Speargun used on Thunderball

spacestuff4me

Hello,

I worked in the movie business in LA for many years and I'm starting to sell off the stuff I've collected.

One piece that's aways been special to me, is an anodized blue aluminum Italian pnuematic speargun, that was used in the James Bond movie Thunderball. The speargun was given by one of the underwater coordinators to his best friend in the early 70's. I worked with the gentleman on a few projects and he gave the speargun to me, after finding out that Thunderball was my favorite movie as a kid.

The speargun comes on a wood plaque, there's an engraved brass plate attached to the wood that has the stuntmans name on it, along with all of the details of the movie. The speargun is in good shape, but has some minor dings & bumps, plus it was altered for the movie by removing the fishing line attaching the shaft to the gun, the shaft retention ring is removed, as are the other misc parts needed for fishing. Other than that, it's unaltered since being given to my friend.

I have no idea if something like this is desirable or what the value of this would be. I'd appreciate any help figuring out what this is worth or the best place to offer it for sale. If you email me, I can send pictures because I have no idea how to post them online.

Thanks, Ray

The Bond Experience

You can email the pix to dzaritsky@msn.com and I will post them for you.

scaramangasgoldengun

I could give you some history on the piece and could maybe pin point where it was used in the movie. And email you photos of it in use..

I would very much like to see the said Spear gun, i may be interested if you are selling it ?
or just like to see it out of interest .. see if I can help you out ..

my email is; slicksickmick@msn.com

spacestuff4me

Hello,

Thanks for the replies and emails.

I'm sending out photos today and please let me know if I can answer any questions. As far as the history of this piece, all I know is that a stuntman/UW coordinator gave this speargun to a good friend of mine in 70's and my friend gave it to me in the late 70's for a Christmas present. The wood plaque has the stuntmans name engraved on the brass plate, however it's been 10 years since I've seen it, so I don't remember his name off hand. I'm happy to pass it along when I dig the plaque out from my storage container.

The wood display plaque that this gun came with, is in a 40' storage container since 1999, after I sold my business and I'll be trying to find it ASAP. I had no idea there would be this much interest in this speargun and I'm overwhelmed by the responses I've received.

Just to let everyone know, I have contacted the movie collectibles people at Christies, Heritage and 2 other auction houses and from the sounds of it, they're very excited to handle this speargun. So I'm thinking the auctions are the best way for me to sell this.

Thanks again for your help,

Ray

thespyboys11

I have been forwarded the photos of the Speargun by Dave Zaritsky.

I’m sorry to say that this particular speargun was not seen in the film.

There are only 3 style spearguns that appear in the film and I have all 3 (see pic)

The top one is the famous “He got the point” speargun. It was also seen being used by some of the SPECTRE frogmen and in publicity shots of Adolfo Celli.

The center speargun is the one primarily used by the SPECTRE frogmen as well as by Largo. It can be seen being held up by Largo in a white tux surrounded by frogmen.

The bottom speargun is seen being used by Bond as well as ALL the Aqua Para-Marines and finally used to kill Largo by Domino.
A long barreled version is used by SPECTRE – Mounted on the Tow sleds.

Unless this speargun was one of the many “set dressing” spearguns in Pinders or used personally by the stuntman…I don’t know but it was NOT seen in the film used by either SPECTRE or the Marines.

Ed
TheSpyBoys.com

spacestuff4me

Gentlemen,

I've been told by David & Ed, who are experts in the James Bond collecting field that the speargun I've treasured for 30 years, is not authentic and was not used in the movie Thunderball. This is extremely distressing to me, as I've treasured it for the last 30 years, as a prop used in Thunderball. Either my friend lied to me or the gentleman that gave it to him lied, regardless now that I've found out that it's not authentic from the movie, I'm extremely disappointed.

As a result of being told it's not genuine, I will not be selling it. In fact I'll be donating it to Goodwill or Salvation Army, obviously without the wood presenataion plaque and brass plate that says it was used in Thunderball.

Sorry to waste your time,

Ray

thespyboys11

Hi Ray,

Again....Sorry to have to be the one to break the bad news to you.

David sent me the photos and, upon seeing them, advised him that it was not from the film.
He, in turn, advised you.

I'm NOT claiming to be a "speargun expert" but I do know about the ones used in the film as I made it my mission to track down and research the models of the spearguns used in the film and learn as much about them as possible so as to add them to my own collection.

While it is indeed not a screen-used speargun from the film, it has value in and of of itself as a vintage speargun and would bring a good price on ebay to collectors of vintage scuba equipment.

From your photos I know it is one of the various Nemrod made spearguns as you can see in the photos I sent you.

I’m glad to hear that you are honest enough not to attempt to deceive anyone into thinking it’s from the film.

I’m sure everyone was excited to first read your posting and I’m sure several Bond fans were eager to contact you.

I wouldn’t think any less of your friend as I suspect he wanted to make you think you had something very special from a film he knew you really loved and presented it to you as such…and it WAS something special and no less the treasure as I’m sure it brought you many happy moments.

Sincerely Yours,

Ed
TheSpyBoys.com

The Bond Experience

These are always difficult moments, but I would not assume your friend lied to you. Perhaps what happened is that he received that speargun from movie or prop storage and assumed it was used in Thunderball.

Also, please understand that we have many people on this board that, as a hobby, do research which is fantastic so others do not have to. I sent those pictures to Ed not in an accusatory way regarding your sale but to say, "Hey! Lookee here!"...But knowing Ed is an expert in this department I was, as I am sure you are, appreciative of his trained eye and thoughts.

I also hope you still find AJB a worthy home to come and socialize.

Kleynen

My spearguns:

:007) (Long and short version)

thespyboys11

Yes...VERY nice...We get the point
Ed
TheSpyBoys.com

Actually, Both versions are connected to the film.
The short "Piccolo" (Italian for short) version is the one seen in the artwork for the poster.