Could YOU make a MINT from the MOVIES?
Film memorabilia like Olivia Newton-John’s Grease outfit is fetching record sums, so...
THE famous skin- tight leather outfit worn by Olivia Newton- John in the 1978 musical Grease is expected to sell for £ 160,000 at auction in the United States later this year.
This is a little out of range for most savers, but an auction in London next month has around 900 items of film and television memorabilia up for grabs — with many expected to go for under £400.
Investment in collectibles, such as film memorabilia, has become big business in recent years.
While buyers were once limited to rummaging around antiques fairs, collectors, exhibitions and museums are now all in on the act, as old movies and TV series become appreciated as a serious art form.
And with many firms offering an online service, you can now also bid from the comfort of you own home.
Authentic props from old films have tripled in value compared with ten years ago, according to specialists Prop Store.
Meanwhile, the market as a whole has ballooned from an estimated £16 million£24.5 million to £245 million-£330 million.
Some items have rocketed in value beyond all expectations. For example, a Star Wars Tie Fighter pilot helmet first sold for £3,000 in 1992. When it was auctioned again in 2017, the winning bid price had risen to £216,000 — a 7,100 pc increase in only 13 years.
Investors are not just buying film memorabilia. Early airline adverts from the 20th century can fetch thousands of pounds, while old Beano comics and vintage Ray-Ban sunglasses have also become collectibles.
Fashion accessories, mystic artefacts, vintage sports collections and militaria such as swords, insignia, badges and material from battle zones are also popular.
Even biscuit tins are highly desirable, particular those made by Huntley & Palmers, which started using them to hold ginger nuts during the Victorian era.
Reading museum in Berkshire, where the bakery started in 1822, has 300 different tins in its collection.
One of the most sought after is shaped like a 1923 delivery van and can sell for £1,000.
Together, Britons own around £220 billion worth of high-value collectibles, according to insurer Direct Line Select.
AMONG many thousands of items, it currently insures full-sized replica statues of the famous Terracotta Warriors made in Xi’an, China, and a toy soldier collection worth £10,000.
Next month’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction, run by Prop Store, will be the largest ever in Europe.
It will take place at the BFI Imax cinema on the South Bank in London on September 30 and October 1 and will also be livestreamed so fans can bid from home (register at: propstore.com/liveauction).
The auction list includes the Bat suit from the 1989 Batman film, which is expected to go for between £80,000 and £120,000, as well as props from Star Wars, Star Trek, The Godfather trilogy and Doctor Who.
Among them is a remote control R2-BHD Droid from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) with expected bids of up to £80,000. A Stormtrooper helmet is estimated to fetch between £120,000 and £180,000.
The Riddler’s green costume for Jim Carrey from Batman Forever (1995) has an estimate of £10,000£15,000. Around three-quarters of the items set to be auctioned have an estimated price of between
£500 and £10,000, including Forrest Gump’s rather scruffy Nike trainers and socks that he wore at the famous bus stop.
Prices typically depend on the popularity of the film, how much screen time it had, how much similar pieces have sold for recently and demand for the piece. Stephen Lane, 49, chief executive of Prop Store, who has been collecting since he was a schoolboy, says: ‘It is very hard to predict which items will rise in value.
‘You should buy first and foremost because you will enjoy owning the piece. If you buy as an investment, go for the best you can afford.’ You can also buy items via the online auction website e-Bay.
However, if your sought-after treasure proves to be a fake, you will miss out on any investment gains and the joy of owning the genuine piece — usually with no right to redress.
Prop Store, which has 20 years’ experience in researching and documenting film memorabilia, provides its customers with an authenticity certificate.
And in the unlikely event that your purchase does turn out to be a fake, you will get your money back.