The Jim Henson Company is putting more than 400 items up for auction through Julien’s Auctions. You can bid on over 80 items including puppets, memorabilia, and costumes used in Henson productions; personal items of Jim Henson; artwork created by Caroll Spinney, and even fan newsletters and press packets from the 1980’s. These items cover a range of productions, from The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock to The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, Aliens in the Family, and Farscape. Online bidding is available now and an in-person auction will be held at Henson Studios in Hollywood on November 25.
Below we offer tips for those participating in the auction – or watching with envy from the sidelines.
You can also hear more insights into how the auction came about and stories behind some of the items in our podcast interview with Karen Falk, archives director for the Jim Henson Company.
When will the auction take place?
Online bidding is now open at juliensauction.com and an in-person event will take place at the Henson Studios in Los Angeles on November 25. That’s when the auction closes.
I can’t make it to Los Angeles. Can I still participate?
There is an online auction, an in-person auction, a live-stream auction during the in-person auction, or you can bid by phone during the auction.
I’ve never participated in an auction. Will this be like when Paddington waved at the auctioneer and accidentally bought a carpentry set?
You should probably watch the video on how to bid on the auction website: https://youtu.be/deq0GJBh03g
How much are items selling for?
Current prices range from $100 for a Danhurst College sticker to $17,500 for an Uncle Traveling Matt puppet.
I love the idea of the auction, but I don’t have hundreds or thousands to spend.
You can get an auction catalogue for $100 with nice pictures of all the items you can’t afford.
Which productions are represented?
The Muppet Show, The Muppets Valentine Show, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, Fraggle Roc, The Great Santa Claus Switch, Hey Cinderella!, The Frog Prince, Saturday Night Live, The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Muppet Babies, The Tale of Bunny Picnic, The Dark Crystal, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Labyrinth, The Jim Henson Hour, Dog City, The Witches, The Christmas Toy, The Secret Life of Toys, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, Brats of the Lost Nebula, Aliens in the Family, Farscape, Turkey Hollow, The Hoobs. Miss Piggy photo shoots, Muppets Tonight, Dinosaurs, Animal Show, Duff’s Happy Fun Bake Time, Mirror Mask, Sid the Science Kid, Sesame Street, art by Caroll Spinney, and personal items from Jim Henson.
Can I really get items from The Secret Life of Toys?!
You can get one item from The Secret Life of Toys.
I heard there were Doozers. Can I really get Doozers?!
You can get one Doozer.
Is he really that cute, though?
I mean, absolutely.
Why are they holding this auction now?
The auction was sparked by the closing of the London storage unit when all the items from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance were moved to the US. The Jim Henson Company was initially going to do an auction of just items from that production, but realized that there are other things as part of their collection that they were ready to part with. There are tens of thousands of items still in the archives.
Didn’t the Jim Henson Company want to keep anything from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance?
The Jim Henson Company kept many things. They also offered items up to museums they partner with and some will be kept in the Netflix Archives. There were just so many puppets, props, and costumes used in the production, they still had items left.
How did they choose which items to put up for auction?
The company is celebrating 70 years, so they decided to draw from the entire history of the company and wanted to have something in the auction that represented most productions and different character groups. They also reached out to the Henson family who shared some personal items from Jim Henson. And they partnered with Debra Spinney, wife of Caroll Spinney, to sell some of Caroll’s artwork.
I thought Caroll Spinney was a puppeteer.
He was. He was also a wonderful artist. He contained multitudes.
Some of those puppets are decades old. They must be toast inside.
All the puppets have been carefully restored and are ready for display.
What if all I want is an 8-foot art deco painting of Miss Piggy in the style of Mucha?
Well, my friend, you are in luck.
Why does everything go to private collectors and none of the rest of the fans get to see them?
Quite a few items have joined the permanent collections of museums across the country where fans can see them, including at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. You can also see Fozzie’s Studebaker from The Muppet Movie at the Studebaker National Museum in Indiana and even – at least until next May – Kermit’s banjo at the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma. Items also pop up in traveling exhibitions and get loaned out to other museums. Right now, the Bermuda National Gallery has a whole exhibit on Michael Frith, including Muppets like Dr. Teeth and Fozzie. The Muppets aren’t everywhere, but they get around.
But I’m a true fan and I deserve those things more than collectors who are just going to put them in a storage unit or resell them at their earliest chance. I would put them on display in my living room and treasure them every day. What I feel for these items is more valuable than money.
That’s not how auctions work. But I hear you. And some things will go to true fans. Probably.
I checked my couch cushions and it turns out I do have hundreds, possibly thousands, of dollars to spend on puppets, props, and Muppets memorabilia. What do I need to keep in mind?
These prices are going to go up, so it makes sense to wait until closer to the auction for determining your bidding. If you are curious about an item, reach out to Julien’s Auctions. They have more information such as condition reports for the items, size, and shipping details.
And that price listed when the auction ends is it. That’s the full price, right?
Don’t forget to factor in taxes, shipping, and a 28% buyers fee on top of the hammer price.
Oh. So I have to budget like a third more in addition to my maximum bid.
Math isn’t really my thing, but something like that.
But there are definitely Yukkle Puppets from Aliens in the Family in the auction?
There are definitely Yukkle Puppets. And they could be yours.
Click here to speed talk like an auctioneer on the ToughPigs Discord!
by Drake Lucas
