Original Scotty Dog Props on Auction

Original Other-Scotty Dog puppet, "...constructed of foam with miniature button eyes and red ribbon collar. Measures 4 ½ in. tall..." sold for $2750. The 'custom' base looks like a block of wood that you can find in any craft store, painted black. So I am not sure what part of it is custom. I would love to own an original prop or puppet from the film. To check out the Auction yourself, see Profiles in History.


The second is the Taxidermy Angus IX "...constructed of foam with resin harp and wings of gold paper. He wears a gold trimmed sweater of white yarn. Measures 4 ¼ in. tall..." sold for $2,500. Another great prop that I would love to own. Check out Profiles in History for the Auction.
Angus the IX is one of the stuffed scotty dogs we see clearly on film twice, and each time, it is a different dog(?). The first time we see Angus IX is in the provided screen shot. Note the differences: first, the dog is facing the opposite direction, second is the redish-orange nose, third is the one on screen is praying, when the one in the Auction has a Harp. However, while the close up shots where most likely done at a different time, when the camera pulls back and we see the wall of dogs, the Auction Angus IX is clearly seen in the bottom row, on the left. Unfortunately the puppet has suffered the loss of its halo.


There is also going to be an upcoming Auction for a Collection of Corpse Bride Puppets.

photos from Profiles in History

NECA Authentic Movie Prop Replica Little Me

It's finally here! The 'Little Me' Coraline doll from NECA. It was available for pre-order last July, but its release date kept getting pushed further and further back. But the wait is finally over. Now I am going to have to pick up another one.

Little me certainly looks great. She is a good height and the quality is really well done. The black dress as well as her orange striped undershirt is pretty spot on with the original doll. Her rain coat is the most obvious difference. The way it sits, the shade of yellow and even the texture is a bit off. It does have some 'weathering' to the coat to make it a bit dirty, but all and all it works fine.
Her striped stockings look good. I cannot tell what is more screen accurate as there were three different sizes of the Little Me Dolls made for the film and they all look a little different themselves (Check out Paloma Soledad's site for pictures). Otherwise I would say that the white band of the black and white stripes is a bit thin comparatively to the film. But that's being nit picky.
Here hair looks really good. I think they even went as far as to match the blue and black lines in her hair to the original. Her face is hard and textured. The paint job is a little bit off. She is missing a freckle on each cheek. Her lips should be a little more left, and not so centered. The stitching along her mouth was only on the opening sequence doll and should have a little more detail and paint.
The dragonfly hair clip looks right, but would also need to be repainted to provide a little more detail. I have not taken her off her back board yet, but I do believe that she is wired in side to make her posable. Oh, and the black stitch lines are missing from her boots. But for $24.99, ($31.94 shipped) it is well worth it for any Coraline fan. I would say, don't buy her off eBay for $33.00 plus shipping, not when you can get her for less at Entertainmentearth.com

Nightmare Before Christmas Town

I cannot believe I have never seen these till now! Hawthorne Village has come out with a limited number of houses from The Nightmare before Christmas! I love walking in those stores during Christmas time and seeing all the little towns that light up and think to myself, "gosh, those are so cool, I would really like to have a set for myself someday". However, I could never find a set that I really liked for the price. Until now. I am ordering the Christmas Town set first, then the Halloween Town, then the train set. In about two or more years and after $2000, I should have the complete set! My first and second shipment has already arrived. As far as my personal review, I would say they are really neat. They do need a little more touch up on the paint job to get it a little more accurate to the screen version. Some details are also missing here and there, plus the addition of all the wreaths, but all and all, I love it.

Wybie's Mask Part 2

Long overdue and way late for Halloween, here is my almost completed Webie mask. Here is what I did....
I removed the glass protection shield flip up part, then used a hair dryer to heat it up to form the top dent. This was taking way too long and the result was kind of icky. So, like the genius that I am, I stuck it in the oven. Now I had it in there too long and too hot, and I wasn't watching it the whole time and it got way too soft. So I quickly pulled it out using oven mitts and tried not to ruin it but instead make it work and form the mask a bit. It needs to be more 'skull' shaped than how it comes out of the box. You will have to do some freeze framing to see what I mean. The head is more rounded while the jawline comes in a bit. Once I had a shape that I liked, I went to the hardware store and picked up random parts here and there. I tried to find the cheapest PVC piping of varying lengths and diameters for his three eyes, and a ceiling fan mounting bracket to glue it all on. I used a adhesive called JB Weld that smells but holds really well. I then hand painted it. It's still missing the rivets along the forehead and the crank on the side, but it worked great for Halloween. Luckily when I purchased the mask it came with two. So, I will make a second attempt at the mask and take pictures as I go to do a more step by step.

Full size "Other" Squid

I am still loving Coraline and the world that was created that I can't help but want to make everything. The squid is no exception. There are three different squids that I have seen throughout the movie. There are two real world squids and one other squid. I do intend to make the other two, however for the Other Squid I asked a friend of mine (the same one who did my Coraline gloves) to help out. She used Joan of Dark's Squid tutorial to make this one. I really love the way it came out. I will have to sculpt the button so it is scaled proportional to the toy.

Coraline Halloween '09

My wife and I went as Coraline and Wybie this year for Halloween. Our costumes were pretty simple for the most part. We either found what we needed in our drawer or online. The orange striped shirt was on sale at Old Navy. I was able to find little nick knacks at the hardware store to make the 'eyes' of Wybie's welder mask. I spent a few hours painting it. For the jacket I found a trench coat at the Good Will that I thought was perfect. I ironed on the reflector tape that I found at the fabric store. I think it turned out really well. It was a much cheaper alternative then to purchase a fireman's turnover coat. The shoes I picked up at Kohls on sale. Coraline's light pink shoes we found at Target. See previous posts for Coraline's hat, Wybie's gloves and Welders Mask. We had fun this year at our party and got a lot of complements.

Coraline gloves full size replica

I am so excited about these gloves. Inspired by Largely Unrepeatable Blog and using her directions, I asked a friend of mine, Claire Carpenter, if she would be interested in making me a pair. She likes to crotchet so she agreed. Now she has never made gloves before so it was a learning experience. She said that she is happy with how they came out and so am I. I think they are great. They are child sized so they wont fit me, but it makes them extra cool thinking that the would fit Coraline. Original gloves were made by Althea Crome who did a outstanding job.