Hello,
I joined your site while doing research on a piece of my family's history. I have recently inherited a pretty close to pristine relic from the 70's. A 1976 statue of King Kong from the film of that decade. It had been in my house since the early eighties and before that time in my father's office. My father was an advertising executive as a partner in his own firm from the mid seventies to the early eighties. One of his biggest accounts in those days was Paramount Pictures. He used to regularly bring home all promotional materials such as posters, records, photos, etc. for the various films of the day. Being that I was only between 8 - 12 years of age at the time almost all of those items have evaporated over the years - kicking myself for that now. The statue survived as it was on my fathers desk until the firm closed and then remained in my parents home under plastic for my entire adult life thus far. My father passed away in 2009 and the statue has recently become mine. I have seen a couple others out there in photos. They all appear to be just slightly different from each other in appearance and obviously, condition. My question is has anyone determined what this piece is worth? I understand it to be extremely rare. While I have heard there were 400 made I also saw a separate post claiming there were only 100 made. I CAN tell you with absolute certainty that this statue was only given to executives as a promotional piece in 1976. My father WAS one of these executives and I vaguely remember comments along those lines over the years. Any knowledge on this piece would be greatly appreciated and welcomed. I do realize through reading a previous thread on this site that this is considered by many to be the 'Holy Grail" of King Kong memorabilia. Thank you all for your time and consideration.
I think the armature from the original King Kong is probably considered the holy grail of King Kong collecting. ;)
(http://www.henshinonline.com/images/egyptian_kong_04.jpg)
Is this the 1976 statue you have inherited? They show up on ebay from time to time. Dunno how much they are worth.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_q9gTdYDKI3U/SwV-aJGo-dI/AAAAAAAABSc/gvE9wdVCcb4/s1600/!BVZ(F1QBGk~$(KGrHgoH-EEEjlLl)LvtBKSR)VJHfg~~_1.JPG)
Are you trying to drum up interest in your craigslist ad if you are the one selling one in Denver? If so you should probably post in the Monsters for sale section.
http://denver.craigslist.org/clt/3180016843.html (http://denver.craigslist.org/clt/3180016843.html)
i think too this armadure is the holy grail of kong
I did also see the individual in Denver on Craiglist selling one before I discovered the discussion on this forum. That is one of the main reasons I am curious about its actual worth. I live on the east coast and am not this individual of which u speak.
Welcome aboard!
One of these King Kongs sold through Profiles In History (the top dog in movie costumes, props and memorabilia) a few years back, and I think it had a Dino D. lineage. My recollection was it sold for a few hundred dollars.
That statue is really cool but it looks nothing like Kong in the 76 movie. Is it based on a maquette or something? I really like it.
So is it safe to assume, if in the future I was to sell this piece, that a 'Profiles In History' prop house type store is the way to go?
Would it be of anyone's opinion who knows about this piece to suggest an auction house?
I am not sure I want to let go of it but in the future if this were to change I would want to know that I did the right thing.
This piece is so different and bizarre that it is hard to find much history on it other than what little I know.
It might help if you took a few pictures of your piece and posted them. Close-ups of any identifying marks would be especially helpful. Items of this sort are often hard to authenticate. Since you live on the East Coast, you might want to get it appraised by an auction house like Sotheby's. I know they do movie-themed auctions from time to time. If nothing else, you could insure it on your homeowner's/renter's policy.
If you're going to keep it, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're going to sell it, you have to figure out where and how and what you want for it. Sotheby's isn't a good gauge on the value of a piece like this, especially now. I don't even know if they still have an "entertainment division". Either they or Christie's got rid of their entertainment department.
Profiles is probably your best venue for maximum dollar, maybe, but remember you have to pay them to sell it, too, and there are always risks at auction. This is a nice piece, but would not get a crazy auction price, so paying them 25% (or whatever) would suck. I would determine what you wanted for it and try a private sale, if it were mine. Or put it on ebay with whatever reserve you choose.
The last one I remember seeing was on eBay around four years ago. It sold for just under $300, I think. But had some minor repair to the back of one leg. It's a cool thing, and I (as usual) agree with Bob on how to sell it. It's just not going to command a high enough price to consign.
Thank you for your responses. So, with all due respect to the Denver individual whomever that might be, his asking price is insane. While I would love to believe that my piece is worth $2000.00 I also found that hard to believe. There is always the asking price and what it is actually worth. Including the idea that who ever buys the item may be looking to resell it and make some $. For a few hundred bucks it is absolutely worth holding on to it. Especially considering it is in really nice shape for 36 years of age!
If you are keeping it because you love it, that's one thing. If you're keeping it in hopes that it will go up in value, I wouldn't. Honestly, in my personal experience, stuff from the '76 Kong has never been all that desirable to the general monster-buying public. While this is definately one of the better looking items from that movie, if they truly made 100- that's a lot, really. A lot more than there are hard core collectors of the 1976 KONG stuff. You can always swap it to someone who really wants it, like a Kong collector, for something you would want or collect.
Point taken Bob
Thanks
I'll definitely give that some serious thought as well
Personally, I think it's cool and I'd keep it. I'd say it looks like it's based on the poster artwork or maybe concept art that was available at the time they were commissioned.
Rob
I wanted to post a couple photos of it but couldn't figure out how to do it here. No attachment box I could find to post photos. I obviously don't know what I'm doing as I see photos a plenty here. If u wanna tell me what to do I'll throw a couple up. My photos wout the flash look good. Pretty close representation of the armiture.
Go to the "Induction Center" and you'll find the "How To Post Photos" tutorial.