Superman Vs. The Winkies

By Rich Drees

     March 31, 2007- Superman has defeated a lot of foes, but he just may meet his match at the hands of one of the Wicked Witch of the West’s henchmen, the winkies.

     This Thursday (April 5), the Hollywood-based auction house Profiles in History is holding a memorabilia auction where a winkie costume from MGM’s 1939 classic The Wizard Of Oz is expected to bring $100,000 to $120,000, almost double the expected $50,000 to $70,000 that is estimated will be paid for a Superman costume worn by actor Christopher Reeve for the 1978 comic book film adaptation.

     "I find people buy their memories," Profiles in History owner Joe Maddalena stated in a press release. "It's all about fantasy, taking us back to a time, perhaps an event with a long lost relative who took you as a kid to see Star Wars. The baby boomers have come into the spending part of their lives. They have had success and are spenders. They want 50's, 60's and 70's TV collectibles, as this era of TV was such a huge part of our lives."

     The winkie Wizard Of Oz costume is expected to fetch such a high price as there are few complete costumes from the film known to exist. The auction house sold a Cowardly Lion suit worn by actor Burt Lahr in December 2006 for $805,000.

     The Superman costume is just one of many items from the film’s producer Ilya Salkind’s personal collection that the auction house will have under the hammer. Other items from Salkind’s collection include an unpublished archive of transcripts from brainstorming meetings with writer Mario Puzo, Alexander and Ilya Salkind discussing the “Genesis of Superman” (est. $4,000-6,000), Salkind’s personal Superman script (est. $3,000-5,000) and original Yvonne Blake costume designs for Reeve as Superman (est. $6,000-8,000) and Marlon Brando as Superman’s father, Jor-El (est. $6,000-8,000).

     Other items up for auction range across Hollywood’s history from producer David O. Selznick’s bound 1939 presentation script to Gone With the Wind writer Sidney Howard (est. $30,000-50,000) and Marilyn Monroe’s gown from There’s No Business Like Show Business worn in the film’s climactic musical sequence (est. $80,000-100,000) to Staff of Ra head piece used by Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (est. $60,000-80,000).