The Prop Store of London
The Prop Store in London bought up a ton of official, licensed props from the movie Serenity and they’re going fast. Cash from the bank heist? How about the lock on the safe they busted into? Or the money bag? Or cups and dishware from the ship, or bloody Reaver weapons, or the pulse beacon? How about some Alliance weaponry, or the Operative’s sword? I picked up the bank heist money, and it’s really nice. You can see pics and my review here.
Say, now would be a nice time for some grenades, you think?
Check back frequently; they’re adding more nearly every day. And, sadly for my bank account, they have a payment plan… Read on for an interview with The Prop Store’s buyer, Stephen Lane.
Interview with Stephen Lane, buyer for The Prop Store of London
How did you acquire these props?
We purchased them outright directly from the Studio as part of an ongoing agreement that we have with them.
Is it common for studios to sell all of the props from a movie?
It has become a more regular occurence though it can still be very tough to find props and costumes from some films.
How many items will you be offering, all together?
Perhaps a few hundred in total including costumes. The studios are very aware of maintaining an archive of props and costumes from films that they are involved with. That has absolutely been the case in this instance so a number of the key props and costumes have been held back and are now archived.
What kind of response have you been getting from Serenity fans?
Generally speaking they love the opportunity to be able to acquire an actual piece of the movie itself and those who have picked up a displayed item have been impressed with the overall quality and presentation. Some people have commented about prices - but I would just like to say in our defence - please remember that we have to purchase the entire inventory to give Serenity fans the opportunity to pick out just one or two items for their own collection. If we hadn’t of purchased them they may have gone into deep storage / sold back out to prop hire companies (and lost forever) or worst case destroyed (which still happens regularly with film assets). So we’re good guys!
What’s been your most-requested prop from Serenity?
Without a doubt the framed money display that we are currently offering has been the best seller but the most requested has to be something directly associated with or used by Mal.
Are you continuing to look for more items to offer?
We will be offering new items on our web site Monday - Friday each week for the next couple of months.
How do you keep from sneaking them all away yourselves?
Lol - my roots and those of the Prop Store of London stem from being a collector of movie props and costumes which I started on about 15 years ago. I am still an avid collector so I am sure that a couple of pieces from the film will find their way into the collection! (how could I resist?!)
Do you guys play with the props after the store closes? Because I totally would.
Lol - no comment!
January 24th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
I’m currently waiting on shipping info on my Serenity prop. Yeah, the prices are steep, and I’m not sure what Mr. Lane’s comment about why buying the entire inventory makes items more expensive — unless the Store doesn’t think many of them would sell and just disgards them.
Anyroad, I’ve been very excited about the stuff that is available!
(Wish they’d release the WHOLE batch at once so I could make decisions based on all the items!)
November 8th, 2006 at 7:02 am
adam films
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read.