This, for the uninitiated, is when you go out and buy items used in movies and TV-series. It can be anything and everything from great Hero props like Light-sabers and Indiana Jones' whip to small background set-dressing like newspapers, pens or anything else used to make the set look like the director wants.
I will be going more into the specifics about prop-collecting over the coming posts, as I learn more myself as well. I am very much the novice in this. Today I only want to present the blog, myself and the start of my collection.
First a bit about myself and the blog. I am a 35 year old guy originally from the west of Norway. In 2001 I moved to Oslo to study Criminology. This lasted only a couple of years before I first ended up in Iceland for a year, where I met my wife. This then led me to a half year in Vienna to live with her. After this I got her to Oslo and in 2007 I started working for the Oslo and Akershus Ambulance Service.
In 2013 I started to study for a pre-hospital Bachelor degree at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. This lasted for a year and then I dropped out. I now work for a private ambulance service as a Event- and transport Paramedic while we see what happens next.
I have always loved watching movies and TV, and will often watch something even if it is bad, just to see what's what. Eventually this lead me to starting collecting props. I just wanted to own and hold things and objects used in movies that I enjoyed.
And now I can :) :) !!
As I can't afford all the props I would like to buy, it is a bit "dangerous" to be surfing the net for them every day. I have a hard time turning them down when I find a prop I like from a movie I loved... This led me to start to think about using the interest and surfing in an alternative way, blogging about it.This lets me surf and search and have fun, hopefully without ruining me ;)
Also, I get to show off my collection and talk about it, which I have to admit that i do like.
Thirdly, trough this I get to spread the word about prop-collecting. I know that the more collectors there are, and particularly amateurs like me, the harder the competition over the props gets. this, however, does not bother me. Firstly because we don't all like the same movies, which means that we are searching and buying different props. Also, a bigger marked will hopefully mean that the sellers will smell more profits and therefor put more props out there. Also, I just like the community that more people bring. More people to talk to, more collections to see and more people to show my props to. Me like :)
I will keep it in English as there are far more collectors outside Norway than inside, and I want this to reach as many as possible.
So, which do I have so far?
I have four ones physically in my house so far with two more on the way in the mail.
My first prop has a central place on the wall; it is a background Daily Bugle newspaper from Spider-man 1 (2002). It shows Spidey whinging away from som New York cops while saluting them whit the headline "Spider-Man: Super-hero of Super-Zero?". As I was reading Spider-Man my entire childhood and loved the movie, I am very happy and proud to finally own a copy of the Daily Bugle. I wish I could go back in time and tell 10 year old me that this would happen. I would have been delirious :)
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| The Daily Bugle in all its mounted glory. |
My second was a Mobile Infantry Pin from Starship Troopers (1997). It is a proper metal pin that was used by soldiers in Starship. It has three fastening points in the back and is surprisingly detailed and looks and feels totally like a pin that would be given to soldiers in real life. A true testament to how detailed and proper Hollywood sometimes goes to make get the actors something to act with to give a better performance.
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| Second try around I even managed to mount it the right way up :p |
My third one was a "gold" coin from Pirates of the Caribbean; The Curse of the Black Pearl. Another example of Hollywood going to town and making their props proper, as this one is also of metal and feels very believable. It also looks very good by it self, and even better mounted.
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| Looking good, isn't it? |
I then got myself one of the sticks of dynamite from the Ankle Bombs used in the cinema scenes in Quentin Tarantinos Inglorious Basterds (2009). This is an example of a prop made to be more comfortable than realistic and also not made for close-ups. It is made of red foam with some sort of red plastic on the outside and is both light and soft when you touch it. It is actually fun to see also how these things sometimes can be made to look good on screen while being comfortable and/or cheap and/or practical in real life. Experiences like this makes me happy :)
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| When mounted I promise it will look better and not just like a red sausage... |
As I said, I also have two on the way. I will write about these, and revile which, when they arrive. For now, I think I should stop, so that this does not get to long and bores everybody to tears. Hopefully I will get better to write as time goes on and the blog better and better. We can only hope.
If you have any questions or comments, please put them in the comments field and I will do my best to answer them. If you do not feel comfortable in English, Norwegian is of course very acceptable and I can also read questions in German. I will, how ever, answer in English to make it more accessible for everybody.
Take care and we'll talk net time :)
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