The Terminator franchise used to have such a strong relationship with practical effects, which is our preferred art medium vs CG, but sometimes the props themselves don’t have a physical longevity which is inkeeping with the lifespan of the film,- and can deteriorate with time.
This famous Arnold Schwarzenegger puppet has seen better days, and now looks more like a mummified corpse…
The images were taken at the Profiles in History auction house on a visit by David Woodruff (son of Tom Woodruff Jr. – a stalwart of the Stan Winston Studios team).
One of our favorite images was the side-by-side recreation with Tom reuniting with this slightly worse-for-wear T-800 Unit…

9 Comments
His hair has certainly thinned out a little lol…
It looks like someone that has had botched plastic surgery too many times…..actually saying that…it kinda looks like Micky Rourke now lol
Why does it look completely different? The lips drawn back, the damaged eye repaired? Even the proportions look different. Woodruff Jr even seems uncertain exactly what this is.
Someone should contact Tom Spina, he does excellent prop restorations.
This is specifically a head used for the close-up when the Terminator inserts the x-acto knife into his eyeball. You can tell due to the raised eyebrow (where he holds it with his finger) is hard-sculpted into it.
jd
“i need a vacation”
Lol looks 👍 Hills Have 👀s
“The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy.” – Sgt. Kyle Reese, 132nd Eagle Watch