The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

David and Ryan crack open another Heritage auction catalog, but this one is brimming with beautiful original comic art rather than props. Joined by honored friend of the podcast and golden-age comic art guru Kelvin Mao, the guys discuss the legacy of a complicated collector and marvel over the incredible collection of golden age works that he assembled over his career. From Golden Age to Silver Ag...

David and Ryan are joined by reliable props expert Jay Skwarlo who has abandoned TIE Pilots for red bikes to discuss all things Pee Wee's Big Adventure for the film's 40th anniversary. The guys discuss every iteration of the 13 (!) bikes made for the movie, those Jay has handled, those he's restored, those he's still looking to meet ($10,000 reward offered), why Large Marge is still terrifying, wh...

Today on the pod, David and Ryan discuss the thing that every collector seeks: making their collection better. Specifically, taking a piece in your collection and upgrading it. That can mean anything from going from production-made to screen-used, from stunt to hero, from un-matched to screen-matched and beyond! How do the guys approach an upgrade? How crazy does "needing" (we are sick p...

What's almost as good as getting the legendary Guillermo del Toro on the podcast to talk about his collection? Getting his collection on the podcast to talk about it! Join David and Ryan as they dive into the catalog for Heritage Auctions' Guillermo del Toro Collection: Bleak House, Part 1 coming to you live on September 26th! The guys cover everything from Cronos to Nightmare Alley with all the H...

On a very special, unscheduled, unsponsored episode of the podcast, David and Ryan hop on the mics to review the September 2025 Propstore auction. What did they win? What did they lose? What did they think of the results? Did David win a lightsaber? Did Ryan decide what to bid on? Hint: someone made some dough, and someone spent too much. Email: dreamsaremadeofpodcast@gmail.com SDAMO - Instagram h...

Listener questions have piled up, so between auctions David and Ryan are diving in with their virtual letter openers to unseal and read. The questions and answers cover every kind of topic under the sun, including: buying pieces from reputable productions via disreputable vendors, buying pieces from disreputable productions via reputable vendors, the guys' favorite pieces by sentimentality factor,...

David and Ryan get on the blower to cover the categories and days 2 and 3 of the Propstore auction, which kicks off tomorrow, September 4th! Hear all about David's anxiety over Darth Vader's lightsaber and Ryan's over the sheer amount of Keaton Batman stuff he has look at before the auction really even begins. They discuss the little things they love that might fly beneath the radar as well as wha...

Lucasfilm (and laser sword) expert Brandon Alinger returns to the podcast a mere week before freaking Darth Vader's freaking hero lightsaber goes under the hammer at Propstore. Together, he, David, and Ryan discuss the lightsabers of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and dive deep into the Vader saber that Propstore discovered earlier this year. New Jedi secrets will be unearthed, new...

It's Q4 and another massive auction season is nigh upon us. The fun kicks off with Propstore's September live auction and 1,400+ lots from all your favorite (and some unfavorite) films and TV shows. Join David and Ryan as they page through Day 1 of the sale and cover everything from 2010 to Zardoz and everything in between, including Clockwork orange canes, wonderful Batman toys, Indy whips (and b...

It's not as clumsy or as random as a blaster. It's an elegant weapon for a more civilized -- yadda yadda. The iconic weapon of the Jedi Knight is certainly in the zeitgeist these days. In September, Darth Vader's screen-matched hero fighting lightsaber will go under hammer at Propstore Auctions, a first for any screen-used piece in this very special category. To herald its coming, David and Ryan a...

The inimitable Tom Spina returns to the podcast to shine a bright light on a topic he seems to know everything about: Gremlins and Mogwai. Having professionally restored almost 80 of the wee beasties, Tom regales David and Ryan with his knowledge of all the ins and outs of the stunts, heroes, marionettes, puppets, giant versions and SFX versions built for Joe Dante's Gremlins and Gremlins II and t...

The coups continue on your favorite movie props podcast, this time with Fantastic Four (and WandaVision... and The Great) director Matt Shakman. Matt, a collector himself, is a true-believing, Stuff-Dreams-Are-Made-Of-listening fan with a great interest in movie props. Hear all about how that influenced the fresh and unique aesthetic of Fantastic Four and what he was thinking about making (and tak...

David and Ryan welcome friend of the podcast, fellow collector, former guest, and creator and host of Cinema Relics Investigates, Dan Lanigan, back onto The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of. This episode reveals what's new in props for both the guys AND for Dan (it's a good one, sci-fi fans), discusses the state of the hobby, and delves into Dan's new web-series (you guessed it) Cinema Relics Investigates...

There's no tape delay on this one. Get a fully unvarnished and uncensored David and Ryan discussing all the treasures in Heritage Auctions' July 16-18 Hollywood Entertainment Memorabilia auction! It's the live one, so that means it's categories time! So join the guys as they discuss all the Things They Wish They Were Sophisticated Enough to Buy, the Things They'd Buy for Their Co-Host, The Best &q...

It's back-to-back podcast coups as David and Ryan are joined by legendary director Joe Dante as well as a host of technical problems for poor Dave. But the content is so good, you'll never know! The guys chat with fellow (to Ryan) New Jersey native Joe about his storied career, their favorite Dante films, and Joe's own life as a movie-mad cinema-goer and collector of films. Then he tells them the...

In another coup for the podcast, David and Ryan get to sit down with Thomas Peak, the son of legendary movie poster illustrator and fine artist Bob Peak. Tom discusses his father's work, the choice to sell his father's remaining art, what it was like growing up in the home of a famous movie artist, and everything else every Bob Peak fan would want to know. Join the guys for a great discussion, eve...

David and Ryan return to spelunk the further depths of Heritage’s massive July Entertainment Auction. Join the guys as they page-turn all of Session 3 and 4 and uncover the titillating mysteries within—including Game of Thrones, Jeannie bottles, an ALF head, Star Trek, Star Wars, the Michael Westmore Collection, Silent Running art, a massive John Alvin collection, Bond, ET, Conan swords, Big Troub...

David and Ryan return to spelunk the further depths of Heritage’s massive July Entertainment Auction. Join the guys as they page-turn all of Session 2 and uncover the titillating mysteries within—including Rosebud from Citizen Kane, original Edith Head costume drawings, early scripts from King Kong and The Maltese Falcon, costumes and personal items from Marilyn Monroe and more! Email: dreamsarema...

Buckle up The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of fans, Heritage Auctions is back with a gigantic multi-day, multi-session, multi-consignor auction. Across five sessions and four days (July 15, 16, 17, 18th), David and Ryan cover everything from the Cecille B. DeMille (yes, that one) collection, to the Bob Peak collection (yes, that one), including the original Apocalypse Now 1-sheet art (yes! that one!) to...

Life has been snatched from the jaws of death! Or is it the other way? Either way, David and Ryan are back on the hot mics, dropping knowledge about props, costumes, movies, whisky, monkey radiator caps and, unfortunately, Nazis. In the smashing Season 11 premiere, the guys share where they've been, what they've been up to, and where this podcast is going (hint: it's going because it's been sponso...

As another season comes to a close, David and Ryan address the murky future of the Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, get real about the economics of producing a podcast, and discuss the possible roads ahead. But it's not all serious--they still crack wise, make bad puns, and rant about minutiae as always. And  they answer the real question on everyone's minds: what the hell did Ryan go and buy this time?...

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of is back with its  second  deep dive of the season, this one covering one of David's and Ryan's favorite movie weapons of all time: the Han Solo blaster. To fill in all the greeblies and nerdy details, the guys are joined by DL-44 expert, master builder, and gunsmith Scott Juarez from the RPF and the Star Wars fan community. They cover everything from the (in)famous A N...

David and Ryan dump out the 'ole podcast mailbag and dive into myriad topics, including: collecting classic paperwork, acquiring Game of Thrones pieces, the intellectual sewer that is Reddit comments, yacht collectors and the yachts they love, disputed Stormtrooper lore, Troy clappers, a plea for more comic art talk, more propas (we made it a thing), and more podcast-listener-first-timer acquisiti...

Just as House of the Dragon Season 3 shooting gets underway, David and Ryan are joined by Waldo Mason, lead make-up special effects artist on the show across seasons 2 and 3. The guys talk to Waldo about how he got his start in the movie business, explore his incredible list of movie credits alone, they discuss burns, wounds, sores, monsters and aliens, Dave sort of forgives him for having worked...

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of's first guest, author Rhys Thomas, returns to the podcast to sift through the aftermath of the seismic, $28,000,000 Ruby Slippers sale by Heritage Auctions this past December. They revisit his great book, The Ruby Slippers of Oz, and they review what fascinating new information has come to light since they had him on the podcast wayyyy back in 2020. Two big events have...