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Oddjob's deadly hat from 'Goldfinger' turns up on 'Antiques Roadshow'

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1964:  From The Left To The Right, Harold Sakata As A Korean Bodyguard, Sean Connery, James Bond And Gert Froebe, Auric Goldfinger In A Scene Of The Film.  (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Harold Sakata, Sean Connery and Gert Froebe in Goldfinger (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty)

One of the most iconic props in the history of the Bond movies has turned up on the Antiques Roadshow, where it was valued in the tens of thousands of pounds.

The hat worn by Harold Sakata, aka henchman Oddjob in 1964's Goldfinger, featured a steel rim in the movie, and was used as a lethal throwing weapon, decapitating a statue in a show of strength to Sean Connery's James Bond.

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Sadly, the metal rim had been removed from the slightly shabby-looking hat when it was gifted to the brother-in-law of the gentleman who brought the prop onto the BBC1 show, broadcast on Monday.

Antiques Roadshow (Credit: BBC)
Antiques Roadshow (Credit: BBC)

He had been a driver for Aston Martin and had enquired after any memorabilia that might have been going spare, and was handed Sakata's hat.

“As a young lad, everybody wanted to throw the Oddjob hat,” he said.

“And if you look at it, everybody did throw the hat because it’s absolutely in pieces. Because it didn’t have the steel in it anymore, whenever it landed it was damaged.”

Antiques Roadshow (Credit: BBC)
Antiques Roadshow (BBC)

Expert Marc Allum said that he was 'shaking with anticipation and excitement' about evaluating the piece of movie history, before estimating that it is worth around £30,000 – though a similar prop hat sold in 1998 for £62,000.

The hat worn in the film is a Sandringham, often mistaken as a bowler (Allum calls it a bowler too), though Oddjob does use a bowler in Ian Fleming's novel.

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Describing the weapon, Auric Goldfinger (played by Gert Fröbe) explains that it features “a light but very strong alloy, Mr Bond. I fear that will have damaged the felt covering, but Oddjob will put on another. He’s surprisingly quick with a needle and thread. As you can imagine, that blow would have smashed a man’s skull or half severed his neck”.

The episode was filmed at the National Botanic Garden of Wales last summer, with the item among a number of pieces of Bond memorabilia, including a James Bond number plate.