The Original Superman Costume That Rick From Pawn Stars Missed Out On
Superman is easily one of the most iconic superheroes in the history of comic books and basically has been since his first appearance in Action Comics #1 in May 1939. Part of the reason is that he's such a fascinating character in the comics, but also he's managed to become one of the most successfully adapted heroes in the history of comics.
Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill, and most recently Tyler Hoechlin on Superman and Lois have all had their own iconic versions of Superman, but arguably no one is more Superman than Christopher Reeve whose 1978 motion picture ushered in the first true era of DC filmmaking.
Of course, part of what makes all those actors visually iconic is their respective Superman suits. Over the years there have been a lot of classic ones, and there have been some weird ones. Who could forget Nicolas Cage's Superman suit in the Superman Lives movie that never was? And after years of waiting, virtually everyone is doing their most intense victory dance over Henry Cavill finally donning the black, resurrection Superman suit from the incredibly famous polybagged Death and Return of Superman comics from the '90s.
Again, it's hard to compare anything with Christopher Reeve's Superman suit — there's just something so simple and elegant about it. There's no under armor, nothing to fake muscles, so it's all Reeve, and he looks magnificent.
So imagine the look on the faces of our boys from Pawn Stars when one of the original Christopher Reeve Superman suits walked through the doors.
The story of this original Superman suit
Christopher Reeve's Superman suit isn't just iconic, it is still incredible looking to this day. In fact, back in 2013 when Zack Snyder was searching for the man who would really look the part for his titular Man of Steel, part of what made him know Henry Cavill was the right choice was because he saw him in the Reeve suit from Warner archives — and he looked perfect.
But the suit from Warner's archives isn't the only one in existence from the original 1978 Superman movie. A man who purchased one of the original film's suits at auction turned up on an episode of Pawn Stars looking to sell this piece of cinematic and comic book history. And not only is the suit up for sale, but so is an original prop, green crystal from the film. While the crystal is originally classified as kryptonite, Corey correctly identifies it as the crystal Clark uses in the first movie to build the Fortress of Solitude and learn about his Kryptonian origins.
The hitch in this incredible moment is that the seller wants $300,000 for the pair. So, Rick has one of his experts, "Tall" Rob, come in to authenticate the pieces and estimate their value. Both familiar with the auction the seller originally purchased the pieces from and able to identify the prop number on the back of the Superman suit, Rob is confident these are original movie pieces and estimates that they would sell at auction for $250,000.
As you might expect, Rick wants the suit and crystal but won't pay $300,000 for them. Unfortunately, the owner is unwilling to sell the piece for the $200,000 Rick wants to pay, meaning Rick will not get to squeeze into Christopher Reeve's famous tights nor will Corey get to create his very own Fortress of Solitude. But, it turns out, those are the last of the pair's problems.
Should Rob have bought the Superman suit after all?
The natural question to ask when a sale on Pawn Stars does not go through is, "did they make the right call?" And, thankfully, in some cases, we can settle that question with some degree of certainty. While it's not from the same suit offered on Pawn Stars, we can say that a 1978 original Superman cape did sell at the Julien's Auction Icons & Idols event in Beverly Hills, California, in 2019.
The cape does not come with full suit, but it is notable for one specific reason: It was the first prize in a movie contest, and that means documentation. Most notably, the cape came with a letter to the winner signed by then DC Comics President Sol Harrison on February 27, 1978.
Stunningly, the cape, along with its documentation, sold at auction for $193,750. Now, granted, this is a different cape with its own specific story, but it's hard not to look at this as proof that Rob might have made a mistake when he turned away the offer of $250,000 for a full, Christopher Reeve 1978 Superman suit with a green crystal. Easy come, easy go! Hopefully, if someone ever walks into their shop with Henry Cavill's black Superman suit from Justice League, they'll do the right thing!