Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.
Today’s question is about a Frankenstein mask and hands that I unfortunately did not buy.
Question:
I see you have a Frankenstein mask and hands. Will you ever sell those? I am interested.
Answer:
I didn’t buy the mask (and costume). I just wrote about them.
Reader’s reply:
Oh alright. Where were they? Do you know where I can purchase. I love it.
My reply:
I wrote the blog post three years ago after seeing the mask and costume at an auction. Someone else bought it, likely a dealer, and I’m sure it’s long gone by now. Did you try eBay to search for one similar to it?
Reader’s reply:
Ah. That mask is very very rare. It’s worth hundreds! Or a bit over a thousand for the mask and hands!
Wow! They’re worth that much:
I distinctly remember the mask, hands, thick-soled heavy shoes and football shoulder pads. The outfit was the talk of the auction house that December in 2010, with many of us offering our own observations about it.
I wasn’t interested in buying the outfit, only writing about it. The only masks I buy are wooden African masks. The Frankenstein mask reminded me of Halloween and I don’t get much into Halloween stuff.
I wrote a blog post about Frankenstein, though, researching its namesake and learning a lot of about its origin. The Frankenstein monster came from the imagination of Mary Shelley, who in 1816 was at the home of Lord Byron when he challenged his guests to devise a horror story. Still a teenager, Shelley wrote about a scientist and the nameless monster he created: “… An 8-foot-tall (2.4 m), hideously ugly creation, with translucent yellowish skin pulled so taut over the body that it ‘barely disguised the workings of the vessels and muscles underneath’; watery, glowing eyes, flowing black hair, black lips, and prominent white teeth.’”
The story evolved into a book titled “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” that was published two years later. The monster was given the name Frankenstein in theatrical plays, and a century later actor Boris Karloff made him just as famous in the 1931 movie “Frankenstein.” Shelley named her scientist Victor Frankenstein, who became Henry Frankenstein in the movie.
I’m not sure of the origin of the costume at auction but the reader wasn’t far off regarding the value of such costumes – if they have a pedigree. I found several Frankenstein items that sellers deemed “rare” – which always raises my suspicions – that sold for up to $1,600 on eBay. Most seemed to have been made by named creature artists, though.
One was a pair of hands licensed by Universal Studios, sculpted by William Malone (director and mask-maker) and made by Don Post Studios in California in 1974-75, according to the seller. They were purchased from a costume shop, the seller said in the listing. They sold for $1,650.
Another Don Post Studios mask sold for $450.
Don Post Studios came up several times in the listings, and most of his monster items actually sold on eBay, even down to a $6 calendar. A collection of what was said to be his original molds sold for $22,500. So naturally I was curious about who he was.
Don Post began making masks around 1948, producing over-the-head masks for Universal Studios’ Frankenstein monster. Post also created pods for “Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956),” the giant clown feet worn by Doris Day in “Jumbo (1962),” among others.
In 1963, he made monster masks based on Universal’s horror films. The masks – which included Frankenstein, Dracula, Phantom of the Opera and Wolf Man – were revised in the1960s and 1970s, and a calendar of the masks was released in 1966 by another company. Don Post Studios produced a limited edition of the masks in 1998.
Also on eBay, a first-issue AHI Frankenstein mask from the 1970s sold for $710. It was one of a series of AHI super monsters.
A Boris Karloff Frankenstein mask that was said to have been made by special effects creators and owned by a Hollywood creature makeup artist sold for $560.
A Herman Munster mask from the TV show and said to be made by Don Post Studios sold for $500.
With my new knowledge of the popularity – and value – of Frankenstein masks, I’ll be a little more respectful of them if they ever appear at auction again.
