Piece of the Past cancels auction at last minute!

Well, this auction has been a disaster since we first found it. And now, with 3 minutes left. the auction site closed down.

SHILL BIDDING?

Well, here is why. With just under 9 minutes to go, I see my bids are almost all bid up to the EXACT maximum. (3/4 were bid up to the max I had put in and 1 was just under). Now what are the odds of this considering how different my bids were? I took a shot of the bid summary at that time, and here it is:


I contacted POTP at 6:52 and told them to call me as I suspected foul play. Because of this, they canceled the auction. They felt it would look bad, and it probably would.

And then when I wrote that this smacked of shill bidding, they wrote:

"No idiot it doesnt what it smacks of is you sabotaging the auction from start to finish"

OK, well, calling me an idiot is not the way to resolve an issue.

Star Trek Forum User Philippe had the same problem:

Well I noticed exactly the same thing. I had a bid on one item 1 hour ago at my maximum and I was already feeling it weird but possible if we follow the increments process.

So I did increase my bid just in case to what I thought would be still a fair price but less than what we saw in PIH auction for the same item. Then my bid went fast to exactly my new limit. Was going to look at the number of bids to compare with previous one when the system "crashed".

You can imagine I feel this is a bit awkward. So hopefully somebody will have bid more than me during the crash because if not there is no way I will pay for this unless I know exactly what happened and I can see the bidding history. Even so would trust the bids if those are from someone from the forums. If not would still feel fishy.

Guess the forums will have quite a few comments to come on this auction.

Cheers,

Philippe.


AUCTION DISASTER

This auctions has been a disaster from Day 1.

1) Fake items

2) Wrong photos

3) Bad descriptions

4) Failure to disclose damage

5) No provenance

6) Crappy software

And then instead of coming on the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum and taking feedback, all Kevin did all week was bitch about collectors who knew nothing and whine that a member of the forum was using the name "Star Wares", which is the name of a company he supposedly bought. (No trademark, and no licensed business in CA, despite claims of both by Kevin Martin).


Was I wrong to want to cancel my bids? This auction was a disaster. I wanted to see it successful, and that is why I went to see the stuff and posted photos. But when you have fake items, and the photos and descriptions are so bad, and there is no provenance, well you are setting yourself up for failure.

I look forward to discussing this with you all on the Forum.

Alec

Piece of the Past final analysis

A lot has happened with this auction since I first found out about it two weeks ago. I have tried to be open and fair with Kevin Martin and the Piece of the Past Star Trek Auction he is running. Being that he is new to Star Trek auctions, I have tried to help, and have done a lot of work trying to authenticate many of the pieces. It is obvious that there were fakes mixed in with real items which is always a problem.

The biggest problem is the same problem we see over and over in this hobby. People assume that since an item was sold in an auction at Christie's or Butterfield's or Profiles that is provenance. It is not. Provenance is being able to prove where an item came from, and in this hobby it means tracing it back to the studio. In this auction we have no such proof.

Plus, there have been a lot of problems with this auction besides inadequate provenance. Inaccurate descriptions, fake items and the wrong photos were really unacceptable to most Star Trek collectors and has caused many of them on the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum to choose not to bid. What Kevin failed to realize, is that all the problems with the auction has cast doubt on the auction as a whole. Now, I am bidding on 4 items, but on 2 of them my bids are low as I have doubts about them. If I win them I will take them to Mike Moore of HMS, who is the real authority on those items and have him authenticate them. I know I can return them if they turn out to be fake and if I lose, I won't worry about it.

Ultimately, what we have is an auction of items bought 10 years ago, before the Star Trek collecting hobby was as sophisticated as it is now. People simply didn't know what was real and what was not. It is like the situation with the Mark English fakes in the early 80's. There was no Internet and people didn't know.

Remember, provenance is KING.

So here is the latest on the items where questions have been raised.

First, the Cardassian Pistol. Even though not mentioned in the auction ad, it is broken in two. The description says it was from a Paramount auction at Christie's, but no reference is given.



The Klingon Mek'Leth is unlike any one I have ever seen. The finish looks totally wrong. Without provenance I would pass.
The Horgh'an was one I was interested in, but passed when I compared it to the two I have handled, both of which had totally different finishes. They were matte and this one was glossy and too light. No provenance...pass.


The Klingon Knife is a United Cutlery Replica. Kevin maintains that the sheath is a real prop, but it doesn't match any I have seen and since the sheath fits the knife, I would pass without provenance.

A lot of questions have come up with this Tricorder. The graphics appear wrong and appear copied from the technical manual. No provenance.

Piece of the Past pulls two items

I contacted Star Trek prop maker Richard Coyle about the suspect Star Trek III Phaser and the Klingon Disruptor. Here is what he said:


The Star Trek III Phaser:

It looks like a very poor recast of one of my models that I used to make to sell to fans at a cons.

But it is not one of my models, not my work. too crappy.

The missing rail under the front end in front of the trigger is a mark of one of my early models as is the out of line LEDs in the Phaser One.

SO it is not off a original studio prop, it is off one of my models.

Rich


On the Klingon Disruptor Coyle said:

By the way the Klingon Pistol needing repairs is one of mine…

The two part body with the black handle is a tell.

The real ones were one part model and handle.

I think I should be involved with your site more often…

Sadly a lot of my old work shows up now as so called real props.

Rich


When I presented this info to Kevin at Piece of the Past he immediately withdrew the items.

Alec

Piece of the Past "Generations" Kirk costume photos

"Generations" Captain Kirk death costume - stunt


The Kirk costume in the Piece of the Past Star Trek auction is a mix of a Shatner undershirt and stunt vest and pants. Interestingly both the vest and pants have slits in them for what was probably wires for a stunt rig,

This is an important costume, even though it is mostly stunt. And I think it is worth $ 4-5,000 or so. I hope these close ups help some.

Alec



Shirt Tag


Holes in the shirt


And holes in the vest


Vest Tag


Inside back of vest

Piece of the Past Star Trek auction photos

OK, here are photos of the items in this auction.

Cardassian Rifle Resin, broken ends, unglued emitter tip and handles.

Klingon Knife One piece rubber


Klingon Disruptor Needs repair


Bajoran Pistol
Boomerang Phaser

Appears correct. Good holster Isolinear Chips

Horgon



ITEMS IN QUESTION

The following items need more inspection and research. Each presents potential red flags, but we really can't say anything one way or another at this point.
Cobra Head Phaser

Will be taking mine to compare as this one is very light. Not convinced.


Tricorder

Authenticity is up in the air at the moment. Graphics seem wrong. We are working on this.

Klingon Knife

This is a United Cutlery Klingon replica.



Mek'Leth

Ok, this looks TOTALLY wrong. Photo they used isn't even of the piece. Here is an actual photo. I have never seen one like this. Handle is NOT wrapped. Totally shiny and unlike anything I have ever seen.


Star Trek III Phaser

Obviously a cast off an original. Smaller, which means recast.

Piece of the Past Star Trek auction next week.

A Hollywood memorabilia company, Piece of the Past, which is run by a long time collector and dealer named Kevin Martin, is holding a Star Trek auction next week. Kevin also runs The Hollywood Show, a major Hollywood autograph show and has been in the business a long time (He did one of the last private autograph signings with Ricardo Montalban).

The Star Trek auction is the collection of a private collector who has been buying at Christie's and Butterfield's auctions through the 1990's. And while most items have a Chirstie's tag on them, they are not from the 2006 Christie's Star Trek auction, but from various Christie's Hollywood Memorabilia auctions before then.

I visited Kevin at his office in Murrieta, CA (out by Lake Elsinore) and inspected all the pieces. Kevin is no newbie to Star Trek props & costumes, having worked with Paramount in the 1990s and sold many Star Trek items Paramount sold him then. This was all news to me, but very interesting to know.

So a few things about the auction:

1) The software isn't bad. It is not Live Auctioneer or iCollector, but I have no problems trusting it. It seems to work well.

2) The auctions all end at the same time. Kevin said he always does his auctions this way, but let's face it, it is not the way to run an online auction. I have been in the auction industry online since 1999, and I can tell you you WANT people to be able to bid on items at the last moment.

3) There is a 15% Buyer's Premium, which is very reasonable.

4) Unfortunately you can't enlarge the pictures, so that is disappointing.

5) The policies are not up on the site and I have told Kevin this, so they are changing it.

There will be more info up every day, so please keep checking back.



Kevin Martin's bio from his site:

Kevin Martin is one of, if not the most respected autograph and memorabilia dealers in the world. He is also one of the leading celebrity autograph authenticators in the industry. Besides his over 20 years of experience, he has published dozens of features in Collecting magazine, Autograph Collector Magazine's long-running column "Fakes, Frauds, and Forgeries" and many other publications including Movie Collector World, Big Reel, The Robb Report, Antiques and Collecting, and more. Kevin Martin is also the author of several books including the standard yearly price guide The Official Autograph Collector Price Guide, as well as The Autograph Collector Guide to Authentication, and Signatures of the Stars. You may have also seen him on the longest-running autograph show in television history called "Showbiz Collectibles" on the Video Catalog Channel.

HOW MUCH?

$ 26,000 for a Phaser? Well, this auction popped up on eBay with a $ 26,000 opening bid! Need less to say, this guy won't get anyone to buy it. And I don't know who the seller is. Is it real? No clue, but anyone who wants this much money should be putting some provenance in their eBay ad.

Alec

Happy Star Trek Thanksgiving

Well, I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

On this day we should all think about what we are thankful for, and one thing I am VERY thankful for is all my friends in Star Trek prop collecting.

It started at Christie's in 2006 when I met Dana Hammontree and Rob from Atlanta in line waiting for the doors to open. After that I kept meeting people who I have come to call friends. Jim Williams, my fellow DS9 maniac, Mark Short and Giles from London, our favorite Patrick Stewart look-alike, though we didn't become friends till the following year when I went to London and hung out with him. The crew from The Prop Store of London welcomed me into the hobby and their VIP suite. Stephen and Tim were awesome, and I also got to meet Andy (who won the Reliant), Bill Bayliss (who won the Kirk Maroon), and Dave Abberly (who won a bunch of stuff!). Bill and Dave let me crash on their floor the last night when I decided I was having too much fun to want to leave! I also met Jason (Prop King) and his brother, as well as Denise and Mike Okuda.


What a great time that was, and that got me writing my blog. That turned into starting the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum where I have met so many fellow collectors.

Since then I have made so many great friends. Lyn, Carolan, Katie, Donna...the forum has a lot of awesome female collectors. Anthony Sforza, Aaron Carlson, Adam Schneider, Ray Cole, and of course Jorg, the Star Trek savant! Susie, Francis, Alex from Hong Kong, Grant the Canuck, Burt, Dave (Dochol), Althea, Darrin, John, Chris, Doc Brett, Willie, Kenny, Rob, Anthony Pascal from Trekmovie.com, Josef from Austria and of course Doug Drexler.


Oh I have probably missed one or two of you, but if so, you know who you are and how much I appreciate you. Thank you all for being my friend, sharing our passion for Star Trek together and supporting this blog and the Forum.

I wish you all every blessing!

Alec

Kelvin Phaser in detail

I am a huge fan of Phasers. I own a lot of screen used ones, both hand phasers and phaser rifles. I think they are the most recognizable and iconic props from Star Trek and so it is kind of my specialty.

I guess I can say I got one of my Holy Grails this summer: The Kelvin Phaser. And that is funny, because this is pretty new, but the moment I saw it I fell in love with it. And the reason is because it looks like the TOS Phaser. It is a total homage and frankly, THIS should have been the new phaser, not the chrome one which got chosen. But that is just one man's opinion.


And I am big on homages to TOS. I always thought the Star Trek III Phaser was the perfect next generation of the TOS Phaser. It looked like it was an evolution of the TOS Phaser. You could see its heritage. And I loved that. (Don't get me started on that piece of crap TMP Phaser).

So this Phaser is now the highlight of my Phaser collection. It was pricey, but I love it. I am told they only made two for the movie. Now if I can land the Kelvin Communicator!

Romwear brings ST 2009 Romulan clothes to fans

While I try and not talk much about Replicas (outside of Master Replicas and EFX, which are worth owning), I found out last year about the maker of the Romulan costumes from the 2009 Star Trek movie and that they were now selling their costumes to the public. Recently this cam up on teh Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum and it made me think I needed to write about them!

Romwear is a company created by the team that did the Romulan costumes for the 2009 Star Trek movie.

As they state on their site:

ROMWEAR is brought to you by the same designers who were contracted in 2007 by Paramount Pictures to create over 300 original costume pieces for the Romulans in the Star Trek movie (2009), directed by J. J. Abrams.

So what you can get? Well, the whole outfit, sold ala carte. The jackets are beautiful and I think well worth the price. Both Nero's and Ayel's jackets are available as well as other versions. Shirts, pants and boots as well.

I think the prices are very reasonable and the only question is how many people are interested in them. Typically it is the uniforms that are in demand. However, while not uniforms, these are very cool costumes and because of the prices I think they will be well worth it. The jackets are amazing by themselves. I wish these guys would set up at the Las Vegas Star Trek con!