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The Original Prop Blog, a free resource for collectors of original TV and movie props, costumes, and other studio assets, this month published its 1,000th article. Launched in April 2007, the site has grown to become a popular website for hobbyists to keep apprised of the latest news about authentic entertainment memorabilia.
Over the past few years, the site has grown tremendously, [with over 30 million hits and 3.5 million page views]*, all to a very targeted audience of fans of film and television, and the collectible material that survives those productions. *Info not verified.
While the Original Prop Blog’s initial focus was publishing candid editorials and observations to spark discussion about issues within the hobby, it quickly grew to offer much more, from covering breaking news, to publishing feature articles with principals from various companies and auction houses, to providing reviews and resources, as well as asking public questions about problematic material being offered for sale in the marketplace.
Jason DeBord and the Original Prop Blog has been reported on by many mainstream media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Dallas Morning News, the San Fernando Business Journal, the San Jose Mercury News, AntiqueWeek, and more. Some of this news coverage has been a consequence of “Market Watch” investigations published on the site, which have exposed thousands of fake and fraudulent movie props and costumes within the marketplace.
In January 2009, Jason DeBord launched both the Original Prop Community (originalpropcommunity.com) and the Original Prop Directory (originalpropdirectory.com) to continue to foster more networking and transparency within the hobby – giving collectors a “white pages” directory as well as an online forum venue with which to have candid discussions, through the use of real names and identities in order to move away from online monikers and anonymity as is prevalent on the Internet today. This has resulted in discussions of true substance and quality among seasoned and new hobbyists alike, in a trusted environment.
In June 2009, the official Twitter account for the Original Prop Blog was launched, which offers new links and content throughout the day, pointing to breaking news and content of interest to entertainment memorabilia collectors. This added service is already averaging more than 100 “tweets” a month and serves as a great supplement to the more substantive articles published on the OPB.
This past July, Jason DeBord provided on-site coverage of the very popular San Diego Comic Con, which has become the global pop culture event and gathering for anyone interested in movies, television, comics, gaming, and more. Featured articles included coverage of movie prop and costumes on exhibit at the show, including pieces from Disney’s archives, Marvel Comics and their Iron Man “Stark Enterprises” display of armored suits, and props, costumes, and vehicles from The Dark Knight, Transformers, G.I. Joe, and other productions. Jason also published high definition video interviews with Joe Maddalena of Profiles in History (featuring details about the upcoming June 2010 auction of assets from ABC’s LOST), the Prop Store of London (and many of the iconic props they had on display), as well as an interview with Alec Peters of PropWorx (about his Battlestar Galactica auctions).
In recent weeks, the Original Prop Blog produced an onsite video preview of Profiles in History’s “Hollywood Auction 37”, along with high resolution photography of the props, costumes, and other material making up the sale catalog for next month’s auction.
Jason DeBord of the Original Prop Blog has plans to continue building on this resource for collectors and ancillary products and services into the future.
About Original Prop Blog, LLC
Original Prop Blog, LLC (originalpropblog.com) is a not for profit venture that publishes articles and features focusing on news, research, opinion/editorials, information, trends, issues, reviews, investigations, interviews, debate, and other content related to original props, wardrobe, and other popular culture artifacts from film and television. The Original Prop Blog was created to benefit and serve the public interests of the hobby by advocating for original prop and memorabilia collectors/hobbyists/consumers/archivists as well as the hobby at large.
About Jason DeBord
Jason DeBord is the founder and President of Original Prop Blog, LLC and serves as Editor in Chief and sole contributor to the website. The Original Prop Blog and related services and resources are all done out of a spirit of good will and effort to promote the interest of the hobby – preserving and archiving important artifacts from film and television. Jason studied at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Communication Arts. By profession, Jason is a real estate broker in El Dorado Hills, California as part of “The DeBord Group”.
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jason[.]originalpropblog.com 
