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Prop collecting has always been a facet of move fandom that I don’t particularly read a lot about. That’s mainly because a lot of collectors deal in replicas and that, well, collecting actual props for movies can be really expensive. You pretty much have to be very wealthy in order to buy even the cheapest prop for a classic film. “Mad Props” is a very good documentary that deals in exploring the market for collecting props as well as the passion that comes with it.
Movie-prop collector Tom Biolchini travels the globe to meet other collectors and creatives in the entertainment industry; they discuss the ever-growing market for, and value of, prop collecting.
“Movie Props” does a good job of establishing what facet of movie lovers its attempting to appeal to by very meticulously explaining the value in collecting props. Not only is it a lucrative enterprise, but it’s also one that allows the collector to garner a piece of history that helps them re-live their favorite film over and over. If anything while “Mad Props” is a very good film through and through it won’t connect to majority of movie fans, mainly because—again—buying props is immensely expensive. You’d be hard pressed to find a everyday movie fan who’s shopping around for the “Wilson” seen in the movie “Castaway.”
I think as far as most movie fans can go is buying the catalogue for the auctions. That’s, sadly, where the movie kind of loses us. Juan Pablo Reinoso’s documentary has fun displaying the props and showing off the various guns and prosthetics, but so much of it feels like the audience will spend the duration of the movie from the outside looking in. There is also no deeper substance explored through the galleries of set pieces, vehicles, and holy grails. There aren’t peeks in to preservation societies that curate for props or costumes, and no real look behind their more nuanced significance.
It all really just amounts to collectors swapping stories for ninety minutes, falling in to repetition and redundancy with the consistent explaining of the hobby, as if to justify the exorbitant spending that follows it. That said, “Mad Props” is worth the experience if you’re interested in the finer points of auctions, and shopping for props. It’s a fun, balanced, enthusiastic look in to a fandom that we don’t really hear a lot about.