Friday The 13th Blog

Mario Kirner is the creator of the Friday The 13th Props Museum. His museum houses numerous props and costumes from all of the Friday the 13th movies and are proudly displayed at his website www.fridaythe13thprops.de

With the impending Profiles In History Auction approaching this weekend, I thought it would be interesting to find out more about Mario’s background in collecting, his passion to collect Friday memoribilia and what his take is on the auction process.

When did you start collecting Friday the 13th memorabilia and what motivated you to get into serious collecting of official screen-used items from the movies?

Back then I found it amazing how Planet Hollywood displayed props and costumes in
their restaurants around the world. Not only with typical pieces such as seen in usual film
museums, but also rough items such as special effects puppets and clothes from horror
movies. Sadly most of these restaurants closed over the years because of lack of sales
volume.
 
I grew up with the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th films. Early in the 90s, my
parents moved over to Spain with me. There was a huge promotion for these kind of
movies going on, compared to Germany where I’m actually from. We bought the bubble
gum with the stickers of Jason, Freddy and Terminator at the school cafeteria and
everyone had these film comic books hidden under the table. So you can say, we got our
innoculation early on at 11 or 12 years old. 
 
I collected everything related to Freddy and Jason in the past. Magazines, stickers,
pictures autographs etc. Everything that you could get somewhere back then without
the help of Ebay, though. Over time, not only has the quantity risen but especially the
quality of my pieces and I focused on the Jason films. And I badly wanted to see what
the inside looked like from these screen used hockey masks. You would be surprised!

 
How did you decide to start the Friday the 13th Museum and is it an actual museum for
the public to visit?
 
I find it absolutely necessary to showcase these pieces in an adequate way. Because we
are not only talking about simple collectors pieces but about real treasures from movie
history. These pieces should be cared for future generations to enjoy. The museum has
a very dark mood that goes well with the pieces on display. Also, the room has
exclusively LED lightening to preserve the pieces as long as possible. The museum is
strictly private and non commercial.

 
Do you get requests from people via email or phone to come visit the museum?

Yes, there are always people asking if they can visit the museum. But as I said, the
location it self is thought to be private, and so I decided to launch the online museum in
mid 2024 to give anyone the chance to see what survived the actual productions of
the Jason movies. www.FridayThe13thProps.de

I also planned to do exclusive Museum exhibitions for 2024 and 2024, around the world.
Please visit the NEWS section article from 11th of March 09 for more informations. I’m
looking forward to hear from interested Museums to plan such a possible event.

What, if any, are the weirdest or craziest requests you have received pertaining to the
Friday the 13th Museum?

There was a guy who wanted to pay for a video night with his friends at the museum. In
fact I do these kind of video sessions with my buddies on a regular basis at this place. It
was just funny that a stranger wanted to rent the museum for such an event. Oh, and he
offered a decent amount!

Looking at the costs of what some of these auction items are bid for and purchased, did
you have to start with smaller items first and then build your collection to the bigger
pieces you have today?

Actually only a very little part of my pieces do come from auctions. In fact, only the
Freddy vs Jason costume and hockey mask from the same movie came from an auction. All other pieces were acquired directly from persons who worked on the films or by private deals with other
collectors around the world. Due to my experience in this field, I think I do have some
kind of a sense when it comes to estimations regarding this items. Auctions do not
always add real market values to them, so I usually tend to do private dealings. In
gereral you can say a piece is more expensive the more important it is in the film,
however I’m really happy to say that I was also gifted some pieces in the past.

How do you find out about an impending auction for Friday the 13th items and how do
you prepare to bid on those items? Do you typically go to the auction in person, or do
you bid online or over the telephone?

I was in contact with a guy from the production in early February who did let me know
that an auction will come up. Only a short time later my buddy Jason DeBord (owner of
the Original Prop Blog) confirmed to me this info. He’s friends with the owner of the auction
house Profiles In History who is holding the sale. Actually, you can not be prepared
enough for such an event for various reasons. First, you never know how high others bid
the item up you are interested in, and you never know if something else pops up in the
meantime outside of the auction.

At the moment I have 2 further deals offered where I`m very interested in. One is a very
cool prop from part 7 and the other is a complete set of items from part 8, coming
directly from a production member. Sometimes there is pretty much nothing to find and you
have a hard time working on contacts etc, and sometimes they find you and there is
more than you can pay for.

Do you get nervous during the bidding process and is there a lot of competition for the
Friday items you seek for the museum?

I’m always getting this feeling when preparing and working on a deal. Think of it as a twist
of nervousness and excitement. It’s always overwhelming to see when hard work pays
off.

For auctions in particular its even a bit more tricky, as it’s not only up to you and the
current owner if you get the item, but anyone else is able to bid against you.

Do you typically go to the auction in person, or do you bid online or over
the telephone?
 
I planned to bid online in the upcoming auction as I sadly had no chance to
attend the live auction in the States, due to some business related reasons.
This can be a benefit but also a loss. Fact is, the hype on location will
not catch me to bid more than I planned, when not being there in person.

What are the items you hope to obtain at the upcoming auction starting April 30th?
 
Oh there are a few items I’m really interested in. The costume and mask are of course
my focus. Although I think the estimation is a bit high for this set. As it is for pretty much all
Friday items in this auction. Please note, machetes from Freddy vs Jason were dealt for
$1,500 – $3,000 depending if it is a stunt or a hero version (please learn more about this
terms on my website in the NEWS section, article from 29th January 09). The machete
in this auction is estimated by the auction house for between $6,000 and $8,000 and a
make up torso that was NOT used on screen for $3,000 - $5,000. My personal
estimation for this torso item was $800 – $1.000, by the way, so you can be sure I will
not break into anyones bid here.
 
This auction will be an awesome event though and I`m looking forward to see what
prices will be reached. Also from items of the other movies.

Next week I will have part two of this interview as Mario will tell his experiences of the auction and what he obtained for the museum. I hope he gets the full costume and mask from Friday the13th (2009)!