{"id":18907,"date":"2018-12-13T12:21:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T12:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/?p=18907"},"modified":"2018-12-14T09:29:34","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T09:29:34","slug":"20-years-of-prop-store-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propstore.com\/blog\/20-years-of-prop-store-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Years Of Propstore: Part 1\/3"},"content":{"rendered":"

From a one-man show to a company with an international reputation \u2014 Propstore\u2019s momentous early days…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The story of Propstore doesn\u2019t begin with a big bang, but it does start with a blaster. In 1992, vintage action-figure collector Stephen Lane was at the Toy & Collectors Fair in Westminster when he was offered a rebel blaster prop from the first Star Wars<\/strong> movie for \u00a3500. \u201cBearing in mind I was trading in action figures for \u00a320 or \u00a330, it was a massive investment for me,\u201d says Lane. \u201cBut I took a punt on it and bought it. Then I thought: \u2018What do I do next with this exactly? Where does this take me?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Where it took him was on a journey which changed his life and brought a bold new force to the entertainment memorabilia business.<\/p>\n

 
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An early collection of artifacts in Stephens collection in his attic – circled is the above mentioned Rebel Blaster from\u00a0Star Wars<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The Rebel Blaster as it stands today – photo credit to collector and current owner of the blaster Andy Goulding<\/em><\/p>\n

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Curious to discover the provenance of the blaster, Lane tracked it to source: film industry armourers Bapty & Company on Harrow Road in London, run by Richard Hooper. After taking Lane on a tour of the facility, pointing out props and weapons from films like Aliens<\/strong>, Batman<\/strong>, Flash Gordon<\/strong>\u00a0and Star Wars<\/strong>, Hooper revealed that all these assets were destined to either be rented by other productions or, if not, thrown in a skip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just astonished that nobody had any foresight that these items could be culturally significant in the future,\u201d says Lane. \u201cThat was the trigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

So in 1998, with some encouragement from his wife Lizzie, Lane gave up the company he had previously been running, Manor Signs, and devoted himself to Propstore full-time. \u201cThe very first order on the Propstore system was from an American collector called Dana Hammontree,\u201d says Lane. \u201cHe bought a crew jacket for \u00a3393. Interestingly, Dana\u2019s son is now a collector who buys from us regularly \u2014 20 years after the first order from his father. It seems the products and service from Propstore are so good they transcend generations of collectors!\u201d<\/p>\n

 
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Stephen processing Propstore orders from his first office at home – Photo Credit Lizzie Lane<\/em><\/p>\n

 
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Stephen’s early memorabilia collection – featuring his extensive collection of action figures<\/em><\/p>\n

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But it wasn\u2019t the Transatlantic, Live Auction-orchestrating business it is today. Lane forged contacts in the film industry \u2014\u00a0 armourers, prop masters, prop rental houses and special effects houses \u2014 filling his van with movie and TV-show artefacts and selling them at memorabilia shows.<\/p>\n

 
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Two of Propstore’s early memorabilia disp<\/em>lays at collectors conventions<\/em><\/p>\n

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While at these shows, Lane befriended fellow collector Tim Lawes, a same-day courier from Haselmere in Surrey, who would often help him and Lizzie out. \u201cI think Stephen wanted to be a one-man band, just trading out of his spare room,\u201d recalls Lawes, now Propstore\u2019s General Manager, \u201cbut things escalated for him very quickly \u2014 more than he\u2019d anticipated.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1999, for example, Lane pulled off his first big studio deal, buying Sleepy Hollow<\/strong>\u00a0and Event Horizon assets from Paramount Studios. \u201cIt was a massive deal at the time,\u201d says Lawes. \u201cI helped him move it all, unpack it all and sort it all. It really gave Propstore a foothold.\u201d Unsurprisingly, the next year Lane decided it just wasn\u2019t feasible to continue as a solo act.<\/p>\n

It was at a bar in Solihull, during a memorabilia show at the Birmingham NEC, that Lawes convinced Lane that he<\/strong> should be that help. Lane was\u00a0 unsure, but only because Lawes would have a 90 minute commute \u2014 something that hardly concerned Lawes, given he spent his days driving around the UK anyway. After a few drinks, the deal was done: Propstore had its first employee<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 
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Stephen and Tim on the set of Harry Potter and the Philosophers\u00a0Stone\u00a0<\/b>circa 1999<\/em><\/p>\n

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It also, in 2001, established its UK base, amid they idyllic, leafy environs of Chenies Manor, in Buckinghamshire. Lane was driving past the manor when he noticed that the haulage company which he knew operated out of the buildings behind the historic landmark had now vacated the site. Straightaway he called the landlord and snapped up the small office and warehouse it had formerly occupied (though during the years since, Propstore has expanded across the site).<\/p>\n

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Stephen, Lizzie, Tim and second employee Katy at Propstore’s Chenies Manor location<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was ideal because it\u2019s somewhere we\u2019ve been able to expand into,\u201d says Lawes. \u201cAnd with regard to proximity to the film studios, the location is ridiculous: you\u2019ve got Leavesden on one side, Elstree a bit further around, and then to the South there\u2019s Pinewood, Shepperton and Longcross. Also, many crew guys live in this area, so we very rarely have to travel too far to go and see a collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the following years, Lane pulled off some huge and impressive warehouse buy-outs, in 2003 acquiring assets from 20th<\/sup> Century Fox\u2019s warehouse archive \u2014\u00a0including 15 full-size robots from sci-fi thriller iRobot<\/strong> \u2014 and in 2007 obtaining the entire inventories for Universal Pictures\u2019 The Chronicles of Riddick<\/strong> and Serenity<\/strong>, which were all shipped by surface freight from California to the UK.<\/p>\n

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One of Propstore’s warehouses – circa 2011<\/p>\n

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The most significant leap forward during these early days, though, was Lane\u2019s realisation that he\u2019d need to use the internet to push his company to the next level. On one of his regular trips to America in the mid-\u201990s, he noticed website addresses appearing on US billboards. \u201cI thought, I\u2019ve got to get a website,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were losing a huge amount of business to other auction houses who didn\u2019t have the same passion as us.\u201d<\/p>\n

But not only did he build a website to both expand Propstore\u2019s US market and establish a Japanese market, he also had the foresight to partner with eBay and Amazon just as they were setting up in the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did some sales and promotions on both of those platforms,\u201d he says. \u201cThese days you\u2019d be lucky if you could get a rep for one of those companies on the phone, but back then they were very hungry for unusual content. So I managed to get the word out quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within nine years, Lane had taken Propstore from a one-man band, driving from convention to convention with a van full of artifacts, to an eight-strong team, which held auctions online and reached collectors all around the world.<\/p>\n

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Stephens Desk at Propstore – circa 2011<\/p>\n

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\u201cEven back then we were the leaders in film memorabilia,\u201d says Sarah Sorkin, who joined Propstore in 2006 as its photographer. \u201cAlthough we worked on a much smaller scale, we knew the importance of making sure everything was accurate and our customer service was second to none. Without a good reputation we wouldn\u2019t have anything!\u201d<\/p>\n

That reputation was certainly growing. So much so, Lane realised just having the one base in the UK was no longer enough. Now his sights were set on Hollywood\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0Coming Next in Part 2: The foundation of Propstore\u2019s US Operation…<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t forget to follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>. And remember, you can explore so much more at our archive and see the extensive range of film and TV items we have for sale and auction over at\u00a0propstore.com!<\/a><\/p>\n

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