The Story Behind the Funniest ‘Indiana Jones’ Prop Replica You’ve Ever Seen

Indiana Jones is always on the hunt for rare antiquities. He’s found the Golden Idol, Ark of the Covenant, Holy Grail, and so much more. All of which makes prop replicas of those things rather obvious. But, for the Indiana Jones fan who wants to be like their favorite adventuring archaeologist and get something more rare and specific, how about a clothes hanger?

Yes, next week, Regal Robot is releasing maybe the most random, deep-cut, funniest Indiana Jones prop replica ever, Toht’s hanger from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Here’s a brief reminder of what specifically that is.

The scene is a perfect reminder of why Raiders of the Lost Ark is so good. It’s a film that can fit such goofy, weird, unique jokes into a scene that’s otherwise tense and unpredictable. That’s part of why Regal Robot founder Tom Spina decided to make it the latest addition to the company’s already awesome list of Indy collectibles.

“You’re trying to find pieces that we haven’t seen done over and over and trying to give fans something that they’re just not going to get anywhere else,” Spina told io9 recently. “Ideas just pop out as we’re discussing, and when you get to something like the hanger, it’s just a classic film moment. How do you not look at that as something to do?”

After getting Lucasfilm’s permission to move forward, Regal’s team went ahead with researching the hanger itself. The original prop, made by the late, great Lucasfilm prop master Bill Hargreaves (who also made IG-88 and the Probe Droid in The Empire Strikes Back), was actually first supposed to be used in Steven Spielberg’s 1941 but didn’t quite make the cut. Spielberg loved the gag, though, and brought it back for Raiders.

As for where the prop went after that, Spina confirmed Regal was able to locate the screen-used original (though wouldn’t confirm specifically where) and from it acquired “never-before-seen imagery of that original prop, which we were able to use to scale from that to match size and detail,” Spina said.

The Toht hanger, in all its glory. – Regal Robot

Once they had those materials, a few interesting things came to light. First, the piece itself was not what they envisioned. “In my head I always sort of visualized it as black wood dowels with eyelets and a chain between them, rather than what it really is, which is metal tubing and chain running through and little rings as stoppers and things like that,” Spina said.

That, however, was the easy part. The hard part was the hook at the top, which wasn’t like anything they’d seen before. “We’ve done a bunch of research into it because it clearly was a found part of some kind, and we have a few leads,” Spina said. “We’re still trying to figure out what that original part might have been, but what we wound up doing for this replica is doing custom machine parts that match the measurements and the unique shape of that hook that’s on the original.”

The hanger, which also consists of a custom chain made to match the size and styling of the original, retails for $129 and is limited to 500 pieces. It goes on sale via Regal Robot at noon ET on November 11. At the same time, the company will also release a brand new two-sided Toht bronze bust for $59, showing the owner of the hanger in his final, melted form. You can find more info here.

Both being released on November 11 – Regal Robot

These releases are perfect examples of what Regal Robot wants to do. The company began several years ago when Spina, who was already running a design company that worked with Lucasfilm, found himself at a unique crossroads. “Regal grew out of work we were doing in the combination of home theming for people, giving people that sort of Disneyland theme park experience in their own space, and creature work and things that we were doing with Lucasfilm,” Spina said. “We had the ideas for what we thought were going to be unique, fun, clever type home decor, and we had the access with Lucasfilm from the work we had been doing with them, and we said, ‘Hey, we could be doing this cool Star Wars kind of officially and create some stuff that isn’t out there right now.'”

In a weird twist of fate, one of the earliest items that fit those parameters gained notoriety here on Gizmodo. Way back in 2008, Gizmodo featured a piece Spina and his team created: a Han Solo in Carbonite desk. The reveal went viral and proved to Spina that there was a market for the things he was thinking about.

“This is the stuff we like to do,” Spina said of the desk. “Take something, turn it on its head, make it into something it’s not, give it some function, make something that’s a little unexpected. It was like, ‘Well, we like this, but is anybody else going to like this?’ And that post by Gizmodo, and the fact that so many other people picked it up, really let us know, like, ‘Oh, yeah, wait, people love this,’ and that to me is the spark of Regal Robot.”

The desk that started a company, from a certain point of view. – Tom Spina Designs

In the years since then, Regal has specialized largely in Lucasfilm items, with some highlights including the Urn of Nurhachi from Temple of Doom, Mandalorian-inspired Mythosaur skulls, and various creature maquettes, masks, and busts from every single nook and cranny of Star Wars. It’s truly an impressive and varied body of work featuring all manner of pieces you haven’t seen anywhere else. And, now, somehow, it’s also made a clothes hanger cool.

So, if you’re a Star Wars or Indiana Jones fan, Regal Robot is just one of those companies you have to keep an eye on because you never know what’s next. “We’re constantly jotting down different ideas for products, either from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or even other stuff that we’re considering for the future,” Spina said. “We have a very long list of ideas, but honestly, we hardly ever refer to it because we’re all massive nerds for these movies, having digested them so much over the last 40 or 50 years. It’s just part of us.”

For more on Regal Robot, including Toht’s hanger, bust, and many, many currently available and upcoming items, check on the official site.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.