Prop collecting: Do you have an arm and a leg to spare?

Any collector of TV or movie memorabilia knows that these days, actual screen used props cost a mint: the more important or unique the prop, the more it costs.  I saw the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on sale in a memorabilia store by Disneyland for $10,000 dollars several years ago - and at that, you can't really be certain it was a real prop they were selling.  Remember, it's easier to make a certificate than a fake prop, so don't think a "certificate of authenticity" means much on it's own.  Consider who issued it.   A Certificate from PAramount Studios would add a lot of weight to the validity of the prop; one from the store just doesn't mean that much to me.  Enough said.

Sometimes, at least in Los Angeles, you can come across real props for real cheap - especiially if you're not too picky.  I bought the framed article above from a charity prop sale at a Major Motion Picture Studio about a year ago for the princely some of One Dollar.  It has a production number on the back, and was obviously created with a particular show and scene in mind, but I actually have no idea what show or movie it was in.  I just like it.  If you have any idea where this was used - probably in a TV show - I'd love to hear it.

This piece is now hung in a place of honor, right by the light switch in my bedroom, where I see it every day.

Everything you Know is Wrong

As everyone who writes a blog knows, there's only one sure way to build your readership: stop writing for approximately five months.  With each day passes without an update, regular readers become frantic for more, and new readers are constantly hearing about your site and getting hooked in, waiting desperately for a new post.  That's why I haven't posted in so long.

This is, of course, ridiculous.  The actual reason I haven't posted in so long is in fact because I moved.  Back in December I had the opportunity to buy a condo much closer to my office.  This made the holidays a bit unusual this year - essentially happening while I was packing - and this year, I've spent most of my spare time working on fixing the place up.

Another interesting thing about this; I bought and moved into the condo that had belonged to my good friend, Bruce, who passed away as I wrote about here.  It is a little odd moving into his place, but it's also kind of nice to keep a little bit of his memory alive here.  In part, it's great to keep his pride and joy, the home theater he built himself, active and "in the family" as it were:

(It's very difficult to photograph, but you see here the "upholstery" he put on the walls; that's a menu from a Frasier DVD up on the screen).  I made the place my own a bit by adding the bookshelves along the sides to turn it into more of a theater/library, and also house and display some of my larger collectibles.

This move also means that everything I've said in the past about where collectibles are kept and displayed, or packed away, is totally invalid.  I have tons more room to display things now.  For example, the bar in the living room has become the main display area for Restaurant Row memorabilia - as well as the fictional beverages collection, and some other odds and ends:

The Scooby Doo van - previously reported as being on top of the bookcase in my bedroom is now sitting on the window sill of the landing up to the third floor - right above a shelf full of Scooby Doo toys previously packed away in storage:

I don't know if it's going to stay there, but for now, it seems like as good a place as any.  If anything, moving made me consider almost everything I have, as a collector; where it is and where I want it.  I rediscovered things I forgot I had (like those Scooby toys) and in some cases, started collecting something that I hadn't actively collected in years when I rediscovered it.

I'll be writing about all of this soon.  And more.  Just one thing you won't see anymore: Tales from Storage.  It'll have to be replaced with "It Came From the Garage" because that's where it has all moved to now.

I'm glad to be back to writing here.  As always, my mission will be two-fold: to examine the nature of fan-collector-geekdom, and also, to bring up those interesting little things from my collecting, fandom, and childhood that don't seem to have made much of an impression on the internet yet.

Also, coming soon - very soon: free stuff!

Coming soon

Regular updates commencing shortly. Please stay tuned.

In the meantime, please enjoy this early 90's Simpsons tie.

The World's Largest Quark collection grows

I promised myself when I started this blog that I wouldn't write about not being able to write. However, I haven't been able to write for awhile for a reason that has to do with collecting, in a way, so I'll explain more soon.

In the meantime, please enjoy this TV Week with a cover of Quark that I picked up awhile back. The article inside quoted Buck Henry as saying Quark was meant to do for Science Fiction what "Get Smart" did for the spy genre. And it did, just not for very long.

"The World's Largest" is a joke I use for when I collect something incredibly, incredibly obscure and imagine no one else in the world has even bothered to put two items together. Please note I'm aware that most likely there is a larger collection out there somewhere. That has nothing to do with the joke and I'm not trying to get nto the Guinness Book. It's more to the point that I'm collecting something fairly obscure.


Like, for example, my World's Largest Collection for "Carpoolers," the short-lived ABC show from last year: this air freshener, and a single episode still saved on my Tivo. I really grew to like that program. Why do all the best TV shows seem to have less than 13 episodes?

Before Lobster, Snapper

Returning to my current fascination with the history of Restaurant Row, and more specifically, Alan Hale's Lobster Barrel:

After stopping by the Melrose Trading Post looking for Restaurant Row memorabilia (but instead finding this great historic photo), I went down to Santa Monica to check out an antique mall I hadn't been to in a few years.  It is still there and was packed with tons of tiny items of interest to me, squirreled away in the shelves and tiny drawers of about 200 dealers stalls.

If you're a collector, often it's the hunt that is the most fun, and that afternoon, I was in the mood to go over the place with a fine toothed comb.  I was probably there at least 2 hours, and found many, many great items.  Like the matchbook for "Clif Herd's Red Snapper" on Restaurant Row, above.  As you can see, it's the same address as the Lobster Barrel - 826 La Cienega.  From the graphics I'd say this was in the late 50's or early 60's - just a guess - and sometime after it was "The Famous Restaurant."  I have no idea who Clif Herd was, but apparently he also had a Red Snapper restaurant in Monterey Bay (at least according to this auction).

A curious feature of Ebay for the masochistic collector is that you can search completed auctions too.  Though I found nothing currently offered from the Red Snapper, a completed search showed me that a mere couple weeks before I learned the place existed, another collector bought the menu above, unchallenged, with a bid of 10 dollars.  Well, at least I swiped this scan of it from the auction for free... but as I've said before "virtual" collecting isn't quite as satisfying as the real thing.

Mother Met

SPOILER ALERT: If you've been reading along here, you may have noticed this is not generally a "spoiler" blog: visiting recordings of "The Big Bang Theory," for example, I went out of the way to not comment on the episode details until they aired.  On "How I Met Your Mother," however, I believe it's fair game to share my speculation that the "Mother" mentioned in the title has been "Met,"on the show, by main character Ted.  I have I had been told by a producer of the show or such that yes, my theory here is true, I wouldn't be printing it.  Sharing speculation is part of the fun of enjoying a show; sharing insider information to me ruins it.

Luckily in this case, I don't know any of the creators of How I Met Your Mother.  However, if you don't want to read my theory on how the show will play out, don't read on.

Ok.  It was established very early in the 3rd season (now available on DVD) that the "short version" of the story of Ted meeting his bride-to-be is "that thing with her umbrella," and establishes that she carries a unique yellow umbrella.  Next, in the episode "No Tomorrow" it is established that Mom is at a St. Patrick's Day party Ted attends, in part by showing the yellow umbrella on line.  Ted says they didn't meet at that party, but if he hadn't gone, they might not have ever met.

At the end of the episode, Ted returns to the bar to retrieve his lost cell phone, and borrows that yellow umbrella when a sudden downpour starts as he leaves:

So, we can guess that at some point in the future, Ted will use the yellow umbrella, and "Mom" will confront him or some such, love at first sight, series over.

I believe, however, that they did meet at that party:  In one scene as Ted crosses the room, he bumps into an attractive brunette and excuses himself:

She says "That's okay," gives him a very brief once over and moves on.  Is this Mom?  I think so.  When you're telling a story in 22 minutes, you don't waste a moment on anything unnecessary.  And when you pay actors more to speak than not, you don't give them a line when a smile and a "no problem" nod would suffice.  That's why I believe this innocent little encounter is a nod to a character to come on the show.

Usually I end up writing about collectibles here, but "How I Met Your Mother" is a rare case of a show I'm just a fan of - at least so far,  I have the DVDs, but I'm not seeking out autographs, posters, or books from the program.

Yet.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!

Just in time for New Year's Day, this is a program from the 1974 Tournament of Roses Parade, signed by the Grand Marshall that year, with a sketch of a little character he was known for drawing.  
Jack Whitehead was an official with the Tournament for some time - I can't find any details about him - but several years back he decided to sell a lot of his memorabilia, through a friend of mine, including this program signed by Charles Schulz along with a photo of Jack and Charles together.  The Snoopy rode in the car with him.  You can see a photo of Schulz during the parade, as well as (at least just about) the only self-referencing Peanuts strip Schulz ever wrote, on the Charles M. Schulz museum's timeline page for the 70's here.

Happy New Year, folks!