Anyone think this Prop is authentic?

[johnmiic]

I have my doubts that this is from the 1930's Flash Gordon Films. Would a studio, or even 2 different studios, stamp their names on the model chancing that logo might be seen on screen?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-ORIGINAL-1930s-FLASH-GORDON-ROCKET-SHIP-vintage-scifi-Just-Imagine-/310668324539

[mvanis]

They seem to be hidden well enough given the placement... dunno for sure, but that thing is cool =)

[Mikey]

IMO there's something wrong with that Universal logo

It's style looks too new

[johnmiic]

You could be on to something there mike:





Modern:

[mvanis]

Also on that point, if I'm not mistaken it should be 'Fox Film Corporation' and not 'Films' - seems interesting that the logos are very clean plates, but the "property of" and date are clearly hand hammered- Maybe I just don't know enough about the times, but that seems strange to me

[Werewolf]

No idea. Seems awfully minty looking for the age.

[sprytel]

What is the 249 supposed to be if it isn't the numbering of a limited-edition reproduction?

[B-Lister]

Neat piece, but I would be wary. I would try to research it as much as possible. Find out if any replicas were produced and compare this to those.

You definitely don't want to invest a fortune into something that was produced by the hundreds overseas.

Do I think the seller is misrepresenting the item? He seems legit. His feedback shows he is a reputable dealer in high end documents, so I tend to believe the seller believes the item is authentic.

Though I would need my head examined if I ever considered a quarter million price tag for any prop. Even if I was filthy rich.

[cjefferys]

Hmmm, Fox Film (not Films) Corporation ceased to exist in 1935, and the Flash Gordon serial is from 1936 (produced by Universal), but apparently some of the ships were leftover props from "Just Imagine" (1930), which was a Fox Film Corp production, so that seems to jibe at least. That's all I got.

EDIT: just read the auction description and it does mention the "Just Imagine" connection anyway.

[MIB41]

I have some fx friends who also collect vintage props, one of which has seen this piece in person. There are some problems. First, props of this kind were mostly made of wood back then. So the material is out of lockstep with the process for that day. Second, there is little rationale behind the stamps and studio logo for something that was suppose to be a screen shot miniature. So while it is a very cool piece, the consensus is this is not what was shot on film.

[Mikey]

I agree

Aluminum is not the easist material to work with

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

It looks like a repro.... the kind the studios do as tokens for the crew, or for special functions and the like.

Don C.

[piecemaker]

That is very cool.I wanted to believe this was real deal but i dont think it is.I do think its an exact copy of one of the originals with that original being used to make molds and as a model for this one.Most of that model is made from cast aluminum with some machined aluminum.I do think the original was made out of aluminum also.It makes perfect sense to me if you are making a prop spaceship which use pyrotechnics for effects to make it out of aluminum.As some have already said both logos are wrong.The Universal logo was cast into that wing,not stamped and tagged like the Fox Film(s) logo.I think the Fox Films logo was added to this later to make it look like an authentic original.I'm assuming Fox Film originally made this,why would they have Universal's logo cast into their model?I think this copy was probably made in the sixties for someone associated with Universal. Just my crazy two cents.