"What are Little Girls Made of?" Costume on eBay

There is a supposedly screen used Star Trek TOS costume on eBay from "What are Little Girls Made of?". You can see it here. There was some question about the costume.

First of all, this is what was posted on October 19th by a Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum regular:

"The "WALGMO" costume (as shown in the e-Bay posting photos) does not match the one seen on Dr. Brown on-screen. Hi-Dev screen caps on Trek Core clearly show that Dr. Brown's costume had front thigh pockets on both sides. Granted, they could have been removed after production. But why? Screen caps do show what appears to be a match for those large adjustment buckles seen on the back of the costume, but the caps are dark and the details few.

(snip)

As the seller IS NOT accepting returns, I would be very careful with this costume. Several questions I'd have; Does the costume show any evidence of ever having front thigh pockets? Could that costume be a repro made by Paramount for one of their many traveling Star Trek exhibits, or possibly for ST: The Experience?

Another thought; Ken Caslis did get some items from the Bill Theiss estate. Perhaps this costume was made for, but not used in "WALGMO". Theiss kept costumes from Star Trek, so it's possible that this was one of them."

In response to these exact questions, the seller posted a revision to his ad on eBay today, October 21st, to include this:

"Update: There apparently were front pockets on this outfit when it was filmed for the episode. These front pockets were subsequently removed from the costume. I can see faint stitching lines on the front of the outfit on both sides indicating where the pockets used to be sewn onto. Thanks guys for pointing this out!"


I do think the seller overstates Ken Casslis' credentials. As far as I know he sells through Profiles, and does not authenticate for them. Ken was one of the two guys who got all the Star Trek props from Paramount and sold them in Profiles for years. I do not have any information about Ken's expertise, but I would suggest James Cawley, of Star Trek: Phase II (formerly New Voyages) is a better choice as an expert. James actually worked for Bill Theiss.

This seller has two other interesting lots on eBay and I will review those tomorrow.

Alec

Star Trek props and collectibles at auction

I received an email about an auction happening this month of Star Trek props and collectibles that belonged to a former driver for Paramount Studios. Supposedly he worked on every Star Trek movie, and certainly has a lot of signs that are issued to crew parking on location. You can find the items here. An auction house called Ready Auction House is using a system called Proxy Bid. All of there auctions are here.

There are some interesting lots, though most are collectibles. I suggest you look at all the lots starting with lot # 109. However, there is no order to these lots and the Star Trek items are littered throughout the auction. Really disappointing, and it doesn't speak well for the auction house's desire to create a compelling auction.

The most interesting lots are:

Lot #109 Star Trek Deep Space Nine Original Script “Profit and Lace” Final Draft, March 9, 1998 and set diagram”

Lot #112
Star Trek IX Insurrection Production Crew Badge, Sign, and Photos

Lot #115 Star Trek Enterprise Season One Production Signs (3), Transportation Sign, Enterprise Crew Sticker

Lot #158 Star Trek Nemesis Production Photocopies of the USS Enterprise E, Model

(The little model is interesting, but origin is unknown)

Lot #159 Star Trek Nemesis Film Sign, Paramount Pictures Corporation

Lot #160 Star Trek Nemesis Production Crew Jacket, Size Large

Lot #177 Star Trek DS9, Voyager, TNG Communicator Badge, Screen Used

Lot #181 Star Trek: Nemesis Script, Original

Lot #183 Star Trek DS9, Voyager, TNG Damaged Communicator Prop

(What is believed to be a crew gift, not an actual prop)

Lot #185 11 Star Trek Nemesis Production Papers and Set Photos

Lot #186 Star Trek Nemesis Film Sign (laminated) and Transportation Sign

Lot #187 Star Trek Klingon Plaque, Screen Used

Lot #190 Star Trek First Contact Production Crew Jacket, Size Medium

Lot #191 Star Trek First Contact Screen Used Gold Model of the U.S.S. Enterprise D from the Briefing Room/Office

Lot #192 Star Trek First Contact Production Lot

Lot #193 Star Trek Insurrection Production Crew Jacket, Size Large

Lot #194 Star Trek Nemesis and other Studio Mock up set parts

Lot #195 Star Trek Nemesis Studio Set Mockup, Scimitar Corridor and Intersection

Lot #215 Star Trek Screen Used Gold Model of the USS Enterprise D from the Enterprise E Briefing Room

Lot #217 Star Trek Screen Used Klingon Plaque

Lot #223 Star Trek Nemesis Card Holder, Screen Used

Good hunting!

Alec

Cardassian Computer on Screen Used

Screen Used props has a Cardassian Desktop Computer on its site for $ 3,999. It is a nice piece, though saw little screen use. It was first used as a Trill computer before being retasked for Sloan's office, where it is seen on his desk.

The world famous Jörg, Star Trek's greatest living prop identifier had this to say about it:

"As far as I know, the prop first apppeared as a Trill desktop monitor in "Rejoined". It was then modified and later was seen in Sloan's mind in "Extreme measures" just the way it looks today. You can see that it still has the same grey/blue colour on the underside that it had as a Trill monitor in "Rejoined". It might have been reused between Seasons 4 and 7 which would explain the colour change and modification (there's no Cardassian symbol or written language on the monitor, so it is not necessarily Cardassian), I can't imagine them changing the colour just for the brief scene in Sloan's mind. I'll let you know when I find out more, for the moment I can just say it was once Trill and then was seen in Sloan's mind. Everything I know, I posted at EAS:

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/reused_props1a.htm "

Now, I think it is a beautiful piece, but way overpriced. This is a $ 2,000 - $ 2,500 piece. Why? Well, I have bought three Star Trek monitors, Picard's from First Contact, Picard's from Insurrection and Martok's Klingon computer. I paid $ 2,000 - $ 3,000 each and they were all much more important pieces and used more than this one. So this seller (much of what is on Screen Used is on consignment), needs to come to grip with reality.

Also, I would like to see some provenance on this piece. While I have no doubt it is real, we have no idea how this got out. Another Star Trek back door piece one must assume. It sold at the Profiles in History sale and as I have said before, that is not provenance. You can see that item page on the Star Trek Archive here.

Alec

Profiles in History Preview - October, 2009

With the Profiles in History auction coming up this weekend, I thought it would be worthwhile to preview the Star Trek items in their auction.

There has been a lot of controversy around the Profiles auction due to the catalog cover item, a supposedly rare Dracula movie poster, was found by the collecting community to be a fake, despite Profiles owner Joe Madalena's assurances that it was real. In fact the authenticator that Joe Madelena used was 100% wrong and Profiles has since removed the item from the auction. You can see the video here where Joe swears the item is real and talks about the authentication.

With this being the SECOND time that Profiles has put an item on the cover of their catalog that has turned out to be fake (the other being the Planet of the Apes Statue of Liberty head that was not what Profiles advertised), one has to question what processes are being used by Profiles to ensure an item is real. How can we trust anything in a Profiles auction is real if the items on their cover aren't even properly authenticated? This is very relevant to Star Trek collecting as there have been problems with Star Trek items in Profiles auctions before.

Now many of you will remember my reviews of the December 2007 Profiles auction where Brett from Federation Surplus and I went to Profiles to preview the Star Trek items. I published my review, as Brett and I came to the conclusion that many of the props, all from one consignor who allegedly used to work for HMS, the prop maker for much of TNG, DS9 and Voyager, looked fake. As Mike Moore, the well known owner of HMS, is the person who authenticates Star Trek items for Profiles in History, there is an inherent conflict of interest. Now I am not saying Mike Moore intentionally mislead anyone. I do not know Mike well, and have only spoken to him on the phone. He seems like a nice guy, and certainly knows his Star Trek props since he made a ton of them! But anyone can see the conflict in Mike authenticating props from one of his employees, especially considering the well known proclivity of HMS and its employees to cast extra copies of props for themselves and sell versions to anyone who walked in to their shop. Who is to say what was made for the production and what was just from the original molds? The waters are incredibly muddy here.

In the 2007 auction, Brett and I had pretty solid evidence to suggest that many of the one consignors items were not either production made or screen used. And in fact, some of those did not sell. Profiles refuses to disclose who a consignor is, and so provenance is never established. In the most fraud-ridden hobby out there, where provenance is everything, not disclosing this leaves to many questions when a prop's authenticity is questioned.

With the current crop of Star Trek items, for the most part, there is little problem though with authentication I think. The problem is mis-identification. The exception would be the T'Pol costume, which has serious questions around it.

Many of these items are from the It's a Wrap auctions, though not listed this way. Why not? Why avoid clear provenance? I think this is the biggest problem with profiles auctions, is their disregard for provenance sometimes, which is the cornerstone of Prop collecting. I rarely buy any Star Trek props that weren't from Christie's or IAW. There are too many Star Trek fakes out there.

Well, here is a brief review:

601 Set of six Star Trek: TOS crew gift cocktail glasses from Christmas 1966

Ok, this is cool. And I think this goes over $ 1,000. I mean, get together with your friends and split it up! These are an actual crew gift and feature the Enterprise. A true piece of Star Trek history.


602 Original Matt Jefferies USS Enterprise bridge concept art for Star Trek

Anything Matt Jeffries is cool, and this is a nice piece. The estimate is strong, but it is a concept piece for TOS so I will not be surprised if this sells either at the opening bid or a bit higher. And while I think Mattt Jeffries is brilliant, I would wonder how his drawings will hold there value over time as appreciation for this pioneer is generally limited to those who are old enough to have watched TOS when it first aired.

603 Original Ozite Carpeting from Bridge of USS Enterprise

I guess there are people who would collect this, and I can easily see Rittenhouse Archives buying this and cutting it up for their cards (YIKES!!).

604 The largest privately held photographic archive of Star Trek images

Many know Richard Arnold, who works for Creation at some of their bigger conventions, was Gene Roddenberry's assistant while TNG was filming. Here he has offered his personal collection of Star Trek photographs, numbering some 10,000 pieces. This is quite an impressive collection and it would be wonderful if whoever won this shared it with the rest of us. Just what we see in the photographs is quite impressive and the TOS color photography is quite amazing.

605 Original Tribble from Star Trek: The Original Series episode “The Trouble with Tribbles”

An original Tribble is hard to document. There were of course hundreds of them, as there were from the DS9 episode "Trials and Tribbleations". Tribbles from that later episode go around $ 500 all the time (I bought one at that price recently from the photographer who did the Entertainment Weekly photo shoot). The provenance on this seems solid, and this is reasonable at $ 1,500 or so I think.

607 William Shatner “Captain James T. Kirk” Starfleet pants from Star Trek: The Original Series

Well, here is your chance to get into Captain Kirk's pants! An original pair of pants from TOS, this should fetch well over the $3,000 - 5,000 estimate. I know at Christie's, a buddy of mine went after Sulu's pants to match his Sulu tunic. It is always nice to work towards completing a costume.

608 William Shatner’s Romulan uniform pants from “The Enterprise Incident”

Kirk's Romulan Pants are even cooler, and if you are the guy who owns the top to this, then this is a must have. Otherwise, it isn't quite that interesting. I mean, how do you display this?

609 Star Trek: Original Series 2nd Season Starfleet Sciences Dress from “Wolf in the Fold”

There were some questions raised about this piece when it was offered on eBay two years ago. I suggest serious screen matching to match up the cuts. It was priced too high at the time, but did sell in a private sale to the consignor of many of the items in this Profiles auction.

611 Spock’s screen-used miniature thruster unit for the V’Ger spacewalk from Star Trek: TMP

One of the cooler pieces in the auction, an actual filming miniature. With the Kirk Space Suit model going to be offered in this Spring's Propworx Star Trek Auction, this piece would be a good companion piece and some forward thinking collector may want to snatch this up!. I think this might go to Stephen Lane from Prop Store of London, who won the actual full size Spock Space Suit, which he acquired from IAW.

612 William Shatner “Admiral Kirk” Starfleet Class A Uniform from Star Trek: The Motion Picture

I hated this style of uniform, and it seems people share my view as the Class A style always went the cheapest of any screen used version. Face it, they are just ugly! This was sold just under two years ago for $ 2,550 by IAW. Yet the reserve here is $ 5,000. The owner has tried to sell this for astronomical prices before on eBay and no one bit. Maybe Profiles's customers will pony up the big bucks he wants. Because of its lack of eye appeal and its lack of boots and frays edges, I don't think this is worth much more than its opening bid.

From the original IAW eBay ad:

A costume featured in Star Trek I: The Motion Picture for wear by William Shatner in his portrayal of “Admiral Kirk”. The costume is a Class-A Starfleet uniform composed of trousers and a top with an unattached plastic bio-monitor. The interior of the top appears to have been altered and exhibits frayed lining, the hem of the trouser cuffs are frayed. The top features a sewn in Western Costume Co. tag reading ‘William Shatner’ while the trousers are nameless. Both garments appear to have been dyed. Sale Price $ 2,550

614 Nichelle Nichols “Lt. Cmdr. Uhura” Starfleet Class B uniform from Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Well this originally sold atr IAW for a very cheap $ 639. You can view it at the Star Trek Archive here. Note that the rank are not original and were added by the collector after he bought it. Still, he got a great deal and this is fair around $ 3,000.


621 Hero illuminating Klingon translator device from Star Trek: The Unidiscovered Country

The Hero Klingon translator has a high opening bid. The other one of these, sold through IAW for only $ 1,924. It allegedly was Kirk's. This one is already more than that price.

624 Hero illuminating Reman rifle from Star Trek: Nemesis

A lot of these were sold through IAW and hero versions were bought by myself and others for around $ 1,500. The opening bid already puts this above that when you figure in the Buyer's Premium. This is neither rare nor from a particularly memorable scene or even movie. Frankly, the background versions of this rifle display as well as the heroes as I have owned both.



627 Screen-used hero illuminating Mark TR-580 Tricorder VII from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Probably one of the most interesting items in the auction is this working Tricorder. An older TNG era Mark VII, these run in the $ 4,000 range generally, so the $ 6,000 opening bid is way high. I would love one of these, but won't bid at this price.


628 Alice Krige “Borg Queen” screen-used arm from Star Trek: Voyager series finale episode “Endgame”

A very cool prop is the Borg Queen arm from "First Contact". However, I think the estimates are way high. A $ 6,000 opening bid? Certainly it is a cool and interesting prop. But this is a $ 3,000 item based on current Star Trek market pricing. Not to say some rich person won't pony up for this, but not worth the price in my book.


629 Star Trek: The Next Generation 3rd Season working hero phaser

Well, a little research would have explained a lot. This is not a Screen Used Hero Phaser. It was the prototype, developed by Ed Miarecki for Rick Sternbach. I spoke to Rick on the phone and he said that this phaser is in pristine condition. It was never Screen Used and was the prototype Ed developed based on Rick's drawings. This is the type of research Profiles should be doing and which it often just takes a consignor's word on. I just picked up my cell phone and called Rick for this info. (Rick is an awesome guy who loves talking Trek) and then spoke to Ed Miarecki. It is also larger than the screen used versions.


636 Jeri Ryan’s “Seven of Nine” brown catsuit from Star Trek: Voyager

These used to command $ 10,000 a pop, so it will be interesting to see where the market is now. This one has neither the built in shoes nor the corset. But I think $ 5-6,000 is reasonable and would not be surprised if it goes more. These are tough to display and you do need a real mannequin to keep the form.

637 Klingon Distruptor and holster from Star Trek: Enterprise

These are pretty common, but still cool (as are all things Klingon). The estimate is reasonable and I think anything under $ 1,000 is fair.

639 Tom Morga Klingon costume from Star Trek: Voyager

At Christie's these were going for $ 10,000. The market came down with IAW sales and I picked mine up for $ 2,500. Now last time, Profiles sold one for the $ 10,000 opening bid which shows you Profiles has customers who don't care about the market, they just want it! So I won't be surprised if this sells. These are iconic, and this has the rarer movie tunic, noted by the shoulders and quilting.


645 Jolene Blalock’s “T’Pol” white desert jumpsuit from Star Trek: Enterprise

NOTE: ORIGINALLY SOLD AS A STUNT COSTUME BY IAW

This was sold by IAW as a stunt costume. They did not see any "Jolene Blalock" written in the tag as Profiles notes here. Did they miss something, or did the buyer alter the costume tag? No way to know, but the IAW listing said nothing about a Jolene Blalock name. Profiles claims" This costume was originally screen-worn by Blalock for the filming of multiple episodes, and then relegated to stunt usage when it became frayed/damaged." How do they know this? As I have said many times, altering names in a costume is the primary way fraud is committed in costumes. I am not saying that is what happened here, but it raises questions that need to be answered.

See the listing here in the Star Trek archive.

From the IAW listing:

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE “T'POL DESERT STUNT COSTUME”

A costume worn by stunt performer Boni Yanagisawa in her portrayal of “T'Pol”. Off white and form fitting, the sides of the costume as well as the outside of the sleeves are ribbed and the shoulder feature a cream and a teal colored stripe (possibly a division strip), while the left shoulder features a sewn on ‘Enterprise NX-01’ assignment patch. The costume is distressed to appear damaged with minor stains evident on the front and significant green ‘Vulcan bloodstains’ down the right leg below the knee corresponding to a series of puncture holes. This excellent costume appears to have been featured in the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes “The Forge”, “Awakening”, and “Kir Shara”. The Enterprise tag sewn in reads ‘Boniee Yanagisawa’.


I would make sure I inspected this costume before I bid on this. I just don't trust the change. in status, or Profiles description.



Please join the discussion on the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum where this auction is being discussed.

Alec

Battlestar Galactica Auction # 2

And now a break from our regularly scheduled Star Trek blog.

Battlestar Galactica is near and dear to many of our hearts. Certainly, it launched a new career for me. It also ranks second behind Star Trek as the biggest prop & costume category in the hobby. No other show, other than Star Trek, has as many items in circulation as does BSG.

The two live auctions were hailed by many as the best prop & costume auctions ever held. That was due to the attention to detail and creating a fun environment that NBC/Universal and Propworx strived for. One area this was very evident in was the auction space itself. Every item was available for preview and we tried to create a museum like feel to the space.

Here are two of my favorite photos from the second BSG auction. The first is a photo we took of the preview area, which was made to represent the Galactica hanger deck. It included custom made struts that mimicked the look of the Galactica hanger deck. Becky Casey spearheaded the effort to get these built, and they really made the space look amazing!

And of course the photo of The Colonial Fleet, the biggest and best BSG fan group. They came in costume to each of the live auctions and added a great sense of community and passion to the events.


And make sure you get your copy of Battlestar Galactica: The Plan that comes out October 27th.

Blu Ray:




DVD:

eFX to take over where Master replicas left off!

This came in my email last night:

eFX Boldly Goes Into a New Frontier
With the Addition of Star Trek Collectibles

Star Trek Joins Other Incredible Entertainment Properties to Make eFX the Premiere Producer of Officially Licensed Prop Replicas

BURBANK, Calif. (Sept. 21, 2009) – Space was the final frontier for Capt. James T. Kirk and his crew – and now it is the next frontier for eFX Inc., which today announced that it will introduce new high-end collectibles based on the classic Star Trek films and TV series.

eFX will introduce its Star Trek collectibles, licensed from CBS Consumer Products, later this year with the Mark IX Tricorder as seen in Star Trek: First Contact – and it’s just the first of many contacts that eFX plans for fans to be able to make with the seminal science-fiction TV and movie series, which holds a special place in the hearts of eFX’s development team.

“For many of us, Star Trek was our introduction to the possibilities and promise of science-fiction storytelling, and it is an absolute honor to have been given the chance to bring Star Trek collectibles to fans,” said Bryan Ono, president of eFX Inc.

Pre-orders for the Mark IX Tricorder are expected to begin in September, and eFX will limit its production run to no more than 1,000 pieces worldwide. The Tricorders will be offered as a “Signature Edition” signed by actor Brent Spiner, who played Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the films it inspired.

Star Trek joins an incredible list of properties within the eFX portfolio. They include Star Wars; the original Battlestar Galactica TV series; Disney animation, live-action films and TV series; and the Muppets.

“With the addition of Star Trek to the eFX catalog, we’re very proud to be home to high-end collectibles based on some of the most classic entertainment properties and brands,” Ono said.

More details about eFX and its collectibles can be found online at www.efxcollectibles.com.

The Phoenix

One of the great Star Trek models recently surfaced in the collection of Star Trek collector Adam Schneider. It is truly spectacular and already one of my favorites models I have seen in person! Here is a peak:





Adam is working on a custom display stand for the model and I should have more photos soon.

Alec

More on Ed Miarecki and eBay

In talking with Ed Miarecki this past weekend, we discussed that he puts items up for sale on eBay from time to time. This week he has two interesting items.

One is a shuttlecraft casting from "The Osiris Chronicles" which was a production to be made by Star Trek veteran Joe Dante and Paramount. We have seen some of these items in the IAW sales as the items were stored with all the Star Trek assets. You can read about this item and "The Osiris Chronicles" on John Eaves web site here.

The other items is what Ed calls a miniature "master" though I would speak to Ed if you are interested. I don't think Masters were made from foam, but I could be wrong. Ed sells a lot of good stuff, and he knows of what he speaks, but just check with him on this one. You can see it here. A few weeks ago Ed had a casting of the Ferengi filiming miniature that went pretty high.

Star Trek 5/6 Assault Phaser - Part 3 Ed Miarecki's Phasers

The Master inspects the Assault Phaser from the Doug Drexler collection, which he made.

Ed Miarecki, the long time prop creator for Star Trek, was hired by Greg Jein to make resin versions of the Star Trek 5 Assault Phaser for Star Trek VI. These versions were painted exactly like the STV versions, but were resin, whereas the Greg Jein had made fiberglass heroes and rubber stunts for ST V. Those all had metal baseplates. The ST VI version Ed supplied had metal baseplates added to his by Greg.

According to Ed, he made 12 of them initially, and within days they requested he make 12 more as those had disappeared from the set! So there are a good number of these around. However, this post deals with the subsequent castings Ed has done.

Ed still can make you a ST VI Assault Phaser out of the original molds if you like. They are beautiful pieces. But Ed doesn't paint versions that were not made for the production like the ones he delivered to the set. First of all, that paint is a pain in the butt and includes a printers ink which is a carcinogen. That is what gave the production versions that metallic look to the black paint. For all subsequent versions Ed made, including ones he gave to the Star Trek and ILM staffs he was friends with, Ed paints in a two tone Metallic grey/black. The difference is obvious and can be seen here.

While not as desirable as a production made version, this is as close as you will get to one. While the Master Replicas and Roddenberry versions are both awesome, they are not 100% accurate because of what they were cast from.

Thanks to Ed for spending a lot of time telling me about his time on Star Trek. He is a great guy and a true hero to us prop collectors.

The Assault Phaser that Ed gave as a gift to Star Trek and ILM crew members

Production Version

Star Trek 5/6 Assault Phaser - Part 2

After Star Trek V, the Assault Phaser played an even bigger role in Star Trek VI. For this production, Ed Miarecki was hired by Greg Jein to make resin Assault Phasers to supplement the Fiberglass heroes and rubber stunt versions.

Here are photos of one Ed recently sold to Josef from Austria, a long time Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum member, and the photographer and layout designer of the Battlestar Galactica Auction catalogs.

The COA from Ed states:

"This document certifies that the Star Trek Assault Phaser Prop pictured above was fabricated by me for the film "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country". It was returned to me after the production was finished, and has been my personal collection."

Josef says the Phaser is made out of resin (Confirmed by Ed) and has 3 metal parts; the tip, the rear fins and the knob on the side. It is in very good condition with only minor scratches from production use. It did not come with a base plate attached, something Ed had allready mentionend in the eBay description. When he asked Ed if he could make him a replica, he told Josef that he never made the plates in the first place, they were fabricated and applied by someone else (Greg Jein). Also, the plates on his Phasers were simple stickers, not metal plates as found on the hero versions.

Star Trek 5/6 Assault Phaser - Part 1

After receiving a Star Trek 5 Assault Phaser from a member of the Star Trek Prop Forum, I set out to authenticate the item. Now the problem with the Phaser is not that I didn't trust the person I got it from, I did. It was that her story needed to be verified. You can't just take someone's word on where a prop came from.

So the first step was to look on the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum, where one member had posted photos of one of the Fiberglass hero Phasers. Per Greg Jein, who made the Phasers, there were fiberglass heros and rubber stunts made. All had metal base plates with different serial numbers down there.

Here are some photos of the hero Forum member Don had of the Hero he had:

One Collectors experience at the Vegas Star Trek Convention

The best thing about my hobby, besides the fact that I got to turn it into a business, is that I have met so many great friends who really enrich my life. Since meeting Dana Hammontree in the line outside Christie's for the 2006 Star Trek Auction, I have made a ton of freinds through this blog, the Forum and even Propworx. This is the experience of a lot of collectors, and what makes the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum unique among prop sites I think. We are all big fans and we love sharing and hanging out on a regular basis, especially at the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention.

Here is the story of Francis Scofield, as told in his words.....



Where do I start...

My version of the convention was filled with acts of kindness, starting with Katie and Steve. I was staying at my brothers' house in Vegas, but they let me change clothes and costumes in their room more times than I could count. Katie even got me a third key. Thanks guys. It really helped.


Next, Susie and I met up and got in line to get our Weekend Pass wristbands. A total stranger walks up to us and says he has extra Captain's Chair passes and if we would like them for free. You bet! This enabled us to give ours away to Lyn and Susie's sister. Thanks to whomever you are.


Many of us had dinner together that night, and Donna paid for everyone. It couldn't have been cheap. You are a kind and generous woman Donna, thank you.

When we went into the auditorium to see the various panels, Renee (Scooby) did her best to put our group of four up front in the empty seats, and watch out for us to not get caught. Very kind. Thanks Renee!

I paid for a photo op with Armin Shimmerman, but got my days crossed and I missed it. Blind Susie and I (in full Quark gear) were walking through the vendor's area when I bumped into Rene Auberjonois. We shook hands and spoke for maybe 10 seconds when he told me to turn around. Guess whom?!


These guys were on their way to the stage, and Rene told Armin "we gotta go", but Armin told him to go on ahead so he could spend a few moments with me. We talked for about 30 seconds and then he had to go. Other people tried to stop him for a photo op, but he kindly refused and continued on toward the stage door. Armin, thanks for my 'Sybok' moment with you. You stopped for me and you didn't have to. Very generous.

Susie and I, armed with our new 'Captain's Chair' passes, went to the Stratosphere party. We saw and spoke with many Trek cast members. Connor Trinneer was being mobbed by people, so it was difficult to get any time in. Not his fault he is so popular!

I had about 20 min of 1 on 1 time with John Billingsley and I gotta say he is every bit the kind man you think he is. I asked him for the inside answers on why 'Enterprise' was cancelled, and he methodically explained every angle. I feel that I finally got the 'true' story. John, you are a class act, and now I know why you are my favorite Enterprise character.


The next day was full of non stop photos and flashes to the point where I was seeing spots for a while. But here comes Katie chasing me down and says that someone wants to meet me. Me? Guess whom?! Max Groedenchik!


He came out from behind his booth and spent a considerable amount of time talking with me, and posing for photos. He is really a thinking kind of guy, and very professional. He was concerned about proper lighting and poses for the best pic possible with me. We spoke about my cane, and he said it 'felt right'. Katie, you know Max better than I, and you pulled this together without me even knowing. Thanks again to Katie and Max for making that a cool moment for me.

Susie knows I am her good luck charm, and she mine. No suprise the costume contest churned out the same results as last year. Susie totally won, and I told her she would before the contest began...just like last year. Seeing as only half of my costume was screen used, i didn't feel bad about entering the contest. I couldn't compete with a cool Borg or Susie shakin' it, but I did tie for third! After wearing that very tight mask for 10 hours that day, I think I earned it. Our board should be proud that 50% of the winners were our guys.


My last night in Vegas was mixed at times, but things ended on a very good note.

....and the only person whom knows what I am talking about likely won't kiss and tell. :wub:


Francis