Giant hamburgers, Elvis, spaceships up for bids

Canadian Press, Nov. 18, 2014

VANCOUVER — Two giant hamburgers, Elvis statues, spaceships and even a graffiti-covered shark could be out of the movies and into your living room if you are the highest bidder at a clear-out auction in Vancouver this week.

Gargoyles, a life-size purple elephant and a three-metre tall Buddha head are also up for grabs on Thursday and Friday as the owner of hundreds of TV and movie props puts them up for bids.

Paul Pincott of Can Am Importique said that after 38 years of renting the props he’s made and acquired from various productions, he’s ready to give up his inventory prior to vacating a warehouse.

The props range from TV series such as the X-Files and Arrow and movies including Scooby Doo, American Pie and The New Addams Family.

Plenty of coffins, including one in which Ashley Judd hid inside in the movie Double Jeopardy, will also be up for auction alongside lions and leopards.

Pincott will also be auctioning off memorabilia from music videos and charity events.

Able Auctions will be behind the event for which a preview will be held Wednesday, before bidding starts on Thursday and Friday, when online bids will be accepted.

For the last 15 years, Pincott has rented the items he’s imported or fabricated for sets and said he's interested in finding out who will end up wanting the metre-tall hamburgers that were used in the TV series Falling Skies, for example.

Some of the props and memorabilia will be grouped into lots while others will be sold separately, he said of the business that he tried to retire from 25 years ago.

“It didn’t last very long,” he said. “I’ve got to be busy and I couldn’t think of a better business to be busy at.”

Colin Hole, a manager at Able Auctions, said the range of interesting items is sure to draw a variety of buyers.

“You can have anybody from a regular couch potato who’s watched a movie and has seen a prop that’s in it that they want to buy, all the way up to people in the film industry.”

Bidders aiming for a North Pole-themed event could opt for several Santa Clauses, reindeer, sleighs and snowmen.