Collectors pay top dollar for items such as Gimli's helmet. Photo / Supplied
Has a US Tolkien memorabilia fan fallen for the One Ring to fool them all?
Peter Jackson's production company has cast doubt on the authenticity of one of the world's largest collections of Lord of the Rings memorabilia.
American Troika Brodsky has been advertising in New Zealand papers for items used in the production of the trilogy - and the upcoming Hobbit prequels.
Brodsky believes
he has the largest private collection of Lord of the Rings props in the world - between 25 and 30 pieces.
He says he already owns Gimli's axe and Eowyn and Aragorn's swords but his most expensive purchase is Frodo's sword, Sting.
The aluminium stunt sword, with letter of authenticity from one of the trilogy's producers, cost him about $56,500 after he tracked down the winner of a contest sponsored by New Line Cinema and Hasbro Toys.
"It was an insane amount of money for me at the time and still is to this day," says Brodsky, who works for a small brewery in St Louis, Missouri.
"I sincerely believe that short of the One Ring itself, you can't do better than Sting."
His ads offer the promise of "top prices for props, costume elements, prosthetics, set pieces, miniatures or pre-production items".
Weta Workshop, which made many of the props from the trilogy, said it would be inappropriate to comment.
Matthew Dravitzki, from Peter Jackson's Wingnut films, which owns most of the props, said some were given to cast and crew as gifts but they were not aware of any being resold.
Dravitzki, who is in Los Angeles, working on The Hobbit, questioned if all of Brodsky's pieces were original or whether he had been taken for a ride, but said it was hard to tell without close inspection.
"Very good reproductions were made by various licensees and with the passage of time some people seem to be passing these off as original. Generally, all screen-used props and costumes stayed with us."
Brodsky is adamant his collection is real and said he had checked the authenticity of most items.
Other collectors, like German author Kai Meyer, have also paid thousands of dollars for items used on set. He paid more than $7000 for an Orc sword and almost $1500 for an Uruk-hai glove, but said he wasn't collecting for financial speculation.
"I want to own a piece of the fictional world the movies are set in."
Brodsky isn't interested in clothing worn by crew during the shoot, but Kiwis can still cash in. Crew vests are for sale for more than $1000 on www.propstore.com.
