Three cinema icons came together at the weekend in an auction that kicked off with an incredibly low $1 starting bid and somehow did not reach its potential when the hammer fell. Heritage Auctions have hosted some of the biggest pop culture sales of recent years, frequently seeing Pokemon cards, vintage video games and Star Wars figures go for huge amounts, but one of their recent arrivals surprisingly failed to attract the right attention despite featuring three of the most recognisable movie franchises of all time. This was a collection of seven vintage movie model kits based on the James Bond, Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones movies, with dates ranging from 1979 through to 1996, and while many of these kits have been sold on sites like eBay for up to $100 each, the auction ended on a disappointing $204.
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The lot mostly comprised of kits based on several early James Bond movies. The set included a sealed example of Revell’s 1979 Moonraker space shuttle, complete with booster rockets, and Airfix’s 1/24-scale autogyro flown by Sean Connery in You Only Live Twice. The Bond contingent was expanded with a Japanese Doyusha Moonraker shuttle that came with figures of Bond himself, Holly Goodhead and one of the super spy’s most iconic villains, the metal-mouthed Jaws. While some of the sets showed box wear, most of them appear to be in comeplete and sealed condition, and based on just the Bond items alone would have been expected to make more than the final hammer price. The James Bond franchise has been on hiatus since Daniel Craig hung up his holster in 2021’s No Time to Die, but with Amazon MGM Studios building up to their relaunch the Bond saga has never really been out of the headlines in the last several years.
A Strong Supporting Cast Could Not Boost This Auction
The Bond collection was not the only attraction of this set, though. Three other items were included in the lot that also have their own appeal among collectors. Ghostbusters is represented by Tsukuda Hobby’s 1984 released 1/6-scale Terror Dog, one of the demon hounds that were introduced in the original movie and resurrected in Ghostbusters Afterlife after more than 30 years later, and AMT/Ertl’s 1989 Ecto-1A from Ghostbusters II. Like many 80s franchises, Ghostbusters is one that lay mostly dormant after its initial success, but there are few people who have not heard the theme song, seen the merchandise or used the phrase, “Who’re you gonna call?” Rounding out the lot is MPC’s 1982 Raiders of the Lost Ark Desert Chase scene, which recreates the famous set piece from Harrison Ford’s first outing as the intrepid Dr. Jones.
What this auction highlights is that there is no franchise big enough to avoid disappointment when the hammer falls. There are few bigger franchises than James Bond, and the Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones sagas have delivered some big sales in vintage toys and collectibles. All in all, this auction should have been pushing closer to $1,000, but there are a number of reasons why it may have underperformed. Every auction is reliant on the right people being around to bid, and if less than two people really want to add the lot to their collection, then there is no competition to instigate a bidding war. That is the most likely reason for this set’s low final sale price, which really was a steal for the winning bidder. If these come back to auction again the the future, there is nothing to say they will not end up doubling their current value the next time around.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics -
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics -
Courtesy of Cinerama Releasing
