movie props – IAMNOTASTALKER

August 6, 2014August 5, 2014

SecondHand Wonderland

My BFF Mike, from MovieShotsLA, recently opened a vintage/collectables shop named SecondHand Wonderland in Simi Valley. The boutique’s motto is “Not your average thrift store,” which couldn’t more perfectly encapsulate the place. Mike has accumulated a massive amount of entertainment memorabilia, movie props, sports collectables, magazines and vintage toys over the years, all of which has been sitting in storage for eons and is, therefore, in pristine condition. I was practically drooling upon stepping inside. So while today’s post is a bit of a departure from my usual musings, I thought the shop would be interesting to my fellow stalkers. And yes, Mike does take mail orders (via Facebook and Instagram).

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SecondHand Wonderland is a virtual treasure trove of items from yesteryear. I literally could have played in there all day!

I was, of course, especially drawn to the corner containing movie props.

On display are items from countless movies like End of Watch, Stark Raving Mad, Parkland, Iron Man, Rush, Begin Again, and Memento. (Don’t go looking for any Beverly Hills, 90210 memorabilia, though – those pieces he could never part with. Smile ) Just a few of the Begin Again props available for sale include one of the microphones used by Gretta (Keira Knightley);

and the music award won by Dave (Adam Levine).

I couldn’t resist walking away with the backpack that belonged to Violet (Hailee Steinfeld) in the movie.

There are also numerous movie costumes for sale. I was most excited to see the clothing worn by Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) in A Walk Among the Tombstones, which hits theatres this September. One of the items up for grabs is Matt’s army green trench coach.

The particular coat that Mike has was used in a scene involving water. I absolutely loved seeing that information mentioned on the costuming tag attached to the jacket.

A second coat worn by Liam in the movie is also for sale;

as is a set of two identical blue scarves;

and his character’s pinky ring.

Seeing all of the pieces in person was thrilling beyond belief, but the highlight for me was viewing the tags that accompany each article of clothing. Behind-the-scenes details like that captivate me!

Autographs your thing? SecondHand Wonderland has plenty! For sale are several signed movie posters, including the Parkland poster pictured below.

For sports nuts, there is also quite a bit of sports memorabilia for sale;

including two seats from Dodger Stadium.

SecondHand Wonderland also carries furnishings, housewares, camera and computer equipment, artwork, Hot Wheels, magazines (practically every TV Guide published in the last twenty years), comic books, baseball cards and vintage records. The shop is like a museum and worth a visit even if you’re not looking to buy. I had a blast visiting and cannot wait to go back!

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: SecondHand Wonderland is located at 2355-3 Tapo Street in Simi Valley. You can follow the store – and place online orders – on Facebook here and Instagram here.

September 20, 2010September 19, 2010

Mike, from MovieShotsLA, Gets Up Close & Personal with the “Back to the Future” DeLorean

This past Friday afternoon, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, had a definite “Only in L.A.” moment when he looked out of his office window and noticed the Back to the Future DeLorean parked in the lot outside! After having a minor heart attack, he flew right out of his seat and immediately ran outside to snap some pictures of it. While doing so, he texted me saying, “Want to know what is outside of my office right now? And it’s the actual one!” Amazingly enough, as soon as I read Mike’s words, I knew that he was talking about Doc Brown’s time machine. I’m not exactly sure how I knew – and no, it’s not because I’m psychic. 😉 But when Mike wrote, “It’s the actual one!”, an image of the DeLorean popped into my head. I’m fairly certain it is because I honestly can think of no other movie prop that is more iconic. I mean, the DeLorean is pretty much the movie prop to end all movie props – in my eyes, at least. Short of the actual ship used in the filming of Titanic, I can’t think of a set piece that I’d more rather see. I was at Kinko’s making photocopies when I received Mike’s text and, let me tell you, I just about had a heart palpitation! I completely messed up my copies, ordered way too many of a page I didn’t even want, and ended up having to leave the store altogether as I was so totally flustered over the fact that Mike WAS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH THE BACK TO THE FUTURE DELOREAN!!!!!

What was the car doing there, you ask? Well, I had that very same question! As it turns out, Mike works in the same complex as a high-end movie memorabilia auctioneer, and, for whatever reason, the owner of the DeLorean had stopped by the company’s headquarters. I am not sure of the circumstances of his visit – if he is planning on selling the car or if he just came by for a friendly chat, but either way, not only was he there, but he apparently DROVE the DeLorean there! I had assumed that it had arrived on the premises via a flatbed truck, but no, the owner actually drove it!!!!! Can you imagine being on the freeway and having the DeLorean pull up next to you? I would surely crash! But I digress. Anyway, when Mike first went outside, no one was around, so he ended up just snapping a few photos of the outside of the car and one through the driver’s side window before returning to his desk. But being that it’s not everyday that one has the opportunity to SEE the actual inside of the actual DeLorean from Back to the Future, I told Mike that he better get his butt back down there and knock on the auction company’s door to ask if they’d let him take a peek at the interior. I, of course, anticipated the owner saying no, but even so, I didn’t think he should let the opportunity pass him by without at least asking.

And thank goodness he did, because not only did the super-nice owner open up the car for him, but he also let him GET INSIDE and take all of the photographs he wanted! So, yes, you are reading that right – Mike, from MovieShotsLA, actually got to SIT INSIDE the Back to the Future DeLorean!!!!!!! As you can imagine, I was absolutely DYING when Mike told me the news and I informed him that I was going to hop in my car and immediately drive over there. Unfortunately, though, the owner said that he and his DeLorean were just about to leave. 🙁

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Thankfully, though, Mike took plenty of pictures and I am very happy to report that, twenty-five years later, the DeLorean still looks EXACTLY the same as it did in Back to the Future! I was most excited to see the Flux Capacitor – which still had the red stickers from the movie which state, “Disconnect capacitor drive before opening” and “Shield eyes from light”. SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

And the date module still reads “October 26, 1985”. LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

Mike also got some pictures of the back of the car, including ones of the plutonium chamber and the iconic “OUTATIME” license plate.

Best of all, though, was the pic that the owner took of Mike standing with the car, a la the way Doc Brown stood with it in Back to the Future. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have a photo like that! Sigh! Mike wasn’t sure if I’d want to blog about his experience with the DeLorean or not, being that it’s not technically a filming location, but I was like, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? THIS IS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME! OF COURSE I WANT TO BLOG IT!” So, while it is not one of my typical posts, I still hope my fellow stalkers enjoyed the up-close-and-personal view of one of the most famous movie props of all time as much as I did!

A HUGE thank you to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for sharing his photos with me to publish in this post.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Unfortunately, you can’t. 🙁 We have to live vicariously through Mike on this one!

May 26, 2009July 13, 2009

It’s A Wrap!

Got an email the other day from fellow stalker Heather who told me about a store in Burbank named It’s A Wrap that sells clothing, props, and memorabilia from recently wrapped movies and television shows! Being that the store sounded right up my alley, I immediately ran out to stalk it!! 🙂 It’s A Wrap has been in business selling Hollywood costumes and movie merchandise since 1981. Owner and founder Janet Dion purchases clothes and props directly from the many movie studios in the area and sells them to the public out of two retail stores – one in Burbank and one in Beverly Hills. It’s A Wrap has sold clothing from hundreds upon hundreds of productions over the last twenty-eight years, including The Flinstones, Beverly Hills, 90210!!!!, Seventh Heaven, Charmed, Drillbit Taylor, Twilight, Lipstick Jungle, Spanglish, Seven, Guiding Light, Varsity Blues, Seinfeld, Baywatch, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Las Vegas. Love it!!

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Not only does It’s A Wrap provide the general public access to movie items we might otherwise never have the ability to purchase, but the store also has INCREDIBLE deals!!!! I’m talking INCREDIBLE!!!! Designer dresses are usually marked down well over 50% below retail value. Yesterday, while I was stalking the place, I spotted a few super cute BCBG dresses with the original price tags still attached. The dresses, which were originally priced $298, were selling for $98!!! But, of course, not a one of them was in my size!!! Ugh! Such a bummer!

Because It’s A Wrap receives new merchandise from the local studios on a daily basis, you simply never know what treasures you are going to discover there. While I was stalking the place last week, I found clothing from Kath & Kim, Ugly Betty, General Hospital, Hancock, According to Jim, and CSI: Miami – just to name a few. But the cutest clothes, by far, had to be from the newly-released Wayans Brothers’ movie Dance Flick. I pretty much loved every single piece from that collection, which included a large assortment of tees by fave designer Michael Stars. 🙂 It’s A Wrap was also selling a HUGE array of evening gowns and cocktail dresses from the soap opera General Hospital. If I was still in high school, this would DEFINITELY be the place I’d shop for my prom dress. 🙂

The store even had a dress from Disney Studios that looked strikingly similar to Silver’s prom dress from last week’s episode of 90210. Oh, if only I had a prom to go to! 🙂

I honestly can’t recommend stalking It’s A Wrap enough. But be sure to keep in mind that even though the shop sells movie costumes, it is still a used clothing store. Don’t go in there expecting it to look like a Beverly Hills boutique. It’s A Wrap is a thrift shop, and if you don’t like that sort of thing, you won’t like this place. 🙂 Also don’t go in there expecting to find a specific costume from a specific movie or television show. While all of the clothing for sale at It’s A Wrap bears tags marking what production or what studio it came from, no reference is made to what actor or actress actually wore the item. In fact, many of the clothes for sale were most likely not worn by a lead actor, but by secondary and background actors. And some of the costumes may never even have been worn at all. At the same time, though, you simply never know what you are going to find at It’s A Wrap. A few years back, one lucky customer walked away with Brad Pitt’s shoes from the movie Seven. 🙂 Any visiting tourist who wants to take a piece of Hollywood home with them should definitely stalk It’s A Wrap! Oh, and the best part about the store? Showcased on the walls are countless costumes worn in famous movies and television shows, including items worn by Shannen Doherty, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn, and Demi Moore. If you do happen to stalk It’s A Wrap, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for celebs, because, amazingly enough, quite a few of them are fans of the store. Famous customers include Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mario Lopez, Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Arquette, Brittany Murphy, Nicole Eggert, Drew Barrymore, Geena Davis, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and my fave Shannen Doherty. 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Amanda for telling me about It’s A Wrap! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: It’s A Wrap has two Los Angeles area locations. The first is located at 3315 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. The other can be found at 1164 South Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills. You can visit the It’s A Wrap website here. Another great place to purchase movie and celebrity memorabilia is the website www.starwares.com.