Your 1st screen used prop and what got you into it?

[kwalsh0000]

I thought this would be an interesting topic for those who have screen used pieces, be it one or many of the great collections out there. What was your first screen used prop and did you start off with screen used pieces or go from replicas to wanting screen used? (apologies if this is in the wrong area, was thinking here or OT).

With myself it was the case of the stargate auctions. I have had a good few replicas and loved buying them and making them and still do and that was enough for me. I always thought screen used was for those with lots o cash and I wouldnt bother when I can get a replica for less and as good but then came along my first purchase and a cheap enough one at that

Then I was hooked! Getting something from stargate was a dream and then as I started to look into it more that was me done for! I still collect replicas and my collection is around 50/50 screen used/replica stuff but at times I have found buying screen used items is cheaper than replicas for certain things..madness!

How about the rest of you? What was your first screen used and what got you hooked into the screen used end of things to add to the replica collections?

 

[robstyle]

I used to get items from make up fx people back in the 70's but dont have any of that stuff anymore. My mom used to work for a make up manufacturer in El Segundo CA. Alot of old timers used to get their stuff direct, in person.

As far as props, the prop master from "The Big Red One" gave me a wooden German grenade back around the time the film came out. Ive still got it sitting in the living room next to the old little AM radio that was my best friend back in the 70's...

 

[Rik1138]

My first prop was the sphere-shaped Lament Configuration from the Hellraiser movies (seen in my avatar image). I just happened to be looking for 'props' on a whim one day on eBay back 2003 and saw it. I've always wanted one of the cubes from the films, and when I saw this I just had to have it! It's the only round one made, and I bought it directly from the prop maker himself (Gary Tunnicliffe), and got to go to his studio to pick it up in person. A great experience all around... At the time, I still couldn't believe I was actually getting a screen-used prop! The existence of them outside of the studios/museums always seemed to be a mystery (at least to me...)

I never _really_ got into prop collecting until a few years later when I stumbled on a Premiere Props auction in 2006... Haven't been able to make money fast enough since! :lol

Rik

 

[TomSpinaDesigns]

Cool stories. Rik, nothing better than getting a piece direct like that.

I totally relate to Rik's POV. Screen used pieces definitely seemed very "out of reach". Seemed like the stuff you'd see on a backlot tour at Universal or MGM Studios or in the Smithsonian... maybe in some crazy-rich Bond Villain's home! LOL It's nice to know that the original prop hobby has opened up to a wider audience

I'd pretty much been collecting/making replica props and masks since I was a kid. It wasn't till the mid-late 90's that I got my first screen used piece. If my memory is right (and it's been a while so it might not be! LOL) it was a screen use banquet beetle from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Really cool piece, great condition and one that even lay people would recognize. Right around the same time I got a small Death Star Surface section but I'm pretty sure the beetle came first.

No great story to go with this one and sadly, I've since sold the piece, but I saved a pic of course (attached below)

I'd love to hear about other people's first foray into screen used prop collecting and see some pics...

Tom

 

[jdebord]

My first "original" prop was one of the Shoveler's chromed shovels from the movie, Mystery Men.

I started by collecting replica props (Star Wars props nearly exclusively), which is why my post count doesn't reflect my activity here for many years.

I bought the shovel, and was just thrilled at the notion of owning an actual prop that was used in the film. As much as I loved Star Wars, the thrill from being able to hold something in my hands that was used in a movie absolutely trumped owning a replica of something seen in my favorite movie.

So I bought a few more pieces from Mystery Men, was hooked, and promptly sold off all of my replica collection to use the funds to buy a handful of original props.

As with Tom, originally they just seemed "out of reach", most especially anything from Star Wars. And actually, even replicas were "out of reach" years before I started collecting those.

My goal was to eventually own one original Star Wars prop, which I was finally successful in doing in 2008 when I bought one of the original stormtrooper blasters used in A New Hope.

Oh, and I no longer have that original shovel, but I did sell it to a friend.

Jason

 

[sycor]

My first one was some framed money from Serenity from Prop Store. My second was a detonator from Die Hard also from Prop Store.

 

[CJ 617]

My first 'screen used' prop was a 9mm 'rubber' pistol used in the production of 'Black Hawk Down'. Since then, I've looked around at many scrren used props and drooled but never purchased bar one, a ring worn by Gunn, from the TV series Angel.

I'm a huge fan of Stargate SG-1 and would so love to own some screen used props from the series'.

 

[CMANavy]

My first ones were uniform parts for an MI trooper from Starship Troopers. I had wanted a complete one for a long time, I abandoned that project and have only reciently deiced to get a full uniform.

 

[kevjh]

My first was a Bug eaten in Banqueting scene from Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. A long time ago.......
Kevjh

 

[Jumpin Jax]

A cup from the "Acuna Boys" restaurant in the Del Amo Mall, Jackie Brown.

 

[YenChih Lin]

My first screen used prop was a isolinear chip from TNG used by Brent Spiner - but I dumbly forgot the episode. I get ooold....

 

[feek61]

My first screen-used prop was the Xindi biogenic weapon from the Star Trek "Enterprise" episode "Carpenter Street." It was also in another episode but can't remember off hand which.

 

[FuseNova]

I always assumed "screen used" props were hideously expensive (ok - they are) but several years ago I picked up a few of the SG1 props during the Legends auctions. This started the hobby which continues to drain the bank.

So my first screen used replicas were a

Naquada Brick, watch, and camera.

My most recent screen used item is a sheathed sword from Gladiator but still trying to figure out how to display it.

 

[JoeR]

I got an original piece of Krayt Dragon Bone from ANH from Brandon, not sure if it was screen used though. I was so thrilled, and couldn't believe that you could get something that was actually original, things progressed and I went on to get my prop grails, two stormtrooper helmets.

No exciting stories, just hundreds and hundreds of emails....

Joe

 

[El Duderino]

My first was nothing special, it was a shirt worn by one of the zombies in the Dawn of the dead remake.

 

[luke moonwalker]

Flash Gordon (1980) gold rifle... I saw it on Ebay and couldn't resist. I've been hooked ever since. I've had quite a few things that I bought and sold as I focused down the collection... Right now it's mostly Flash stuff, stuff from Kevin Smith flicks, and some Wrath of Khan costumes.

 

[Proximo]

My first was a couple of paper props but got really hooked after I got a Metal Syringe from "Crank" and a 'hero' FBI ID Badge worn by Rhona Mitra in "Shooter". This was back in late 2007, rest is history!

 

[frightzone_4_you]

Once in a convention in the early 1990s I came across an actual screen-used piece of armor that was worn by Dolph Lundgren in his role as HE-MAN! From then on I was hooked!

 

[Art Andrews]

My first was a set of Starship Troopers armor. While I know it isn't unique or special, the fact of having something that wasn't "close" or "almost accurate" but was actually impossible to get more accurate was such a relief and such a pleasure that it has prompted me to buy more and more and more.

 

[gus]

My usual story is that when I started, I picked up the original Death Star model in 1999 and it's been all downhill since then.

Although that's not completely correct. Around 1996-1999, I picked up a couple of Death Star surface pieces, a panel from the full size Return of the Jedi AT-ST, a Princess Leia belt from Return of the Jedi, several Krayt Dragon and Lars Homestead pieces from Star Wars A New Hope and a ton of stuff that was thrown out from the Episode I sets while I was visiting Tunisia in 1998 and 1999.

I really didn't get moving in earnest on original props until a couple of years later. Now I can safely say finding screen-used pieces is my primary focus in Star Wars collecting.

Gus