Thursday 4 November 2010

Batman '89: Anton Furst's Gargoyle

Gotham City, always brings a smile to my face ...

I have recently been fortunate enough to acquire one of the Gargoyles from the Gotham City Cathedral, as it was represented in the first Batman film (1989). This post briefly discusses the history of the gargoyle and what it means to me, its new owner. Batman ’89, as it is affectionately called, was Tim Burton's first big budget picture, cronologicaly situated in between Beetlejuice (1988) and Edward Sissorhands (1990). In 1990, Anton Furst’s unique, visionary, set design, won Batman ’89 it’s only Academy Award for Best Art Direction and Set Decoration. Furst's masterwork was to carry Burton's hollywood-gothisism into the future and change the look of all subsequent superhero movies.
The production was plagued with problems and Burton repeatedly clashed with Producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber over casting issues. After working together on Beetlejuice, Burton cast Michael Keaton as Batman, working on the logic that Batman was a regular guy. This proved to be such an unpopular choice with fans that shares in Warner Brothers took a nose dive. Yet Warner Bros. gambled on Batman and backed the movie with one of the biggest market and merchandising campaigns in history. The movie became one of the biggest grossing box office hits of all time, grossing over $250 million in US and $400 million worldwide.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of this picture was its artistic influence. This film totally changed the style of superhero movies. Before Burton’s Batman, Superman was considered the absolute pinnacle of superhero movies. Future movies began to eschew the heroism of Richard Donner’s all American Superman for more realistic characters with psychological depth. By questioning the nature of heroism Burton’s Batman paved the way for a darker portrayal of Batman on TV, in the awesome long running Batman: The Animated Series.
You can see my Gargoyle in the final climactic scenes of the movie. It is perched high atop Gotham Cathedral, where the Joker, as played by Jack Nickelson waltzes with Vikkie Vale (Michelle Pfeiffer), before being tethered to another Gargoyle and taking a dive from the building. The Joker hangs his hat and coat on one wing, and the gargoyle moves from background to forground as the couple dance around.
In the original script, there was no Gotham Cathedral. Movie producer Jon Peters reworked the climax of the movie into something more mainstream without first telling Burton. In the original ending, the Joker was supposed to kill Vikkie Vale sending Batman into a vengeful rage. Instead, Peters plotted the Jokers dramatic demise and commissioned Furst to create a 38 feet high model (12m) of Gotham Cathedral. The cathedral, of which the Gargoyle is a crowning part, cost 100,000 pounds when the film was already way over budget. Burton hated having no scripted idea as to how the film would end. In the book Burton on Burton, he writes
Here were Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger walking up this cathedral, and halfway up Jack turns around and says, 'Why am I walking up all these stairs? Where am I going?' 'We'll talk about it when you get to the top!' I had to tell him that I didn't know.
The Cathedral is a key dramatic device in the film. One of the problems Anton faced was to create a cathedral which looked taller than the tallest skyscraper and still make it look credible. It had to appear to be over 1,000 feet (300 metres) high. In designing the structure, Furst has stated that he was primarily influenced by some of the 1930s skyscrapers in New York, which produced a cathedral effect at the top by means of interesting Gothic detail. In his design he was also influenced by Gaudi, the now-feted Spanish architect who is best known for his cone-shaped cathedral in Barcelona. There is no Gothic, Norman, or any other cathedral reference in Gaudi's masterpiece, so its sense of timelessness appealed to Furst and thus fitted the tone of the film. Furst writes

I basically stretched Gaudi into a skyscraper and added a castle feel which was especially influenced by the look of the Japanese fortress. The top deck of the Cathedral is strongly evocative of Hitchcock's house, a favourite image, as it happens, of Tim Burton's. The dangerous parapets, as well as the cantilevered belfry, fit the malevolent heart of a city which God left 100 years before. Yet the augmented and exaggerated design, whose unreality still had to be made credible, also suggests the comic absurdity which is evident in the film.
Twenty one years the after the destruction of the cathedral, the gargoyle turned up on eBay. After leaving Pinewood Studios, the sculpture made its way to Bude, Cornwall and was bought by a Cambridge tattoo artist for his young gothic daughter. The artist had been shopping with his family for a pine dining table, and had gone into a wholesale style furniture store, run –on a temporary basis – by a Londoner looking to make a few sovs. The main bulk of stock was pine furniture, but alongside this was a lorry load of props from Pinewood studios. The artist told me that there were many Egyptian style props, chariots, sarcophagi and the like. Twenty one years ago, there was no real market for used movie props, no such thing as ‘certificates of authenticity’, actually there was no such thing as the internet or a mobile phone. The furniture dealer took a risk in landing himself with what was potentially a truck load of unsalable junk, perhaps thinking it would bring customers into his store, where he could sell them some furniture. Indeed, the artist and his family left with both a fine pine table and the gargoyle. The young lady named the sculpture ‘Sid’, and he lived with her, in the corner of her room all her formative years.
Sid is hand made – not cast - from plaster wood and wire, which has then been ‘artexed’ with a thick paint, giving it the ‘stone’ texture that you can see. Despite not being made of stone, Sid is heavy, and needs two grown men to move him around. Sid is too fragile to be sent by courier, so I climbed in the Batmobile and made the eight hundred mile round trip in a day. Four feet tall at a squat, this lonely sentinel of the crime ridden city would no doubt rise to over eight feet if he were to stand up and take flight...and what a sight that would be, from the balcony of my second floor flat...fly my pretty, fly... and how bittersweet it would be to have such a Gollum arise and do your bidding...but I digress, this could easily get fruity. This is such a beautiful object of contemplation.


Of course the Gargoyle could mean many things to many people. I find the work resonating with August Rodin’s ‘The Poet’. This famous sculpture, often referred to as ‘the Thinker’ was commissioned by the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, in the late nineteenth century. The thinker has become an iconic image, signifying intellectual activity and philosophical thought. Rodin was inspired by both Michelangelo and Dante, and the nude figure that sits in contemplation is thought to be Dante himself, sat in front of the gates of Hell, contemplating his great poem, ‘The Divine Comedy’. Of course Rodin first made a plaster model of ‘The Poet’ in 1880, before finally casting the full scale figure in Bronze, some twenty five years later. Today, there are twenty casts of the figure, in museums around the world. The 'original' now resides in the Rodin Museum, Paris, if you are passing by, I suggest you go ponder it.
Small wonder then this should appeal to a student of philosophy, contemplating his thesis. As I look upon Sid and ponder our mutual creation and situation, I can’t help but wonder about Furst himself, who also loved and lost. By the way, it’s worth noting that Furst is credited with beginning the whole tradition of Batmobile building, of which Bob Dullam (see previous post) is but the latest addition.
Furst studied theatre design at the Royal College of Art in London, and ran his own laser company, working on both Star Wars and Alien and producing light shows for the Who in the late 70s. Amongst other productions, Furst was production designer on Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves (1984). And later in the eighties, Furst went on to create convincing Vietnam War scenarios with Stanley Kubrick on Full Metal Jacket (1987) without ever leaving England.
Furst met his girlfriend Beverly D’angelo on the set of High Spirits 1988. After Batman '89, Furst tried in vain to find directing work. Furst wanted to work on Batman Returns but was subjected to contractual obligations on the film Awakenings (1990) which prevented him from working on the Batman sequal. Battling drink, drugs and depression, and in the wake of his break up with D'angelo in 1991, Furst flung himself from the top of a LA parking garage and died from his injurys. He was 47.
The Dark Prince, and his original sketch of Gotham Cathedral
I consider that the Gargoyle sits not only in Rodin style contemplation, but in mourning for Furst, to my mind one of the greatest, and perhaps most uncelebrated gothic visionaries in cinema history. Both Foucault and Barthes suggest that ‘the death of the author’ is the birth of the reader. I believe that the death of Anton Furst in some way enabled the birth of Burton’s vision and the fantastically dark sets that have become his trademark. In this sense, the sculpture represents both Furst’s Academy Award winning art and the beginning of Burton’s twisted trajectory.
For me, the Gargoyle carries traces of all these great artists, it brings me closer to them, and in so doing, it enables my creativity...
...and of course, its a gas to be able to dance round Jack Nickelson's hatstand in my underwear ;)
Charlie Bugwriter

Becoming Batman: Introducing Bob Dullam's Tumbler

Following on from my post about the Batmobile, I’d like to introduce you to a man who has fabricated his own Tumbler Batmobile, Mr Bob Dullam, musician, master sculptor and prop builder extraordinaire.

I recently had cause to contact Mr Dullam because I thought that I had been fortunate enough to purchase one of his sculptures through e bay. I bought this piece some time ago, and have only been able to trace it to Elstree Props. The guy I bought it from made out it was production made for Batman Begins. The way he told the story, he made out that he got it thrown in with another lifesize statue deal. I saw one similar at the London Film and Comic con, as part of the Warner Bros display, and then recently, something similar came up on e bay – a torso – but strikingly similar to mine - the ebay ad said it was a Bob Dullam original, so I searched his name and discovered that Bob had scratch built his own Tumbler. I thought I would contact him to verify the statue for me, in the meantime I thought I’d Scooby doo some info for you guys about his Tumbler project.

My statue

Bob Dullam

By day Bob Dullam works in the industry sculpting props for a living, by night as an accomplished bassist, he creates aural sculptures for those lucky enough to be around his home town of Watervliet MI. As you would expect, the B man has a partner, Mr Bob Causey, who has also built a Batmobile, however Bob C’s wheels are a Batman Forever style Batmobile, the kind with the blue neon lights. Generally, the two Bobs work as a team, and together they have sculpted some of the most beautiful and most highly collectable pieces in contemporary fandom, check out http://www.dullam-causey.com/ for the finished article/s. However despite the artistic pairing of dynamic duo, the mission of the Tumbler was something that our heroes has had to undertake alone. “It's a once in a lifetime project. Write Bob, “I did this alone, no help..” He continues -

Bob C. and I each work independently out of our homes on these cars. For each of us, its big dream come true. We do it from shear determination, lack of sleep, thinking out of the box constantly. Not easy

Bob scratch built just about everything external on the car using photos and schematics that he had researched himself. Bob posted updates on his progress on the forum Superherohype, under the psydonm YoungBat. Here other fans would comment on his work and help him out with information. The forum became an invaluable resource and source of moral support for YoungBat. You can read the whole saga starting here: http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=308526

Here is a slice of the action

Here is a prog shot of the steering linkage being assembled. what you see hanging down is a rod-end joint sometimes refered to as a helms joint. It will be screwed into the "Z" like arm that pushes/pulls the spindle. So the rack and pinion inside pushes rods that push/pull a lever, that in turn twists the rod you see sticking out of the front fender, that twisting moves the gold linkage that holds the helms joint, and that pushes/pulls the "Z" arm that pushes/pulls the wheel. clear as mud eh!

“These pictures make it look simple”, writes Bob somewhat modestly. However, it can’t have been easy to create such a thing, even with the network, the experience, and the talent Bob clearly has. For Bob, the mission needed a leap of faith.

... there were stages in between the beginning, and now that I really didn't know for sure if I was on the right track. Having never built this car, and trying to replicate it you have to some degree take a leap of faith.

I am reminded of the trials of Bruce Wayne himself, under the questionable tutelage and awesome power of Ra’s al Ghul himself. In his search for understanding, Wayne journeys to Tibet. In order to begin his training as ninja, Bruce must undertake his own leap of faith, and he is instructed to search the snow capped mountains to find a rare blue flower, a quest in itself in the barren highlands. His success is marred by his total exhaustion and he soon discovers that the object in question marks only the beginning...

The Tumbler project generated an avalanche of interest last year, and Bob sat for over two dozen interviews in the summer alone, and several TV spots. You can see clips of the time a German TV crew visited him at his home on his You tube channel here. http://www.youtube.com/user/bobdullam but they are few and short. Elsewhere, Bob has stated that most interviewers were interested in the same thing – proclaiming how cool the vehicle is –asking, how much did cost? Does it work? Is it street legal? Is it for sale? Sporadic interviews on the web and blog entries cobbled together from various sites collude support this lazy journalism. Out of all the interviews that I have read, it struck me that everybody seems to be missing the point. From what I can gather, nobody seems to have asked the million dollar question, ‘what is it like to be Batman?’ how does it feel? to amongst these wonderful objects and share your life with them? In a forum posting - whilst talking about building the car - Bob offers some enlightenment -

It feels like climbing Mt. Everest half way up, you start to wonder if this wasn't a big mistake. Then you realize that you are too far to quit. In fact, quitting is now not an option. Because if you do quit, you will have set precedence about yourself, and all up to this point will become a huge disaster. You get a little farther, now you look down and view is breathtaking. So on an emotional level this car is giving back to you, what you gave to it. It makes you start to think that, If you can do this, then you can make anything happen if you really want to. It revitalizes faith in yourself. This is not supposed to be possible. Not at this social/economic level.

It seems that in one sense, the trials of the car have made the (Bat) man of Bob. Perhaps we all have a Tumbler in our lives, something connected with the fates, intertwined with our destiny, that potentially makes us into heroes. For me, its the PhD, talking and writing about memorabilia. I want to make film and television memorabilia a subject of serious academic consideration. "tough, arduous work’ the I-Ching called it, and some days, I tell ya, it feels like I'll never get out of this damn garage, but ultimately its gotta be worth it.... I want to be, a Doctor of Stuff...and like Bob says, if I can do this, then I can make anything happen if I really want to.

A eloquent and socially conscious man, I belive Bob attempted to steer interviews round to legitimate issues that the project had highlighted, which he felt needed media attention, such as car safety for example. Scouting for parts Bob became aware of the ridiculous money people pay for expensive cars, which are badly designed. I wanted to give Bob a little space here, and bring your attention to these issues

The tumbler is 9' wide, so there is not much chance of it rolling. Some Jeeps are prone to skid rolling. top-heavy. The worst kind of crash in any commerical vehicle is a side collision at the drivers side. NO protection. Just a door about 6" deep, made of thin sheet metal, and/or plastic. Get hit in the drivers side in your volvo at 60mph. and you're dead. That door will be moved from your left side, all the way over to the passenger side. Now hit the left side of a tumbler at 60mph... you have 2.5 ft. of D.O.M tubular steel, with beams mounted in cross triangular patterns right next to your left shoulder. There is not much weight at the passenger part of the car so the car will be shoved (engine is in the back).

Not much chance of another car getting to you. More reinforcement than a circle track race car. Very tough for another car to break through that kind of bracing... I was at an auto yard looking for parts, when I happened upon a ferrari that got hit on the drivers side. NO way the driver survived that. And I also noticed how easily the fiberglass broke because they vacumn bag the body parts to keep it light, low resin to glass ratio. As far as impact resistance, the body is a joke. You could see the fiberglass was dry in the middle, the resin never got to it. hence fairly weak.
And I can go on, and on...

Obviously we can’t all build or reinforce our own cars, yet this is food for thought. Road safety should concern us all, but it is something that is easy to get complacent about, and many of us do. Now I'm not suggesting that Bob drives it around schools (for example) but if the Tumbler can highlight road safety in some way, and save just one life, then Bob's superhero status is assured. Just about everybody I know has been in a car accident at one time or another, how about you? Sherlocking this I discover that according to the DVLA site, side impact accidents account for 75% of road fatalities in the UK. Think about that next time you're riding shotgun Robin.

I was going to leave you with that sobering thought Batfans, however for those of you itching to know, Bob’s Tumbler project has cost somewhere between fifty and seventy thousand dollars, issues of legality vary from state to state, and no, it is not for sale. “You wouldn't want to sell this if you had one, believe me” states Bob. Not content with the car alone, Bob has fabricated this sweet Batsuit, and is currently engaged with building a BatPod motorcycle.

My assumption that I had purchased a Bob Dullam original was soon quashed by the man himself, who was kind enough to drop me a line. Bob said that he had seen my statue around, but was not responsible for its creation. If YOU have seen it around or can help solve the mystery, please get in touch. I hope that I can bring you another report on Mr Dullan and his fantastic, insperational adventures one day soon.

Untill then, bookmark me whydontyou, and stay tuned for a closer look at one of the Gargoyles from Gotham City Cathedral ...same time, same channel...

Charlie Bugwriter

The Tumbler Rumbled! NASCAR at the LFCC?


Appearing static as part of a broader Warner/DC promotional Campaign at the London Film & Comic Convention, these photos depict ‘the’ awesome Tumbler Batmobile, from the film Batman Begins. There seemed to be a lack of information surrounding the Tumbler, both at the DC area and on the Showmasters forum but that is probably because this is not ‘the’ Tumbler. The Tumbler itself is an illusion. The car at LFCC may well be a glorious piece of it, but as to which piece, well that dear reader is a riddle suitable for the Batman himself.

Or indeed the Bugwriter, man.
I thought I’d do some sleuthing on our behalf. Besides talking to people at the con, all the information contained in this article comes from websites and media interviews with members of the production team, led by production designer Nathan Crowley. So you can easily verify it for yourself, if you should so desire. In the interviews I have read, Crowley has stated that he has provided an understanding of the process of making the Tumbler in order to enable a greater appreciation of why modern film cost so much money to create. Crowley is a realist, and demanded a solid physical functioning Batmobile, rather than a computer enhanced representation.
I am led to believe by the Warner/DC Rep that this is the genuine article, and that the vehicle was original designed for military use. However, the Tumbler that you see in the movie Batman Begins is actually a collection of at least eight different versions of the same car, its origin is closer to Airfix that Air Force, so why don’t you and I put the pieces together huh? Many people I spoke to at the LFCC scoffed when I suggested that the idea of the One True Tumbler was an illusion. But now you can make up your own mind, because I’m here to give you the low down on the car the chicks love the most.

To begin with lets get the official line from the movie, taken from DVD extras:

Originally an all terrain bridging vehicle, designed for military use, the Tumbler is the perfect tool for urban warfare in Gotham City. With stealth aided angled panels that deflect radar tracking and infer red thermal imaging, it is a technological tour de force, able to protect itself and its allies against enemy attacks.

Equipped with inverted spoiler airfoils, the vehicle can jump ramp less across lengthy spans. Rocket propelled tow cables allow for dramatic breaking to a dead stop, no matter what the speed. It is equipped with cannons in the nose, that fire standard ballistics as well as a variety of non lethal rounds like sticky foam…

Holy pocket rockets Batman!

A car that shoots sticky foam, and then avoids your phone calls. It’s the perfect accessory for Batman, the consummate bat-choler, who doesn’t really have any super powers and needs a car to get around and kick some ass.

The car that you see is both performer in the film and character in the story. It has its own factual back story and fictional history. In so far as it extends human action and mediates communication between people, the Tumbler may be considered a social agent, essentialy Batmans co-star.

The Tmbler began life as a whole mess of 1:12 model kits. Regular airfix style kits are often cannibalized for parts by production teams looking to build unique or complex sale models. The process is termed kit bashing, or model bashing. For all you beatniks out there, it’s the model building equivalent of the cut-up method. You can now recognize the jet engine at the Tumblers rear, as originally a nose cone from a P38 lightning fighter model kit.

Over the course of four months, Crowley built six 1:12 scale models. From these a team of over thirty engineers, spent two months carving a full scale Styrofoam model. By creating a full scale replica, the team was able to hand make the wooden body panel moulds, from which the sixty five body panelswould be cast. A steel test frame was also cast from the Styrofoam model.
The steel test frame was put through some rigorous procedures. It was given a 5.7 litre Chevorlete V-8 Engine and a special breaking system. It was made to travel at over one hundred miles an hour and tuned to accelerate from 0-60 in five seconds. In order to make tight turns, extra brakes were added at the rear, controlled by large hand leavers. In principal, this is the same kind of breaking system that is used on tractors.
At nine feet four inches wide, (284cm) the frame was 8 inches (20cm) bigger than those large US 18 Wheel trucks. The test frame’s rear axle and transmission comes from such a truck, adding significant weight to the 5,000lb vehicle, which had to be able to safely jump thirty feet in the air without serious damage. On the first jump test the entire front end collapsed and had to be rebuilt from scratch, yet the weighty axle remained key to the rugged design of the vehicle.
The rear tyres are thirty seven inches in diameter, commercially purchasable, 4x4 mud tyres called Swampers, manufactured by Interco. Front tyres are racing tyres, manufactured by Hoosier. The front wheels suspension has independent elements which enable the front wheels to extend thirty inches in order to absorb the jumps it makes. The process of building the test frame took nine moths and cost several million dollars. From the working test frame, the team were able to begin assembly line production on four street ready race cars.
These are the cars that you see racing around in the film. Outside they look like Batmobiles, but inside, they resemble NASCAR race cars. They have a steel roll cage, exposed gauges, riveted steel panelling, Halon fire extinguishing systems and other safety features. The cars have limited side and rear visibility, so monitors were installed to enable the driver to see around the vehicle. Because of all the unique specifications, drivers trained for six months before filming began.
So why build four? With these stunt cars travelling at 100 miles an hour, being braked by huge levers and bouncing thirty feet into the air, naturally it pays to have a spare. Furthermore, two of the Bat-NASCARS had specifications for certain shots. One was the ‘flap car’ kitted out with special hydraulics and flaps, the other was the ‘flame car’ which had a removable jet engine fuelled by six propane tanks. Each of these four vehicles cost a quarter of a million dollars each.
None of these cars are used in the close up shots, where Batman gets in and out of the vehicle. For these scenes, another vehicle, the ‘arrival car’ was built and rigged with the hydraulics necessary to make the car open and close in a unique way. This is the car you see Batman pulling up in. Rather than a powerful V8 engine, this fifth vehicle has an electric motor which enables it to move forward into position. The motor is controlled by another driver, who is hidden inside the vehicle.
When we see inside the vehicle, we actually look upon another Batmobile, an oversized static studio set, an official interior, built bigger to fit the cameras inside. Finally there is one more version of the Batmobile, a six foot long, motorized 1:5 model, which we see flying between ravines and rooftops in the film. When you see the Tumbler flying through the air, that is usually miniature version, intercut with shots of the “flap version” of the full-sized car.
So to recap, first came the original kitbashed model/s. From these, a scale model was created from Styrofoam. From this, a prototype steel test frame was fabricated enabling four NASCAR style race cars to be built, one flap version and one Jet version. A further hydraulic opening vehicle the ‘arrival car’ was then made, with a more realistic interior. For the airborne scene, it became necessary to create a miniature replica, and for the close up interiors a static studio set was made.
I count at least eight Batmobiles in there, designed and constructed by several different teams of engineers containing dozens of people, taking many months and costing many millions of dollars in research, development and fabrication. What you have seen at LFCC is a piece of an illusion. Without a doubt an impressive sight, but a fabrication of the truth none the less. In politricks smoke and mirror bullshit often hides the reality of the situation. The reality of this situation was that the Tumbler took away the attention from a poor DC exhibition, which featured two shop dummies and a meager suitcase display of a few rather sad looking props.
It seems almost criminal for this wonderful piece of memorabilia to guest at LFCC with out any information, or worse, with the wrong information, when we could of had Tumbler talks and demos. What you saw at LFCC is a production made street racer, probably one of the Bat-NASCARS. This way DC can tour more than one exhibition at the same time. Without doubt it is a fantastic sight and am greatful to all those who made its appearence possible. If anybody has seen any different versions, or if you saw this one open up, and a frakkin’ Batman get out, or if there was some Batmobile talk that I missed, or you witnessed it arrive or driving around please get in touch.
Originally there was a video of the nascar tumbler attached to this post that I took at the LFCC. Its a clear walk around the vehicle, before the crowds arrived. Untilll I can re post it here, please check it out in my tumblr blog at bugwriter.tumblr.com
Ever wondered about the life of George Barris, the man who made the 1966 original Batmobile from a Lincon Futura? Or mused about where you could buy a Batmobile? Or how to make one? Well the Bugwriter can hook you up…stay Tuned Batfans, more Batmobile talk to follow

Collecting is the New Rock n Roll: An interview with David Bidwell, proprietor of The Monster Store



You may have seen it in the papers, that this year alone, both first edition copies of Detective Comics (featuring Batman) and Action Comics (featuring Superman) sold at different auctions for over a million pounds each. Film and television memorabilia is big business, in fact, I’d like you to consider it as ‘the new antique business’. Before I introduce you to an antique memorabilia trader, of considerable knowledge, charisma and worth, allow me to give you a brief introduction to the objects of memorabilia - the new antiques - that we shall be discussing.

A regular antique dealer told me rather cynically that people now collect stuff from the telly because the great ages of history are over. Mmm I thought, maybe he’s right. What do I want a nice Queen Anne table for? A talking point? Unlikely. Give me one dipped in carbonite and then I’ll invite the neighbours over. It’s true that you just don’t see antique shops in town anymore. They say its because of the recession – but maybe it’s because ‘Antiques’ are increasingly boring to a digital generation, and the middle classes would rather buy a 3D TV than a Queen Anne table. I’m talking broadly about Antiques with a capital A here, the stuff your parents or your friends parents thought made them seem classy and intelligent.

My dictionary tells me an antique is an object of considerable age, esp. a piece of furniture, or of the decorative arts having a high value. A prop may be described as such. Props of a certain age, or scarcity may be considered antique, and supply for their owners, a similar form of credibility to the classy intelligence your parents thought they were buying into. The object may even promote them to the neighbours. The promotional value of these objects, essentially the ‘prop-erty’ of the studio has not escaped the attention and manipulation of Industry. Earlier this year, in a massive publicity stunt, possibly to soften the up the backlash that always surrounds the changes to Dr Who, the BBC arranged for Bonhams to host an auction of antique Dr Who props from the archive. That’s Bonhams, of Knightsbridge not E bay, like many major studios. At the auction an MK Dalek, some 20 years old sold for over thirty thousand pounds. Daleks in Knightsbridge? A Clash it may seem, but it is music to the ears of Auntie Beeb who knows that you just can’t buy that kind of publicity.

We are told that the BBC needs to raise funds, and who are we, the exorbitant licence fee payers to question that. Even if the new theme song is atrocious and the new Doctor is baby faced awful, after the auction gets reported in all the tabloids, anything with Dr Who on it gets a dollar sign stuck in front of it. Suddenly that Dalek Easter egg that you never ate is worth a few hundred quid. Typically collectors are worse than (fisher) men for exaggeration so values just go up. They become self perpetuating, like a Chinese whisper. This kind of talk also promotes the show. Suddenly Doctor Who adverts pop up everywhere – on the bus, behind you, at work in the supermarket- the show is advertised through word of mouth, because it is connected with the one thing everybody loves, money baby, the big cheese.

The Monster Company sell antique props, but they also sell ‘off sale’ film and television merchandise, both new and second hand – stuff you cannot buy in high street stores - which is commonly referred to as memorabilia. Antiques and action figures have more in common than you think. I’m talking broadly about Memorabilia here, with a capital M. Objects related to TV and film have an aura. Like antiques, they have stories connected to them. Of course these objects have four dimensions like everything else, the have a length, a breadth, a height and they also exist through time, but they also exist in another dimension, that of narrative. They have history even when they are new, as such they may be understood as the new antiques– immediately collectable and immanently increasing in value.

Depending on your own fertile imagination, carful appropriation of these things can enable you to have a more intimate relationship with the primary text. If you put on a Stormtrooper helmet for example, you may feel closer to Star Wars, it may even inspire you to become a Stormtrooper, join a costuming organisation and troop at conventions, in aid of charity. Collecting memorabilia may enable you to express or maintain your own narrative of identity and meet and socialise with like minded people at conventions around the country. Somewhat like the new antiques road show.

Having given you the skinny on the new antique business, without further ado lets step inside the Monster Store, take a look around and meet the proprietor, Mr. David Bidwell. Now If you like sweets - and I know you do - this is a bit like meeting Willy Wonka, only if Wonka was like way cooler and into Metal and had Tom Savini for an older Brother. If you are a collector, it just may be that David Bidwell has a golden ticket for you. That’s right, run home Charlie Bugwriter! Run!

I am researching the ascription of collectable value for chapter two of my thesis, so I have various questions to ask Mr. Bidwell who immediately makes me feel welcome. As the morning progresses, I notice that he is this cool with all customers. He has time for anyone, whether you’re a kid with pocket money to spend or an investor with an open check book. Having said this, he’s a tough looking guy. If the store was under attack from a plague of Zombies, you get the feeling Mr Bidwell is prepared, possibly with a bat under the counter, and a chainsaw in the back. Indeed later on in the conversation it is revealed that he grew up in 70’s Essex, manor of those true horror fans the Krays... so, in the following conversation I will be referring to Mr. Bidwell as David, but if you meet him, I suggest you take a more formal stance.

The word awesome gets bandied about in today’s culture of young people, with their music and plant food and carry on, but take it from me kids, that stepping inside The Monster Store, is an awesome sight. The interior of the store is twice the height of normal shops. On display are objects from everybody’s childhood, and like Alice in Memorabilia-land any one of these objects could take you down the N(arrative) hole. As I’m given a tour, we chat broadly about collecting, the various ways in which objects are valued, and how David turned a hobby into a business. Quite honestly, I have a dozen questions and they all fly out the door, as all these wonderful objects crowd my brain with their stories. The store is huge, and stuffed full of stuff. Shopping for premises along this row of eclectic antique shops David chose the store because its shape was a long empty shell. From a display point of view it was a clever choice. He told me:

Entering this store, I could imagine being a kid again... when I was tiny I remember walking into the (toy) store and they had Star Wars stacked up, I was down there...and the stuff you wanted was on the top shelf...an you couldn’t reach it..,.we have that impact now with adults. That childhood impact...

The store is all about Fantasy Sc-FI and Horror and here you may purchase a variety of collectables, from action figures and T shirts, to props and replicas. Display cases in groups of four line a central walkway which leads into the rear of the store. The front section of the store houses racks of action figures with larger figures, play sets and box sets stacked up high. The cabinets in the front of the store house the rarer items. Dividing the store is an arch with a monster TV Screen, flanked by 1:1 scale Muppets – the proprietor’s contemporary collecting passion. The rear of the store is dedicated to original props, with the cabinets continuing to carry the more exclusive items, such as ‘Uncle Frank’s skull’ from the movie Hellraiser, priced at just under four thousand pounds, some cutlery from The Dark Crystal and some Dollar bills from The Dark Knight.

Davidconsiders himself “a fan first and foremost” and it is through his fandom for Horror movies, which involves meeting celebrities and attending conventions that his business grew. Running a Memorabilia business was ‘an intangible dream’ when David moved to Nottingham from Essex some 9 years ago with a box of Star Wars figures.

I’d worked so many shit jobs, I’d had enough. Nobody would employ me with the skills I had. I was getting 5 an hour data input jobs - I moved to Nottingham with 900 overdraft and shirt off my back and a little cardboard box of star wars figures...

For several years The Monster Company traded exclusively through eBay and had a stand at Collectormania. Before the store was opened, the stock amount was at the David’s house, literally taking it over. It wasn’t easy to turn his love of horror movies and memorabilia into a business, something had to be sacrificed, and this sacrifice was the Star Wars collection, which it turns out was significantly more than a shoe box full. However, this act of faith was to ultimately bring great rewards.

David tells me that ‘the hidden benefits’ of this business bring ‘so much’ to his life, these rock n roll perks include meeting and working with some of his favourite horror movie stars, like Christopher Lee for example, but it also includes ‘owning’ (however temporarily) a prestigious high end item like Uncle Frank’s skull. Posters advertise Peter Mayhew’s (aka Chewbacca) imminent visit. The store has just begun to feature in store signings and has featured recent celebrity appearances by David Prowse (Darth Vader) and renowned FX artist and director Tom Savini, who David considers “a personal friend”.

A few years ago David and Tom rolled around England like the Jack Kerouac and Dean Moriarty of the memorabilia business, spending eleven days over Europe, mad, bad...desirerous of everything’...Tom Savini, man. Fucking Tom Savini. I was impressed. “He liked me” said David, “Which was good... if he don’t like you, you’re gonna know about it.” For those of you unaware Savini is a veteran Vietnam photographer. Retuning home, he ploughed a lot of his experience into his work as a SFX effect artist, and worked out a lot of that negative shit. Thousands didn’t.

David:

Tom is a bit like an elder brother, I love the guy.

First time I met him, I was at Heathrow airport with a sign that said “Sex Machine” on it, we got a few smiles of a few random people early in the morning, we were pointing at men and women going, is that him?...some people are smiling, some are ignoring us...and then I thought, what if Tom shaves his moustache off? I wouldn’t recognise him...anyway, he comes walking through the terminal and immediately “hey, that’s me” I said hi I’m David, d’ya want to get something to eat...and that was it, I spent 11 days with him over Europe. By the end of it we were just really pallid, punching, practical jokes, calling each other a bastard ...

C B: Was that like a signing tour then?

Yeah and everything in between.... we were hanging out with George A Romero - this was 2005 and Land of the Dead was coming out. Tom came over because he’s got a cameo in it. I met Eugene Clark...Pedro Miguel,there was the Hellraiser guys, Ashley Lawrence, Camden Toy, who played a gentlemen in Hush...there was a whole posse.. , the first time I met George A Romero I was at the bar and he offered me a beer ...I said yeah, can I get my mate one...and he bought my mate one because I was cheeky enough to ask for it... I just used to kick back, take it all in.

It easy to get sidetracked by such Rock n Roll antics, having myself served out the grunge years as L7’s guitar tech I sense we have a lot to talk about. There are parallels between the memorabilia business and the rock n roll industry worth noting here – both are big money businesses. There are celebrities, glamour and money involved, but arguably, rock n roll itself is not about money. It’s about the journey, the experience, much like the process of collecting is for some people. Not all Rock n Roll musicians are in it solely for the dollar or the attendant subjective or objective promotional values. There is a rock n roll to collecting memorabilia, whether you are meeting celebrities at cons, or running up to directors on the street, or running a store or even writing a blog – which doesn’t have to cost anything. Perhaps true souvenirs of our experience are free, they cannot be bought, and we make them, compose them like music.

Returning to the topic at hand, I begin in earnest by asking where things come from and just what makes them collectable. The Monster Store stock generally comes from random places. People come to trade and sell, generally David does not have to go out and source memorabilia, unless you are after something specific, in which case he will do his best to find for you. Although David can get the same merchandise that Forbidden Planet sells he chooses not to and rather thinks of him self as the cities antique memorabilia dealer. He tells me Forbidden Planet is not competition and that the two businesses actually compliment each other. FPI even send customers to him if they require an item that is old or not in stock.

One of the challenges of my project is figuring out notions of collectability, which seems to be largely a subjective value. Could it be that nothing is inherently collectable? In the case of a prop like Uncle Franks skull, it’s clear from what has been said the item may be perceived as collectable because it has antique value. But what of the other objects, the rest of the memorabilia, the action figures, box sets and merchandise? Why are those things collectable? I pose the question to David and he highlights two contributory factors that create collectable objects: first, as time moves forward, by a process of carless misuse, objects become gradually scarce; second, fan demand generates collectable objects.

I have been deliberately avoiding theory so far, but one of the scholars that I will be discussing in my thesis, Russell Belk, calls this ‘obsolescence’ he says “after sufficient removal from use, obsolete items may appeal to collectors even more strongly because of their obsolescence” He then suggests that “collecting differs from most form of consumption because it is relatively immune from fashion obsolescence” but I would argue, and I think David would agree, that collectors follow trends too.

David suggests that the frivolity with which we once treated objects contributes to their obselecence which functions to generate collectable status. Obselecence, as a factor of rarity applies to both props and general merchandise with Star Wars figures (always) being a classic point of reference. “Generally speaking, everybody threw them away.” Society seems to be disposing of their old video movies en masse, so I wonder out loud whether perhaps one day these objects will be coveted as antiques. David tells me that outside of pre VRA certification horror videos are only collectable, if it’s a cut that’s not available on DVD or Blu Ray. A contemporary example isNightbreed, but only until a new cut is released. This was the case with the THX versions of Star Warsbefore the contemporary DVD releases. The gap in the market between big screen TVs and rereleasing technically better versions on disc created a demand for a clean THX copy of Star Wars. Whilst the gap existed you could expect to pay ninety pounds for a THX trilogy set.

Movies are made physically collectable by the process of reissue and repackaging. Repackaging movies with extra content effectively sells the movie all over again. Fans themselves have a hand in this process, creating and filling their own cultural demands. David sights the example of his friend and colleague, Paul Davis directed a fan made feature, Beware the Moon: Remembering American Werewolf in London. This featurette was picked up by John Landis, original director of American Werewolf, thanks to Davis approaching Landis outside a London Theatre.

Landis became executive producer on the fan made film and repackaged the film in Blu-Ray format with Beware the Moonas an extra disc. Apparently this is the first time an unknown director has gone straight to BluRay with his first feature. At a recent dinner with Savini and Landis, after Savini’s signing at the Monster Store, David asked how the new disc has sold. Landis told him the new disc had sold so well that Universal are looking again at the Jawsdocumentary which was made many years ago and refused, and also at all these other documentaries fans have made because Paul Davis’ film has sold so well. Universal are now looking to repackage classic films on Blu-Ray both for the new generation and the collectors market, so my advice is get out there and get involved.

There is more to collectability than obselesance and demand, but back in the store, I’m having a coffee, and wondering about how objects are priced. Specifically I want to return to the props. Items are priced accordingly. “When I’m pricing stuff, I juggle all the factors.” says David. “It’s a cliché, but it’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, that could be a lot of money. It could be pennies.” David takes into consideration such variables as age, condition, scarcity, history of the item, but perhaps the most important factor is screen time. Generally speaking, the more time a prop clocks up on screen, the more it is worth. Props that feature in movies, such as those carried by heroes throughout the picture, may command the highest prices. Often a prop turns up which is production made, but not screen used. He shows me a piece of Freddy’s arm, made for one of the Nightmare movies, but not seen on screen. If this object were to turn up in DVD extras, or as part of a new cut of the film, or if the prop is directly referenced by an actor, verbally or physically, the market becomes aware of it, and price is adjusted. David takes me to have a closer look at Uncle Franks Skull:

...the regeneration of Frank, when he comes out of the floorboards, he screams as his head falls backwards and his jaw drops...that is the skull. Its twenty two years old, it should be in a museum. It’s a piece of cinema history as far as I am concerned...

What is it made of?

The classic case is still ‘77 ‘78 Star Wars. If people wanted a token of the movie, or if they wanted to take it away, well VHS was just beginning to evolve and not everyone had one - you couldn’t find the movie straight away. It was taking 3, 4, 5 years for movies to come out after cinema release anyway. People demanded some thing tangible to take back. I think that’s the primary role of collection. I think the movie business has got really exciting, the characters and stories they are inventing and how they are portrayed at the cinema and on the screen and in the media - - demand is just increasing.

I’m also finding, more so now with the expansion of our business, that with props or replicas, it’s the prestige of owning a piece of art like the Bugwriter – I’m goin’ crazy for it! I want to see it! It’s a piece of art in itself, what it represents, the exclusivity of it, but there’s so many more angles now. People also buy into collectables for investment. When the crash happened a couple of years ago I know a dealer who has investors, not interested in the stuff, coming to him with an open wallet, saying, I want my money to be safe, gold is an option, but movie collectables is another option to retain monetary value. If I want my money back in a couple of years I won’t we loosing out.

From an investment point of view, people come in from that angle... and that’s your worst business case scenario of non fans entering the market. It is really interesting and (politically) relevant. I’ve got millionaires coming in and saying, ‘invest it, I’ll get 10, 20 percent return so it’s better than the bank over a five year period’.

I wonder, isn’t he tempted just to keep it? I ask if David has a collection at home...

I’ve had pieces through the business that I liked a lot, but then having them...I find this with collectors as well, they move on and they focus on something else, the new fashion or collectable or thing that they like and they are quite happy to part with this, to get that and move on. It’s good for us because were kind of the mediator to pass the product between collectors.

This illustrates that it is the process of collecting which is more important that the assemblage objects themselves. It also subliminally suggests that the collectable object has a life of its own. Fashionable specialisation in collecting may help to define a more manageable task, but in actuality may mean that the collecting process never ends, for example, a series of commercially produced merchandise may be finite, but the collectors imperative may be to collect many series.

The question was do I have a collection? I haven’t really, but I enjoy absolutely everything while its here... I’m not sure how this happened it’s really weird... the one collection I do have is Palisades Muppets! I met a lady at a convention who had a couple of Muppets on her stall I got chatting with her and she was selling her whole collection which was 1 of everything... except two... I bought the whole collection. When we develop the house it’s going to go in a ‘Muppet cabinet’... you know at the start of the Muppets where they all come out of their booths - its like a pigeon hole cabinet - I’m going to get some really nice red velvet curtains, and a Muppet show sign made up, then they’re going to be in every single pigeon hole. There’s 96 different Muppets. Muppets is my thing.

We had an Easter Island tribal shield through here, a talking shield through from Muppet Treasure Island.I have held, touched, and passed on one of these to a friend, which I’m very proud of. One of the puppet makers lives in Nottingham...he hasn’t been in yet...I called him and said ‘I love the Muppets...’ but I think I may have scared him. Bit to fan boy.

If you too are a fan, ‘fan-boy’ may be a term you are familiar with. I included this because I figured it would temper the picture of David the Essex Zombie Slayer that I first presented you with. Fan seems a friendly enough word, but we should remember that it is slang for fan-atic. David is comfortable with self applying this term - and so am I for that matter - but is should be clear to you that neither of us are fanatical boys. Fans are often content to accept this slang, for want of a better term, because they are ‘nuts about stuff’, but in so doing, they complacently accept a self deprecating and derogatory applet, as a descriptor for their creative enthusiasm and culture. Maybe we cannot replace it, but we can deconstruct it, and we should, because it’s an accepted way of ‘othering’ and pathologising collectors into ‘comic book guy’ stereotypes. We have been sold this terminology by the media, and (to a certain extent) the Academy. Who else do these institutions term fanatics? In a culture of terror, maybe we should look again at the etymology of this term and question, who benefits from all this?

Thanks for sticking with me through this interview, trust that they will get punchier and spicier as the blog progresses and I begin to understand this craft a little better. Please note, this is not my academic voice, it’s just me, writing. I made some fairly weighty propositions without theoretical back up, that will need further research if they are to ever be included in my thesis. I suggested souvenirs cannot be purchased and that nothing is collectable, I also highlighted the term ‘fan’ as pathologising and outdated slang. I metaphorically suggested that props maybe understood as antiques and that memorabilia broadly may be thought of as ‘the new antiques’ “immediately collectable and immanently increasing in value.” I also suggested that collecting may be thought of as the new Rock n roll, because it’s about experience and identity, not fame and money, although, hey, that’s always nice too.

I want to thank Mr David Bidwell (and his partner) for talking to me and making me feel welcome and illustrating for me, factors which contribute to making collectable objects, such as issues of obselesence, fan demand, reissue and repackaging and the reasons why some collectors collect, for investment purposes, or to bring a little souvenir of their travels in narrative home with them. I discovered that, practical successes aside, David didn’t turn a hobby into a business because collecting is neither for him - it’s a way of life. There is a sense in which David’s work at the Monster Store is curatorial in essence, and the Monster store is a living mutating museum, for which you should probably be charged admission. David Bidwell may be a fan boy, but he is better described as curator, connoisseur and gore-hound - a postmodern antique dealer of considerable creativity and knowledge - who should be respected as such... unless of course you want to end up in the Muppet cabinet... ;)