heritage auctions

Terminator Arm Prop Heads To Auction

Filed under: Auctions

The only known surviving piece from one of the original 1984 Terminator movie robots, a prop metal arm retrieved by a crew member from the debris of an explosion in the film's climax scene is headed for auction this summer. The two-foot-long prop "T-800 Terminator" metal arm (the robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) will be offered in a Beverly Hills, California auction by Heritage Auction Galleries on July 17, 2010.

"It's from the private collection of Shay Austin of Los Angeles who was an assistant art director on the movie, and she's kept it for over a quarter-century. No one was saving props for their future value as memorabilia in those days, and that's why original items from this classic film are so hard to find," said Doug Norwine of Heritage Auction Galleries. He estimates it will sell for $15,000 or more.

There were two full-size Terminator robots made for the movie, one for close-ups and one to be blown up in the movie. "After the explosion I ran up with the special effects crew to see what was left," Austin recalled. "We started picking up the pieces and I picked up the arm. In the year we shot, no one was thinking about keeping this stuff, but I tossed the arm into a box with some other leftover props, and then into my storage."

The plot of the second Terminator movie hinged on the technology left behind by a single arm and CPU from the previous Terminator causing Norwine to joke: "Who knows, the entire fate of humankind could rest on the right bidder buying this piece and keeping it safe from those who would use it for nefarious ends."

Tags: arnold schwarzenegger, Heritage Auction, heritage auctions, memorabilia, movie, movie props, terminator

Rare Civil War Photograph Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

The original photograph of Confederate Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel John Pelham of Alexandria, Alabama, a Civil War hero, is up for sale at Heritage Auctions. What makes this historic photograph particularly interesting is that it was an image that has been reproduced many times but no one was aware that that the original photograph still existed. It was tucked away for years passed down through the generations in the Mississippi family of Pelham's sister, Betty. The original photograph was made by acclaimed Civil War era photographer, Mathew Brady. It is estimated to fetch between $65,000 and $85,000 when it sells in a public auction of Civil War artifacts on June 26, 2010.

"It's a half-plate Ambrotype photo taken around 1858, about the same time Pelham began studying at West Point. He was a brilliant, brave officer known as 'The Gallant Pelham' during the Civil War," explained Dennis Lowe, director of Arms, Militaria and Civil War Auctions at Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas, the firm that will conduct the auction in Dallas and online. Pelham withdrew from West Point in 1861 to serve in the Confederate Army and fought at First Bull Run, Antietam and Kelly's Ford where he was killed while leading a cavalry charge on March 17, 1863. Pelham was buried in City Cemetery in Jacksonville, Alabama, where a statue was erected in his honor in 1905. The states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama all have towns named in his honor. The family hopes that the photograph will go "to a collector or institution with the means and facility to take care of the historic image," said Lowe.

Pelham's descendants have also consigned a handwritten, signed letter dated September 25, 1858 that Pelham sent to his family in Alabama about beginning his studies at West Point. The letter is expected to sell for $25,000 or more.

Tags: civil war, Civil War History, civil war relics, confederate army, Heritage Auction, heritage auctions, matthew brady

Pow! Batman Beats Superman With Big Auction Result

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

It's been an exciting few weeks in the world of comic book collecting. First we heard that a rare copy of the first Batman comic book had surpassed the previous comic book record price, $317,000, paid for a first Superman comic by John Dolmayan, drummer for the rock band System of a Down last year. Then another copy of the first Superman comic came out of nowhere to zoom to the top again. A copy of the 1938 edition Action Comics #1 sold through the website ComicConnect.com for $1 million.

But never count Batman out. The Heritage Auctions sale wrapped up and the Detective Comics #27, cover date of May 1939 sold for an amazing $1,075,500 including buyer's premium. The comic is one of the finest known surviving copies of the issue and was sold on behalf of an anonymous consignor who purchased it for $100 more than 40 years ago. There are probably a lot of people digging through old collections right about now, as these two big sales will galvanize an already popular area of collecting.

Tags: batman, comic book collecting, comic books, ComicBookCollecting, ComicBooks, comics, heritage auctions, HeritageAuctions, superman

Rare Stamp Locket Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Auctions

Most rare stamps are sold on their own but a version one of the world's most recognizable misprinted postage stamp, the "Inverted Jenny" was once put in a locket. The glass locket with a gold rim was created as a gift for the President of the Texas Midland Railroad, Col. Ned Green to give to his wife. It contains the Inverted Jenny back to back with an example of a correctly printed 1918 24-cent airmail stamp. Mabel Green kept it until she died in 1950. The locket will be part of a public auction of rare stamps at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City on December 12 being held by Heritage Auctions. It has a pre-auction estimate of $200,000 or more.

The only known examples of the Inverted Jenny error came from an original sheet of 100 stamps purchased at a Washington, DC post office in 1918. According to Harvey Bennett, Director of Philately at Heritage Auctions, Col. Green bought the entire sheet from a dealer for $20,000, and began selling off individual stamps and small blocks. He had one of the stamps made into the locket for his wife.

Source

Tags: heritage auctions, HeritageAuctions, inverted jenny, InvertedJenny, philatelist, philately, stamp auction, StampAuction

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