History Main / PropRecycling

* ''Series/MeaCulpa:'' One particular orange sweater popped up in multiple episodes worn by different actors, and even returned in the first episode of the UnCanceled season. This being a TrueCrime show, watchers quickly came to call it the "death/cursed sweater"

* The Eighth Doctor's TARDIS console from ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie Doctor Who: The TV Movie]]'' is now in the hands of some ''Series/DoctorWho'' cosplay enthusiasts using it for {{fan film}}s. Seen notably in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18pHTzjHhMk "Doctor Who and the Universal Vacation"]].

* ''Film/AirplaneIITheSequel'' had the thing with lights that go back and forth. Seen in the background in some Sci-Fi series. Was also in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. There is a site detailing its [[http://starringthecomputer.com/computer.php?c=73 numerous appearances]].

** In the seventies and eighties, ''every'' UK sci-fi show would at some point (or more likely, at several points) use a distinctive triangular grid wall [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ybDxjNPS4uY/Uc_eZ2VVDpI/AAAAAAAAV8g/68CSa-Vqn3c/s800/mut4.jpg originally seen]] in the Skybase from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E4TheMutants The Mutants]]". The interesting thing about this one is that it wasn't necessarily the ''same'' wall, but would have been made from the same moulds, which were specially built for the ''Doctor Who'' serial. In ''Doctor Who'' itself, the wall reappeared in the hyperspace craft from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E3TheStonesOfBlood The Stones of Blood]]", the Skonnon transporter from "The Horns of Nimon" and the room on the TARDIS which served as sleeping quarters for first Adric, then Turlough. (Seen in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E4Terminus Terminus]]").

* ''Series/TheLoveBoat'' literally ''will not'' "be taking another run". [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120313015118/http://now.msn.com/entertainment/0309-love-boat-ship-scrapped.aspx It was scrapped (recycled!) in March of 2012]].
* A particular prop newspaper has been [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2010/06/07/the_story_behind_the_recycled_newspaper_prop.html used for decades]]. It is made by a company called the Earl Hays Press that specializes in prop documents for film and television. In film, it has appeared in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', ''Film/AfterDarkMySweet'', ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'', ''Film/TenThingsIHateAboutYou'', and others. In television, Ed O'Neill [[https://reelrundown.com/film-industry/Same-newspaper-prop-in-different-movies was reading it]] in ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' and is still reading it in ''Series/ModernFamily'' 13 years later. Headlines in the fake paper include: "Compromise Housing Bill Sent to President for OK", and "She's 3rd Brightest But Hard 'Gal' To See" (this one also includes the same stock photo).

*** The A-Squad suits used repaints of the ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' helmets. Unrelated to the A-Squad, Boom's ImaginationSpot of him being the Orange S.P.D. ranger has him don an orange recolored ''in Space'' helmet.

** The series made also multiple use of props from ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'' including the uniforms, the spaceship and Robby the Robot. One of the VFX models of the ship even turned up in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E51TheInvaders The Invaders]]" as a miniature spaceship that threatens a woman ([[spoiler:well, actually a full-size spaceship from Earth that a giant woman mistakes for a threat, but that's the TwistEnding]]).

* Many roller coasters at the Ride/SixFlags theme parks often get re-themed, with repaints of the tracks and/or cars. For example, ''Poison Ivy's Tangled Train'' at Six Flags New England got re-themed and re-painted to become ''Catwoman's Whip''. For a while SixFlags parks went even further, regularly rotating roller coasters between parks. They would be closed, taken apart, shipped to a different park, rebuilt and opened. Rinse, repeat.

* Happens in-universe in ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids''. Pete spends most of the Episode IV campaign wondering where his space dreadnought went. Upon reaching Mos Eisley, he's horrified to discover that the GM took apart the dreadnought model and incorporated those parts into the city model.

* In the ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' episode "A Lot Of Hot!", some of the stuff in the pile of random stuff Donkey brings out are props from ''WesternAnimation/JacksBigMusicShow'', including a tanbourine, the horn of the Music Genie and a trumpet.

** For a ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' scene showing Lex Luthor in the future as the President of the United States, rather than building a whole new set for a short scene they flew Lex's actor to from Vancouver to L.A. and shot it on ''Series/TheWestWing'''s standing Oval Office set.

* ''Galaxina'' features the Batmobile from the Adam West TV series.

* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', due to being a series with yearly installments for nearly a decade, has a long history of recycling sprites and either tweaking the shading or altering certain details between games. [[https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Kyo_Kusanagi#Sprites Here's a showcase of all of Kyo Kusanagi's idle animations for comparison.]]

** The griddle-like corridor panels, which were originally shipping pallets, have shown up in ''Series/DoctorWho'', ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', ''Series/BlakesSeven'' and ''Series/RedDwarf'' ''at least'', and probably in various other productions. They are heavily used in the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies, as floors and ceilings aboard the Death Star, the Millennium Falcon, Vader's Star Destroyer, Cloud City, the Endor Bunker and many other places.

* The Vogon spaceship interiors in the TV version of ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' are from ''Film/{{Alien}}''.

** The badge seen on all of Arnold Rimmer's uniforms is a Golgafrinchum hat badge from ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' turned upside-down.

** A piece of Borg debris in the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS02E023Regeneration}} Regeneration]]" was a spare ''Enterprise-E'' saucer section left over from ''Film/StarTrekNemesis''.

** Another bit from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' to show up on ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' was the spacesuit from "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E9TheTholianWeb}} The Tholian Web]]". Mindy's dad showed up wearing it in one episode.
** In the ''Next Generation'' episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E15PenPals}} Pen Pals]]", the spectral analyzer used by a survey team in one scene is in fact the Oscillation Overthruster from ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension''. This may have been a shout-out, as prop-master Michael Okuda was a huge BB fan.

** Valve in general reuses props, textures, and [[StockSoundEffect sound effects]] across franchises whenever they can, mostly because nearly all of their games started out as mods of others. Since every game except ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has essentially the same visual style, and the engine itself does not support significantly higher-detail graphics than it did when it was first created, it still looks natural. Open up Hammer's prop browser for either of the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' games or ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' if you're so inclined; many of the props that were lifted from ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Source'' are still in folders named for their respective maps.

** ''VideoGame/BattlefieldPlay4Free'', in addition to reusing levels from ''Battlefield 2'', also reuses weapons and vehicles from it, as well as from ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany'' and, after it came out, ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}''.
** ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 4}}'' re-uses a tonne of content from Battlefield 3. The animations for knifing an enemy, reloading the shotguns, the assault rifles, jeeps, and enemy vehicles are all direct copies from the previous game. Several weapons in the released game also have their models lifted from ''VideoGame/{{Medal of Honor|2010}}: Warfighter'', sometimes with their associated animations as well, at least in part because the team behind the ''Medal of Honor'' reboots handled the ''[=BF4=]'' DLC and post-release support and the games are in the same engine.

* ''[[Videogame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'' recycles a large number of (largely environmental) assets from ''Videogame/{{Crysis}}'' despite being a total conversion mod. Prop recycling was part of the decision to remain as a game mod rather than going as a full standalone [[UsefulNotes/GameEngine CryEngine]] game, as they would have had to remove and replace all the recycled ''Crysis'' props and audio effects.

[[quoteright:273:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robby1_4934.jpg]]

* Creator/CecilBDeMille actively prevented anyone from reusing his ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' set after he was done filming by literally burying it in the California desert where the film was shot. In recent years, it's been rediscovered and subject to excavation as if it really ''was'' a lost Ancient Egyptian city.

* In ''Series/QueerAsFolk'', Stuart buys Vince a replica of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' RobotBuddy K-9 in an attempt to buy his affection, and it plays a prominent MacGuffin role in the last couple of episodes. The replica is the BBC's actual K-9 prop.

Can overlap with WholeCostumeReference if the costume is recycled from an earlier work. If it's a real item, then it's OffTheShelfFX. If it's everything in the room, it's a RecycledSet. If it is an illustrated work resuing drawings from another work, it's TracedArtwork. For when video games reuse "models" of the polygonal kind in the same work, see YouALLLookFamiliar and NewWorkRecycledGraphics. Compare StockFootage, PaletteSwap and CaliforniaDoubling.

** An odd example comes from the ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' movie ''The Onigashima Warship'', where the villains' {{Mook}}s are Raydragoons from ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki''. The costume design book "Detail of Heroes" explains that this happened because Toei had lots of Raydragoon suits left over from the American series ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight''.

* Many roller coasters at the Ride/SixFlags theme parks often get re-themed, with repaints of the tracks and/or cars. For example, ''Poison Ivy's Tangled Train'' at Six Flags New England got re-themed and re-painted to become ''Catwoman's Whip''.

* The UsefulNotes/ColdWar DayOfTheJackboot mini-series ''Series/{{Amerika}}'' has the DirtyCommunists flying over the United States in helicopters reused from ''Film/BlueThunder''. Except they're [[BlackHelicopter no longer blue]].

*** Also from ''in Space'', Andros' [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Spiral Saber]] and [[InTheHood cloak]] were used in a scene were a MysteriousProtector saves Z leading many fans to believe it was Andros at first, it wasn't. [[spoiler:It was Doggie.]]

* In more recent years, various toy companies have purposefully designed "generic body types" for their toylines to be able to produce multiple characters with the same body type and swap out a minimal amount of parts to create multiple new characters with minimal effort. Hasbro's Marvel Legends is a great example, as most of the bodies for their characters use the same types of bodies but are often different colors. NECA and their cloth-based Mego-style action figures and DC Essentials action figure line and the characters also use this method of action figure design method.