When a really odd, yet very cool piece comes our way we have to blog about it! That’s the case with these custom made polar bear slippers used by Mr. Freeze, actor  Arnold Schwarzenegger in the fourth installment of the Batman film franchise.

In Joel Schumachers over the top comic book adaptation, the fan favorite villian Mr. Freeze was cast with an over the top actor, as is the case when body builder turn actor Arnold Schwarzenegger took the role of the cold blooded villian. To match this, the charachter is seen lounging around his “Ice Mansion” wearing a baby blue robe with these outlandish white polar bear slippers.

Custom made by the production, these slippers feature a very plush outside, and are lined with white satin for the actor. Since these were made for the actor they are not marked with a size, but if we had to guess, we would shoot for somewhere around a men’s size 12! With a sewn on black nose, these slipper feature black in-set eye’s with attached faux diamonds (A subtle hint to the villians search for diamonds throuhgout the film).

Other than a brief shot in the film these were also featured in promotional shoots for the film, where the actor can be seen sitting on a throne made of ice as well as with his wife, whom plays an important part in his identity in the film.

Right now, these are for sale, straight from the feet of Mr. Freeze to you! check them out now at www.thepropblock.com.

Zack Snyder’s 2006 film adaptation 300 was a groundbreaking mix of live action and extreme green screen work, with amazing cinematography by Lary Fong. In this article we are going to take a detailed look at the “Tree of the Dead” prop, currently for sale right now on our site!

The depiction of violence presented in the 300 is a mix of photographed reality and stylized visual effects, and this piece is a perfect example of that. When seen on screen the tree is large and looming, depicting the gore and death that the movie is ripe with. At first glance, as with most of the scenes in the film, you think the entire piece was done via CGI, but taking a closer look you realize that the detailed slashes, stab wounds, blood and death were done with very intricate miniatures that were later enhances with visual effects.

Each body is actually a very intricate miniature, made of silicone and depicting two different styles of male and female. With hand punched pair, facial expressions and even detailed genitalia these pieces were made specifically to depict the horrific death the film is all about.

After the scene was storyboarded to depict the scene in the graphic novel, the model makers went to work, making detailed clay miniatures and maquette which eventually led to the creation of the versions seen on screen that were then mocked up on the detailed tree miniature and filmed, where they would later be enhanced via visual effects for the final version seen on screen.

With the advent of CGI and visual effects taking over on screen you don’t really think items like this are still made, but this art is still represented in film and very valuable to collectors.

Welcome to the brand new blog on original props & costumes presented by The Prop Block! Here we will be featuring articles on items for sale on out site, as well as upcoming items. We hope to give an in-depth look at some very exciting pieces, and will also write about pieces in our companies personal collection. So stay tuned a we plan to update the blog every week!

You may have noticed some changes around here…We are proud to announce the launch of The Prop Block 2.0! We have made some very exciting changes to the overall design of the website, so take a look around and let us know what you think. We have also started to list items on our eBay page weekly, so make sure you check us out via the link on the homepage so you don’t miss out on great deals.

We have some very exciting news coming up so if you have not already please sign up for our daily newsletter via the link on the homepage! Our newsletter features new and upcoming items as well as news on our website and upcoming auction info.

There will be much much more to come in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned, and thanks for looking around.

-The Prop Block