It's not as clumsy or as random as a blaster. It's an elegant weapon for a more civilized -- yadda yadda. The iconic weapon of the Jedi Knight is certainly in the zeitgeist these days. In September, Darth Vader's screen-matched hero fighting lightsaber will go under hammer at Propstore Auctions, a first for any screen-used piece in this very special category. To herald its coming, David and Ryan are joined by the person who probably knows more about the lightsabers of the original trilogy than anyone, Lucasfilm expert and COO of Propstore Los Angeles, Brandon Alinger. In Part 1 of this long and chunky deep-dive Brandon takes the guys through all the lightsabers of Star Wars: A New Hope. Come into our dark cave of knowledge. Your weapons -- you will not need them.

The inimitable Tom Spina returns to the podcast to shine a bright light on a topic he seems to know everything about: Gremlins and Mogwai. Having professionally restored almost 80 of the wee beasties, Tom regales David and Ryan with his knowledge of all the ins and outs of the stunts, heroes, marionettes, puppets, giant versions and SFX versions built for Joe Dante's Gremlins and Gremlins II and throws cold water on any Gremlins myths that might be stuck up your chimney of prop knowledge. But don't listen to this episode after midnight -- we at the Stuff Dreams Are Made Of can't be responsible for what might happen. Or for any of Ryan's Gremlins puns. ~Mogwai singing~

The coups continue on your favorite movie props podcast, this time with Fantastic Four (and WandaVision... and The Great) director Matt Shakman. Matt, a collector himself, is a true-believing, Stuff-Dreams-Are-Made-Of-listening fan with a great interest in movie props. Hear all about how that influenced the fresh and unique aesthetic of Fantastic Four and what he was thinking about making (and taking home!) while prepping and filming his fantastic Marvel movie. And how Matt missed out on his chance to own a fake Stormbreaker.* *We're kidding, of course. Even our moms have fake Stormbreakers now.** **Except Bart's mom. She prefers fake Mandalorian helmets.

David and Ryan welcome friend of the podcast, fellow collector, former guest, and creator and host of Cinema Relics Investigates, Dan Lanigan, back onto The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of. This episode reveals what's new in props for both the guys AND for Dan (it's a good one, sci-fi fans), discusses the state of the hobby, and delves into Dan's new web-series (you guessed it) Cinema Relics Investigates! And Dan's newest i-n-v-e-s-t-i-g-a-t-i-o-n is a spicy one revolving around - can you imagine - a fake Marvel prop!

There's no tape delay on this one. Get a fully unvarnished and uncensored David and Ryan discussing all the treasures in Heritage Auctions' July 16-18 Hollywood Entertainment Memorabilia auction! It's the live one, so that means it's categories time! So join the guys as they discuss all the Things They Wish They Were Sophisticated Enough to Buy, the Things They'd Buy for Their Co-Host, The Best "Small" Pieces, the Most Insane Star Wars Props, The Weirdest Things, The Things Their Kids Would Love Them For Buying, the Things Their Wives Would Leave Them For Buying, the Things They're Actually Bidding On, and, of course, the Worst Prometheus Prop!

It's back-to-back podcast coups as David and Ryan are joined by legendary director Joe Dante as well as a host of technical problems for poor Dave. But the content is so good, you'll never know! The guys chat with fellow (to Ryan) New Jersey native Joe about his storied career, their favorite Dante films, and Joe's own life as a movie-mad cinema-goer and collector of films. Then he tells them the absolutely insane story of how he became the custodian of /the/ Rosebud from freaking CITIZEN KANE for over 40 years and why he has decided to pass it on to the next generation of collectors.

In another coup for the podcast, David and Ryan get to sit down with Thomas Peak, the son of legendary movie poster illustrator and fine artist Bob Peak. Tom discusses his father's work, the choice to sell his father's remaining art, what it was like growing up in the home of a famous movie artist, and everything else every Bob Peak fan would want to know. Join the guys for a great discussion, even if Tom doesn't find David all that funny.

David and Ryan return to spelunk the further depths of Heritage’s massive July Entertainment Auction. Join the guys as they page-turn all of Session 3 and 4 and uncover the titillating mysteries within—including Game of Thrones, Jeannie bottles, an ALF head, Star Trek, Star Wars, the Michael Westmore Collection, Silent Running art, a massive John Alvin collection, Bond, ET, Conan swords, Big Trouble in Little China, My Neighbor Totoro, Home Alone hats, the best Struzan art from the worst Indiana Jones movie, and the greatest western pistol of all time that you're a fool if you don't bid on! (It's from Tombstone and Ryan is the consignor -Bart) and more!

David and Ryan return to spelunk the further depths of Heritage’s massive July Entertainment Auction. Join the guys as they page-turn all of Session 2 and uncover the titillating mysteries within—including Rosebud from Citizen Kane, original Edith Head costume drawings, early scripts from King Kong and The Maltese Falcon, costumes and personal items from Marilyn Monroe and more!

Buckle up The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of fans, Heritage Auctions is back with a gigantic multi-day, multi-session, multi-consignor auction. Across five sessions and four days (July 15, 16, 17, 18th), David and Ryan cover everything from the Cecille B. DeMille (yes, that one) collection, to the Bob Peak collection (yes, that one), *including* the original Apocalypse Now 1-sheet art (yes! that one!) to Rosebud sleds, to Indy whips, to the greatest pistol from the greatest [modern] western of all time: Tombstone! There's lots of lots coming over the next three episodes, so hydrate, stretch your ears, and get out your catalog to flip through along with your favorite co-hosts. Part 1 begins... now!

Life has been snatched from the jaws of death! Or is it the other way? Either way, David and Ryan are back on the hot mics, dropping knowledge about props, costumes, movies, whisky, monkey radiator caps and, unfortunately, Nazis. In the smashing Season 11 premiere, the guys share where they've been, what they've been up to, and where this podcast is going (hint: it's going because it's been sponsored by Heritage Auctions as there's a gigantic summer movie memorabilia auction imminently upon us!)

As another season comes to a close, David and Ryan address the murky future of the Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, get real about the economics of producing a podcast, and discuss the possible roads ahead. But it's not all serious--they still crack wise, make bad puns, and rant about minutiae as always. And they answer the real question on everyone's minds: what the hell did Ryan go and buy this time?

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of is back with its second deep dive of the season, this one covering one of David's and Ryan's favorite movie weapons of all time: the Han Solo blaster. To fill in all the greeblies and nerdy details, the guys are joined by DL-44 expert, master builder, and gunsmith Scott Juarez from the RPF and the Star Wars fan community. They cover everything from the (in)famous A New Hope blaster to the "Greedo killer" to the MGC blasters of Empire to the stunts with a fascinating hero lineage to David's own "Stembridge blaster" and that weird hero from Jedi. In and amongst it all, the guys discuss the purported "only fully intact [Han Solo] blaster from the original film" recently offered for public sale... and why, maybe, it is no longer either a purported hero or offered for sale. *Linda Richmond voice* Discuss!

David and Ryan dump out the 'ole podcast mailbag and dive into myriad topics, including: collecting classic paperwork, acquiring Game of Thrones pieces, the intellectual sewer that is Reddit comments, yacht collectors and the yachts they love, disputed Stormtrooper lore, Troy clappers, a plea for more comic art talk, more propas (we made it a thing), and more podcast-listener-first-timer acquisitions! It's a veritable cornucopia of prop talk (and yacht talk). And -- finally -- Ryan gives a big, honkin' clue regarding his mystery acquisition.

Just as House of the Dragon Season 3 shooting gets underway, David and Ryan are joined by Waldo Mason, lead make-up special effects artist on the show across seasons 2 and 3. The guys talk to Waldo about how he got his start in the movie business, explore his incredible list of movie credits alone, they discuss burns, wounds, sores, monsters and aliens, Dave sort of forgives him for having worked on Prometheus, and then they dig deep into all things House of the Dragon!

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of's first guest, author Rhys Thomas, returns to the podcast to sift through the aftermath of the seismic, $28,000,000 Ruby Slippers sale by Heritage Auctions this past December. They revisit his great book, The Ruby Slippers of Oz, and they review what fascinating new information has come to light since they had him on the podcast wayyyy back in 2020. Two big events have happened since: 1) The Wizard of Oz being remastered in glorious 4K Ultra-HD and 2) the recovery of the original slippers that were stolen from the Judy Garland museum in 2005. Plus, Rhys answers the real question on everyone's mind: are they made of real rubies?

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of is back with another live episode (covering Propstore's March 26-28 auction)! David and Ryan cover their (in)famous categories, shouting out everything from their favorite "small" pieces in days 2 and 3 to the worst Prometheus prop in the auction. They fake buy each other gifts, pick out stuff to delight or antagonize their wives, and talk about the things their kids would want them to buy. Finally, the guys tell each other what they should be bidding on and talk about what they might actually raise the paddle for in the auction. It's a live stunt spectacular!

Another season, another Propstore auction. David and Ryan dive into the catalog for Propstore's first of three EMLA auctions of 2025, this one taking place from March 26 through the 28th in Los Angeles. This episode covers "a few of our favorite things" as the guys highlight the most interesting lots from day 1 of the 3-day auction. Join them for everything from fusion reactors to X-Files costumes! They've got Batman costumes, giant matte paintings, 100-year-old tramp boots, Conan swords, Commando vests, Blunt exo-suits, human skin books, ZF-1s, galaxy quests, ghost traps, wizard's robes, Dragonslaying equipment, stop-motion Martians (shut up, Dave), Pee-Wee's pals, and of course, expensive Star Wars props to drive Dave insane (shut up, Ryan)!

This week on The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, it’s all about movie cars—despite David’s at-best half-interest in the topic. But Ryan and special guest star/producer/super editor Bart go ham with celebrity guest Rob Klein on what it means to be a “movie car” enthusiast, the movie cars of history that really rev their engines, and an in-depth discussion of the restoration of the A-car from Back to the Future. It’s a fearsome foursome! Let’s see if you bastards can do 90!

Gino Sabatino returns to cover all the remaining history and mystery surrounding the most infamous helmet in movie history… But before that, David and Ryan review the stunning results of Propstore’s Blade Runner 2049 and offer what analysis they can as “experts.” We say “experts” because sadly The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of once must once again slog into the morass of fake props and even faker “experts” that seems to thrive on social media, hellbent on separating collectors from their sanity and their money. Join the guys for another fine rant, some filmmaking knowledge, and good-god-damned-old-fashioned common sense. Hashtag Darth Vader Helmet. Hashtag private deals.