After watching eight seasons of the epic saga 鈥淕ame of Thrones,鈥 fans can now enter what may be a competition on par with the battle for the Iron Throne: an auction of prized memorabilia from the HBO series.
Fans can now bid on a slew of costumes, props, set pieces and memorabilia from the hit show that ended in 2019. More than 2,000 items 鈥 including a melted version of the coveted Iron Throne 鈥 distributed across 900 lots will be on the auction block in October through Heritage Auctions.
The starting bids range from $500 to $20,000 for items as iconic as Jaime Lannistersa国际传媒 full suit of armor and sword to props as granular as prosthetic teeth used for the White Walkers.
Other notable items include memorable cloaks, coats and leather ensembles (some that feature dragon chokers and accents) worn by Jon Snowsa国际传媒 notorious Longclaw sword wielded and the Hand of the Queen Pin donned by as Tyrion Lannister. Even items that didn鈥檛 boast much screen time, like the bell wielded during or bloodstained garb from the infamous Red Wedding, are expected to draw fans鈥 attention during bidding.
Jay Roewe, HBO's senior vice president of global incentives and production planning, said the auction 鈥 a chance for fans to 鈥済rab a piece of history鈥 鈥 speaks to the staying power the series has had .
鈥溾楪ame of Thrones鈥 was a zeitgeist moment in our culture. It was a zeitgeist moment in high-end television. It was a zeitgeist moment in terms of HBO,鈥 he said in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淭his is something we all grew up with. Itsa国际传媒 impacted every single one of our lives. Itsa国际传媒 impacted the culture, and 鈥楪ame of Thrones鈥 has meant something to every single person.鈥
Although the series started in 2011 and several items in the auction date back to then, they have not been 鈥渃ollecting dust,鈥 Roewe said. HBO had been carefully preserving thousands of props, costumes and set pieces since the series began for use on potential spinoffs or sequels. With having recently completed its second season and other projects firmly in development 鈥 while 鈥 Roewe said the studio now knows what they鈥檒l need to hold on to and what they can part ways with.
鈥淭hese items have been curated and taken care of since we finished filming. They are the quality that they were when we finished filming, and we鈥檝e had people working on them for years to keep them in shape,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need them anymore. Itsa国际传媒 time to finally open it up to the world.鈥
Beyond the preservation and quality of the items, the sheer scale of the auction required months of collaboration with HBO and countless hours of research and planning to organize, said Joe Maddalena, the executive vice president of Heritage Auctions.
Maddalena wanted to ensure fans and collectors didn鈥檛 feel like there were any 鈥済laring holes鈥 in the collection by including a wide variety of characters鈥 costumes and props, displayed in a 750-page catalog. There are even multiples of crucial items like rapier Needle, of which there were several versions throughout the series鈥 run.
The intricate nature and craftsmanship of the costumes and props are part of what make the show so memorable, Maddalena, a fan himself, said. Emmy-winning has been praised since the series鈥 start for the detailed and intentional designs that fueled storylines. The catalog features interviews with Clapton, and several of the cast members commenting on the episode-specific usage and significance of hundreds of the items. Maddalena called this kind of access and information 鈥渦ncharted territory鈥 in the auction world.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 usually get studio-sanctioned auctions like this. This is studio sanctioned,鈥 he said. 鈥淓verything comes from the archive. Everything was handpicked, scene specific. You know where your piece was used. You know it was actually used on screen.鈥
For fans who want to snag a piece of 鈥淕ame of Thrones,鈥 the vast collection is now open for preliminary bidding with the auction taking place Oct. 10-12 through Heritage Auctions in Dallas. The collection will be available to preview in the auction housesa国际传媒 New York and London locations starting Sept. 17 through Oct. 4.
