Summon Your Own Friendly Aliens With This ‘Close Encounters' Mask
You'll have to construct your own Devils Tower out of mashed potatoes (or garden dirt, depending on how much room you've got), but an authentic Close Encounters of the Third Kind alien mask is going up for auction, and it's equal parts cool, cute, and creepy.
It's part of Propstore's auction of items from Planet Hollywood's extensive memorabilia collection (see the whole catalog here), kicking off May 21 and running through June 11. There's a Gremlins puppet, Ghostbusters miniatures, Spock ears from two different Star Trek movies, and lots more, but the Close Encounters alien—complete with 'functional eye mechanisms'—is the standout pick.
According to Propstore's listing, the climactic Close Encounters sequence in which the musically inclined aliens land their ship at Devils Tower 'was achieved by dressing dozens of young girls as the friendly Grays. Multiple versions of their extraterrestrials masks were built by production, including a number of tests and prototypes, while two versions were ultimately selected for filming: non-articulated masks for wide or long shots of the aliens, and mechanical versions capable of a limited number of facial expressions.'
This particular item, the listing explains, 'originated from Academy Award-nominated special mechanical effects artist and regular Spielberg collaborator Roy Arbogast. It features a foam latex-backed slip latex skin dressed over a fiberglass underskull and painted gray-brown on the exterior. The interior is inset with wide cast resin eyes painted with blue irises and black pupils. The eyes are designed to move from side-to-side via cables installed along the interior.'
Arbogast's many special effects credits also include several John Carpenter films (Escape From New York, The Thing, They Live, and more) as well as Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Some 'sympathetic restoration' has been applied to the mask in the intervening decades, though the listing notes it's in quite fragile condition. In other words, it's for display only—don't try to wear it around the neighborhood to freak out unsuspecting Richard Dreyfuss types.
The starting bid for the Close Encounters of the Third Kind mask is $2,500—you can learn more about the auction and how to bid here.
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