Propstore: The Prop Culture Interview with Chuck Costas

There are few professions where a $20 item can be purchased, brought to work, used for the day, and then be resold at auction for more than $389,000! That same item can also be transformed from being a fairly common object into an iconic character in one of the most well-known theatrical films of all time, Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks and of course Wilson, the volleyball. While Tom Hanks is represented by Creative Artists Agency, Wilson found its path to stardom courtesy of the film’s Property Master, Robin Miller. From Wilson to Michael J. Fox’s Back to the Future 2 hoverboard, to Indiana Jones’ whip from Temple of Doom, all of these iconic movie props were brought to set by a Property Master and then brought to auction by Propstore.

Possessing movie props has long been a passion for collectors. The advent of online auctions has dramatically reshaped this niche hobby, making it more accessible and widespread than ever before. For more than 25 years, Propstore has been providing collectors with these coveted pieces and has been influential in transforming this niche hobby into a hybrid of fine art and memorabilia collecting. We sat down with Chuck Costas of Propstore, Los Angeles, and discussed how Propstore began in the early days of internet chat groups and how the hobby of collecting movie props has evolved into a competitive and lucrative industry.

PROP CULTURE: Good morning, Chuck. Such a pleasure to have you as Prop Culture’s very first interview. How fitting that we start with someone representing a company like Propstore, that truly understands the value of props!

CHUCK COSTAS: Good morning. Well, great! So, this is the inaugural issue of the Property Masters Guild magazine!

PC: Yes, it is. The Property Masters Guild has seen some important firsts this year, starting with our first-ever MacGuffin Awards this past September. We celebrated the significant artistic achievements of Property Masters in film and television. We also were very proud to present Emily Ferry with the first PMG Lifetime Achievement Award. So, here we are now with our first issue of Prop Culture! Well, that’s who we are. Tell us who you are. Where did Propstore start?

CC: Propstore started in 1999 by Stephen Lane. You would call him a treasure hunter. He had an early love of Star Wars and was someone who always questioned what happens to props, costumes, and set decorating pieces after a movie is over. Brandon Alinger, who’s our CEO, joined Stephen later and shares that same passion and same vision. But the company started as an online business where they would go out, find items from different movies, some to keep for themselves, but then some to sell to the open public and make them available online to people to purchase back in the early days. And so, for a number of years, it was an online website, and they would have daily updates that would feature a variety of different films. I think Stephen recognized early on that although there were a fair number of productions being made in London, which is where he is based, a lot of the action was in Los Angeles. Brandon Alinger, who was a sort of fellow treasure hunter himself, was one of the early folks that was involved with the RPF (RPF Costume and Prop Maker Community). He made a name for himself going out to Tunisia firsthand to try to find items from the Star Wars franchise.

PC: When did Propstore branch out into online auctions?

CC: I believe in 2015 was the very first multi-consignor auction that Propstore ran. And since then, we’ve run auctions both directly with the studios, sort of official auctions for single titles, as well as multi- consignor auctions where we’re searching and finding things directly from people who worked on the set. From collectors who may have ended up with these things and sometimes the studios themselves, we’ll be able to assemble hundreds of titles into one auction and offer 1,000-plus pieces to collectors all at once and those are what we call our entertainment memorabilia live auctions.

PC: What do you think caused this evolution?

CC: It became a necessary evolution because the prices were rising so rapidly. What is something worth in today’s market, and especially with props? Because they’re somewhat unique items, it’s always hard to put an exact price on something at any particular time. Because this prop may be the only one that appears, or it may be the only one that appears in a certain number of years. It’s very difficult to establish a market price, unlike a comic book or a baseball card that multiples will sell month-to-month and establish a price.

PC: When offering props, whether it’s a buy now or auction, do you need to classify them as historic classic props, where its value is found as being part of a classic iconic film vs a prop that is finding its value because it is instantly recognizable in a more current release film?

CC: I think what you’re touching on is this aspect of relevancy. The more relevant a piece is to pop culture, the more the perceived value there is, and it’s especially true with television. For instance, I know when I was a kid, I went to the Smithsonian, and I saw Fonzie’s jacket and that was the ultimate to me in the ’70s. I just went to the Smithsonian, and they didn’t have it on display. Part of that was because Happy Days, although was very important to my generation, no longer is, and because it’s out of sight, out of mind, some of that relevancy has waned over time. When the relevancy wanes, then the prices may wane as well. We do see a discrepancy. Something that could have come out in the 1940s, or it could be a classic piece from Charlie Chaplin, may decrease in value over time in some ways because the generation that appreciates that is dying off. You see this with collectibles all the time. Westerns at one point were a very dominant part of movie culture. Right now, the prices on Western movie posters are decreasing because the amount of people that actually collect that genre are dying off. We do see this cyclical nature. I always look at a 20- to 25-year cycle. Usually, you are attracted to things that you saw when you were a teenager. So, if it’s a movie or a TV show, you’ll have fond remembrances of what was popular back in your teenage years. And then, 20 to 25 years later, when you have money, you’re willing to spend big money to sort of recapture a piece of that youth. That’s what we see a lot with collecting movie props and television props.

PC: I’m sure after all these years, you’ve established a strong database of previous sales and have become very good at predicting trends.

CC: We’ve got a database of tens of thousands of items that we’ve sold over the years. If it was a new franchise, we must take our best guess. So, if we’re selling something from Better Call Saul, we might look at something from Breaking Bad. We look for as close of a comparison as we can. If it’s sci-fi-related, we’ll try to find something that is sort of comparable to something from Star Trek or Star Wars. But the magic of auction is that we don’t have to be always 100% accurate. We’re not putting a price on it. We are essentially establishing a forum for people to be able to bid. Our goal is to make sure that the person who brings in a piece is not setting the reserve too high that people will not want to bid on an item. In fact, our goal is for the market to set the price. We just sold items from The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. This was the first time items from Fear have ever been released. What should they go for? We really let the buyers determine. We knew that there was a market for The Walking Dead. But we weren’t quite sure what the market was for Fear. This is where an auction really can help determine what should be the market value for these pieces.

PC: Would you differentiate the prop buyer, who’s buying props for its investment potential as opposed to somebody who’s buying it simply because they are a fan and want something that they’ve seen on screen?

CC: It’s primarily a collector-driven hobby and has been. It really comes from people who are passionate about wanting to own a piece of something that they watched and loved. If you were to be an investor, you would look at more classic pieces that have stood the test of time. Something from Star Wars or from Back to the Future. These are franchises that 40 years later, people are still talking about and still have fond memories of. That’s the type of material that typically appeals to the investor. Something that’s going to have an enduring quality to it. We’ve seen a lot of speculative buying during the recent Game of Thrones auction that was run by

a competitor of ours. Prices were getting high. Will those stay high over time? There is a possibility that it’s hot now but a few years later, it may not be.

PC: How do you decide what props to sell at auction and what to sell as a buy it now on the Propstore website?

CC: Typically, what we sell on the buy- it-now platforms are usually entry-level pieces. Things that might be under $1,500. It’s easier to price those types of things. More unique items or items that we don’t see as much every day may go into our auctions. But typically, those would be items that we would estimate to be more than $1,500.

PC: You’ve mentioned you work with the studios. Do they look for you to work exclusively with them as opposed to your relationships working with Property Masters?

CC: No. They recognize that there are two sides to our business. When we do a studio auction, we’re following the guidelines. They have full control over the copy, over the photos that we use, and how we’ve presented it to market. They also recognize when we do our multi- consigner auctions that they don’t have control because they don’t own those pieces. They’re very understanding that there are just different ways that this stuff has made it to market. When we are presenting something, we’re typically trying to align with their marketing programs. They look at it as a different way of getting fan engagement. That’s what they see as the value of bringing props and costumes and set dec pieces to market. It’s a different way of tapping into that audience and getting them excited about whatever movie or television show they’re producing and putting out there.

PC: Have you ever had any pushback from the studios as far as you buying props from a Property Master? Has a studio ever claimed it should be theirs to sell?

CC: We do get inquiries from the studios every now and then, and we work through them. Sometimes it’s part of a Property Master’s truck or something that they rented to the studio. Part of what we do when we take consignments from Property Masters is to make sure that the person who is consigning to us feels that they have clear rights in ownership. If it’s challenged by the studios, we do become a middleman and a bit of a buffer. We seek to understand why they feel they have a claim to this. But in many cases, the studios don’t, and we auction it off.

PC: Then you’ve been able to preserve your relationship with the studio and the Property Master as well?

CC: Absolutely. But our goal when we’re working with any consigner is to make sure that there is a free and clear title to the items that they’re selling. We’re not looking to sell stolen items.

PC: What else do you do in the authentication process? Say, there’s a Coke can that’s used on set, and it looks like any retail Coke can. But you know that this Coke can has the pedigree of being used by Tom Hanks in Apollo 13.

CC: Understanding the lineage of how it got off set is the first thing. The other is with the Property Master. They can be extremely helpful to us. They’ll typically know how many of those Coke cans were sourced for the show and where were they were sourced from? Is there anything that’s unique about it? Is there a hidden flaw? Typically, what a collector wants is not just a normal Coke can, but something that was slightly modified for production. The Jump Soda from Joe Versus the Volcano is an example. How many of those were made? What different types were made? How many potentially still exist? What happened to them after the production? All of that lends to the story and the uniqueness. That’s what collectors are interested in really understanding. Is this the one? Or was it one of 20? That will all affect the value in some ways because obviously, the more unique it is, the more valuable and desirable it is going to be.

PC: Do you depend on the Property Master to give you their own personal certificate of authenticity?

CC: Again, provenance means everything and having a letter from the Property Master or someone else that was key to the production is always very key.

PC: Do Property Masters want to be involved in the selling process, or do they want to remain anonymous and just pass it off to you to do all the selling?

CC: It’s a combination of both. In some cases, they will be happy to write a letter of authenticity for us. And again, that will add value, and we’re happy to have that. But there are others who still fear what the studios might say. People were scared that they could potentially get blacklisted for selling something. From our perspective, as long as people are free and clear to sell things, we’re happy to operate either way. One thing that we try to do is elevate the Property Masters if we can in the marketing. For instance, we just did the Fear the Walking Dead sale. Colin Thurston, who was the Property Master on Seasons 2 through 7, reached out to us and he was more than happy to tell the stories of those items that were being sold. Property Masters are a wealth of information in helping us authenticate items and we really appreciate their help in doing that. There’s no better source than the Property Master. We love to elevate Property Masters and be able to help tell those stories but not everybody wants to do that. We are also fine getting as much information as we can from the Property Master and pass that along in our descriptions but leave their name out of it.

PC: Okay. Is there that Holy Grail prop you would love to get your hands on?

CC: It depends on what you consider a prop. The idea of a prop versus, say, a model miniature or other things do blur the line in prop collecting. Star Wars is always a favorite for collectors. We’ve handled things like helmets in a current auction. Authentic lightsabers from Episodes 4 through 6 are probably the most prized possessions for collectors out there. There are a few that are known. There are others that are yet to be discovered. We would love to find one of those. The concern is there have also been a lot of forgeries that we have discovered over the years. But that’s why we rely on Property Masters who were there that can help us to discern the real from the fake. There’s a hoverboard that is about to go up. The ruby slippers are what prop collectors consider a Holy Grail! I wish I could tell you what a real Maltese Falcon was. There are many, many people that claim to have found a Maltese Falcon out there. But the true story as to how they were constructed and where they ended up is still a bit of a mystery. So, I wish we could solve that riddle and bring one of those to market. We do have a stormtrooper helmet that is screen matched to one of the scenes on Tatooine!

PC: Can you explain exactly what is “Screen Matched”?

CC: Things that are damaged on set or damaged because they were used, may not be as appealing for a studio to keep, but those are things that collectors love. They love them because when you look at something on screen and you see a scratch, or you see a flaw in the way that something was made that makes it unique and identifiable. That’s what the collector wants. They want the piece ideally that was used on set. Although many multiples are made, they want the one that appears in at least one of the scenes that they remember, and so screen matching is where we will look at it usually, a 4K resolution copy of the film or TV show, where we will look at the prop that we have and we’ll look at the prop on screen and see, is there a flaw? Is there a scratch that we can identify that will help us tell that this is the exact one. When we can show pictures side-by-side with the item, we’ll circle the parts that we believe make this that particular one, and that will add a significant value to a piece in a collector’s mind.

PC: You’ve sold one of Indiana Jones’ whips, haven’t you? Tell us about that.

CC: We’ve had multiple ones over the years. Some of those have come from the stunt performers where they had kept them after the fact. We’ve had others that have come from charity through Harrison Ford or I think it may have been Spielberg or it could have been Lucas. It was probably Lucas. They came out of the Lucas archives. Those typically come with a letter. With something like a whip having the provenance on those is important, because they did make replicas that look much like the ones that were used on set. To really be able to track it back and understand how this got off set is extremely important and that adds to the value. Those are very hard to screen match, and I don’t believe there has been an officially screen-matched whip out there.

PC: When doing your own authentication, have you ever come across props that you’ve deemed unauthentic?

CC: Absolutely. We see stuff all the time we end up rejecting. Sometimes we do get excited about something that walked in the door. For instance, I know at this last auction, we had a phaser from the original series Star Trek, which appeared to be real, and it was a stunt version of the phaser which you would think people wouldn’t bother to replicate. But ultimately, we determined it was a replica, and it was made by somebody back in the eighties. So, we had to reject it. When Propstore sells something authentic, and having been used as part of the production, we stand by that. If it turns out years later it isn’t authentic, we end up refunding the money for that particular piece. So, it’s very important that we determine what something is, and that we are describing it accurately. Because ultimately if it turns out to be incorrect, that one is on Propstore to make good on it.

PC: One particular iconic prop I wanted to talk to you about is Wilson, the volleyball from the Tom Hanks film Cast Away.

CC: We have seen a lot of fakes, and when they came to market, they were always questionable. The Wilsons that we sold were brought to us by somebody from the production. Because of that, we felt very confident in selling these particular Wilsons. Ultimately, we ended up screen matching those Wilsons. Because we could screen match those, we could definitively show that these were the screen-used Wilsons. There were a number of collectors that were just thrilled that we were able to find a screen-matched Wilson. Because of that confidence, the bidding was more than $389,000 for one of those Wilsons! Which is a pretty amazing price for something that is a relatively newer prop in the scheme of things. But it was from such a beloved movie, and having that rock solid provenance behind it, added to the confidence. People were willing to spend to add it to their collection. Hopefully, the consigner was very happy with the final results, too.

PC: Amazing how a prop can actually become a character in a movie.

CC: Wilson in some ways was one of the stars of the movie. I think those two hoverboards from Back to the Future 2 became another actor alongside Michael J. Fox. Those are the ones that really stand out. Those are the ones that a collector would want, and which ultimately go for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s sort of that perfect trifecta. If it’s a classic movie with a classic prop and it’s one of the stars after the film is over, then that’s what you remember more than anything else.

PC: I could not ask for a better ending than that. Chuck, thank you very much. Thank you especially for helping us kick off our premiere issue of Prop Culture! It was really a pleasure talking with you.

Check out the rest of the Winter 2025 Issue of Prop Culture here.