R.I.P. STEVE HORCH

I have learned that Steve Horch passed away some weeks ago. 

He was one of the very first Icons artisans and a Hell of a propmaker.....A kind Gentleman, one I would have been proud to meet someday. 

He will be missed. My thoughts to his family and friends.

Fred

Icons Loki Mask Prototype

 

This is an original The Mask "Loki Mask" 1:1 scale prototype prop replica, produced by Icons Authentic Replicas in 1997, for prototype submittal to Newline Cinema, molded directly off of a screen-used original created for use in film production.

This is the first 1:1 scale, licensed authentic replica of the Loki Mask seen in Jim Carrey's blockbuster film, The Mask, ever produced.

If you've ever seen The Mask Loki masks sold on eBay, the odds are they are 3rd, 4th and 5th generation copies of what you see here.

This is an authentic first generation replica cast from a mold taken directly from one of the Hero prop masks used by production in the making of The Mask. Notice the incredible quality and detail of this casting. Nothing is lost from the original. 

Look at the sunken Loki mask emblem at the middle crown area of it. What you must know is the original screen-used masks were created with a sunken "L", and after dailies were seen (shots from the previous days filming), Chuck Russell, the Director, decided he couldn't see the "L" clear enough. So propmakers made a separate coin with a raised "L" and this was added to the masks. These were cast separately and then glued over the sunken "L" on the already cast and painted masks.

This prototype was molded and casted from that original mask with sunken "L".

Also, compare the quality of this replica's paint job. This is the precise paint finish as is seen on the original. There is no excessive amount of shiny clear coat but a very nice and professional matte finish. The quality of this replica is so exact in comparison to the original Hero prop, New Line Cinema, the studio that produced and distributed The Mask, could not tell the difference between the screen-used version and one of these licensed recreations.

Though 5,000 of this edition were intended to be made, less than 50 were shipped worldwide. Icons was provided with an original Hero mask for molding for a very short time before the screen-used prop was displayed at a Planet Hollywood location.

This unique and recognizable Hollywood artifact version of the licensed Loki Mask prototype is displayed in a rare Mask “hanging display” lucite-mount Plexiglas case which allows it to be viewed from various angles. The replica can be hung on a wall or sit on display on a bookshelf, fireplace mantle, or entertainment center. The custom fabricated all-metal un-numbered plaque depicts the New Line Cinema logo, the official movie logo for The Mask and an official Icons logo.

This is a one of a kind early prototype which is different from the final version released as the licensed edition by Icons Authentic Replicas seen just under.

Those, like the later screen-used masks, have the coin with the raised "L" added to the nose piece.

Icons Mary Poppins Flying Umbrella Prop Prototype

Unseen for more than 20 years, the Icons - Mary Poppins umbrella prototype was the first to be presented to the Walt Disney Corporation, as a prototype for licensing for a 1:1 scale prop replica.

Disney borrowed the Icons umbrella and referenced it to make their first (lower-priced / less detailed) replica, as at the time, they did not know where the original "Hero" prop was and were totally unfamiliar with the Film & Television prop replica market.

Icons' head of  R&D Peter Greenwood tracked down the original plaster "Buck" (or sculpture master) for the prop Poppin's umbrella parrot handle, from the estate of the prop master on the original film. It was a first generation, plaster casting. The original buck was cast from a mold taken off of the original parrot-head sculpture, created by a member of the productions Art Department.

The umbrella portion of the prototype was made in the U.K. by an umbrella company, which was very difficult to track down. The fabric is old-fashioned and very thick, with nice quality accents. The parrot handle features inset glass eyes and amazing, detailed paint job. Very reminiscent of the screen-used original.

The picture below is a concept advertisement for the Poppins umbrella replica, with some Disney's annotations.

Icons T-shirts

Depicted here is an original and quite scarce Star Wars : Men Behind The Mask's World Tour Original Prototype T-shirt. 25 years ago in 1995, Icons secured the first Star Wars 1:1 scale prop replica license and was trying to find unique ways to promote Star Wars and the upcoming 20th anniversary in 1997. 
At the time there was no yearly "Star Wars Celebration" Convention and Lucasfilm refused to grant a license to any company to produce Star Wars conventions including Creation Entertainment.
In 1993/1994 Icons co-founder James Latta had co-produced / co-promoted a quarterly convention called "The Back to the Past Show" which was held in Pasadena, California. Actor David Prowse who had wore the Darth Vader costume in the first Star Wars trilogy was a featured guest at one of these events and had appeared on Jim's weekly collectibles television show "The Sci-Fi Trader" which aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. 
Prowse mentioned to Jim that he was aware of the location of several other Star Wars supporting actors who wore masks & costumes in the original trilogy. Now mind you at the time there was no announcement of a new Star Wars Trilogy being produced.
Latta came up with the concept of locating Star Wars actors who wore unique masks and costumes in the trilogy and put them out on tour. Dubbing the concept "Star Wars : Men Behind The Masks". 

So, under the supervision of Latta (and Derek Maki), Icons created, produced, sponsored and coordinated a 160 City Worldwide Tour of the supporting Actors from Star Wars, fully sanctioned by Lucasfilm LTD, in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary of Star Wars.

Icons was the FIRST company to offer officially licensed photos to be signed by cast members. 

The tour was successful and many fans were brought face to face with their favorite actors of the original trilogy.

After Icons went bankrupt, some of the actors went off on their own while others were represented by companies like Coolwaters Productions LLC.

Derek Maki worked for Icons and then created Coolwaters to assist actors as well as to bring, for the first time, actor Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) to conventions as well. 25 year history all starting with this tour !!!
The tour would feature David (Darth Vader) Prowse, Anthony (C3-PO) Daniels, Kenny (R2-D2) Baker, Peter (Chewbacca) Mayhew, Jeremy (Boba Fett) Bulloch, Warwick (Wickett) Davis, Maria (Greedo) de Aragon, Michael (Bib Fortuna) Carter, John (Lobot) Hollis and many others.

The autographs on the shirt are not hand-signed, they are printed as part of the design and used WITH AUTHORIZATION from each actor.

Just prior to the start of the production of this T-shirt, the Star Wars : Men Behind The Masks logo was changed (see above) to remove the words "Star Wars" following the announcement that Pepsi-Cola had secured the rights to all of the Star Wars characters in a billion dollar marketing deal.

"The Blue Shirts"...because everyone had one on (Al Zequeira, Alan Payne, the Fab & Design guys...), that's how Icons staff was called in 1996, when Icons debuted at Comic Con, after a year in secrecy. No one knew that the company was premiering at the show (upset many bootleggers...LOL).
I think only 8 to 12 of these were produced. They were made for trade-shows/conventions. The Icons logo is metallic gold. Very good quality.

This is the Icons "saber construction crew" T-shirt. Made especially for the guys working on the assembly line of the first-time ever Star Wars authenticated and licensed lightsaber replica made by Icons. Few of that one were made. Also shown is the concept art drawing for that T-shirt, designed by Daren Dochterman.

That is one of the first T-shirts made at Icons. You can find pics of Mike Moore and Steve Horch wearing them during photo sessions at Skywalker Ranch, during Icons prototyping period in 1995, when studying some pieces from Lucasfilm...very rare item (with first and never seen after Icons logo) and a piece of history :-)

Those are two Icons Collector Society T-shirts. They were sent to customers who subscribed to the ICS.

This is a gift from Mike & Nancy who received their Icons B9 robot........

Icons Concept Art Drawings

Here are some concept art drawings from Daren Dochterman and Tone for the "I Dream Of Jeannie" bottle....really vibrant colors, amazing work !!!

Here's a rare Icons Lost in Space Jupiter 2 original ink cutaway design schematic drawing master, detailing the amazing interior of the Spacecraft, as it was intended to be manufactured by the legendary and controversial Film & Television replica company.

This drawing was hand-rendered by Artist Tone Rodriguez in black ink on thick white Artboard, with corrections in white-out, over 21 years ago in 1999. This piece was not only utilized as a reference schematic for Licensing approval, Product Development and Fabrication, but also the master for a limited run of black and white copies, which were sent to Icons customers.

This is another concept art drawing made by Tone, for the Icons T2 Endo-rifle replica. That rifle was supposed to measure an impressive 33 inches long by 15 inches high, wearing a custom battle-worn paint finish. The Endo-rifle rests on a sculpted future war base of simulated scarred rock. 

Tone Rodriguez was discovered at Icons as a deliver driver. Once his extraordinary talents were seen, he became Icons Conceptual Design Artist for Product Development and Licensing. Tone went onto become a popular Comic Book Artist, the industry he still works in today.

Here are some concept drawings made by Artist Daren Dochterman, dated 1995, for the Icons Star Wars line.....

Icons Rocketman/Commando Cody Helmet Prototype

Rocketman, King of the Rocket Men comes from the classic heyday of the serial. It was made at the time that serials were starting to die out due to a combination of waning interest and the pitifully low budgets caused by Wartime shortages. And certainly, King of the Rocket Men is among one of Republic Pictures more routine. Rocketman was at least one of the few superheroes original to the serials, combining the then popular serial themes of the masked superhero - Batman (1943), The Phantom, Zorro etc - along with that of the flying ace hero - Ace Drummond (1936), The Masked Marvel (1943).

The origins of the Rocket Men date back to 1940 when artist Jon Small created a comic book character known as Bulletman. In 1949, Republic Pictures first introduced it's famous flying suit in King of the Rocket Men. It proved to be Republic's last top-notch serial production.

By the early fifties, science-fiction was becoming increasingly popular among matinee moviegoers. To answer the call and because Republic Pictures clearly decided that having expended the money to make the Rocketman costume that they would get the maximum usage out of it, they reused it in three subsequent serials : Radar Men from the Moon (1952), this serial offered a space age spin as well as a new character, dubbed Commando Cody. Radar Men utilized much of the stock flying footage seen in King of the Rocket Men, with a few new take-offs and airborne close ups thrown in.

Later that same year, Republic released two more adventures showcasing the well traveled rocket suit. As the serial era began to draw to a close, the Studio attempted to break into the low budget, juvenille-oriented television market. Commando Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe was produced in twelve complete episodes without cliffhanger endings. Although it originally aired theatricaly, most remember seeing it during a 1955 T.V. run. After the first three Sky Marshal episodes were in the can, the Studio shifted gears and began filming the third and final flying suit serial, Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952). And of course, more recently, 42 years later, artist Dave Stevens breathed new life into the jet-powered hero with his character in Disney's Rocketeer (1991) - a film that had a larger budget than just about every serial ever made put together.

I was told that Mike Moore, Vice President of the Icons Fabrication & Design Group and one of Icons co-founders, had access to a "Hero" helmet used in filming and could therefore have a mold made off of it....which was rare to be able to do. This replica prototype is made in fiberglass with the addition of other materials (metal hinges, mouth grill, smoke lenses...). First time advertised.....I didn't know this one even existed until I saw it !!!

The Rocketman helmet at Icons in the conference / showroom, with James Latta, Jonathan Harris and Douglas Conway....

Icons Star Trek Replicas Prototypes

Icons in-house special effects team, the Fabrication & Design Group broke new ground in the collectible industry with its exquisite prototyping of Icons products and its supervising of the manufacture of each Icons limited edition.

Each Fab & Design artisan had an impressive list of film and television credits under his belt. As a division of Icons, the Fab & Design team has contributed props, set pieces and/or wardrobe to such popular science-fiction television shows as Star Trek : Voyager, Star Trek : Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5 and Third Rock From The Sun.

"We're very proud of our Fabrication & Design shop" exclaimed James Latta. Most especially of the Star Trek : Deep Space Nine cross over episode "Trials and Tribble-ations". Icons F&D built replica Tricorders, Communicators and Phasers for the episode as well as set pieces for a replica bridge including a Captain's chair, the full-size helm control and bridge chairs.

Paramount Pictures was so impressed with the quality of the replicas it contracted Icons to replicate new Star Trek artifacts for the History of the Future Museum at the Star Trek Experience attraction Las Vegas Hilton.

Icons R&D molded and mastered over 30 Star Trek prop replicas for the Star Trek Experience. That's where most of the Master Replicas and Roddenberry props came from (yes, Icons too...). They were R&D, reverse-engineered and molded at Icons in 1996 by Icons staff, using Icons materials and equipment on Icons dime.

The Master Replicas Star Trek TOS Communicator, Phaser and Tricorder and TOS Klingon pistol and STTNG Phaser (by HMS) were all R&D and mastered at Icons expense (private funding) in 1996 and 1997. Same Icons blood running through these prop replicas. Why ?...Because HMS is owned by one of Icons co-founders, Mike Moore. This has been a closely guarded secret for many years. As V.P. of manufacturing and a co-founder, Mike was in charge of making every Icons product from 1996 until the end of 1997, when Doug Conway ousted him :-(