De Cooohllectie van Sacha Feiner

In de filmliefhebberij kom je globaal drie categorieën tegen. De filmliefhebber, de filmfan en de fan van één film of serie van films. Bij deze laatste categorie gaat u de echte excessen aantreffen. Ideaal dus voor De Cooohllectie.

Zo'n fan is de Belgische Sacha Feiner. En dan ook nog eens niet zo'n fan die enkel de 'spullen' spaart, maar ook zelf gaat lopen 'knutselen'. Met als resultaat een heuse fanfilm geïnspireerd door de Gremlins 2 bioscoopscène waar Joe Dante zelf een paar looohvende woorden over sprak.


Meer dan genoeg reden dus Feiner eens te vragen naar zijn collectie:

1. A warming-up: What does the collection consist of (books, merchandise, DVD, Blu-ray, laserdiscs, VHS, everything counts...)?



The collection is related to the two Joe Dante Gremlins movies. Basically, when I was a kid, I bought everything I could find; today I specialize into rare promo items, screen-used props and castings from original movie sculptures.
Of course, those things take physical place, but I must say those movies influenced my life more than I could have expected it. I am a movie maker, and made (just for fun) a "Gremlins Fan Film" which was noticed quite a lot in the last two years, by Joe Dante himself who wants it included in the Blu-Ray release of Gremlins 2, but also by various producers who are interested in taking part in my first long feature, in the writing stage today.

2. All the great start out with nothing: where did it all start?

I saw the first film on TV in 1990, when I was 8, and my parents gave me the five "read along" books that were still for sale at a flea market shop.

3. What has been the latest addition to the collection?

I recently restored the only remaining casting of an original "melting gremlin" sculpture from Gremlins 2. But the very last one is an original stop-motion gremlin I should get in the mail this week!



4. Time to boast: can we mark up the number of items (per category)?

I'm not sure, as I never counted, but there are hundreds of plush toys, hundreds of figures, of books, of decadent merchandising of every style; from the children slippers to the tooth brush, from the inflatable Gizmo to the party supplies... Gremlins was, along with Star Wars, one of the first movies to get such crazy merchandizing. At the moment, I have 10 original screen-used props, 5 more "unused" items and about 15 different castings from original molds.

5. Which item is shown to all friends and acquaintances (if they like it or not)? In short, which item is the center-piece of the collection?

I'd say the biggest one at this time is an original "Brain" puppet from Gremlins 2.



6. And which item do you try to hide in the crypts of your collection when you have company? (Don't worry, our readers won't say anything...)

There are a few latex castings from the production I have to keep in the dark for conservation purposes! Otherwise, I also burry some fake props that looked real on photos and that I bought by mistake...

7. What are your dire wishes for your collection? (If you wish, we can send this answer to family and friends, as a subtile hint...)

The holy grail for any gremlins collector remains the "hard casting" of the original Chris Walas gremlin sculpt from the first movie. Original puppets can be found, but they reach $50.000 prices... and they are in very, very bad condition. A hard casting out of the original mold would be the only way to get an unaltered sculpt. No replica ever made justice to the original.


A "hard casting", not the "hard casting"...

8. Where do you shop to extend your collection?

Ebay was a good place a few years ago, and you can still be lucky there today; however I bought my last props directly from special effects guys who worked on the movies at the time, from the Propstore of London, I also trade with collectors...

9. For our own good: which film or book should be part of everyone's collection?

Terry Gilliam's "Brazil".

10. And to conclude: whose collection would you like to examine closer?



Bob Burns, the biggest movie props collector on the planet, has many original Gremlins props, as well as many photos from the movie sets. He already complimented me on the Gremlins Fan Film, and I should be admitted for a tour when I get a chance to fly to California!

En als afsluiter doen we nog de making-of van fanfilm (die wellicht nog wel leuker is om te zien)...

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