For Immediate Release

Branson, MO (February 26, 2020) – Just in time for BransonCon, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Branson is bringing an original Star Wars lightsaber used by Luke Skywalker™ himself, Mark Hamill, in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back!™. This exhibit is the first time the renowned movie prop will be on display in Branson.

Believe it or not, this lightsaber was constructed from a vintage 1930s Graflex camera flashgun. The handle still has the original Graflex logo etched into it. It comes from the archives of Gary Kurtz, the producer of the first two Star Wars films. A 1930s Graflex camera will also be on display alongside the lightsaber.  

Photo © Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

Believe it or not, Ripley’s acquired the piece at the Profiles in History Hollywood Auction on June 28, 2017, for a staggering $450,000!

“Luke Skywalker’s original lightsaber is the crown jewel in our Hollywood memorabilia collection. I am so excited to display it in Branson during BransonCon so fans can see one of the most important and famous movie props of all time!” – said John Dixon, General Manager, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Branson.

The lightsaber will be displayed at the newly renovated Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium located at 3326 76 Country Blvd. for a limited engagement. The exhibit will be open to the public starting on Friday, March 6, 2020, and will run through Sunday, March 22, 2020.

SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR BRANSONCON!
Ripley’s Branson is pleased to be a sponsor of the BransonCon, and as a special thank you to congoers, they can receive 50% off admission to Ripley’s Branson if they show their armband. BransonCon runs March 6 – 8, 2020.

RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! BRANSON ODDITORIUM
Ripley’s Branson just completed its largest renovation in 10 years. Renovations include an all-new lobby, exhibits, and upgrades to many galleries inside.

Ripley’s collection and strikingly themed attractions are fun for the entire family. Adults and children alike become immersed in hands-on interactive games, historical artifacts, incredible art, animal oddities, pop-culture memorabilia, and stories of people and places that are incredibly hard to believe, but undeniably true.

Ripley’s Branson is open daily at 9:30 am. Sunday – Thursday, the last ticket is sold at 6 pm. On Friday & Saturday, the last ticket is sold at 8 pm.

For more information about Ripley’s in Branson, please visit Ripleys.com/Branson or Facebook.com/RipleysOdditoriumBranson.

###

MEDIA CONTACTS
John Dixon
General Manager
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium Branson
dixon@ripleys.com
Office: (417) 337-5300 ext. 4610

Suzanne Smagala-Potts
Public Relations Manager
Ripley Entertainment Inc.
smagala@ripleys.com
Office: (407) 345-8010 Cell: (727) 439-0136

About Ripley Entertainment

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is part of the Ripley Entertainment Inc. family of worldwide attractions, the global leader in location-based entertainment. More than 15 million people visit its 100-plus attractions in 11 countries each year. In addition to its 31 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books, and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in countries around the world. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the second-largest privately held company in Canada. Learn more about Ripley’s Believe It or Not! by visiting Ripleys.com and following them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Star Wars®, Lightsaber®, and The Empire Strikes Back™, are trademarks of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC and/or Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC. Lucasfilm is not affiliated with, endorsing or sponsoring this display or press release.

The post LIMITED ENGAGEMENT – Star Wars Lightsaber coming to Ripley’s Branson! appeared first on Ripley Entertainment Inc.

The post Bruce Campbell, Props and Peculiar Pieces! appeared first on Ripley Entertainment Inc.

The blaster was purchased at Julien’s Auctions on Saturday, June 23, 2018, for $550,000, making it the most expensive item in Ripley’s Star Wars collection – beating out the lightsaber purchased for $450,000.

Photo © Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

According to Julien’s Auctions, the blaster is “An original production used “BlasTech DL-44” blaster prop used by Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Return of the Jedi (Lucasfilm, 1983). The prop is custom made, built on a metal working non-firing model version of the German Mauser C96 (“Broomhandle Mauser”) from MGC (Model Gun Corporation) of Japan with additional found parts, greblies and cast resin pieces added on, creating one of the most iconic sci-fi weapons in the history of film.”

Edward Meyer, former Vice President of Exhibits and Archives for Ripley Entertainment, who recently retired just a week ago, came out of retirement to bid on the iconic movie prop.

“We now own three of the most significant icons of Star Wars film history: the blaster, R2-D2, and the lightsaber. Combine these with our giant matchstick Millennium Falcon and Ripley’s can say we have the most significant collection of Star Wars exhibitory in this universe. Julien’s is a great auction house and made this purchase fun and exciting!” ­­– Edward Meyer.

###

MEDIA CONTACT

Suzanne Smagala-Potts
Public Relations Manager
Ripley Entertainment Inc.
smagala@ripleys.com
Office: 407-345-8010 Cell: 727-439-0136

About Ripley Entertainment

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is part of the Ripley Entertainment Inc. www.ripleys.com family of worldwide attractions, the global leader in location-based entertainment.  More than 14 million people visit its 100-plus attractions in 11 countries each year.  In addition to its 30 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in countries around the world. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the second-largest privately held company in Canada.

Star Wars®, Lightsaber®, The Last Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back, and R2-D2 are trademarks of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC and/or Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC. Lucasfilm is not affiliated with, endorsing or sponsoring this display or press release. Walt Disney World® is a registered trademark of Disney. Disney is not affiliated with, endorsing or sponsoring this display or press release.

The post Han Solo’s™ Blaster from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi™ Joins Ripley’s Growing Star Wars® Collection appeared first on Ripley Entertainment Inc.

Believe it or not, this lightsaber was constructed from a vintage 1930s Graflex camera flash gun. The handle still has the original Graflex logo etched into it. It comes from the archives of Gary Kurtz, the producer on the first two Star Wars films.

Edward Meyer, VP of Exhibits & Archives for Ripley’s Believe It or Not! acquired the piece at the Profiles in History Hollywood Auction on June 28, 2017, for a staggering $450,000!

“Luke Skywalker’s original lightsaber is the crown jewel in our Hollywood memorabilia collection. It is the most important and famous movie prop of all time,” says Meyer.

The lightsaber will be displayed at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium located at Mariner’s Cove Boardwalk in Cavendish for a limited time. The exhibit will be open to the public starting on Wednesday, June 13 and will run through to Monday, July 2.

“We are extremely lucky to be able to bring this piece of Star Wars memorabilia to the Maritimes,” says Matthew Jelley, President of Maritime Fun Group-PEI, the company that operates the Cavendish Odditorium. “We are looking forward to sharing it with our fellow Star Wars fans!”

The public is invited to view Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber during those two weeks. Ripley’s will also be hosting a special event on Saturday, June 23, for customers who show up in their Star Wars costume on June 23 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm to receive a special treat!

MEDIA CONTACT

Suzanne Smagala-Potts
Public Relations Manager
Ripley Entertainment
smagala@ripleys.com
Office: 407-345-8010 Cell: 727-439-0136

Jessica Caseley
VP- Marketing, Sales and Community Engagement 
Maritime Fun Group – PEI
jessica@maritimefun.com
Office: 902-963-3939 ext 258

About Ripley Entertainment

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is part of the Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com) family of worldwide attractions, the global leader in location-based entertainment. More than 14 million people visit its 100- plus attractions in 11 countries each year. In addition to its 30 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in countries around the world. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the second-largest privately held company in Canada.

About Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium Cavendish

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium Cavendish is a franchise of Ripley Entertainment Inc and operated by Maritime Fun Group (www.maritimefun.com). Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium was the winner of the Franchise of the Year Award by Ripley Entertainment in 2017. Family owned and operated, Maritime Fun Group manages 14 attractions across Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, including Sandspit, Shining Waters Family Fun Park, and Magic Mountain.

Star Wars®, Lightsaber®, and The Empire Strikes Back, are trademarks of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC and/or Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC. Lucasfilm is not affiliated with, endorsing or sponsoring this display or press release.

The post Bringing an Original Star Wars® Lightsaber® to Cavendish for a Limited Time appeared first on Ripley Entertainment Inc.

Courtesy of Prop Store

Plus Back to the Future II Nikes and C-3PO’s Head

Orlando, FL (September 29, 2017)  –  Ripley’s Believe It or Not! just acquired three major pieces of Hollywood memorabilia from Prop Store auction house in London.

Indiana Jones’ bullwhip from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade becomes the first major artifact in the Ripley collection from the famous Indiana Jones movie franchise. This particular whip was used in multiple scenes of The Last Crusade, including when Indy rescued his father ­– played by Sean Connery – from the Nazis at Castle Brunwald.

Joining a Delorean car and Michael J. Fox wax figure currently on display at Ripley’s Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks attraction in Niagara Falls, Canada, these Back to the Future II sneakers were designed by Nike designer Tinker Hatfield in 1989 as a futuristic take on Nike shoes. The self-lacing sneakers were worn by Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) when he time traveled to Hill Valley in the year 2015.

Courtesy of Prop Store

Courtesy of Prop Store

Adding to their rapidly growing Star Wars collection, which includes the actual lightsaber used by Mark Hamill, Ripley’s acquired a C-3PO head used on Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

After listening to feedback from 3-CPO actor, Anthony Daniels, the droid costume was upgraded for the second Star Wars film. As part of the upgrade, the helmet was made from plastic and was intended to be more comfortable than the original fiberglass design.

Ripley’s VP of Exhibits & Archives says; “The addition of these three iconic movie set pieces greatly enhances our growing pop-culture movie collection. Ripley’s is known around the world for displaying unique one of a kind artifacts. Together these three pieces give us iconic artifacts that movie buffs and their families will want to see for years to come.”

MEDIA CONTACT

Suzanne Smagala-Potts
Public Relations Manager
Ripley Entertainment
smagala@ripleys.com
Office: 407-345-8010 Cell: 727-439-0136

About Ripley Entertainment
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is part of the Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com) family of worldwide attractions, the global leader in location-based entertainment.  More than 14 million people visit its 100-plus attractions in 11 countries each year.  In addition to its 30 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in countries around the world. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the second-largest privately held company in Canada

The post Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Wins Monumental Hollywood Trifecta – Brings Home Indiana Jones’ Bullwhip appeared first on Ripley Entertainment Inc.