Monday, June 28, 2010

LOST prop: Plate from Juliet's kitchen

The second LOST prop I purchased is a plate from Juliet's kitchen in DHARMA-ville. It can be seen in the Season 3 premiere as Juliet and her book club buddies rush out to watch Oceanic 815 fall from the sky. It is shown mounted on a wall just a few feet away from the oven in which Juliet burns muffins in that same episode.

I like this prop for several reasons. First off, it is associated with Juliet, one of my favourite characters on the show. Second, it comes from The Island, whereas the first prop I purchased is from an off-island scene. Also, it is associated with the The Barracks, home to the DHARMA Initiative, a location which figures so prominently in Season 3 and Season 5. Finally, it is simply an attractive piece of plateware.

The certificate which came with the prop includes a still from the episode showing the location of the plate within Juliet's home.

I've spent a bit of time looking for coded messages and hidden meaning but so far all I can come up with is "pears, leaves, and berries". Perhaps an anagram? ;-)

I don't know if this was intentional, but "DHARMA yellow" (that mustard colour with which most houses in The Barracks are painted) appears on the plate, both in a circle around the outside of the fruits and embedded in the blue detailing at the outer edge of the plate.

More evidence of the prop department's efforts to keep track of continuity. On the back of the plate they've marked both "Juliets" [sic] and "Above kit. clo..." which I believe means "above kitchen closet", as there is a door (opening to a closet perchance) immediately below the plate.

In summary, a very handsome piece which conjures up wonderful memories of The Island, The Barracks, the DHARMA Initiative, and Juliet.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

LOST shrine, June 2010

I was somewhat surprised recently to realize that I've only been collecting LOST goodies for less than a year. (Discounting the seasons 1 through 3 DVD sets which I purchased in late Spring 2008.) Along with rapidly diminishing wall space occupied by LOST posters, my LOST shrine has now expanded to three shelves. Compared to some of the world-class LOST collections I've seen it is rather puny, but it certainly brings a smile to my face every time my eyes light upon it.

Behold my LOST shrine, circa June 2010!

'Unstuck' by DrMikey

One of the more interesting LOST posters I've purchased is entitled Unstuck and was created by an artist who goes by the moniker DrMikey.

Taken simply as a portait of Desmond Hume this is already a very cool piece of art; however, there is some amazing detail in the piece which elevates it to an even higher level.

On careful inspection one can see that Desmond's hair and some of his facial features are composed of words, words spoken by Desmond during the course of the series.

Of course Desmond's tagline, "I'll see you in another life, brother" is included as are various references to Penny and Desmond's admonition to Daniel Faraday -- "I know about Eloise."

I haven't yet gone through and tried to decipher every phrase on the print, but I'm sure somewhere in the blogosphere a fan has already done so!

In my opinion, the concept and execution on this piece ranks it in the top tier of all LOST prints.

The front of the poster contains only DrMikey's sig, whereas...

...the back of the poster includes the print number, which in my case is #31 of 100.

Copies of this print are still available on DrMikey's site, so if you are as coolified as I am about it be sure to pick one up. DrMikey has a few other great LOST prints as well featuring Richard Alpert, Flocke, and the Black Rock.

Monday, June 21, 2010

LOST prop: Welcome Back Hurley Cup

A few weeks back, Tina Lau purchased a large lot of items from the LOST prop department in Hawaii. Recently she began selling them on eBay. Although most of the premium props are destined for the Profiles in History auction in August, there are still a good number of props in Tina's lot that are recognizable from their time on screen. The first item I purchased was one the "coconut cups" that Hurley and several others were drinking from during the surprise party thrown by Mr. & Mrs Reyes following their son's miraculous return as one of the Oceanic Six.

I'm not sure when this label was added, but it looks to me like something the prop room may have taped on.


The cup (and the rest of Tina's props) come with a certificate which I believe Tina created.

Hurley is very pleased with the cup, but a little perplexed as to how it grew to so large a size.

Here are some screencaps where the cup can be seen:

This is the clearest shot of Hurley's cup.

A similar cup is held by the lady in the yellow hat behind Sayid.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

'The Numbers' by Tim Doyle

The very first poster released in the original DCAAPB series was The Numbers (a.k.a. Hurley's Curse) by Tim Doyle wayyy back in August 2009. I was there for the release but decided not to purchase at the time.

At the end of the first DCAAPB I ranked the first sixteen posters. The Numbers was number sixteen on my list. I felt the print was garish and a jumbled mess. Which begs the question -- why did I end up buying the poster?

For the past few months I've been regularly checking eBay to see if I might pick up some of the DCAAPB posters that I wanted but missed the first time around. Unfortunately, most of the ones I missed were due to a sell-out, which in turn means they are popular and are still selling at a fairly high price point. When I noticed that bids for The Numbers were quite low near the end of auction, I decided to try for it. As luck would have it I ended up with the winning bid.

After seeing the poster in person I still believe it is one of the lesser prints in the series, but it does have some very cool elements. For example, the background of the poster consists of a repeating series of The Numbers, in an awesome glossy silver finish. Also, the print has glow in the dark elements which are particularly visible under black light.

This print is one of the artist's 50 copies. Tim added an extra doodle onto each of these as an extra bonus to those who bought them.

Here are a few close-ups of the many elements that comprise this print:


I have print #61 of 300.

Even though this isn't one of my favourites I still don't regret the purchase. If I were to re-rank the first 16 posters it would probably rise a few notches. Besides, even the least successful of the DCAAPB prints are special reminders of the DCAAPB project itself and of the show itself.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Medicom Kubrick: Packaging

Here's a look at the packages in which the single-figure LOST Kubricks were sold.