'Somewhere over the rainbow' there's a pot of gold
FREE email from MoneyWeek
Discover the latest profit opportunities and understand what’s really going on in the investment world with our punchy daily email. CLICK HERE
This genius investor does dizzying levels of research to uncover...Half Price Shares!
Unless given to members of the cast or crew, film props were generally destroyed and forgotten about until the 1970s. From then on, MGM studios realised they could make some serious money by auctioning off material, especially from The Wizard of Oz. Collecting props has since become a hobby – mostly for men, as Stephen Lane of Propstore (www.propstore.com) admits. “Star Wars stormtrooper helmets, Batman’s cape and […] James Bond are hugely popular. So yes, it’s a predominately male clientele.”
Lane is putting James Bond guns on auction at Christie’s on 5 December, including Sean Connery’s Walther PPK from Dr. No. He expects it to sell for £30,000. Meanwhile, a stormtrooper’s blaster will easily go for £30,000, and an entire costume will sell for in excess of £50,000. More iconic items have sold for even more – Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz fetched $666,000 at auction several years ago.
So it’s little wonder that film buff Andy Goulding tells the FT that buying props has “been more profitable for me than my property investments”. But as Lane points out, sourcing a bargain is like “looking for a Picasso on Ebay”, and fakes abound. When buying an item, ensure that the seller is authorised by the studio – this can be done by contacting the studio that made the film, or by asking to see the seller’s certificate of authenticity.
FREE! For all our latest advice on making profitable investments, claim your 3-week FREE trial of the MoneyWeek website and magazine now.
Money Morning is the FREE daily email from MoneyWeek
– a punchy round-up of the latest investment news and profit opportunities.
DON’T MISS IT!
