The original Stay Puft Marshmallow Man head is going up for auction

Entertainment memorabilia auction house Propstore has listed a master casting of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man head as part of its Los Angeles Spring 2026 live auction. The full-scale latex-skinned polyfoam head is expected to sell for $6,000 to $12,000 when bidding closes between March 25 and March 27.

My parents took me to see the original Ghostbusters in the theater when I was six years old. I am pretty sure the ghost librarian scene in the introduction scared me for life. I did not just get startled. I was properly scared, and I thought about it for weeks. But that does not change the fact that I am an ever-faithful Ghostbusters fan, which makes looking through this auction catalog a dangerous proposition for my wallet.

The Stay Puft head comes from the personal collection of Stuart Ziff, the creature effects supervisor on the 1984 film. Effects artist Linda Frobos sculpted the original clay version at Entertainment Effects Group. This specific lot is the master casting, meaning it is the actual mold the crew used to produce additional heads during filming. Master castings are highly sought after by collectors because they serve as the progenitor for the screen-used items. It comes tied directly to a crew member with a Letter of Authenticity.

Slimer castings and a six-foot matte painting

Ziff's collection includes several other pieces from the "Ghost Shop" (the crew's nickname for the effects department). Bidders can pick up a pair of small-scale Onionhead castings used for distant visual effects shots, estimated at $2,000 to $4,000. The auction also includes an archive of 191 behind-the-scenes photographs showing the Terror Dogs and the Librarian Ghost, a set of 23 labeled 35mm film rolls, and various production paperwork.

The most expensive Ghostbusters item in the catalog is a hand-painted matte painting by visual effects artist Matthew Yuricich. Yuricich had a massive impact on science fiction cinema in the 1970s and 1980s, providing matte work for films like Blade Runner and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This specific piece depicts the Temple of Gozer sitting on top of Dana Barrett's apartment building and measures over six feet wide. The crew used it for the film's "invisible matte" compositing technique to blend painted backgrounds with live-action elements. It has an estimated price of $18,000 to $36,000. You can also bid on a hand-sculpted Temple of Gozer door master pattern made of hardened clay, which Boss Film Studios used as the basis for their miniature effects work.

A reanimated mink coat and slime-powered storyboards

The auction extends into the sequels. When production started on Ghostbusters II, Industrial Light & Magic took over the visual effects duties from Boss Film Studios. ILM provided several maquettes for the second film, and the auction includes production design models of Slimer and the Scoleri Brothers. There is also a set of six hand-drawn ILM storyboards showing the Statue of Liberty marching through New York City.

The Ghostbusters II lots also include a reanimated mink coat puppet from the "Flip City" sequence, complete with foam latex detailing and synthetic fur. Each of these sequel lots carries an estimate of $3,000 to $10,000.

For fans of the modern era, the catalog has a few props from Ghostbusters: Afterlife. One lot is a light-up Spengler Farm field Ghost Trap. The prop department actually started with a standard costume store toy, modified it with a DMX lighting system, and distressed the exterior so it would look like it had been buried underground. Another lot has one of four known stunt Particle Throwers made by Thingergy. It is foam-based but has functional switches, with an estimate of $8,000 to $16,000.

Bidding closes on March 27

The Propstore Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction catalog contains over 1,550 lots total, with a combined pre-sale estimate of $9 million. The live auction portion kicks off on March 25 at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles for in-room bidding. Propstore is also hosting a free public preview event on March 11 at The Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills.