**The Marvelous Superman Suit: A Prop Store Treasure**

As I stand before this extraordinary piece, I am reminded of the magic that happens when art and technology come together to create something truly remarkable. This is no ordinary suit, but rather an authentic Superman costume from the 1960s, expertly crafted by the legendary prop maker Stewart Freeborn. The attention to detail is staggering, with every fiber of this iconic cape-like garment meticulously woven to perfection.

The story behind this incredible piece begins with its creation in the 1960s, a time when television was still in its infancy as a medium for superhero storytelling. Supermen and women were first introduced on screen, captivating audiences with their extraordinary abilities and heroic deeds. The Superman suit, designed by Freeborn, was one of the most iconic and enduring costumes to emerge from this era. It's no surprise that this particular piece has become an absolute treasure trove for collectors and enthusiasts.

The craftsmanship of the suit is simply breathtaking. The designers employed a technique called "coating wire" – essentially coat hanger wire bent into shape and molded into these fantastic pockets – to create the iconic Superman suit. This wire was then wired into place, and a motor was added to bring the suit to life. When the motor runs, it causes the wires to move, giving the illusion of movement and energy to this extraordinary piece.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this suit is its internal labeling system. Each garment component has been meticulously labeled with detailed instructions on how they should be sewn together. This level of attention to detail is a testament to Freeborn's expertise as a prop maker, who carefully researched every aspect of the Superman character to ensure that each costume was accurate and authentic.

When I asked our in-house expert about this incredible piece, he revealed some surprising information. "This suit does not have any padding," he said, "and it's actually quite remarkable." In fact, Freeborn himself designed the Superman costume without muscle mass under the fabric, which is a technique that would later become known as 'powerful definition.' This was a deliberate choice to create an illusion of muscle and strength, making Superman appear even more formidable on screen.

This suit is not just a relic of the past but also a fascinating artifact of the evolution of superhero costumes. When compared to modern-day suits, it's clear that this piece represents one of the final gasps of the 1960s TV era. Superhero suits became increasingly elaborate and detailed in the years that followed, with designers incorporating advanced technology and materials to create more convincing and realistic depictions.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this suit is its provenance. It was created for Christopher Reeve's iconic portrayal of Superman, and it's been meticulously preserved and restored by our team of experts. The level of detail is simply stunning, with every stitch and seam expertly done to create a seamless integration between fabric and metal.

Our in-house expert, Stephen, couldn't help but marvel at the sheer simplicity and elegance of this piece. "It's almost like 1966 Batman type belt," he said with a smile. "Very basic, yet incredibly effective." This is precisely what makes this suit so remarkable – its understated beauty belies the incredible amount of work that went into creating it.

**Bidding Information**

The Superman Suit is currently available for bidding on Prop Store, with a live auction set to take place from November 3rd to November 6th. However, our online community can also experience this extraordinary piece in real-time through our live streaming service. Visit propstore.com to bid or learn more about this incredible treasure.

**Live Auction Details**

* Date: November 3rd – November 6th

* Time: [insert time]

* Location: London

* Online Bidding: Available on Prop Store website

* Viewing: Available by appointment only

Don't miss the chance to own a piece of Superman history. Bid now and take home this extraordinary costume, expertly crafted by the legendary Stewart Freeborn.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody Adam Savage improv store with Superman and Stephen Lane Superman how are you Stephen hey dude how you doing very good this is this Superman this is a I don't even know where to begin I'm standing next to a real Superman suit which this is a Christopher Reeve Superman it is a Christopher which movie is it from well from three films yeah so so uh they had a process during the production of these three films where they were handing down so to save on budget save on time save on construction they were looking at what components they could use as they went from film to film you might be able to pick up with your camera here the colors the shades here are two slightly different shades of blue now some of that's going to be down to production time and also dying you know the different batches that went through Etc as well so if I walk you through from top to bottom the the tunic here is from Superman 3. okay and then the belt and Trunks and legging are from Superman 2 and then the cape was from Superman one it was a flying cape and then it was converted subsequently to a walking cape for Superman 2. so you've got a mix of it there uh and actually I should mention that the boots are unlabeled but we can tell that these are flying so the way that we tell that is the fact that the underside has red tape on them so for any of the shots where he's flying and in Flight you have the color throughout as well so you've got sort of three films worth all in one complete costume and that's what's incredibly exciting about this is It's a complete set you know we see capes come up we see tunics come up let's get a complete set like this it's just astonishing as I'm looking at it I really the texture of this fabric is really remarkable to me it's an insanely good condition yeah it's in in beautiful condition and actually that the fabric is a really important aspect to this costume when we're talking about authenticity interesting so um going back into the mid 90s maybe early 90s I had my first discovery my first Superman costume piece came to me and I wanted to find out because there were quite a lot of replicas out there purporting to be the original things while we were well you know in the early days the Wild Wild West and so I tracked down Noel Howard and Noel Howard ran the floor at Berman's and Nathan's when the Superman films were being produced so he ran the costume shop essentially for for the films and he I took up this tunic to him at that time and he explained to me that they were really struggling because there wasn't a sort of spandex and lycris that are available today to use then so not only did they have to have the elasticity but they're also very very concerned about sweat marks how many you think about it you know as soon as you say it you're like okay well that's pretty obvious isn't it because you've got a guy in high action he's just wearing a thin layer of sort of a skin type materials or weeks on end and so he ended up finding this weaving shop out in Germany actually who who weaved these for him uh custom using this material they sort of pretty much invented for this film um and he explained to me that they only ever did one other film after this which was actually Judge Dredd so the suits that we wore by Stallone Etc and Judge Dredd they were made from the same weave obviously a completely different style um and then the company went bus soon soon after and the the weaving loom was was broken up so whenever I'm asked to authenticate one of these it's the first thing we're looking at it's looking at the material you know this is also fully labeled but you know the labels can be replicated you know it's but the weave is is impossible uh I also didn't realize that the S symbol is not an applique it is completely integral and each part of it is separate sound yeah and these are these are I mean it's it's machine stitching but it's all done by hand and and what that means is again when you're looking at these suits and one of the some of the really hardcore Superman fans are looking at this they're trying to screen match this based upon the the slight difference in permutations that you're going to get in the shapes on this as well so so some of these suits have been screen matched as well uh now this is the only mannequin that I can see that is actually the actor that is inhabits the role tell me about the mannequin yeah there's a reason for that actually and and it's rare I was actually involved with the construction of this when this particular collector who's consigned this found this okay and so so essentially he he found it with a costume person who worked on Superman 3 it was in Milton Keynes I think it was we took a road trip he wanted me to come along and authenticate it I was like yes this is right so he got really excited about it and then we started talking about what the best way is to display this you know um and we were very fortuitous back in 2004 Prop Store worked with Stuart and K Freeborn they were moving house after many years of living in the same house all the way through all the Star Wars films and the Superman films they stayed the same place they had all these workshops at the end of their garden and uh we we helped him clear all that before they moved down to a one-bedroom Bungalow just a single you know single floor single story one bedroom house so everything had to go and in there was a mode of Christopher Reeve that was taken during the production of the Superman films for special effects use so for like the flying dummies and stuff like that it had a ball cap obviously Chris was wearing a ball cap and it was taken and I was like I said to uh said to the consign I said you know you know what we should do is we should take a cast from that and then we got a a studio technician a guy that I've worked on loads of work with a guy called Chris Barn incredibly talented guy and we spent months getting this right so he basically took a cast in the mold then he sculpted all the hair in then he re-sculpted the hair because I wasn't happy with it then I said let's introduce a real piece of hair here so we've got this little kiss curl here just to bring a little bit of life to it and then I took I took um we went to the the it was just the DVD at the time I think uh we took a print of the eyes yeah and then I sent them to a company called identity they did a scan of that so that we could get the blue color of the eyes as close as we possibly could but you know you know one of the the really important aspects to this is when you of doing that is you don't want this to detract from the rest of the costume so we painted this and repainted this and repainted this to get it right because it just every time it came back because it's like it doesn't look human enough it doesn't look like you know my eyes immediately drawn to it and I'm not thinking about the rest of the costume it was The Uncanny Valley you tried you're trying to get out of the uncanny valley and also not have it right draw your eye because this is the Superman I grew up with this is my Superman this I went and saw this movie in the theater when it came out it filled me with joy and Christopher Reeves it was such a great example of an awesome human being as well as my favorite Superman yeah and I think I think a lot of people talk about the legacy of Christopher Reeve you know he wasn't just Superman but he was also an incredible guy wasn't he and the work that he did and what he went through as well and the way that he managed himself through that and I think for for most people our age and my age your age I think that it's fair to say that he's the embodiment of the character isn't that he is always going to be our Superman we've seen some great Superman since yeah Christopher that Chris Marie just didn't nailed it didn't they there are some there there are still moments of the original film when he smiles and the the brightness of the Joy on his face is still like shocking like you you just you're drawn in immediately yeah now I know that as the song says you're not supposed to tug on Superman's cape but I really want to take a look at this up close you said this is a flying Cape how do you know right okay so so this as I say for Superman one was a flying kite so what we have here I'll just try and reach in here so your camera can help you see it yeah so here we had some slits in the cape which have actually then been sewn up for Superman too so for Superman one this is where the harness lines would have come in through the cables all right so for actually connect onto him and then down at the bottom of the cape here as well you see that we've got some Pockets here so they had a really sort of rudimentary piece of kit that actually and I had one of these many many years ago that actually strapped onto Crystal Reed's back and it was just basically a sort of a box that had all these wire links that came out of it sort of like coat hanger wire that went down and sat into these pocket kids and in the back of the box was a little motor and as that ran it just made the wires do this and that gave some life to this yeah so that's that's what you're looking at that's what those are those those pockets are to to fix into that Mech and obviously they had a wind machine and they wouldn't run that through as well but it just brings more life to it at the same time that's insane um it is a really it is a really unparalleled piece it is yeah and as I said one of the most exciting things is that it is the complete set there all of the garments are labeled internally as well so if you go into propsol.com and have a look at the full listing for this because obviously it's difficult for us for the camera today to take them out but we have all the labels in there as well um and and that details the fact that this was made as a cape flying cape and then remade I mean that was the way that they were working through that so in a lot of instances you actually see the notes on the costume labels as well which is fascinating I'm curious when someone buys a piece like this do you do you guys type up all that history and storytelling to give to the to each customer well a lot of that's actually encapsulated within the write-up that we do so it's all part of the research process and the write-up and the cataloging that we do everything comes with a prop store certificate of authenticity so it pins it down to coming to us from us as well but anybody is always welcome to revisit once they they bought something from us and say look is there anything else is you know what else can you tell us because it's sort of impossible for us to write a book about every artifact that we're selling and that's why you know we love it when you come along and visit us because it gives us the opportunity for us to tell the story that's exactly what I love about it now I remember reading about how on Superman they they put this fabric on him and even though Christopher Reeve was very was very worked out the spandex as we've learned it it dampens everybody's muscle so is there any original padding in this suit no there's literally no padding in this whatsoever and that's that's a really interesting point that I actually don't know the answer to I've never seen a muscle suit or anything like muscle suit to go underneath and I heard I remember reading at the time that he was wearing a few muscle powers definition yeah no that's not something that I've ever seen before and I think this what we have here is exactly you know really just the suit itself without any building but I think you know look I think the other thing that's really fascinating about this is look at this as a superhero suit and then compare it to what a superhero suit looks like today yeah this is probably one of the ends of that that period where you know it was sort of reflective of what was done for the TV shows in the 60s and 50s you know it's like it's a guy in an elasticity yeah yeah that's right and I think we saw very very few examples after this maybe Billy Zane and the Phantom but even that had some very detailed screen printing on the details but after that they become very prop heavy don't they the costumes become you know as you say very built out accentuating all of the muscle work and all the details hiding seems and adding texture and making it feel like a foreign object yeah look at I mean it's just in its Simplicity is its beauty isn't it really really is and frankly I'm so glad you worked so hard to paint the figure because every time I look up and glance it's Christopher Reed there's no there is no uncanny valley yeah and as I say credit Chris Barn the guy that does his work for us he did a fantastic job on that and also of course you know helped by the fact that it was taken from a Stewart Freeborn Life cast so was taken during the production as well so the time stamp is perfect for that era that's a wonderful wonderful extra bit of detail and I just love this this is almost like 1966 Batman type belt bucket yeah again super simple isn't it I mean there's just nothing to it at all very basic but incredibly effective the auction's happening right now it is yes you can bid live right now online and then it culminates in a four-day auction that takes place from November the 3rd to November the 6th but we live stream around the world it's happening in London it doesn't matter where you are just tune in at propstore.com Stephen thank you so much man what a pleasure what an amazing piece\n"