Julien's Auctions has officially joined the podcast as a sponsor, and they are coming out of the gate with a biggie: The Henson Company has raised the curtain on its first-ever auction to mark the 70th anniversary of the company. David and Ryan are here to share the juicy details with the two ladies who made it all happen: Lisa Henson, Jim's daughter and the CEO of The Henson Company, and Karen Falk, its Archives Director. They chat with the guys about what it means to be in charge of the Muppets and their treasures, the history of the archives, and what brought about the decision, for the very first time, to open their vault doors to the fans. The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of will be there covering this historic event with the officious-ness of Sam Eagle. It's not easy... needing green...

David and Ryan wrap up Heritage Auctions' massively successful Kief Fromm and Stewart Berkowitz sales, discuss the observations and trends they are seeing in the tea leaves for the golden age of comics and of television, and then move on to the topic of the week: #PrivateDeals. The guys have joked a lot about the topic, but this episode is a serious (well, as serious as they get...) discussion about what constitutes a #PrivateDeal, how one goes about making a #PrivateDeal, conducting #PrivateDeals safely, and share a couple of examples of #PrivateDeals from their own storied collecting careers... all with special thanks to the moron who inspired this hashtag. #FakeStormbreakers

No, it’s not the title of David’s Hollywood memoir, it’s Heritage’s three-day The Walking Dead auction extravaganza! Join David and Ryan as they flip through 640 pages of stunning lots from the hit AMC show and debate which weapon they would use in the event of a zombie apocalypse… and also whether they could fit a tiger in the back of a Cybertruck. Head shots only! Enter if you dare.

David and Ryan are joined once again by Stuff Dreams Are Made Of guest MVP Rob Klein - this time to discuss the incredible Stuart Berkowitz collection. This massive archive of 1960s television assets goes under the hammer at Heritage Auctions on October 24, 2025. He's got the Honeymooners, Gilligan's Island, Lost in Space, Star Trek, the Munsters, and, of course, Batman, Robin and a host of scenery-chewing Bat-baddies from the classic series. Rob, an expert in this era, takes the guys on a guided tour through the groovy 60s and the late, great, Stuart Berkowitz's dazzling collection. Listen, or it's bang-zoom with ya!

David and Ryan crack open another Heritage auction catalog, but this one is brimming with beautiful original comic art rather than props. Joined by honored friend of the podcast and golden-age comic art guru Kelvin Mao, the guys discuss the legacy of a complicated collector and marvel over the incredible collection of golden age works that he assembled over his career. From Golden Age to Silver Age, from C.C. Beck to Jack Cole, from Will Eisner to Bob Kane, from Frazetta to Gill Fox, from All-Star Squadron to the greatest(?) Todd McFarlane Batman cover ever... pour a fine Japanese whisky and join the guys as they travel back in time to adventure through the Keif Fromm archive.

David and Ryan are joined by reliable props expert Jay Skwarlo who has abandoned TIE Pilots for red bikes to discuss all things Pee Wee's Big Adventure for the film's 40th anniversary. The guys discuss every iteration of the 13 (!) bikes made for the movie, those Jay has handled, those he's restored, those he's still looking to meet ($10,000 reward offered), why Large Marge is still terrifying, whether Jay needs to consider changing his name now, and the enduring charm of this gem of the 1980s that gave us the genius of Paul Reubens and Tim Burton in one zany creative sundae. We wouldn't sell this episode for all the money in the world! Not for a hundred million, trillion, billion dollars!

Today on the pod, David and Ryan discuss the thing that every collector seeks: making their collection better. Specifically, taking a piece in your collection and upgrading it. That can mean anything from going from production-made to screen-used, from stunt to hero, from un-matched to screen-matched and beyond! How do the guys approach an upgrade? How crazy does "needing" (we are sick people) an upgrade drive them? What's a delta? All that, some macroeconomic theory from Ryan, and more on this week's The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of!

What's almost as good as getting the legendary Guillermo del Toro on the podcast to talk about his collection? Getting his collection on the podcast to talk about it! Join David and Ryan as they dive into the catalog for Heritage Auctions' Guillermo del Toro Collection: Bleak House, Part 1 coming to you live on September 26th! The guys cover everything from Cronos to Nightmare Alley with all the Hellboys, Pan's Labyrinths, and Shapes of Water in between! It's sure to be a truly unique, terrifying, and cinematic collecting event! Exclamation points!

On a very special, unscheduled, unsponsored episode of the podcast, David and Ryan hop on the mics to review the September 2025 Propstore auction. What did they win? What did they lose? What did they think of the results? Did David win a lightsaber? Did Ryan decide what to bid on? Hint: someone made some dough, and someone spent too much.

Listener questions have piled up, so between auctions David and Ryan are diving in with their virtual letter openers to unseal and read. The questions and answers cover every kind of topic under the sun, including: buying pieces from reputable productions via disreputable vendors, buying pieces from disreputable productions via reputable vendors, the guys' favorite pieces by sentimentality factor, price trends in the hobby, House of the Dragon props, props we should really just give to our co-host (and visa-versa), preservation and restoration conversation, auction rules and minutiae, the Ghost of Greg Jein, and -- who's stronger, Mickey Mantle or Superman?

David and Ryan get on the blower to cover the categories and days 2 and 3 of the Propstore auction, which kicks off tomorrow, September 4th! Hear all about David's anxiety over Darth Vader's lightsaber and Ryan's over the sheer amount of Keaton Batman stuff he has look at before the auction really even begins. They discuss the little things they love that might fly beneath the radar as well as what they think the weirdest thing in the auction might be. And: what would their kids love? What would their wives hate? What would they buy for each other? Who is bidding on terrible Dean Cain props? What really /is/ the worst Prometheus prop? Oh yeah, and another update on fakes. They're comin' out of the walls, man!!

Lucasfilm (and laser sword) expert Brandon Alinger returns to the podcast a mere week before freaking Darth Vader's freaking hero lightsaber goes under the hammer at Propstore. Together, he, David, and Ryan discuss the lightsabers of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and dive deep into the Vader saber that Propstore discovered earlier this year. New Jedi secrets will be unearthed, new jokes will be made, and you will be dazzled. It's guaranteed.

It's Q4 and another massive auction season is nigh upon us. The fun kicks off with Propstore's September live auction and 1,400+ lots from all your favorite (and some unfavorite) films and TV shows. Join David and Ryan as they page through Day 1 of the sale and cover everything from 2010 to Zardoz and everything in between, including Clockwork orange canes, wonderful Batman toys, Indy whips (and belts), Jaws' jaws clappers, Sauron helmets, flashy things, hippie-slaying flamethrowers, the Rocketeer, Genesis devices, Picard's flute (Round 3 -- or is it 4?) and, of course, Darth Vader's Lightsaber. Join the guys for all the jokes and insights you've come to love and also for a very special Stuff Dreams Are Made Of career retrospective on Dean Cain.

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.