Doug Drexler Previews The Gary Hutzel Collection

From Doug Drexler:

Happy Sunday morning! Grab a cuppa whatever, and get ready to take a time trip with old Doug!

When you work on a television show for many years, especially one like Star Trek, and particularly at the time that we did, you end up with all kinds of stuff that would otherwise have been thrown away. I know a statement like that... "stuff that would have otherwise been thrown away"... usually starts a firestorm of criticism of the studio. You don't need to say that today. Looky, you know what a geek I am about this stuff, yet I understand that the studio cannot save everything from all of their productions. Also remember that at the time, auctions where fans could own a piece of the show were non-existent. Storing stuff was not economically feasible. Sometimes just building a crate to store something costs more than the model did! Not to mention renting a place to keep it all. Star Trek at it's peak had huge storage north of LA. That adds up. Not everything could be saved. Thankfully, peeps like Gary couldn't bear to see stuff go into the crusher. So into personal storage it would go, and some of it not to see the light of day again for over twenty years.

There is a certain point where you realize that you need to shake it all out, and get it into the hands of people who will take care of it for another generation. I went through it a couple of years ago myself. My friend, Alec Peters, and his Propworx company, organized an auction in conjunction with Paramount. I'm very happy knowing that all of my precious toys are in the hands of people who will cherish and take care them. A lot of it is culturally significant. Of course, at the time, most folks didn't know that. I knew it, the Okudas did, Gary did. So here we are. I gave Alec a call, and we met up a Gary's storage space, just an hour north of the city, in the high desert.

It's a strange experience. An archeological dig. But not just that. It's like excavating a slice of your life. For years we met up with Gary at Image G, and watched the models on a stick, all twinkly and bright, being orbited by motion control cameras. The heightened sensations that you experienced came from being a big geeky fan, but also the sense that this was not just goofing around for fun. It had to get done, on time, on schedule, and on budget. There was an immovable airdate. You mess with that, and you could mess up you career. A lot of adrenaline makes for vivid memories.

I always carry my Canon Rebel, and so you are there! Boxes of artifacts that hadn't seen the light of day since the world was new! We were back with Gary and the toys, but at the other end of the time tunnel. A great time for reflection, and to also think about all of the adventures that Gary and I, and all of us have had since the 1990s, and still... right up to the present day.

The complete photo album is on Facebook here.