Hollywood Treasure: “Auctions Are Like a Box of Chocolates” Red October and Bubba Gump!

Welcome back Hollywood Treasure fans,

We are back with episode four for season two in another round of awe-inspiring pop culture finds with Hollywood Treasure.

Before continuing my review of “Auctions Are Like a Box of Chocolates”, courtesy of Syfy we include the sneak peek of the next great episode “X Marks the Prop” for your enjoyment.

Auctions Are Like a Box of Chocolates:

We peek in on a Profiles in History morning meeting with Joe Maddalena, Profiles in History Auctions Owner, saying he will soon be seeing Chris Christian, who is a premiere client of theirs. As a music producer, movie studio runner and general entrepreneur, he is a high “profile” collector.

Joe is chomping at the bit and ready to visit him in Texas to check out what he has, and as he leaves, we see Client Relations specialist Tracey McCall and Special Projects Manager Jon Mankuta in the car heading out for a lead from a nearby vintage store Blast From the Past.

Larry Ross, owner of the funky shop, brings the two in the back of the store and reveals Wonder Woman’s Bracelets and Golden Lasso from the 1970’s television show featuring Lynda Carter.

Tracey is extremely excited, stating Wonder Woman was her personal idol as a child. She along with Jon offer advice on the selling of Hollywood Treasure versus auction process.

Larry is hesitant to rely on auction results, so Tracey offers $3,000 initially for both items. After some gentle brow beating, including Tracey and Jon faking him out by walking away, Larry at the last minute accepts $5,000 for the entire bundle of Wonder Woman goodies!

Cut to a plane touching down in Texas, and Joe is ready to lasso in some great finds himself. In Granbury within the Lone Star State of Texas is the impressive homestead of famed music composer Chris Christian.

Joe is very excited to see the “mysterious” collection of valuable artifacts.

Immediately thereafter we see the walls of Chris’ home plastered with framed records, a literal “Wall of Fame” including some Elvis Presley items, and he reminisces with Joe about his expansive career thus far.

It is time to talk turkey, so Chris brings Joe towards a back room where he teases that he has something great for his guest of honor to see!

Joe, and the viewers, revel at the expansive collection of wardrobe and film props from The Sound of Music and entertainment legend Julie Andrews.

The collector has the iconic guitar from the movie and one of the most complete sets of kid costumes known to exist from The Sound of Music movie.

However, Joe’s hopes are quickly quelled when Chris says he will not sell any of it.

Chris brings Joe to his garage and says a lot of items stored inside are fair game.

After looking a while, the collector reveals the Nike sneakers, or “magic shoes”, that were screen used by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump to show off as new before he went running. We also come across the red “Bubba Gump Trucker’s Cap”, which is definitely tickling Joe’s fancy; he says the hat alone he estimates going for $6,000 to $8,000 at auction!

Our resident collector reveals a large prop under a blue tarp and states this is the real reason he called Joe out. After the commercial break, we are given a detailed view of the hero sub from The Hunt for Red October. Based on the book by Tom Clancy, the hero sub was built for screen use and measures in at twenty-one feet! The mega-prop, which is on rollers to move it, makes Joe hesitant as he believes it may not sell due to size. Stand by for a surprise later in the episode folks!

The Profiles In History owner takes a walk with Chris to talk about the potential deal and we transition back to LA where Tracey is talking with Gary Tunnicliffe, special effects expert.

The pair are looking over the Wonder Woman cuffs she recently obtained to assess their authenticity as being from the series.

They review the authenticity from the color of the old-fashioned glue to the weight of the paint even down to the metal seams Tracey is certain she recognizes. However both Jon and Gary are hesitant.

With the snap of two fingers, we are taken back in Texas, “y’all”! Joe is ready to talk serious business with Chris and as they are about to have a seat in his backyard, we find that Chris also owns the bench from Forrest Gump, which is the center of the story and instantly recognizable to lovers of the cult classic.

Joe really wants this bench, but Chris cannot find the heart to let it go. They make a gentleman’s wager, since Chris really wants to get rid of good ol’ Red October due to storage costs, that if the Bubba Gump Hat sells for more than the sub, he will give the bench to Joe. They have a deal, even though Joe is insistent the sub will not sell at all.

Back in Los Angeles, the Profiles in History team welcomes Grant Bushman, son of the main Wonder Woman prop man, so he can authenticate what Tracey has bought with Profiles in History company funds.

Tracey is nervous about this factor, and they are all now having second thoughts about about the purchase if the artifacts turn out to be bogus.

Things get tense when Grant says they have a problem, but once they realize the cuffs are from a specific episode, the company confirms, to their relief, to be holding real Wonder Woman props!

With the gang all back in town, we cut to another The Paley Center for Media auction and we get to see how Tracey’s Wonder Woman items do when they are up for bid.

The lasso starts at $1,000 and halts at $4,000, which leaves Tracey visibly disappointed until it sells for $6,000. With that $1,000 profit plus the cuffs also selling for $6,000, Tracey is ecstatic her investment worked out.

Jumping into the sale of the Bubba Gump hat, Joe pressures his employees to get everyone possible on the phone because he needs to win the wager for the Forrest Gump bench.

The bidding starts at $6,000 and the hat sells for $11,000, so it is now time to see how, and if The Hunt for Red October submarine sells.

Joe still doubts it will even sell, but everyone, including Joe Maddelena at Profiles in History is utterly shocked when the item starting at $8,000 opening bid, rapidly climbs to an astonishing selling price of $95,000! 

“I should know by now, you can NEVER predict what’s going to happen at an auction,” Joe proclaims, knowing that for now, the Forrest Gump bench is out of reach.

After the excitement of the auction, it is back to business as Joe joins with Jon the The Hollywood Show Convention to search for possible items. We come across Dan Strebin who has TV show props from the fabled series Lost.

Jon reveals he was a cast member of. He desperately wants a costume he comes across which was actually his, bringing back great memories, as well as to help fellow cast member Addison Arquette. He wants $5,000 for the pair and agrees to hold the items so Jon can call his cohort.

While we get a break from Jon’s current dilemma, Brian Chanes from the Profiles in History Acquisitions Department consults with Julia Louiza about an immortal mask from the film 300 that her friend gave her in terms of settling monetary debt he held with her.

Brian confirms the artifact is indeed the real thing. Julie really needs to sell it on the spot rather than waiting for auction, offered $2,000 from the company and goes up to the final price of $3,200, which Julia cannot accept and decides to risk going to auction instead for more.

Addison Arquette is our next visitor to the Profiles in History loft. Addison has a meeting with Jon so the two can compare props they obtained from the Lost set so that they can possibly sell some in order to buy back their wardrobe for sentimental value.

Jon takes the first jump and says he will sell an iconic dagger from the show’s plot line if Addison is “in” also? Jon also displays a favorite Lost “Cross” artifact.

They both head back to Addison’s home where he reveals a piece of the Oceanic 815 plane from the series.

Addision agrees, and both the guys are ready to try and  trade up for a piece of their past.

Julia Faye West is the last consignor to visit Profiles in History facility for the day in this episode. Julia reveals to Joe a secret; She claims she has a lock of Marilyn Monroe’s hair!

The client presents a vintage letter from the saucy actress to the hairdresser and official documentation, as the previous owner was the hairdresser himself.

Though it hurts Julia to let go of it, she states she needs to move on with her life and needs the money. It must not hurt for her too much, though, when Joe reveals it could go for as much as $100,000 – “hair today, money tomorrow”!

Joe states he needs a sheet of paper from a DNA test to confirm without a doubt it is real and Julia sheepishly admits she does not have that.

Joe cannot sell it yet, but he says once she has that sheet of paper, he can sell it and Julia expresses slight regret she bought it without more documentation.

We end with the 300 mask discussed earlier and the Lost props going up for bid with the mask starting at $3,000. After a very tense pause in action, we finally see bids and the mask is going once, twice, SOLD for $4,000.

The dagger starts at $1,500 and ends with $3,000, paired with the plane prop selling at $4,000, it looks like the boys are getting their costumes back. Oh yes friends, we get a gratuitous look at Jon barefoot in his costume and the Profiles in History crew cheering him on for his victory.

This episode was terrific because we got to see that even people in the business, from Chris Christian to Profiles in History’s own Jon Mankuta, have such a profound passion for what they have done in the past, that they themselves became “the collectors”.

It takes having great passion for what you do as a success. To the sheer delight of the fans, everyone at Profiles in History, including Jon’s barefoot, are a great fit to their company’s goals.

Thanks to Kenn for final audio/video and image staging, and many thanks to you for reading and for visiting WormholeRiders News Agency to read about our coverage of Hollywood Treasure!

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Love and regards,

Amanda