Please join SUPERMANIA in wishing our very own intrepid Lois Lane a happy birthday for last week – we celebrate by recalling some of her typically frank and outspoken interviews from back in the day accompanied by a rare shot from her Superman Bath towel session.
UK fans have a rare opportunity to meet and greet the charming Margot Kidder herself this weekend at Cardiff Film & Comic Con, where she will be the subject of a Q&A and photograph session besides the customary signing of autographs. Feel free to leave comments here should you see the lady herself..!
An unprecedented success with many lots outperforming their estimates by thousands, the Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction made headlines across the prop world while making many a collectors dream come true.
Luckily, SUPERMANIA managed a last-minute pilgrimage to The ODEON BFI IMAX in London to photograph the Superman items on display only hours before they went live. Below are the highlights of the Super-sales along with the astonishing prices realised –
424. Contact Sheets – £1,100
425. Shooting Scripts – £4,750
426. Autographed Still – £700
427. Underwater Tunic – £25,000
429. Large Kryptonian Crystal – £1,700
431. Promotional Ephemera – £1,600
432. Autographed Stills – £700
433. Muscle Tunic – £20,000
436. IV Script – £350
437. Pod Prop – £4000
As expected, the well-publicised underwater tunic (second pic) stole the show with the Muscle tunic (third pic) nipping at its shorts at only five grand less. Less expected were the amounts achieved by some of the smaller lots, with a single autographed still of Christopher Reeve going well above estimate at £700 and a folder full of essentially promotional clippings fetching £1,600 – most of which already present in the SUPERMANIA collection.
While many of these fabulous relics of movie history will take pride of place in private collections, The Starship Pod prop (bottom pic) was bought by Stateside SuperFan and Broadcaster Jay Towers, a prominent figure in Superman collecting and vocal supporter of the classic films. SUPERMANIA wishes Jay all the best with his his purchase and hope he enjoys it for years to come..!
Going under the gavel in in a matter of days and currently on display at the IMAX Odeon in London’s Waterloo, this unprecedented collection of production/screenused treasures from the series of Superman films is presented in catalogue form by Propstore here on SUPERMANIA.
High-end pieces all with estimates set to suit a modest or high budget, this gathering of production ephemera and screenused props represents the finest collection of Superman related material to hit the market since the Ilya Salkind collection was offered by Profiles in History in 2007.
Chief among the lots is the full-size Starship ruin from Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, first positively identified and documented on SUPERMANIA here and presumed lost to storage after the closure of the London Film museum in 2013. ‘Superman’s Pod’ was obtained by Propstore and now offered in exactly the same condition as it was seen on display (then incorrectly listed as originating from Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie) and is a completely unique piece of Super-history.
Other highlights are the Cosmonaut suits (made by costumiers Bermans and Nathans) from the opening scenes of Superman IV and storyboards from Superman III. Fans of the original movie and its sequel are catered for also by a pair of scripts and photographic contact sheets and even Supergirl is represented by a superb piece of (ultimately unused) concept art by Chris Achillieos.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bid and own these pieces starts at 2PM (GMT+1) on 23rd of September. SUPERMANIA would like to extend an advance invitation to the lucky new owners to have their purchases showcased here along with their stories…
Costume month draws to a close on SUPERMANIA with a preview of not one, but two magnificent lots soon coming up for auction from Propstore – the quality, provenance and likes of which that may never be seen again.
With Warner Bros. recent announcement that no further items of wardrobe from the classic Superman movies will released into the collectors market, these two immaculate pieces may well represent the best and last of their archive made available.
And quite the fascinating tales they tell. Studio labelled throughout and complete with COA from WB, these special-effects purpose tunics offer rare insight into the considerable effort made in 1978 to convince audiences a man could fly.
Custom-made for specific scenes, the differences between what, on screen, represent exactly the same outfit in reality are marked. Note the colour differentiation between the blues for the tunic made to not darken when soaked through to a tunic (minus shorts) tailored for flying against a front-projection screen.
Commanding appropriate reserves and going under the gavel on Sept. 23rd, these choice examples of film/comic book history form part of the astonishing collection offered in the Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction being held at the BFI IMAX in London’s Waterloo. Besides the beautifully presented catalogue (pages reproduced above), live previews of 250 treasures will be available courtesy of ODEON (dates TBA) in a museum grade exhibition…
UPDATE: Video of the lot here.
August is Supersuit month here at SUPERMANIA with a series of posts dedicated to the iconic costume past, present and future in anticipation of the newly revised and updated feature coming soon to Capedwonder,com.
This first contribution from Superfan Jonathan Pierson is a superb example, appearing in the most unexpected of places but to longtime readers of the blog, this particular display may seem familiar. Jon takes up the story here –
“I attended the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, IL (http://www.nsccshow.com/). It was held at the Donald E Stephens Convention Center from Thursday, July 30th to Sunday August 2nd. As you can see from the title it is a Sports Collectors Convention which was why I was pleasantly surprised to walk in and see the Christopher Reeve Superman suit on display. It was on display right at the entrance. I couldn’t tell if it was up for auction or not but thanks to your articles I was carefully looking at the fabric to see if it was authentic. I took the photos of the suit with an iPhone camera and was upset that I didn’t bring my better camera but then again, I wasn’t expecting to see the suit there. I was wondering if it really was a suit that Reeve wore. The mannequin that it was on made it look rather small but I am guessing that it would have stretched to fit him. I believe the display listed the suit as being from the first movie. They also had on display the green crystal used by Marlon Brando to put into the ship before it took off. It seems like you guys know some of the history of this particular suit and I would love to learn more about it…”
Made public from ‘The most significant Christopher Reeve Superman collection in private hands’ and offered in auction by Profiles in History in July 2012, the complete, genuine outfit above was formerly part of the Dreier Collection and sold for an impressive $65,000.
As these latest pictures show, little has changed from how the lot was presented a few years ago and seems to be in the same fine condition. Still mounted on its uncomfortably thin mannequin in an awkward pose, the suit is hardly shown off to its maximum potential unstretched and almost calls its authenticity into question with its wonky chest shield and barely attached cape.
Boldly exhibited in open air there is thankfully enough detail here (tacky sign notwithstanding) to reassure that this is indeed a genuine and enduring piece, with the stitchlines in the boots and unique lycra weave present and correct. Thanks to Jon for this great find…!
