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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Icons Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi Lightsaber



Here is the first Lucasfilm Ltd. licensed Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi lightsaber (#01 of an intended 10,000) ever produced, authorized, approved and licensed by Lucasfilm Ltd.


I would assume that the photo above is a test photo once the #01 saber was completed to size the plexiglas case and plaque etc.


The saber also comes with a final, unnumbered, LFL approval plaque, bought directly from Mike Moore.


Those schematics were for the company that produced the outsourced parts for the saber.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Icons T2 T1000 Broken Claw



That "hook" was certainly made during Icons transition period to Timeless Collectibles. The Hand-Claw was in development at Icons, on the drawing boards but sadly, just never got produced.


Al Zequeira molded it (with the Endo Skull CPU Chip and the Stabbing Finger) in James Cameron's Office at Lightstorm in Santa Monica (he had to do it there as Lightstorm execs wouldn't let anything out !!) and Timeless Collectibles made it.



Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Icons Star Wars Lightsaber Plaques Sheet Prototype



This is an un-cut, un-painted, all metal, sheet of 12 original Icons Star Wars Lightsaber plaques (including 6 Skywalker and 6 Darth Vader), with ink test markings made by the Icons creative and art department during the final stages of prop replica plaque design and development.

As you can see, the Vader plaques are some kind of prototypes or early design plaques as the final ones didn't retained the "S" after Vader's name. 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Icons Star Trek Klingon Disruptor Replica



This is a stunning and very rare display piece celebrating the legacy of the Star Trek universe made by Icons in 1998.


This is the 1st ever produced, Paramount Studio's licensed Klingon Disruptor prop pistol.

As most collectors know, only a few dozen of these were ever produced by Icons, before the company closed its doors forever.


This is a picture of James Latta after one week of sanding the TOS Klingon Disruptors they were re-tooling....

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Icons Robin's Throwing Bird



This is the Robin's Redbird replica from the movie "Batman & Robin". This is number #154.


Here is what Larry Taylor can tell us about that replica : "Oh boy, do I remember those things...Jeeeze what a production nightmare...nothing lined up, the fitment was horrible...alot of the wings wouldn't open out because of warpage.
Consider yourself very lucky Fred that you have one because a lot of them didn't make it out because of these issues. It's a great looking piece".

"It was just taken away from us by Warner Brothers so we couldn't finalize an accurate reproduction of it from the prototype and that's the reason why it had issues but some did make it out as is yours did and those were the good ones". Thank you Larry.


Al Z. adds : "It was definitely one of those props that was made just for the movie and not for the real world. People kept opening and closing the wings over and over again and after just a few times they would tend to pop off because they weren't designed to be used in the real world.
Had we had time to re-engineer it just a little better I think it would have made a very big difference".

"But Warner Brothers was very insistent that it get done ASAP....I also remember them coming in when we would do deliveries and supposedly DNA marking them so that they could not be bootlegged. Not that I think anybody would have". Thank you Al.



Then we have hand-made drawing prototypes of the piece, rendered by Daren Dochterman.


That one above is a concept advertisement for the Icons "Batman & Robin" replicas. It's interesting and funny to see the movie and Icons logos melted together !!


Here are some early concept COAs for the Throwing Bird.


Some other early concept COAs with Warner Bros. Studio annotations.


Another serie of COA prototypes.


Final test versions for the Redbird COA.


This is an early 
prototype plaque : as you can see, there are no trademarks (TM) after each line and logo, and it is "The RedBird" which will finally become "Robin's Throwing Bird" on final pieces !!!



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Icons Ghostbusters 1 & 2 Patch-Set Display Replica Prototype



"Who ya gonna call ?..."   

Here's a very unique item. This is the only Studio authorized and authenticated Ghostbusters replica patch-set display that the Icons Studio wardrobe department ever produced.  

Unbeknownst to most, in 1998 Icons was gearing up for a public offering on Wall Street. They were being groomed by multiple investment bankers to expand and diversify in order to attract more potential stock buyers. Icons began to plan in total secrecy to create wholly owned subsidiaries that would produce licensed wardrobe replicas, toys & novelties, etc.   

One unique concept was to apply the same stellar quality and sales and marketing methodologies Icons was World famous for in the licensed prop and miniature replica arena to the manufacture and distribution of precise Studio wardrobe and costume piece licensed replicas. Icons successfully negotiated with and entered into an exclusive agreement with two renowned film and television wardrobe fabricators that were also highly regarded in the cosplay fandom universe, for their custom costumes. Which were known for being flawless in their accuracy and tailoring. These two individuals were Kathy Pillsbury and Joe Kerezman. If you ask around fandom, all of the information contained in this description is verifiable. 

In the Spring of 1998, Icons opened a full-scale wardrobe shop complete with computerized sewing machines, hundreds of bolts of fabric, and pattern making equipment, etc. 5 prototypes were produced in this facility. 1) A Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Han Solo costume  2) a Ghostbusters jumpsuit  3) a Battlestar Galactica Colonial Warrior jacket  4) a Ghostbusters 1 & 2 jumpsuit patch display and finally  5) a Starship Troopers 2-piece military uniform.  

Unfortunately, before this dream could be realized, Icons closed its doors forever. The existence of the Icons Studio Wardrobe department was a closely guarded R&D secret and was considered just another rumor for many years.  

The rare, one of a kind item displayed here is a prototype display set, of authentic replicas of the patches worn on screen in the blockbuster-hit films Ghostbusters 1 & 2.   

Original Ghostbusters 1 & 2 costumes worn by the stars of the films were provided by Sony Studios / Columbia / Tri-Star Pictures to the Icons Wardrobe Department and utilized to create precise 1:1 scale replications of the screen-worn patches which adorned the Ghostbusters' jumpsuits. Icons had hoped to utilize its relationship with Sony Studios to procure a master license for both Ghostbusters properties. 
  
As you can see by the photo, this old prototype is in gorgeous condition and has obviously been well preserved. Also, as you can see by the photograph, the quality of the computerized sewing is exceptional. The display was created by mounting precise Studio authorized and authenticated 1:1 scale quality reproductions of the name patches of the beloved character names, as seen in the film on the Ghostbusters jumpsuit uniforms, as portrayed by Bill Murray (Dr. Peter Venkman), Dan Aykroyd (Dr. Raymond Stantz), Harold Ramis (Dr. Egon Spengler) and Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore) and the classic Ghostbusters / jumpsuit uniform sleeve logo and Ghostbusters 2 sleeve logo, which have been carefully placed and mounted between 2 sheets of custom cut quality Plexiglas which are bolted together with six custom screws. The original Icons prototype metal inventory tag number (#000139) is still affixed to the piece in the bottom right hand corner. 


The prototype display includes a rare paper "temp-plaque" with the Icons, Columbia Pictures Studios logo and a credit area where a Icons Studio Wardrobe Department logo would have been placed between the two, but this logo was never developed. There is a mock-up celebrity signature in the center of the temp-plaque of actor Dan Aykroyd. This is a facsimile signature and was not signed by the actor. The #42 of 500 is a simulated number on the temp-plaque, this edition is actually #1 of 1.  

The reverse of the Plexiglas wall display has an interlocking hanging point bracket which includes the original mounting piece which is easy to screw into a wall for immediate home display. 

This prototype was on display in Icons legendary memorabilia adorned conference rooms in both the Sun Valley and North Hollywood, California locations, from 1998 until 2000. It now resides with Andrea in Italy.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Icons Blade Runner Deckard's Pistol And Badge Prototype



This is the, never before seen, Icons prototype for the Rick Deckard's pistol from the movie Blade Runner. 

The gun is a static piece (no moving parts) as it was molded off a production / stunt gun (owned by Jim Latta at the time).

The badge is also molded off an original prop and is polished cast metal.

And finally, I think that all of you will recognize the display backing which was molded off an original Ennis House tile, issued from the home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

That piece was bought in the Spring of 2003 by Eric, a dentist from Indiana. I'm really grateful to him for sharing that beautiful piece with us here, on the Museum.