Whilst the choice of items for replication may seem somewhat random there is a sort of method in our madness. We typically select items based on 3 criteria,

1) Availability of an original prop or reference to study.
2) Consumer appeal.
3) Suitability, will the item make a successful and satisfying replica?

We don’t typically select an item based on its specific Bond era. So if the item meets most or all of the above criteria we will consider it. However the ultimate choice of what we end up offering rests with EON. The Producers personally approve each item we suggest and the selection at the end of the day remains theirs. It’s also important to remember that some era’s are very limited in their options sadly. But yes we will look and consider any item.

We are huge Bond fans. We grew up with the films and they are in our DNA, so no we were not surprised that the items have proven popular, but we did not know how many likeminded fans there were out there. Skyfall is a great film and a fitting addition to the franchise (a proper Bond film we say!) What it really helped to do was re-ignite the spark behind Bond with the latent fan and the general public.

Retailers who were months before telling us that Bond was out of date’ or ‘no longer relevant’ were suddenly all over Bond. People who had loved Bond and had forgotten about how much they loved it were remembering it again. Although we know that Bond never really wnet away… Skyfall brought it back to center stage.

Yes, we always try to study and investigate the original prop where we can, and have spent many hours geeking out in the EON archives, getting to know the props. We are deeply indebted to Meg the EON Archivist who is a true unsung hero in the Bond prop world! We have also tracked down items in private collections.

But there are sadly some items that are just lost or destroyed and cannot be studied, in that case we rely on the assistance of crew members and cast members to piece together as much of the story as we can, it’s a true exercise in movie-archeology sometimes. It has been an amazing experience to have been trusted to handle and study most  of Bond’s most famous props and learn their secrets, this is information we try to pass on in the detailed prop story booklets that accompany our pieces.