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2001: A Space Odyssey Heywood Floyd William Sylvester Space Suit Set

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia / Movie - Memorabilia Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 1,700.00 USD
2001: A Space Odyssey Heywood Floyd William Sylvester Space Suit Set
A true find, and one of rarest of all collectables! “2001: A Space Odyssey” is considered by many as not only the greatest Science Fiction movie ever made, but perhaps the greatest movie of all time. It was a “mind blower” back in 1968 when it came out, and it still blows minds almost 45 years later. Since its release, a day hasn’t passed when someone isn’t arguing about what the movie actually means … especially the twenty minute dialogue free “Dawn of Man” opening, and the revolutionary “star gate” sequence at the end. Books, documentaries, and University courses solely based on this extraordinary ground-breaking movie continue to thrive. Virtually every great director of the last two decades (Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, Landis, Cameron, etc.) have admitted that ”2001” has been one of their greatest influences, and in many cases became the catalyst to their own desire to make movies. Though the special effects were all made utilizing the kind of traveling mattes, and multi-exposures of a single negative that have been around since Melies, to this day, even with the most sophisticated of computer generating imagery, there still is no equal to the visuals that director, and special effects supervisor Stanley Kubrick thrust on the screen. And now for this amazing set we are offering. Since “2001” was released, its legions of fans have scoured the Earth looking for anything related to the film. Unfortunately, once production completed Kubrick ordered all the models, sets, and plans, everything on screen and behind the scenes destroyed. He’s purpose: he’d seen too many quality sci-fi films become trivialized by the use of their sets, props, models, etc. being re-used in cheaper “B” movie productions. He also was extremely selective about any merchandising. In fact, upon the release of the film there were only three plastic scale models made: Aurora’s Moonbus, the Orion III and the Airflix. And they are virtually impossible to find. Therefore anything associated with “2001” has become the holy grail of movie collectors. However, in 2000 an entrepreneur from Spain began selling 1.6 scale custom spacesuits modeled after the ones worn by the three main characters in “2001”, Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester), Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood), and Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea). These were beautifully realized high quality sets with extreme attention to detail. The collection received positive reviews and orders started flowing in. However the entrepreneur was basically a one-man operation and soon had more orders than he could fill. He was quickly over his head and his business collapsed. No one knows exactly how many of this collection was ever actually made, sold and shipped, but it’s a very limited number indeed! Suffice it to say, not many of these amazing suits exist anymore. They are extremely rare. Yet, thanks to legendary motion picture art designer Fred Folger, we have the full set to offer! In perfect mint condition, in their original packaging, and sealed!
The Heywood Floyd Set: This full silver spacesuit and equipment was worn by Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester). After the famous 25 minute “Dawn of Man” sequence with the most amazing “jump cut” in cinematic history , it is discovered that a monolith, purposely buried, is discovered on the moon on a crater called “Clavius”, and Floyd Is set up to investigate. While traveling there in an airbus, he enjoys coffee and a “close to chicken” sandwich, speaking the banal talk that all humans continue to use for the rest of the movie (HAL, the computer, being the most compassionate of any of the characters). Once on the crater, Floyd joins the others deep in the crater to see the monolith, and then takes group photos, as casual as a family on their first trip to Disneyland. The scene is cut short when the monolith suddenly sends out an ear-piercing signal to Jupiter, alerting the aliens that the Earth folk are now evolved enough to have discovered their exterritorial “alarm clock”, and now it’s time they check them out. The silver suit comes with a matching helmet with “United Astronautics Agency – Clavius Base” emblems’ on both sides of the top, a communication pack, and an air pack, along with matching gloves and brown boots. It’s packaged in vacuum formed plastic in a box representing the corridor connecting HAL’S main brain chamber. The folder over lid has color photos from the movie, and an explanation text (however, the one flaw: he spells “”2001: A Space Odyssey” wrong… perhaps for legal reasons!) Main suit is approximately 9”x 6”