My collection (IV): Creation Ent Gabrielle's Staff 101/500

Hello people!

As I said in my previous entry, this past weekend I've been shooting new photos of my most important props and replicas - so it's due time to resume the entries in the section "My collection".

Today, let me present you my Gabrielle staff replica (or Gabwhacker) sold and distributed by Creation Entertainment.

Full pic of the staff - an image quite difficult to take!

As all the other replicas sold by Creation Ent, the Gabwhacker was directly made by the propmasters of the show in New Zealand as an "exact" reproduction of the prop seen onscreen.

And I say "exact" because by the time they made the staff replica both propmasters and distributors hard learned an important lesson: if you make a 100% screen-accurate replica, faithful in every detail to the original prop, then there WILL be people who'll try to pass the replica as a prop. In other words: scams are likely to happen.

Their decision was thus to variate certain features of the replica to make it different to the prop and also cheaper to produce. In this particular case, they substituted the real fabric in the middle section of the staff with printed canvas, and used synthetic fur instead of real animal fur in the top.

Let's take a closer look to the "highlights" of the staff replica:

The Top - Synthetic fur and brown leather wrapping.

The Middle Section - Leather wrapping and fawn twine.

The Middle Section - The "fabric".

Let's take a closer look to the printed canvas so you all can see what I mean. The fabric should have a rustic weaving texture (actually it looks like it does), but it's a mere effect - the canvas is actually flat.

The canvas - A nice-looking yet "cheap" option.

I would have personally opted for a different approach - there are more effective ways to mark replicas without losing the screen-accuracy. But the did what they did, and to be fair the result doesn't look bad at all. 

Now that I mention this, there's another aspect that I suspect they "tweaked" - the wood rod. Don't ask me why but I have the feeling the rod is not made out of wood but resin. This would be difficult to prove without breaking the replica, but if anyone has a say about this let me know.

>> EDIT 1: I've been told by several sources that the rod is indeed wood. Some speak of pine wood, although I'm no expert and I can't tell myself.

End tip of the staff.

Now a photo with all the details together. It was really fun montage to make!

All the different sections of the staff aligned.

Unlike other Creation Ent replicas, I don't think I've ever seen staffs with the "NZ made" stamp, but it's possible they exist.

>> EDIT 2: This has been confirmed as well! Some staff replicas do have the stamp. Thanks to Epiphany David and Sarah for the heads-up.

Finally, the COA. I'm lucky to have number 101/500, a very nice cipher. A curiosity: shortly after my number the propmasters started reducing the quality of the staffs and getting "lazier" about the details - making uneven twine wrapping, using dark brown fur or even applying yellow leather! So I'm more than happy to have been able to find this particular piece.

The Certificate of Authenticity.

This is all! But before I leave, let me share with you some pics of our mighty Bard of Potedaia using her trademark Gabwhacker. Battle on!

Gabrielle and her staff in Season 2.

Gabrielle and her staff in Season 3.

Gabrielle and her staff in Season 4.

Until the next one!