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Props lost or destroyed

There were two driveable 'hero' spinners with engines, the other one survives. The one that was scrapped was the main one, unfortunately. One version of the story is that it was mistakenly thought to be a replica. I'd love to do some archaeology on that bit of landfilll...

The wire work unit has an interior, I thought?
 
Nwerke said:
There were two driveable 'hero' spinners with engines, the other one survives. The one that was scrapped was the main one, unfortunately. One version of the story is that it was mistakenly thought to be a replica. I'd love to do some archaeology on that bit of landfilll...

The wire work unit has an interior, I thought?
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that the 'flying' Spinner delete the interior in order to carry the CO2 system and still fly.......

There was a separate Spinner cockpit that had all the lights and screens.

Gene
 
I'm thinking of a pic in the museum, but I don't have it to hand. Maybe added later? Or I might have dreamt it; I'd certainly trust your recollection over mine.
 
The 1986 Iron Maiden album "Somewhere In Time" boasted a lot of BR-inspired imagery and the inside cover featured a shot of the band sitting on a (sanitized) metallic blue Spinner. Maybe that's where the wrong blue came from. But why paint it that color in the first place, unless it was for another show?

(The Scrambler from Spacehunter is in there, too, plus some other spacey car I don't recognize.)

What I want to know is, did they drag all those vehicles out to the desert just to take some album photos, or is that maybe out behind someone's shop in Lancaster/Palmdale?
 
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MFP 2020 said:
What I want to know is, did they drag all those vehicles out to the desert just to take some album photos, or is that maybe out behind someone's shop in Lancaster/Palmdale?
Click to expand...

Hard to tell from the pic, but the obscured vehicle on the right looks like the Jeffries-built "hover car" from the Logan's Run TV series. It sat outside Jeffries shop in LA for years. And the background looks a good deal like Vasquez Rocks which is maybe 50 miles north of LA (and site of a gazillion movies and TV shows) so not hard to imagine a couple of vehicles being trailered there for a shoot.
 
Not sure if this will clarify, or muddy things re: the Spinner. But they are Spinner shots, and that's never a negative, right?

I took these photos in late 1982 or early 1983 at a car show up in Seattle. One of the Spinners was repainted by George Barris and put on the car show circuit. There was a large graphic on the rear of the car with "Harrison Ford in 'Blade Runner'." It had a candy apple finish of dark blue/purple, and sported somewhat accurate graphics. Note the "credit" painted on the side of the car -

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I am not sure which car it was - one of the drivers or the "flying car". Judging from the nice seats, dashboard, and switch panel, I'd say it was one of the drivers. I suspect it is the car that was later used in BTTF2.

These two photos were taken by a friend of mine on a trip to Hollywood in the summer of 1986. I was on the same trip, but didn't go to this particular museum, otherwise I would have more pictures. When I moved to L.A. in 1988, I can't remember if this place was still around. But it has been looong gone from the scene. (It was on Hollywood Blvd, just west of the 101.) -
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The paint is completely different, as are the majority of the graphics. I also don't see the jack stand points on the 1982/83 car that I see here. I suspect these are two separate cars. Something bad has happened to the canopy as the lower section has been repainted and what appears to be a crack has been repaired with tape. The headlights have also been painted over, leaving only a diamond. These details match the Iron Maiden photos and, sadly, the Disney/MGM boneyard photos.

Enjoy.

Gene
 
Great shots! Thanks.

Ah, so the red stripe in the one Maiden photo is tape. Interesting. And that George Barris is so humble and honest (and such a good grammarian). But I guess technically you could say he "paint" it. :rolleyes

The boneyard spinner above has the YI on the side, so I guess we know which one ended up there. But am I seeing things, or does the "Latta Spinner" have a two-piece back hatch where the others are a single piece? (I'm sure all this has been discussed and debated and dissected elsewhere, but it's just so much fun!)

That's not the Logan's Run hovercraft on the Maiden cover, but here's a shot of it at Dean Jeffries' next to the Landmaster.

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And continuing the threadjack, here's a fascinating little film I just found. I anticipate spending many hours at DT's site: Blade Runner: Spinner Vehicles | Douglas Trumbull - Immersive Media and Visual Effects
 
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The other car in the Iron Maiden photos (and the one in the post above) is from (I believe) "Spaceballs". Correct me if I'm wrong......

Gene
 
I sometimes wonder what happened to the props made for the BBC's 1981 TV adaptation of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (as the on-screen title listed it), such as Ford's Electronic Thumb, the Babel Fish, and of course, the Guide itself.
 
The cars from UFO the TV series have private owners but they've been left outdoors to rot and go to ruin. A number of offers have been made to the owners but they won't sell them or restore them. One of them is in a back garden and an extension has since been built, so it would need a crane to lift it out or the extension would need to be knocked down.
 
There was a really good magazine article and lotsa pics on the full-scale Millennium Falcon a coupla years ago. Can anyone post it on here?
 
I believe there is a BR Spinner at the Science Fiction Museum HOF. I'm not an aficionado on BR, but there ya go.

Also, someone was wondering about the rig from DUEL. One still exists and is touring various cons, and it still looks identical to when it appeared in the TV movie. Good to see, since it's one of those movies my family and I had to watch when it was on.
 
JayPHX said:
Here's a video of some of the previously mentioned Star Wars & Indiana Jones props melting away in Florida

Disney's-MGM Studios (Backlot Tour) - YouTube
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Wow i was there october 2012 on my honeymoon 10 years after this film was taken half that stuff isnt there any more
The who framed roger rabbit dip truck was gone all the helicopters where gone even the rocketeer plane was missing. Mac was there looked like it had a fresh coat of paint

Where did all the missing stuff go none off the indy stuff was there the star wars ships where still there
 
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Smaller props has bigger chance of surviving. Larger ones lives a dangerous life. As soon as they finished, the shooting begins. After the production is wrapped-up, post processing can take weeks, months or a year or so. Under that time very few studios can have large props and backdrops kept in secret - they have to be kept secret - otherwise the Net and medias will be filled with pictures of them and this can bring down the news-value and the income of the production.
So many times as the guys switching off the cameras/lights the large props/backdrops are being disassembled and/or destroyed. Sadly.
Just remember, at this time the movie is not a hit yet, and the next production is starting already.

Believe me if the guys at Pinewood would have known the value of a movie called Star Wars (You may have hear about it...he he)... they would have build a huge vault to keep the Millennium Falcon, instead of taking it apart...
 

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