Real Terminator Endo Skull???

Well the auction says that it's metal and claims that it was made for the crushing scene at the end. But if I recall correctly that one was... well... crushed. I don't know why they would make another and not crush it.
 
I handled a screen used skull from T2 in 1994 on the set of a show that I co-hosted on the sci fi channel. It originally belonged to Jim Latta who later co-founded Icons which could be the reason for the similarity of the Icons skull and this one. However, the real skull that I held was very lightweight and was just vaccum plated or whatever that process is for plastic. It definitely wasn't metal, but that doesn't disprove anything since he claims it was for T1. I just don't understand why the teeth are metal colored. Was that ever the case in the film? I see it on the collectible models and such but I don't recall the skulls having metal colored teeth on screen. I suppose it could have been a head that never got the teeth painted for the final screen prep if they intended on crushing it.

I have a friend who is a member here on the boards who has one of the swords from Matrix Reloaded that Morpheus has on the diesel trailer during the freeway fight scene and it was intended on being snapped in half at the middle of the blade, and it was built to be broken there. It was an extra that they never used for the scene, since they didn't need to do additional takes after they got the shot. That left a perfectly unbroken "breakaway" sword intact, which could also be the case here.

It could be a skull that was built to be crushed but wasn't used because the scene was successfully filmed in less takes than they had backup crush skulls.

It does seem fishy though. I think the timing is the biggest clue. If I was a better judge of details on these I would have more of an opinion on it. I can sometimes tell the skulls apart, but it doesn't look like mine. I'm not sure what the lineage is. I'd say Icons is a good bet if it is a fake. The pistons could have been replaced with more realistic working pistons to "sell" the story. That would be an easy upgrade if someone were trying to pass it off as screen used.
 
animetronic said:
The pistons could have been replaced with more realistic working pistons to "sell" the story. That would be an easy upgrade if someone were trying to pass it off as screen used.
Click to expand...

You'd think he'd at least attempt to make the pistons look like the ones on screen. They're not even close. Heh, the color and wear doesn't even match the rest of the skull.

There are a few little tells that match the Icons skull, but the teeth on Icons are acrylic. These are definitely metal. And the closer I look, the more signs I see of ivory paint having once been on them. And the temple greebies are throwing me off too, as I said before. On all the pics I've seen of screen used skulls and licensed replicas, there are 4 concave circles within that area. On the eBay skull there are 3, and the fourth circle looks like a protruding nut.
 
Looks to be a foundry cast copy of the M1 Vinyl kit that was available in the 90s for around $300. The teeth were molded into the skull and jawbone.

There were rumors of a metal skull used in the T2 opening credits "skull in flames" sequence, but none were ever verified.
 
I find it a little odd that the "holy grail" of terminator props just happens to pop up on ebay one week after Stan Winston's death. I've read nearly everything printed on the making of these movies, and I don't recall any claims that any skulls were produced out of metal. Also, the CPU port is the typical, inaccurate shape that has been on almost all the commercially produced endoskulls. Here is a screen cap showing the CPU port which has notches toward the rear, and even more obvious, the center "button" on the CPU port cover is recessed:


terminator1_mq_313.jpg


It's also visible coming through the flames in T2:


Terminatorskullflames.jpg


Here's a shot of an Icons/Timeless casting I have where you can clearly see the notches in the CPU port. This was supposedly pulled off an original, and the notches around the CPU port do look consistant with the screencaps:

terminatorskull2.jpg


The top of the head on Ebay has the typical round CPU port:

f50c_3.jpg


Considering Stan Winston studios auctioned off a screen used terminator for half a million dollars a couple of months ago, and this guy's saying:

"WILL ONLY CONSIDER BUY IT NOWS OR OFFERS IF YOU FIRST BID. THIS WAY I WILL KNOW YOUR SERIOUS. PLEASE NO BID CANCELLATIONS OR YOU WILL BE BLOCKED FROM FUTURE AUCTIONS. THANKS"

Also....

AT THE TIME COA'S WERE NOT EVEN HEARD OF. THIS PIECE IS EXTREMELY RARE CONSIDERING IT'S AGE(24 YEARS AGO) ALMOST NOTHING SURVIVED FROM THIS FILM DUE TO IT BEING LOW BUDGET, AND OF ALL PROPS AND COSTUMES FROM THE FILM THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE THE ULTIMATE PIECE.

The lack of a COA seems a little convenient, considering the no refunds policy. :confused


THIS ENDO SKELITON HEAD WOULD MAKE A GREAT ADDITION TO ANY MOVIE MEMORABILIA COLLECTION AND A FANTASTIC INVESTMENT.

Also he has "skeleton" spelled incorrectly. Apparently he's in too big a hurry to spellcheck.:rolleyes

I hate to say it, but if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Caveat emptor.




Beagle Bill
 
Last edited by a moderator:
kevoris said:
I've read nearly everything printed on the making of these movies, and I don't recall any claims that any skulls were produced out of metal.
Click to expand...

Actually, in the Special Edition T1 DVD, Stan himself does say that the endo-skeleton was made of metal and weighed close to 200 pounds, which caused a lot of problems. I don't know if that included the skull, but I just wanted to point that out.

Regardless, I agree with everything else in your post. This skull has absolutely no lineage to screen used skulls in T1 or T2.
 
IMHO I think it dose make sense for the teeth to be casted in metal if this Endoskull is used for fire scene as acrylic teeth will melt down in high heat.


Henry
 
Benign Robot said:
Looks to be a foundry cast copy of the M1 Vinyl kit that was available in the 90s for around $300. The teeth were molded into the skull and jawbone.

There were rumors of a metal skull used in the T2 opening credits "skull in flames" sequence, but none were ever verified.
Click to expand...

I have one of those kits, I'll have to pull it out and see if I can match it up.....
 
TridCloudwalker said:
Actually, in the Special Edition T1 DVD, Stan himself does say that the endo-skeleton was made of metal and weighed close to 200 pounds, which caused a lot of problems. I don't know if that included the skull, but I just wanted to point that out.

Regardless, I agree with everything else in your post. This skull has absolutely no lineage to screen used skulls in T1 or T2.
Click to expand...

I remember Winston saying a lot of the first endo was aluminum, they actually used the aluminum leg from the first terminator in the second movie, they attached it to the endo in the opening scene so the leg would be heavy enough to crush the wax casting of the child's skull on the ground.;)

Like you said, don't know if that included the skull or not, I read somewhere one of the effects guys actually fashioned a skull out of lead foil for the hydraulic press scene.

Unfortunately, it appears this guy is just trying to make a profit off Stan's death, and if that is the case, it is a totally reprehensible act.:angry

Beagle Bill
 
While I have no idea if it is real or not I can say it is extremely common for collectible things to go on sale right after a related person dies. Not really new, shocking, or an indication of it being fake. When I race car driver dies eBay and such are flooded with his/her memorabilia. Same goes for celebrities. If for no other reason then that person is on peoples minds and so it is a time they want to get something that reminds them of him/her. I can't blame the seller any more then the bidders on such a thing. I don't find it disrespectful at all.
Still the legal trouble related to this whole thing and the theft and conviction in the stealing and selling of the spidey suit would make me not want to be involved with it regardless of it authenticity.:unsure
 
anyone who buys it has a peanut for a brain anyway. look at the text formatting in the auction. it's all higher case, it's not even formatted in paragraphs etc. it gave me a headache just reading it. screams fraud
 
Lancer said:
anyone who buys it has a peanut for a brain anyway. look at the text formatting in the auction. it's all higher case, it's not even formatted in paragraphs etc. it gave me a headache just reading it. screams fraud
Click to expand...

...says the man who didn't capitalize any letters, and only put in half the correct punctuation. :lol

Just bustin' your endoballs. ;) I agree with you.
 
Does anyone have nice high resolution photos of any kits or replicas of the endo skull? Or any other photos/screencaps of interest?

Thanks,

Jason
 
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