10 Famous Movie Props That Sold For Ridiculous Prices

Some people just have money to burn.

By Danny Meegan /

Even though most of them go unnoticed, movies contain an insane amount of props littered throughout each scene.

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From books to plates to furniture, a lot of items have been purposefully placed in order to evoke a certain mood, tell us things about the characters - maybe they're messy, organised, or laid back - and to make the world feel a bit more tangible.

However, these ordinary props don't exactly increase in value when the movie has done shooting - at least, not by a lot. A piece of cutlery used in The Truman Show will probably be more valuable than your average IKEA set, sure, but it's the iconic props - the lightsabers, the wands, the cars, the weapons - that go on to be truly valuable collector's items.

When the production company, filmmaker or memorabilia outlet who possesses these props no longer has any need for them (or they have a couple stashed away and want to get rid of a few) they often get sold off, and over the years, we've seen some truly eye-watering prices being paid for some incredibly famous movie-related items.

10. John Hammond's Glasses (Jurassic Park)

Sale Price: $3,800

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The iconic nature of the late Richard Attenborough's look in Jurassic Park cannot be attributed to one single item.

It's the combination of that white shirt, the hat, the walking cane and the glasses that all come together to produce this pure, wise, almost godlike appearance - fitting, for a man who resurrected the dinosaur - and if you see that outfit, you instantly know it's from Jurassic Park. And so, naturally, the associated props are very valuable today.

Whilst a replica of that cane sold for a lot of money in 2015 (£13,750 - blowing past its expected £3,000 estimate), the original glasses worn by Attenborough throughout the film fetched a tidy $3,800 (£3,000) at an auction in 2019. The item had some signs of wear and tear (depressingly, Jurassic Park is now over 25 years old), but otherwise, the specs were in full working condition.

While that's an insane price to pay, this is quite possibly the only time it's justifiable to spend three grand on a pair of glasses. Or, alternatively, perhaps the buyer in question should've just gone to Specsavers.

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