If you’re a collector of movie props and replicas, odds are you’ve searched for some on Amazon. From Judge Dredd helmets to full suits of armor, the massive distribution nexus of Amazon has something to meet your needs. Of course, that is if you’re OK with mass-produced unlicensed replicas.
This isn’t always a bad thing. Not every film out there is like Star Wars, where replicas are easy to come by and made in some official capacity. However, for fans of Indiana Jones, finding reproductions of the films’ iconic props can be challenging.
Over the years, I’ve added various replicas from Amazon to my wishlist. I was informed that someone had purchased Henry Jones’s Grail Diary this past Christmas. From the advertisement, you would be led to believe this was an accurate reproduction of the guide Indy and his father used to find the Holy Grail in The Last Crusade. However, what appeared four weeks after Christmas was far different than what was advertised.
The Grail Diary’s listing said the following:
- Untitled Map, October Edition, Grail Stone Rubbing, Silver Dollar Certificate, Letter from Lady Eleanor, Blue Ticket, Boston Railroad Ticket, French Franc, Deutsche Bank, Golden Ticket, Roman Numeral Fragments, Arabic Map, Venice map, Washington quotes, various news clippings and more!
- 17*10cm/6.69*3.93 inches, this size is more conducive to carrying and storage.
- Take this Holy Grail Diary to find the Holy Grail. According to the hints in the diary, you will find clues from it.
- This diary includes 24 handwritten inserts collected from travels. These are printed on various handmade papers for a completely authentic look and feel.
- There is absolutely no computer writing fonts in this diary! Instead, each page is carefully scanned and printed using handwritten originals we created with antique ink and pens and hand-painted pages. Then, every journal page is meticulously hand-aged and weathered for an authentic look.
And here are the pictures used in the listing and several others at very different price points.
Here is what arrived:
I will give whoever makes these credit for the packaging. Opening the box and seeing the parcel addressed to Professor Jones and postmarked from Venice, Italy was amazing. However, the contents of the diary left much to be desired. The replica is not aged; the entries are printed on sand-colored paper, and the writing, graphics, and illustrations are all pixelated.
The low-quality images make reading Dr. Jones’s notes nearly impossible. This is unfortunate because this replica fills in all the missing details about the senior Jones’s quest for the grail, including the time he spent with Elsa. Henry also notes his suspicion of her and plans to mail his findings to Junior.
I wanted to love this because The Last Crusade is my favorite Indiana Jones film. Although I’m not religious, I find the lore, myths, and legends surrounding the Cup of Christ very interesting.
According to the listing, I was supposed to receive other replicas, including the tablet rubbing, the Roman numerals paper from the library scene, and various maps. Unfortunately, none of these were packaged with my Grail Diary, although I did get several other things. I got the picture of Henry and Junior we briefly see in the scene where Indy goes to Henry’s home and finds it ransacked. There are replica tickets and some other odds and ends; see below.
Oddly, several papers shipped with the diary have nothing to do with The Last Crusade. Some are “army intel” notes about props like the Staff of Ra, the Ark of the Covenant, and even a crystal skull. A few of these items don’t even relate to the Indiana Jones movies. It’s like someone grabbed a bunch of low-res images, printed them out on bond, and threw them in as filler.
The most insulting thing was something that may have been included by mistake. It’s a single sheet of paper showing off loads of replicas that were not included. This sheet lists each piece by name and includes the following:
- The Fertility Idol map
- A Club Obi-Wan nightclub ad
- Well of Souls map
- Crystal Skull map
The kicker is there are printing instructions on this thing, too. It reads, “MAP AND TAGS SHOULD BE PRINTED ON DARK TAN.”
So, this set is missing most of the items for the Grail Diary while including several unrelated items and a printout of a PDF of things I should have gotten. You have to be kidding me.
This is something I’ve always disliked about Amazon: quality control. There is none. I see knock-offs sold on the site every day, including known scams that have been debunked for years. The $20 800 GB SSD, anyone? People are selling rough 3D-printed props on there, claiming they are resin casts from studio molds. The world’s largest online marketplace is the Wild Wild West, regarding items of questionable quality. Yet, nothing is ever done about it.
That’s enough ranting. In conclusion, be very careful when buying replica props. Check the reviews or purchase from a known prop maker on Etsy or eBay.
I don’t want to leave on a sour note, so I will say that the Holy Grail I got from this listing is amazing. It is a heavy resin-cast replica with what looks like a gold leaf laid in the cup. It indeed looks like the cup of a carpenter. I chose wisely. However, it seems that not every replica turns out as well as mine, according to the reviews.
[Source: Amazon] [Source: Amazon]
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