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.

Icons Master Plaque Art Binder

That's the master artwork / proofs rendered mostly by Daren Dochterman and Matt Hierly.

This binder was archived at Icons as reference for Director of Product Development (Rob Klein) to archive, in the event plaque art was needed. Whether for reference use for another plaque, a variation on an existing plaque or in the event that the plaque manufacturer lost the plaque art, or Icons possibly switched plaque manufacturing companies (which never occurred).

These were used to produce sheets of plaques to test when they are shown together. Was cost effective. And Icons might have needed a few if there was a problem during the proto process.

The art plaque was the master. It would be taken to an engraving company. They would load it into their computer and print out large embossed sheets of plaques. Then Icons would cut them.

There is a section for each Studio. Much more than shown.

Really interesting to see some artwork for replicas that were never made (Jaws "Bruce", ROTLA "Chachapoyan" Warrior Idol...).

 

Here is a picture of some Icons Skywalker Lightsaber plaques at the stamping unit !!! Not a common thing to see...

 



Icons Men in Black Neuralyzer Prototype

These are the rare components for the un-produced Men in Black Icons Neuralyzer prototype.

 

Icons never completed that prototype. As you can see, it was “almost” made. Came very close. It is really interesting in person.

 

Most of Icons replicas were based upon classic and cult prototypes, and not new properties at the time, except for the Film properties Men in Black, Starship Troopers and Independence Day (aka ID-4). And the Television property Xena. Although the company intended to focus on new films and TV shows as they were in production. Icons was granted the license for Men in Black and Starship Troopers by Sony, and Icons staff was thrilled and excited to be loaned an original MIB “Hero” Noisy Cricket and “Hero” Neuralyzer. You can view the Icons archival photos of the “Hero” Neuralyzer in this website entry, adjacent the un-assembled Neuralyzer. No Neuralyzer was completed at Icons up until the closure of the company, this is as far as the project got before Icons closed it's doors forever.

 

The components are made of cast resin (molded and cast directly off of the screen-used original(s) ) and machined aluminum, measured directly off of the screen-used original(s) metal components. Great care was put into the project to make sure the measurements on the aluminum components were as accurate as possible in comparing the replica to the “Hero” prop used in the film.

As everyone who reads the Icons Museum website knows, I am not only a kind of curator and archivist and a collector of Icons, but I have helped facilitate the restoration of numerous rare prototypes and done my best to track down and research what happened to rare pieces such as this one. Which to me, and obviously to others, are of historic value. Danny Simon of “The Licensing Group” has said that Icons was the pioneer in the field of high-end collectibles and influenced most companies that existed at the time of the company (1995-2000) and all of those that followed.

 

Those pics above are of the original screen-used prop that was loaned to Icons to disassemble and mold.

 

As I have continued my decade long quest to preserve Icons and legacy (in spite of all of the gossip and negativity) I have interestingly learned a significant amount about prop and replica prototyping, manufacturing and restoration. Learning about molding, casting, prep, sanding, painting, etc. This has come in handy when the occasional piece needed some touch up or parts restored. I've actually enjoyed this process, and in becoming an Icons “historian” and archivist, it has been a natural part of my progression. One that I have enjoyed.