Let's Talk About Fake Phantasm Props...

This year has seen an unusually high number of purportedly authentic Phantasm props crop up on the online auction market. Dozens of spheres have appeared on both iCollector and eBay, but we have yet to see adequate proof that any of these actually hail from a Phantasm production. Considering how much of a prop hoarder Don Coscarelli is (seriously, this guy even kept mausoleum wallpaper from the original Phantasm!), you should always demand proof that whatever prop you're interested in is legitimate. Props and wardrobe have managed to escape Phantasm sets with cast and crew before, but these are few and far between. Even fewer items have escaped to the hands of collectors.

Filmmaker and effects creator Kerry Prior, whose sphere work on the series thus far includes Phantasm II, Phantasm III and Phantasm Oblivion, chimed in on this very blog with a comment last week that I'd like to share with you all now. Take it as a warning.

I was contacted recently by a fellow looking for me to verify that the Phantasm Sphere he had purchased on Ebay was in fact genuine. It even came with a "certificate of authenticity." I had to tell him that it was fake.

While it is possible that the occasional prop found it's way off the set--(at least one was given as a gift, that to Bob Ivy for an amazing stunt he did on P-III; some (2 motion control spheres) were archived in Dreamquest Images' storage vaults; and there's no accounting for any spheres in the hands of those sphere-guys who came before me...) as a general rule, if it shows up on Ebay, it's not genuine. I've never sold a prop from the Phantasm (I have two spheres from P-III and I can see them from here) although I did make some props from the original molds for a diehard "Phan" many years ago, I'm certain he will never part with them. But, to be sure, if it comes with a COA with my signature, it is unquestioningly a fake.

Hope that helps.

Kerry Prior