Updated: January 07, 2011

Lost in Space Major Don West (actor Mark Goddard) Rare color copy of original 1st Season costume drawing by Costume Designer, Paul Zastupnevich.

Amongst his many amazing achievements, legendary Executive Producer, Writer, and Visionary Irwin Allen is remembered for his incredible conceptual production design on the classic television series Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Time Tunnel. And, of course, his blockbuster smash films The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, just to name a few.

Besides the four beloved television series brilliant casting, imaginative writing, dynamic sets and cutting edge special visual-effects mentioned above, the Irwin Allen Productions also featured wonderfully designed costumes and creature effects.

One of Irwin Allen's true secret weapons was the Renaissance man designer, Paul Zastupnevich. Many diehard fans know of this genius' contributions to Irwin Allen's productions, but this incredibly talented artist and prolific designer should be a household name. The sheer amount of joy and entertainment that he helped provide to millions of television viewers all over the world is staggering in its scope.

Besides often being a "right-hand" man to Irwin Allen, as an Associate Producer, on multiple Irwin Allen productions, the multi-talented Mr. Zastupnevich also contributed largely to the production design and art direction elements to many of Allen's classic film and television properties.

On the classic television series Lost in Space, Paul Zastupnevich not only served as Assistant Producer, but also designed all of the memorable and colorful costumes worn in every season of the show. And, designed the majority of the TV programs' unforgettable space aliens, monsters, and creatures! Serving as a Special Makeup Effects artist! Talk about your multi-talented individual!

Original Zastupnevich full-color costume sketches from various Irwin Allen productions have been offered at leading international Hollywood memorabilia auction houses over the past decade. Some have garnered closed auctions prices that have exceeded $10,000.00. These original are extremely scarce and rarely show up for sale. And collectors refuse to let them go.

Due to the facts outlined above, we sought out the next best thing to owning an original Zastupnevich pre-production illustration. We pestered a well-known and respected collector initials P.G. who had actually met with Zastupnevich in person in the early 1990's, who was briefly permitted by Paul, to color-Xerox many of his archived original drawings from the Irwin Allen productions. This was the first time this had ever been permitted. This drawing above is from this unprecedented color-Xerox session, which took place at a Kinko's copy store in Zastupnevich's neighborhood.

Now we know what some of you are probably thinking, how can "color Xeroxes" of original production artwork have any value? After all, they're only copies of the original. Well, we submit the following information for your consideration:

1.) During film and television production, original art is copied for distribution to the film crew department supervisors. They do not hand out the original artwork for usage. Originals are reproduced in a very small quantity and provided to department heads for pre-production work reference.

2.) The original art is often kept and archived by the Studios for future reference. For later usage by Licensing & Merchandising, Marketing & Promotion departments, and / or for possible sequel or spin-off considerations. Also, at times, original production art is kept for its historic value to the Studio.

3.) Advances in color Xerox printing technology have altered the accessibility to quality reproductions by Hollywood memorabilia collectors. For decades, unless a Studio reproduced an original preproduction drawing or illustration as a limited edition lithograph or print (as in the case of Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments), consumers had no access whatsoever to reproductions of this often beautiful and amazing work.

4.) The quality of color Xeroxing and scanning has allowed Hollywood memorabilia collectors to acquire stunning reproductions of one-of-a-kind film and television artwork.

5.) In many cases, only a scarce handful of copies of an original illustration or painting are produced, making these reproductions even much more scarce then any art gallery limited-edition print or lithograph. At times, only 1 to 5 copies are ever produced. It is important to remember in collecting to observe trends in the availability in unique items and the potential for future desirability.

6.) Therefore, we submit to you, that the following rare copy, of an original conceptual pre-production illustration, is quite scarce and collectible. And is worthy of being displayed in your Irwin Allen, Lost in Space or Television collection.

Only a very few of the following were produced, we have only seen these copies. P.G. was not well known in memorabilia circles for being considerably well-funded (he reminded us much of the character Whimpie from the old Popeye television series: "I will gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger"), so therefore, P.G. was only able to color-Xerox a very, very limited number of these, scarcely seen copies of original Zastupnevich Lost in Space creations.

The following is the description of the item being offered in this special premium eBay Lost in Space auction:

This is a quality-framed image of the first season costume of the character Major Don West, the dashing and skilled pilot of the famed Jupiter-2 Spacecraft, as portrayed by the awesome actor, Mark Goddard.

The color Xerox copy of the original Paul Zastupnevich hand-colored, pencil and ink drawing, measures an impressive 11" wide by 17" tall. It depicts Mark Goddard standing in his memorable velour blue and red knit accented costume from the beloved 1st Season of Lost in Space. Considered by many fans to be the best season of the television series due to its serious and dramatic tone.

The piece is accented by a Zastupnevich rendered conceptual Lost in Space logo in the upper right hand corner, and beneath the corner Zastupnevich wrote the following paragraph:

"Aurora blue velour pull on shirt – jockey tab – red knit t-neck inset and cuffs…banded in black stratosphere blue stretch tapered pants. Matching suede boots."

The middle left hand section of the copy of the original illustration to the right of Goddard's right thigh states: Mark Goddard as "Don".

Paul Zastupnevich's name is signed (not an original signature) on the copy to the right of Goddard's left foot.

Value: $100.