wow Rick that made my heart cringe...:) geeeesssssh.. great story.
I have so damn many that Got away its hard to think of ones that I
actually got to keep. and sell . :)
heres a few of my classics.... one day the phone rings and it was Dick
Smith's son ( Dick Smith did exorsist special effects amoungst other
monster make-up) well Dick had moved from NYC to florida and his sons
had all these original Props.. like horrific heads of latex with movable
parts.... well it was so scarey looking to my son and I .. we didnt Buy
it,,, true story... It spooked the hell out of us... and I just found
the fax the other day that still can see the Images of the heads.. they
looked like altered states...
I could have got them for small change...But we were spooked!!!
Then another classic is the day a guy walked in my shop/// he was a
security gaurd in La for prodcuer Mario Cassar that did the Rambo
films... he pulls out a Rambo knife out of his waistband and says will
you give me 100.00 I say how do I know its the real Rambo knife so I
look at the sheath and it Had the knifmaker nae in Tenn... I call they
say.. " yes its one of 3 made for Stallone and Kassar" Its been stolen...
The guy is lookin at me with sweat dripping and a survival knife that
looks very deadly... I say.. " thanks But no thanks" get me a letter
saying its Yours... they said the knife was worth 8000.00 or 3 I cannot
remember..
Then ther was a trio I made to NYC and visited a old Motion picture
Lab.. in Manhatten.... I was looking to buy old gear when I sawa old
moviola type thing...It had a plaque from Vitagraph studios,,, so Im
thinking OOOh wow they will want bux for this.... so i didnt make a
offer till I returned home... I call and say well how about 800.00 to
start....? te guy said that boat anchore ?? we thru it out in the
garbage last week ! pure history trashed...
yep..... I found the couch used in GWTW in which Gable ducks.. in Findly
OHIO in a hotel for 600.00
and by the time I called Herb Bridges to see if he wanted it It was
sold...... It was from the MGM auction and I had a newspaper done in 70s
that told the story........ yep...
Found several Planet of ape items.... sold.....
and I tried to sell a Oscar® on ebay only to have the academy almost
lynch me...:)
could have had Flnns Robin Hood stuff as a friend knew his Chaperone in
Chico Ca where they made Robin Hood..
Could have had the baby Buggy from GWTW... Most of the time its been the
money part when its found.
I could have bought numerous effects from Linwood Dunne asc. who did
many specal effects when he passed like the Fire truck from Itts amad
mad mad mad world... however I felt wrong to buy from someone that had
just passed aways family.. Same when Mel Blanc passed. I never asked and
it was sold thru superior auctions... ( tons of stuff).. It always seems
tacky to me and dis-respectful..
But in the long run its been a great time and I feel lucky i was able to
even get this close to stuff like that
and Im sure there are many more items... out there
great story Rick!!!
best, Tom
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
About 25 years ago, there was an ad in a Pennysaver-type weekly
paper here in L.A. for a "Frankenstein 7 Foot Statue" being sold for
$75. I would check the paper every week religiously when it came out
on Thursdays and immediately call if anything sounded promising. On
this particular Thursday, something "important" came up and I somehow
didn't get around to making the call about the "statue". I remember I
couldn't sleep that night, kicking myself for not contacting the
person who'd placed the ad. My "rational" mind told me-- "this thing
is probably some blow-up, dumb piece of garbage from the 70's or 80's
that isn't worth anything---it COULDN'T be! I mean--the guy--whoever
he is-- only wants 75 bucks for it!"
I finally made the call at 10 the next morning---the guy who owned
it told me that the probable buyer was walking up his driveway at that
very moment---"but if he doesn't buy it", the guy told me, "I'll call
you back".
Of course, he didn't call me back. The buyer had paid the $75 and left
with it. I asked the seller about it and he said it was a full-sized
7-foot likeness of Boris Karloff used in the movie "Frankenstein". I
remember telling myself that he must have been mistaken---I couldn't
admit to myself that I'd missed out on something so incredible....
Flash forward 3 or 4 years--- I had listed a movie poster for sale
in the same weekly publication. To make a long story short, a man
called me and after speaking with him for awhile I discovered that he
was the guy who was walking up the driveway a few years earlier...the
guy who bought the Frankenstein "statue" that I'd missed out on
because I was a day late with my phone call. The "statue" turned out
to be a 7 foot tall "stand-in" for Boris Karloff from The Bride Of
Frankenstein. It was dressed with the original wardrobe of the
monster and had a life-mask of Karloff as its face. The guy told me
the face needed a little restoration--but once that was completed he
was going to put it up for auction somewhere. Looking back now, I
can't believe that I never asked him if I could swing by and take a
look at it. Those were the early days of my collecting. It's been
quite a long time and I really can't remember how our whole
conversation went...
Flash forward again...2 years. I remember looking at Movie
Collector's World or possibly even the L.A. Times---I'm not really
sure which. Anyway, there was a short article about a movie
memerobilia auction ( it was called Guernsey's) that included what I'm
sure was the very same Karloff stand-in statue from The Bride Of
Frankenstein---that I could have had for 75 bucks---having sold for
$50,0000! This was probably in 1988. I don't know where that
incredible piece is now, but I have no doubt that in today's market it
would easily sell for a million bucks! And I coulda had it for $75!
For me, THAT'S the one that got away!
Rick
rixposterz
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