
There are always two sides to every story and pethsps i recieved more of one side than the other. Certainly lions gate asked them to remove pictures of the actors... Something not unheard of in auction circles. Items that I bought came with tags when I did from TPC A majority of hero stuff sold in the first blacksparrow auction was tagged hero but if course the other items weren't just hero but stunt, stunt for actress, dble and photo double. This stuff would always be less clearly marked. Then representatives from lionsgate came to "help them" and started ... Well .. "Helping".
Certainly they learmed a lot and have continued to with key members of the community that production used is sometimes s better te than trying to say this is from a specific scene which is never a smart move... Even with a tag.
This is was theme parks very first major attempt at selling Screenused items and looking back sure they messed up. They didn't understand the concepts that collectors covert but after several people called them and explained that it was important they cleaned up. They learnt. That was the second article written slightly after. As usual more people saw the "panic what's going on" article than the "good job guys for listening " article.
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Fong is Fong Sam from Black Sparrow Auctions. Fong defected from Profiles in History to do his own thing and the first big thing he landed was the Hunger Games Auction.
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I am not quite sure who can answer this.
Prop Stop, you stated
I was looking at the latest items Theme Park Connection has posted on iCollector.
I found this item #388 National Treasure: Book of Secrets Disney Movie Jon Voight Screen Used Tweed Hat Prop just listed on the TPC auction.
I remember seeing a similar item #264 National Treasure: Book of Secrets - Patrick Gates' Hat and Riley Poole's Book on ScreenUsed auction which occurred last Saturday.
I looked closely at the image of the hat on the TPC auction page and I can see a partial ScreenUsed watermark superimposed over the hat along with a Theme Park Connection watermark on the bottom of the image.
I looked up the completed ScreenUsed iCollector auction and found a similar image with the only difference being the ScreenUsed image was of two items, a hat and a book.
To my untrained eye, this appears to be the same hat from the ScreenUsed auction (with the ScreenUsed watermark). I also see TPC has a listing for a National Treasure Riley Poole prop book that is similar to the ScreenUsed Riley Poole prop book that ScreenUsed sold with the hat. It looks like the ScreenUsed lot was split up?
I then compared the ScreenUsed description and the TPC description.
ScreenUsed description:
(Walt Disney Pictures, 2007) This hat was acquired by the production for use by Jon Voight as "Patrick Gates". The tweed hat is a size XX-large and remains in very good condition. This style hat is similar to the hat seen on screen, but is an unused back-up to the screen used version. Included with the hat is one of the prop books that were custom-printed for the production and used by Justin Bartha as "Riley Poole". The book consists of a custom-printed cover applied to a piece of wood painted white. The cover features the title "The Templar Treasure and Other Myths That Are True" by Riley Poole with a photo of part of the treasure on the back. The prop book is in overall very good condition with only minor wear from use.
Theme Park Connection description:
This screen used hat is from the 2007 Walt Disney film "National Treasure: Book Of Secrets". The prop up for auction was worn by Jon Voight in his role as Patrick Gates. The hat worn by Voight is a dark gray L.L. Bean Harris Tweed floppy brim hat. The prop measures 2XL and shows no major signs of damage. Please refer to the photo included for an example of the hat's use.
My concern is the hat that sold in ScreenUsed March 21 auction was sold as an "unused back-up to the screen used version". Five days later the hat is now "screen used" and "worn by Jon Voight".
Something doesn't feel right here. I tried calling TPC but nobody answered.
Prop Stop, you stated
I was looking at the latest items Theme Park Connection has posted on iCollector.
I found this item #388 National Treasure: Book of Secrets Disney Movie Jon Voight Screen Used Tweed Hat Prop just listed on the TPC auction.
I remember seeing a similar item #264 National Treasure: Book of Secrets - Patrick Gates' Hat and Riley Poole's Book on ScreenUsed auction which occurred last Saturday.
I looked closely at the image of the hat on the TPC auction page and I can see a partial ScreenUsed watermark superimposed over the hat along with a Theme Park Connection watermark on the bottom of the image.
I looked up the completed ScreenUsed iCollector auction and found a similar image with the only difference being the ScreenUsed image was of two items, a hat and a book.
To my untrained eye, this appears to be the same hat from the ScreenUsed auction (with the ScreenUsed watermark). I also see TPC has a listing for a National Treasure Riley Poole prop book that is similar to the ScreenUsed Riley Poole prop book that ScreenUsed sold with the hat. It looks like the ScreenUsed lot was split up?
I then compared the ScreenUsed description and the TPC description.
ScreenUsed description:
(Walt Disney Pictures, 2007) This hat was acquired by the production for use by Jon Voight as "Patrick Gates". The tweed hat is a size XX-large and remains in very good condition. This style hat is similar to the hat seen on screen, but is an unused back-up to the screen used version. Included with the hat is one of the prop books that were custom-printed for the production and used by Justin Bartha as "Riley Poole". The book consists of a custom-printed cover applied to a piece of wood painted white. The cover features the title "The Templar Treasure and Other Myths That Are True" by Riley Poole with a photo of part of the treasure on the back. The prop book is in overall very good condition with only minor wear from use.
Theme Park Connection description:
This screen used hat is from the 2007 Walt Disney film "National Treasure: Book Of Secrets". The prop up for auction was worn by Jon Voight in his role as Patrick Gates. The hat worn by Voight is a dark gray L.L. Bean Harris Tweed floppy brim hat. The prop measures 2XL and shows no major signs of damage. Please refer to the photo included for an example of the hat's use.
My concern is the hat that sold in ScreenUsed March 21 auction was sold as an "unused back-up to the screen used version". Five days later the hat is now "screen used" and "worn by Jon Voight".
Something doesn't feel right here. I tried calling TPC but nobody answered.
Rik1138
Sr Member
That kind of seems like the type of things I remember hearing about them... They will quickly state something 'is the one used at this key location' (referencing Disney Park items)... When everyone 'in the know' can tell it's a replica.
And, regardless of what their description is, why aren't they using their own photographs EXCLUSIVELY? Even if it is the same lot, and even if they described accurately, using someone else's picture just makes the whole operation look shady, especially when it's watermarked. Hell, even Premiere doesn't do that.
And, maybe it's just the lighting, but is that even the same type/design of hat that's seen in the screen cap? They look completely different, but maybe it's just hard to see correctly...
[Edit] Hmm, it seems they just don't do their own photography but use images sent to them by the consignor (I hadn't looked at the auction until now)... In my opinion, that's simply not a way to run a professional auction house. Every picture is a different size, different quality, different background, some of them include key-art and other photos Photoshopped into them or have the backgrounds badly Photoshopped out of them... It's just all over the place. Some lots have one photo, some have several... They need to take their own photos in a uniform setting, choose a nice one for the first image, and add screen shots and other stuff after multiple photos of the item being sold.
And if they didn't take the picture, how can I be 100% sure the item photographed is the actual item they have in hand? Especially if the photo is used from an auction where the original listing said something like 'one photo may be used to represent multiple similar items'. Even if the one they have does happen to the one photographed, if I see them using an image like that I won't know for sure... (Not sure if there's an example of that in this auction or not...)
And, regardless of what their description is, why aren't they using their own photographs EXCLUSIVELY? Even if it is the same lot, and even if they described accurately, using someone else's picture just makes the whole operation look shady, especially when it's watermarked. Hell, even Premiere doesn't do that.
And, maybe it's just the lighting, but is that even the same type/design of hat that's seen in the screen cap? They look completely different, but maybe it's just hard to see correctly...
[Edit] Hmm, it seems they just don't do their own photography but use images sent to them by the consignor (I hadn't looked at the auction until now)... In my opinion, that's simply not a way to run a professional auction house. Every picture is a different size, different quality, different background, some of them include key-art and other photos Photoshopped into them or have the backgrounds badly Photoshopped out of them... It's just all over the place. Some lots have one photo, some have several... They need to take their own photos in a uniform setting, choose a nice one for the first image, and add screen shots and other stuff after multiple photos of the item being sold.
And if they didn't take the picture, how can I be 100% sure the item photographed is the actual item they have in hand? Especially if the photo is used from an auction where the original listing said something like 'one photo may be used to represent multiple similar items'. Even if the one they have does happen to the one photographed, if I see them using an image like that I won't know for sure... (Not sure if there's an example of that in this auction or not...)
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The Prop Stop
Sr Member
The listing has been updated and appropriate verbiage used. The item was thrown up quickly and not proof read .... not checked until you guys saw it. As I said earlier I can't get hold of them right now easily either so it's all a bit chaotic.
its not my item but was glad to forward the info.
If if you guys really want to see some fun listings check out the competitors auction same day.
its not my item but was glad to forward the info.
If if you guys really want to see some fun listings check out the competitors auction same day.
Rik1138
Sr Member
It's been changed to:
They should clearly state that it was purchased for the character, but never used on screen at all as a different design was chosen. And it wasn't 'made to be used by Voight', it's a store-bought hat... It wasn't produced for the movie in any way.
They should just copy the entire description from the Screen-Used auction... They already stole the photograph from there, might as well just go all-out.
as opposed to the original Screen-Used auction listing that CLEARLY stated:
An improvement I suppose, but they seem to be going out of their not to mention that 1- It was NOT used on screen in any way (no proof Voight even touched it), and 2- as I mentioned above, it doesn't even look like the screen used one. The way it's worded one might still assume it was used by Voight during filming. That's the kind of 'shady wording tactics' I'd like to see any legitimate auction house stop using... Especially when a more detailed explanation is available online.
They should clearly state that it was purchased for the character, but never used on screen at all as a different design was chosen. And it wasn't 'made to be used by Voight', it's a store-bought hat... It wasn't produced for the movie in any way.
They should just copy the entire description from the Screen-Used auction... They already stole the photograph from there, might as well just go all-out.
@Rik1138 stole their photo ?? that's a bit harsh they put up in two weeks 400 items , when i asked Brian what the deal was he said that the employee who listed it thought oh cool heres one i can just take off screen used, and he was the one who also re wrote the listing totally wrong, the problem was fixed almost immediatley considering the time difference.
i agree that should not of happened too,but it almost seems like whatever they do u wont be happy with meanwhile they are just trying to offer a new type of service out of 400 items for a first auction i think they did quite well at giving the best information on the items being pretty new to the prop world yes they do wardrobe and theme park stuff. but when u deal with those pieces the studio is there to give u wardrobe tags and info. its not as easy as you know with consignments and props,every single [prop house and auction house has had items we could question,if we want too the collectors that i spoke to today are all very thrilled at how easy it was to consign the items, and at the bids they are getting and that only now they are shipping what ever has gotten bids, i think it says a lot about a company who is willing to trust the collector enough to not have them sign anything or ship anything only by verbal agreement, it says im willing to trust you if you trust in me, and that wont ever change doesnt matter if theme park gets bigger or smaller. they are also planning on paying the consigner and shipping asap. and to be honest i hope they continue to make little mistakes its the only way for any person or company to grow,,,so lets try to maybe look at some positive aspects not just on these guys but on all auctions ..
i agree that should not of happened too,but it almost seems like whatever they do u wont be happy with meanwhile they are just trying to offer a new type of service out of 400 items for a first auction i think they did quite well at giving the best information on the items being pretty new to the prop world yes they do wardrobe and theme park stuff. but when u deal with those pieces the studio is there to give u wardrobe tags and info. its not as easy as you know with consignments and props,every single [prop house and auction house has had items we could question,if we want too the collectors that i spoke to today are all very thrilled at how easy it was to consign the items, and at the bids they are getting and that only now they are shipping what ever has gotten bids, i think it says a lot about a company who is willing to trust the collector enough to not have them sign anything or ship anything only by verbal agreement, it says im willing to trust you if you trust in me, and that wont ever change doesnt matter if theme park gets bigger or smaller. they are also planning on paying the consigner and shipping asap. and to be honest i hope they continue to make little mistakes its the only way for any person or company to grow,,,so lets try to maybe look at some positive aspects not just on these guys but on all auctions ..
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