I just had a Lost-gasm! As David and I drove into the parking lot of the building where the Profiles in History office is in Calabasas, California, we saw it: a blue and white Dharma Van. I knew that there had to be plenty more inside. I could feel my heartbeat quicken, my palms started to sweat, my hands got shaky…
LOST.
Upon entering the Profiles in History office, we were met by their PR man Marc Kruskol, who showed us into the preview area where the Lost items and other movie memorabilia were located. Suddenly I was in a flashback, flash-forward, flash-sideways evidence room at some crazy Lost-style police station.
Hundreds and hundreds of items from the show were all around me in glass cases, on stands, and on mannequins. A visual feast for the eyes of any Lost fan.
Just the thought that all the items around me that had been a part of one of the best TV series of all time, that this was one of the last times all of these props, costumes, and documents would be in the same place and not spread across the globe was quite overwhelming.
How often do you get to hold Charlie’s Drive Shaft ring? Or the letter Sawyer wrote to the man who killed his parents? Or a bottle of Dharma rum? Or press the EXECUTE button on the computer from the Swan station where Desmond was? Or Locke’s knives? Or a collection of Dharma beer cans?
I’ll admit that I got a little fanboy-ish and was a wee bit over-excited about being around all these tings, but I’m not ashamed of how much I loved Lost. Although, I’m sure the video may show me as a shaky, twitchy, ADD-riddled mess. We’ll see.
So, after I rambled through three cases of Lost items and told the camera the who, what, where, when, why, and how of most of the props, I sat down and interviewed the gentleman who helped make this historic auction event possible: Joe Maddalena. We sat in the actual director’s chairs that the actors sat in on the set; I was in Terry O’Quinn’s chair (John Locke), and Joe sat in Elizabeth Mitchell’s chair (Dr. Juliet Burke).
After the interview, he gave us a tour of the items in a much calmer and coherent manner than I had been doing for the camera, and David and I got to see everything from Vincent’s dog collar and tennis balls, all of Charlie’s guitars throughout the series, a collection of the Virgin Mary statues from Yemi’s plane, and a host of other items (check out the video, which will be up soon!).
Close to 11,000 Lost items will be auctioned off on August 21 and 22, 2010 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. If you saw it on Lost in some way, shape, manner or form, it more than likely is up for bid at this exciting event. But don’t worry, if you don’t live in the Los Angeles area you can still bid via the Internet and over the phone. Click here to register for the auction and to find out about tickets to the actual event.
As we were headed toward the exit (okay, David was trying to push me out of there since we had been there an hour), I asked about John Locke’s wheelchair. I was in luck, it had just come in and been unpacked moments ago. They showed us to another room where items were being unpacked and catalogued. Costumes, props, and over near a corner of the room was Locke’s wheelchair, the one Terry O’Quinn used for flashbacks in seasons 1 through 5.
David finally got me out of the building, but I just had to sit in the Dharma van. I sat in the driver’s seat and remembered when Hurley, Sawyer, Jin and company discovered it, found Roger Workman decomposed in it, found Dharma beer, and finally got the van to start. It was a good day.
Seeing all of these Lost items in person was an exciting and memorable experience. Now you can have your chance to check out these items in person too on August 21 and 22 at the Lost auction in Santa Monica. There will be plenty of exciting events, prizes, surprises and more as part of the penultimate Lost celebration.
Click here for videos from StuffWeLike.com’s visit, and many thanks to Marc and Joe for their graciousness and patience during our time at the Profiles and History office.
Namaste.
What Lost-related item would you most want to own? Leave a comment and let us know!
After you talk with Profiles PR hack, you should do a little more research on the inconsistencies in the catalog for this auction. What are we bidding on? Backup? Screen used? check out thepropblog(dot)com and the Movie Prop forum for the research you should do before bidding (or posting articles like this!)