Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531433
18 PROP CULTURE I WINTER 2025 studio and the Property Master as well? CC: Absolutely. But our goal when we're working with any consigner is to make sure that there is a free and clear title to the items that they're selling. We're not looking to sell stolen items. PC: What else do you do in the authentication process? Say, there's a Coke can that's used on set, and it looks like any retail Coke can. But you know that this Coke can has the pedigree of being used by Tom Hanks in Apollo 13. CC: Understanding the lineage of how it got off set is the first thing. The other is with the Property Master. They can be extremely helpful to us. They'll typically know how many of those Coke cans were sourced for the show and where were they were sourced from? Is there anything that's unique about it? Is there a hidden flaw? Typically, what a collector wants is not just a normal Coke can, but something that was slightly modified for production. The Jump Soda from Joe Versus the Volcano is an example. How many of those were made? What different types were made? How many potentially still exist? What happened to them after the production? All of that lends to the story and the uniqueness. That's what collectors are interested in really understanding. Is this the one? Or was it one of 20? That will all affect the value in some ways because obviously, the more unique it is, the more valuable and desirable it is going to be. PC: Do you depend on the Property Master to give you their own personal certificate of authenticity? CC: Again, provenance means everything and having a letter from the Property Master or someone else that was key to the production is always very key. PC: Do Property Masters want to be involved in the selling process, or do they want to remain anonymous and just pass it off to you to do all the selling? CC: It's a combination of both. In some cases, they will be happy to write a letter of authenticity for us. And again, that will add value, and we're happy to have that. But there are others who still fear what the studios might say. People were scared that they could potentially get blacklisted for selling something. From our perspective, as long as people are free and clear to sell things, we're happy to operate either way. One thing that we try to do is elevate the Property Masters if we can in the marketing. For instance, we just did the Fear the Walking Dead sale. Colin Thurston, who was the Property Master on Seasons 2 through 7, reached out to us and he was more than happy to tell the stories of those items that were being sold. Property Masters are a wealth of information in helping us authenticate items and we really appreciate their help in doing that. There's no better source than the Property Master. We love to elevate Property Masters and be able to help tell those stories but not everybody wants to do that. We are also fine getting as much information as we can from the Property Master and pass that along in our descriptions but leave their name out of it. PC: Okay. Is there that Holy Grail prop you would love to get your hands on? CC: It depends on what you consider a prop. The idea of a prop versus, say, a model miniature or other things do blur the line in prop collecting. Star Wars is always a favorite for collectors. We've handled things like helmets in a current auction. Authentic lightsabers from Episodes 4 through 6 are probably the most prized possessions for collectors out there. There are a few that are known. There are others that are yet to be discovered. We would love to find one of those. The concern is there have also been a lot of forgeries that we have discovered over the years. But that's why we rely on Property Masters who were there that can help us to discern the real from the fake. There's a hoverboard that is about to go up. The ruby slippers are what prop collectors consider a Holy Grail! I wish I could tell you what a real Maltese Falcon was. There are many, many people that claim to have found a Maltese Falcon out there. But the true story as to how they were constructed and where they ended up is still a bit of a mystery. So, I wish we could solve that riddle and bring one of those to market. We do have a stormtrooper helmet that is screen matched to one of the scenes on Tatooine! PC: Can you explain exactly what is "Screen Matched"? CC: Things that are damaged on set or damaged because they were used, may not be as appealing for a studio to keep, but those are things that collectors love. They love them because when you look at something on screen and you see a scratch, or you see a flaw in the way that something was made that makes it unique and identifiable. That's what the collector wants. They want the piece ideally that was used on set. Although many multiples are made, they want the one that appears in at least one of the scenes that they remember, and so screen matching is where we will look at it usually, a 4K resolution copy of the film or TV show, where we will look at the prop that we have and we'll look at the prop on screen and see, is there a flaw? Is there a scratch that we can identify that will help us tell that this is the exact one. When we can show pictures side-by-side with the item, we'll circle the parts that we believe make this that particular one, and that will add a significant value to a piece in a collector's mind.