Icons Independence Day (ID-4) Alien Attacker Miniature Prototype

This was the 1st generation casting taken from the actual production molds, which was submitted to 20th Century Fox for licensing approval, then taken apart and re-molded. And those molds were used to produce the Icons replicas.

Prior to ID-4's release, an incredible mount of hoopla was generated surrounding the motion-picture. It was very highly anticipated by movie-goers around the world. In fact, ID-4 was chosen to be the first non "classic" or "cult classic" Studio licensed Film property, Icons chose to license and base replicas on (Men in Black and Starship Troopers being the 2nd and 3rd).

In the initial 20th Century Fox licensing presentation made by Icons, the visionary company was given a standing ovation and subsequently awarded the master licenses for the Predator and Aliens franchises, Planet of the Apes, The Day the Earth Stood Still and...ID-4, all for no licensing advance or royalties guarantee. In other words, all for free with no guarantee of edition numbers sold. This is another remarkable achievement by Icons. Today, with the boom in the popularity of Film & Television replicas, this would be impossible.

Icons relationship with the ID-4 property is a fascinating one and unlike any other in its licensing history. Following the filming of ID-4, Fox Studios was so impressed with Icons emphasis on R&D and preservation of entertainment memorabilia that it asked Icons to pick up, inventory and preserve all of the original miniature molds used in the making of the ID-4 feature film, which it did, including trucking by flatbed 10-ton trucks, massive 14 ft. in diameter ID-4 Alien "Mother-Ship" masters to Icons HQ in Sun Valley, California (Note : photos of this can be seen in Icons Vault #3/4).

Icons was asked by Fox to restore the Mother-Ship masters to appear as if they were actual filming miniatures, which were then donated to the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain.

Icons casted two 2 ft. Alien Attacker miniatures for submittal to 20th Century Fox from their production molds. The company was loaned one 2 ft "Hero" miniature of an Alien Attacker for reference purposes. The 2 cast Attackers mentioned above were meticulously cast, prepped, assembled, primed and painted (by Dragon Donet) to precisely match the screen-used original loaned to Icons by Fox.

An interesting anecdote relating to this time, is that when Icons returned the loaned Attacker to Fox in a ID-4 prototype meeting, Icons R&D placed the original with Icons two replica prototypes and stated "We challenge you to pick the original...and if you guess wrong, Icons gets to keep it"...after a quick examination, the Studio executives laughed and refused the challenge stating the quality of Icons replicas were too superior.

One of the prototypes mentioned above (#0002) was left with 20th Century Fox and one (#0001) was returned to Icons as the product reference model. Note : it was standard operating procedure for Icons to keep the #1 of all of its editions in the company archive.

As Icons was about to begin to produce the ID-4 Alien Attacker miniature replica product-line, careful examination was done by Icons Chief mold-maker, the brilliant Al Zequeira, it was obvious the Studio produced molds were on the verge of "burning out", after numerous castings were made for production (many to be blown up via pyrotechnics), so the decision was made to create new molds off of the #1 Alien Attacker.

Icons was world-renown for its fantastic mold-making process, so almost no shrinking occurred. Icons was so innovative in its U.S. manufacturing process that the huge company 3-M used to throw "pizza parties" for Icons mold, mastering & casting department :-)

This is the Icons ID-4 Attacker prototype COA. It is in beautiful shape. The Icons and 20th Century Fox logo's are hand-cut and glued on it. Very unique !!

The ship rests on the original Icons ID-4 Alien Attacker display base "master" (1630 resin - above) created for the ID-4 display base, which is a casting of the ID-4 Alien Mothership. When Icons took possession of all the original production molds from the film, Fox didn't know what to do with them, they were sorted. I think the base was made from a panel mold, that was made for the interior of the Mothership.
A side wall panel that would have appeared huge on screen. So it is not to scale to the Attacker. It was thought it was in the style of the Attacker / film production design.

This is a picture of two Icons Alien Attackers : on the left, the standard Icons replica and on the right, the prototype....more greenish as you can see.

Less than 60 of these incredibly accurate miniatures were ever produced from 1997 until 2000, by Icons Authentic Replicas.

The following picture is from Al Zequeira holding the actual filming miniature, the one he used to mold the one for the Icons production run !!!

 

Icons Miniature Endoskull Necklace Charm Prototype

 

 

It is the smallest replica ever proposed / prototyped by Icons. And it would have sold in the thousands of units if it had been produced / released.

This Icons Authentic Replicas Miniature Endoskull Necklace Charm Prototype measuring 1 1/4" high by 3/4" wide, was sculpted, molded and cast in 1998 / 1999.

As you know, Icons was the first licensee for Terminator production replicas, including props and 1:1 scale full-size figures including the Endo-Skull, Endo-Arm, Endo-Rifle and Endo-Skeleton, which were also sold and displayed at the Universal Studios T2-3D attraction in Universal City, California.

This one-of-a-kind prototype casting was produced at Icons as a lower-price point novelty product, which would have been cast in white metal, polished and sold as a Terminator Endoskull necklace or bracelet charm, exclusively in the T2-3D attraction Gift Shop.

Note the red-line ink on the lower portion of the jaw hand-drawn during the engineering phase.

 

As you can see, the detail is amazing. A miracle that piece survived !!!

Icons Jurassic Park Claws

Here are some Jurassic Park claws. 

 

This one under is a special one : it is a unique prototype base and plaque. It has a bit of blood hued paint mixed into it...an experiment !!! Really nice in person...



Star Trek TOS Klingon Disruptor Pistol Set Signature Edition Plaques

Those plaques were part of a special offer !!! 

People who ordered one of Icons Star Trek authentic miniature (Classic D7 Klingon Battle Cruiser) or prop replicas (Klingon Disruptor Set) or both before April 30th of 1998, were suposed to receive a complimentary Klingon Commander Commemorative plaque personally autographed by William Campbell who portrayed the Klingon Koloth in "Trouble with Tribbles" and Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos", Michael Ansara who portrayed Kang in "Day of the Dove" and John Colicos who portrayed Kor in "Errand of Mercy" !!!

I don't know if any of those plaques were ever finished, signed and sent to buyers but I never saw one of them before.

It seems that finally, only William Campbell and Michael Ansara signatures were planned....

Icons Aliens M41-A "Background" Pulse Rifle

Icons Batman Forever Panther Batarang Prototype

10 of these Batarangs were made. Only 1 had the Batcave case (see photos). 9 were stolen in 2000 at Timeless. They were painted by Dave Heilman....a very special color : luminescent black !!!



Icons Excalibur Mordred Battle Helmet Prototype

Here's an incredible, life size, hand-crafted fiberglass Mordred Battle Helmet replica, finished to appear as if it was made of Gold metal. Based on the one seen on screen, in the classic Fantasy Film "Excalibur".

This piece was acquired by James Latta from a contracted Hollywood SPFX Artisan to utilize as the Study Model in Icons efforts to secure the licensing for Excalibur from Warner Bros. Studios in 1997.

As impressive in person as it is in the photos depicted here. Beautifully designed, made and finished.

Unknown to most collectors, Icons Authentic Replicas was in contract negotiations for Excalibur in 1997-98. And was actually issued an Excalibur Prop and Wardrobe replica licensing agreement in 1998 (and for numerous Warner Bros. licenses), prior to the company closing its doors forever. Another unrealized dream for the pioneering replica company. This piece has never been shown before.

As most Prop collectors know, issue #2 of the Icons "Vault" Collectors magazine / catalog featured an in-depth interview with Icons dear friend Terry English, the master armorer for Excalibur, who also built the Colonial Space Marines armor for the movies "Aliens", the armor for "Gladiator" and "The 13th Warrior" just to name a few.
Although Terry fabricated the body-armor for the Mordred character in Excalibur, he did not make the original Mordred helmet, so he did not work on this piece or stamp it with his Armorer mark "TE".

However, although planned, none of the Excalibur replica product-line were produced prior to Icons closure in 2000.

The molds of this piece were NEVER utilized again !! So this is a one-of-a-kind prototype.