Indiana Jones’ iconic fedora from Temple of Doom has found a new head to sit upon after selling for $300,000 at a Prop Store auction.
If anyone can pull off a fedora, it’s Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford’s whip-cracking, machete-slashing archaeologist will always have the unique ability to take an accessory – one that is now so heavily associated with cringe culture nonetheless – and make it work as a key element of his adventurer-chic look.
It seems that someone else may be about to try pulling off Indy’s iconic look, however, with the real hat from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom having sold at auction. The famous headpiece was sold by the Prop Store in Los Angeles for $300,000, with the buyer’s identity currently being a mystery to the public.
The selling point significantly exceeded the the price expected by the auction house, with their estimate being between $150,000 and $200,000. Despite this, it’s still not the most expensive hat that’s been worn by our favourite snake-hating hero – a Ford-worn fedora from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark sold for over $500,000 at auction back in 2015.
That hat was also sold by the Prop Store, who have been setting out “like a band of movie archaeologists” to locate and preserve the ultimate pop culture collectibles since 1998. Indy himself would be proud of the treasures they’ve uncovered over the years, with over 25,000 square feet of archived props and costumes stored across London and LA (with many more items already sold on to devoted movie fans).
Just like the iconic prop from Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Temple of Doom fedora has found its new home with an Indiana Jones enthusiast who hopefully loves the hat just as much as Indy did. It was sold as part of the three-day Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction, alongside a whole treasure trove of film and television artefacts, including a remote-controlled droid from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The recently-sold hat was made specifically for the second instalment of the franchise, being a slightly updated version of the original fedora, possessing a more tapered crown. It was created by the Herbert Johnson hat company, who worked with the movie’s costume designers to craft the piece for Harrison Ford.
A GIGANTIC congratulations and thank you to the winning bidder behind the $375,000 sale (with buyer's premium) on the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom fedora! #PropStoreLiveAuction #IndianaJones https://t.co/edzEUe39E7 pic.twitter.com/zYqxNXPJsy
— Prop Store (@propstore_com) June 29, 2021
The auction house has described the fedora as being “in excellent condition, showing light wear with some signs of age… stored in a plastic hat box”, so there’s still plenty of life left in the piece if its new owner ever wants to take it out for a spin. It probably won’t become an everyday accessory, however, and is more likely to exist as a piece of museum-worthy Indiana Jones memorabilia on display forever.
As for the rest of us common folk who don’t own $300,000 hats, we will at least get to see Harrison Ford put on a new version of his iconic fedora one last time when the fifth Indiana Jones movie is released (hopefully) next year.
