Dentist Makes a Bid for Fame With Hollywood Memorabilia : Auction: George Reeves’ ‘Superman’ suit and a pair of Munchkin shoes from ‘Wizard of Oz’ will be among 840 items offered in the biggest Hollywood auction in nearly 20 years.

Barry Vilkin, a dentist who specializes in root canals, purchased his first movie poster 18 months ago. This weekend, his auction company, Camden House Auctioneers, is conducting the largest movie memorabilia auction since the MGM sale nearly two decades ago.

On Saturday and Sunday at the Ebell Club in Los Angeles, Vilkin will take bids for 840 items, ranging from George Reeves’ “Superman” costume from the ‘50s TV series with an estimated price tag of $50,000, to a rare pair of Munchkin shoes worn in 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz,” valued at a more modest $3,500. What’s unusual about the auction is that every item that goes up on the block is genuine Hollywood.

“I’m a believer in specialization,” the 34-year-old Vilkin said, who still maintains his dental practice three days a week. “In the medical field, I specialize. I saw the same need in movie memorabilia. It bothered me that auction houses across the country were throwing movie memorabilia in with other collectibles, like dolls, toys and plates.”

Two years ago, Vilkin was collecting California fine art. When the prices soared too high for his pocketbook, he began searching for an alternative art form to collect.

“I loved movies, so I started collecting movie posters,” he said. “Almost immediately, I began meeting people who collected posters and other memorabilia, and I kind of detected this undercurrent of energy that seemed to be building. I found out about different trade publications devoted to people who collect movie memorabilia. You open them up and there’s thousands of ads in there of people buying and selling.”

Sensing that he had stumbled upon a hot market, Vilkin took a week off from his dental practice and went to California Auctioneers School in Los Angeles to learn about the business and obtain an auctioneer’s license. Next, he took out ads in trade and movie magazines asking people for movie memorabilia to sell in an upcoming auction.

“Initially, I ran the ads to see if anyone would call,” Vilkin said. “I didn’t even know if the phone was going to ring. But in the first week it rang about 50 times. The next week, it rang probably 200 times. Then the word of mouth started, and pretty soon I couldn’t keep up with the people who were contacting me.”

This is Vilkin’s second auction. His first was in May with 550 lots. ‘Barry is becoming extremely popular,” said Michael Shaw, a former MGM childhood actor whose memorabilia collection includes one of the five pair of ruby slippers from “Wizard of Oz.” “He’s being taken seriously by collectors. What he is doing right now is establishing credibility and building a reputation in the world of Hollywood memorabilia, which is becoming bigger all the time.”

It was in the early ‘80s that lost and forgotten Hollywood bric-a-brac began surfacing in public auctions, after being sold and traded privately for years. The Hollywood artifacts were culled largely by collectors who salvaged them from studio dumpsters.

The potential for financial windfall was first realized in 1982, when Steven Spielberg paid $61,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for one of the Rosebud sleds from “Citizen Kane.” But the floodgates opened wide in June, 1988, when a pair of ruby slippers was auctioned off by Christie’s New York for $165,000.

Soon after, Sotheby’s sold one of the two pianos from “Casablanca” for $154,000; a 1938 radio script from Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” for $143,000; and a black-and-white animation cel from the early Walt Disney cartoon “The Orphan’s Benefit” for $135,000.

“I’m a little afraid of the market right now,” said Beverly Hills dentist Gary Milan, the seller of the “Casablanca” piano. Milan still owns a second piano from the film, as well as the leaden statuette from “The Maltese Falcon,” which he claims is worth more than $250,000.

“This is the time to buy, not to sell,” Milan said. “The economy is pretty flat right now. I think when there’s another jump in inflation and people have dollars that they don’t know what to do with, this stuff is going to take off again.”

Items Vilkin has up for auction this weekend include the Marx Brothers’ personal family photo album, with photos from 1876 to 1925 (estimated value: $6,000 to $8,000); Leslie Howard’s script from “Gone With the Wind” ($8,000 to $10,000); what is believed to be the only surviving theater display banner for the 1937 release of Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” ($3,000 to $5,000); a photo album from the Hal Roach Studio Archives that contains dozens of test photos of early screen stars ($2,000 to $3,000); and more than 500 vintage movie posters and lobby cards dating back to 1910.

“With each auction, more things kind of get finessed out of the woodwork, which is great, “ Vilkin said. “Because a lot of people who have these items don’t look at them as historical artifacts. The ‘Superman’ costume was donated to Cal State Fullerton by the director of the television show and held there for 10 years. They didn’t take care of it, and now it’s moth-eaten. These items should be preserved and shared.”

Camden House has scheduled a public exhibition today from noon to 9 p.m. at the Ebell. Poster and lobby cards will be auctioned Saturday beginning at noon, with the rest of the items going on the block Sunday at noon.

The Ebell Club is at 4400 Wilshire Blvd. Information: (213) 476-1628.