All Five Captains Together at Philly Wizard World

I usually don't write about general Star Trek news, but this is big.  This weekend, WizardWorld one of the best con series in the country, will be hosting all five captains at its Philadelphia Convention. This is actually the first time this has ever been done and so if you are on the East Coast you need to check it out.

The "Prototype" Sword of Kahless

The Sword of Kahless Prototype

The Sword of Kahless is not only an important relic in the world of Star Trek, but it is a prop that many prop collectors have on their Holy Grail list.  Featured in the Deep Space Nine episode "The Sword of Kahless", it is unique among Bat'Leths for its shape.  

There was one hero Sword of Kahless made by Prop'er Effects, the now defunct prop shop, for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  In addition, there were three rubber stunt versions and two plastic versions.  I own one of the rubber stunts as does my friend Donna.  The third is on display in the Star Trek Exhibit.  We aren't sure where the hero is, or the plastic versions.  But recently, The Prop Store, a well known and reputable prop retailer, had a "Prototype" Sword of Kahless that they advertised.  Being a huge fan of the prop, I bought it as it was a beauty and made by Dragon Dronet, the guy who worked at Prop'er Effects and made the hero.

Now the very next weekend, HMS Studios had their annual "open house" and I went up there with my good buddy and trusty assistant Jarrod Hunt.  We met Michael Moore, the genius behind HMS who was a partner in Prop'er Effects and has worked on more Star Trek props than any other man.  I mentioned the prototype to him and he told me there was no prototype! How did he know?  Well, Prop'er Effects produced the original and Michael has an amazing recall for details of any project he worked on.  He told me they got the finished plans from the studio and made what they sent over.  He pointed out the date the "prototype" was marked and signed by Dragon was 3/96.

So while we were there, we searched Memory Alpha and found out the episode aired in November of 1995.  So there was no way this could be a prototype.  Now, The Prop Store is reputable and well known and they immediately apologized.  I still bought the prop, but at 1/4 the price I originally paid for it as it is clearly not a production-made prop.  It is a beautiful display piece none the less and will look good on my wall.  

The problem was that The Prop Store had simply taken the word of the consignor who had bought the prop several years ago from Dragon Dronet and had not checked with Michael at HMS to confirm the story.  That happens sometimes when prop sellers or auction houses have so many items that they don't check out the provenance of an item as well as they should.  A buyer should always have proof of how an item came from a studio or be able to screen match the prop.  A "certificate of authenticity" doesn't mean an item is real.  It just means that the seller will give you your money back if you find out it is fake.

And this was my fault too, because I assumed that Prop Store had proof this was what it was claimed.  And this is the problem with anonymous consignors.  Prop companies want to not reveal who consigns items and so we have to rely on their effort.  And it is not always up to snuff.  

Unfortunately, even us experienced collectors can get taken sometimes, but as long as you deal with reputable sellers, such as Propworx or The Prop Store, a mistake like this doesn't result in you losing money.   NEVER buy screen used props or costumes off eBay unless you see that the item comes from a very reputable source.  That would be the offical Christies Star Trek auction, the It's a Wrap Star Trek Auctions or Propworx (whose Star Trek items usually come from reputable crew from the show).  Always demand to know WHERE an item came from.   And this was where I slipped up as I didn't do that!

You can always join the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction forum (http://startrek.invisionzone.com/index.php).  There you will find a group of experienced, enthusiastic collectors who will help you with anything you need.

And make sure you check out the Star Trek Prop, Costume and Auction Blog.  (http://startrekauction.blogspot.com/)

Alec Peters

The Enterprise "D" Saucer Section

Propworx' Jarrod Hunt in front of the Enterprise "D" Saucer from "Generations"

The Law of Big Props

There are a lot of lessons to be learned if you are going to collect screen used props & costumes.  And telling the stories about collecting is one of my favorite things to do.  I recently started working with CBS on the Star Trek archive, the collection of original props and costume spread through the Star Trek Exhibit and the Star Trek Experience.  This meant going through 3 warehouses that had a small selection each of items, as well as cataloging what was on both of the Star Trek Exhibits that are on tour.

Sometimes the coolest movie props aren't very collectible.  Many people lament the destruction of sets from Star Trek when they are finished.  But who has room to store a holodeck arch, or the engine core of the Enterprise NX-01?  As sad as it is, th eonly thing you can do with these amazing set pieces is destroy them when teh sets are struck.  of course items like the Captain's chair or the consoles, are kept, as they are small and easily stored.  But big pieces are very difficult and expensive to store.

Recently, CBS has begun to clear out storage units where parts of the STar Trek Exhibit have been stored.  There were storage facilities in Anaheim and Burbank CA that housed different assets from the various TV shows and movies as well as display cases, wall units and more.  So much of it was left over from the big Long Beach show that kicked off the Star Trek Exhibit a few years ago.  From these storage facilities we pulled such things as the Nebula Class filmimg miniature, the Grand Nagus Bust featured in Deep Space Nine and more.  These items are now safely stored in the temperature controlled facility of Propworx. 

Some items were just too big and not worth storing.  The forced perspective filming miniature of the Golden Gate Bridge from Star Trek IV for example was in poor shape, and frankly, not very interesting, so it was disposed of.  No collector would have the space to store such a piece nor would they be willing to pay what it cost to ship as it was in a huge crate.  It simply wasn't worth the effort.

But one piece that we are trying to find a home for is the large scale saucer section of the Enterprise "D" from the crash landing scene on Veridian III in Star Trek: Generations.  This is a huge piece, about 12' high by 15' wide.  It is heavily featured in the featurettes on the Generations Blu Ray and DVD.  Now, on the face of it, you would think this, being the biggest filming miniature ever used in Star Trek, would be an easy piece to find a home for.  But this gets to the "Law of Big Props".  Basically the law says that "The bigger the prop, the harder it is to sell". And this is one BIG prop. 

So for the past month, we have been trying to find a home for this piece.  It needs some restoration, but is incredibly cool.  If you know a place that might want to make a home for it ( a museum would be a great place), please email me alec at propworx dot com.

Collecting is like a Bonsai Tree...

A collection is like taking care of a Bonsai Tree.  It grows and you trim it, it grows and you trim it again.  You are always looking for the perfect shape, and that shape changes over time.

That is how you need to think of your collection.  What is the goal you are shooting for?  Will a new purchase get you closer to that goal?  What do you need to sell in your collection to get that new piece?

Recently I sold almost every piece of a certain aspect of my collection.  It just wasn't growing the way I wanted, and the key pieces probably weren't going to surface or were too expensive.  So I decided to do away with that "branch" of my collection.

Think about your collection, and see if you are growing it with a goal in mind.

And remember, it will never be "perfect".

Star Trek Auction III live on Liveauctioneers.com

Star Trek Auction III will be taking place Saturday, March 24th and will be live on LiveAuctioneers.com.  You can register, bid and view everything here.

If you are new to LiveAuctioneers, it works just like eBay before the actual auction. You enter your max bid and it will be bid for you automatically.  Or you can bid during the auction itself and when you log in, a cool bidding dashboard opens up and you can bid live in the auction.

As with our recent Propworx auctions, the entire auction happens online.  If you have any questions, contact Jarrod at jarrod@propworx.com.

Captain Picard's Hero Monitor from "First Contact"

The auction starts Saturday, March 24th at 10:00am PST. 

Also note that we have reduced the handling fee to $ 10 per item.  This covers the actual packaging and handling of items. You can then either have the items shipped for which we charge exact UPS shipping, or you can pick items up at our Santa Ana warehouse. 

Alec

Star Trek Auction # 3 Catalog now available!

Star Trek Auction # 3 will be happening Saturday, March 24th on LiveAuctioneers.  The catalog is now available as a PDF here.

We hope you will download the catalog and register for the auction (details on that to follow).

Here are a few previews from the catalog:

Borg Mannequin from Star Trek: The Experience on eBay

On our recent trip to Las Vegas to get the assets of Star Trek: The Experience, we wound up with some amazing Borg Mannequins that were made by Paramount for Star Trek: The Experience.  All of the assets were brought back to the Propworx warehouse and then sorted and cataloged by Jarrod.  Some of the assets are up for sale in our upcoming Propworx Star Trek auction.  One of these Borg mannequins we put up for sale this week on eBay.  

And what is really cool about these Mannequins is the face.  Look familiar?  It appears to be Robin Williams!  Our speculation here is that Paramount used the face mold for Robin Williams from Bicentennial Man to make these Borg.

This particular mannequin needs a little attention, but is overall in good shape and would make an amazing display.  Sorry, no regeneration modules left!

You can bid on the auction on eBay here.


Note we changed the listing, so this is the new link.

The Sword of Kahless

I had made an off-hand comment about the Sword of Kahless from the Star Trek Experience being hero in a previous blog post, but it turned out to be a replica.  Fortunately, there are a lot of cool Star Trek collectors who immediately sent me screen caps and when we went to Vegas to pick up the assets, we confirmed it was indeed just a replica.  The hero is in someone's collection out there!  

I know Max Cervantes, prop maker extraordinaire, and an all around nice guy, had confirmed with me that there were 3 stunts made.  And all 3 are accounted for (one in my collection, one in my good friend Donna's collection and one with the CBS archive).  But we don't know who has the Hero.

Anyway, after a bunch of trolls on the Replica Prop Forum took cheap shots at me for mentioning that it was a hero (haters gonna hate!), I corrected the blog post and here offer some photos of Gill Hibben, who made lots of knives and Bat'Leth's for Star Trek, making the STTE Sword of Kahless.  Thanks to Brian Roskamp (Trekker670) for the photos.

And the Hero in a screecap from "The Sowrd of Kahless"

Alec on the Team Jack Podcast

Some of you know one of my best friends, Jack Morrissey.  He recently started a Podcast on the Kevin Smith Smodcast network.  Well, he invited me on last week and the podcast just came out.  We talk a lot of Star Trek, props, collecting and more.  All the stuff we love to talk about.  I hope you will check it out.  It is just over an hour.  I have already gotten emails from friends who found it and loved it, so I thought I would share it with you all.

Alec

Tom Paris costume on eBay

A Tom Paris costume previously sold by Screen Used, is up for sale on eBay.  The seller initially had the costume on eBay with a very reasonable opening bid, but closed the auction early and has relisted it.  The seller is known to the Star Trek collecting community and a bit of a pain in the ass though not a crook. 

In the past one forum member has tried to negotiate with this seller for a costume he had on eBay and the seller was a bit rude (and this come form one of the nicest forum member) and refused to negotiate.  The buyer eventually waited the guy out and got the costume a few years later from him.
 

The seller's prices are generally high for Star Trek costumes, as we see from a lot of buyers who think they can make a big mark-up on costumes when they go to sell.  Here, while the opening bid is closer to a reasonable sale price than an opening bid, he does have a "Make an Offer" button.

Now this costume is really interesting is that this costume comes with a screen used comm badge and pips, so I think the price is pretty good, but make an offer if you are interested.