It's a Wrap eBay auctions - Week 17 Preview

Week 17 Preview

This week sees a range of Star Trek movie items including 3 Captain Kirk costumes. The prop selection is pretty weak, with the exception of a full range of movie costume rank pins, though most of these are resin, which is a curiosity.

The highest item now, which will probably top this week's auctions, is the Admiral Kirk Casual Wear from Star Trek II:TWOK. A nice costume, with good detailing. It will be interesting to see where a casual costume goes for on these auctions. I really can't give any guidance here because of the lack of history of this type of item so far.

The Star Trek III Admiral Kirk costume is one of two we know that It's a Wrap has, and there are probably more. The two best examples of this costume were sold at Christie's for $ 10,000 each, complete with jackets and belts. IAW has one on their web site which has the jacket but not the belt. They are asking $ 10,000 for it, which is totally unrealistic, and it hasn't sold in the 4 months on their web site. You can see that one here. Now the pants on this one look wrong, and one of my good friends, who is a serious Star Trek movie costume collector pointed that out to me. If you are going to bid on this, make sure you ask IAW about this first.

The Captain Kirk Commando Costume is a stunt, so not used by Shatner. None the less, it is a cool costume and different from the other commando costumes, most notably the color and the neck line of the under shirt, which has a notched front. It has the belt, which the previous versions of these costumes lacked, but has no rank pins. Also, the boots are really beautiful with these costumes (I have an Uhura with boots) and the boots are not part of these offerings.

The Spock Commando costume is similar to the Kirk, though this is an actual Nimoy costume. It has a belt, though no rank pins or boots. Note that it was used in the turbolift shaft scene where Spock uses the rocket boots, so it has a hole in the back of the sweater.

I have told you many times about how many of a costume IAW probably has and how to figure it out for yourself (see the last post). Well, we now know that two of these costumes, the ST III Kirk and the Commando Spock are lesser versions of other costumes that IAW has in stock. (A better Spock Commando has been on display at IAW's Burbank store with rank pins and boots).

What this tells us is that IAW is auctioning off the lesser quality costumes first. So as always, be patient!


I think the James Doohan Jumpsuit is not a choice piece. There are no rank insignia or Starfleet emblem and the bio buckle is not attached.

There is a classic Councilor Troi costume with boots (a nice touch) which should appeal to Next Gen fans. As should the Dr. Crusher costume (a similar one went on their web site for $ 3,000 back in December), which has the lab coat, though it has some distress as noted in the description.

The Admiral Bullock jacket is a really nice piece, though sadly without pants. I am sure this is a beauty in person. The TNG Starfleet Admiral costume is nice as well, though I was never a fan of this style. As you can see in the photos, it just doesn't display as well as the Bulloock one.

The last costumes I will mention are the Picard and Data Romulan costumes, which I think are quite nice. This is an interesting way to get costumes of your favorite character.

As far as props go:

The Large Silver 24th Century Carry Case is the top item, which I think kind of shows the weakness of this week's prop offerings. It is nice on the outside, but unremarkable inside. And while it will look nice on a shelf, how high can this item go and still be a good value?

The TNG Eline Probe Shaped Necklace is from "The Inner Light" which is on everyone's top 5 TNG episode list. Considering that the flute went for $ 45,000 at Christie's, I think this could get some serious interest. It is certainly a $ 2,000 item.

The Captain Picard Ready Room Data Module is nice, but I don't think is worth more than $ 300-400, since you can see a bunch of these props in many episodes.

Finally, there is a whole range of resin rank pins (with a couple of metal ones in there). Now the question is were these screen used, and if so, where? Talking with a couple of Star Trek collectors I know, they all say that all the rank pins on the movie costumes they have are metal. I know they are metal on my Orange Radiation suit. So what are these made for? I don't know and would love to hear from anyone who has any theories.


Good hunting!

Alec

A Question.........

"Since before your sun burned hot in space, and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

The Guardian of the Star Trek Auction, Prop and Costume Blog recently received this question from Jon Sligh.

"I have been reading your blog and enjoying it greatly. I see that you said that you lost out on the auction for Nog's uniform " but I didn't bid higher because I know there are more of these". Does that mean there are going to be more of the eBay auctions from ItsAWrap? Do you know how many more auctions are they going to have? Do you know what they are going to be selling? I am interesting in bidding on more items but I don’t want to waste my money upfront for fear there aren’t going to be any more items they put up. I have a limited amount and if I go over my wife is going to kill me. :-) So basically I am looking for any information you might have.

Thanks so much.

Jon"

Well, Jon, I don't have any inside information on what IAW has or what will be coming. IAW is very secretive and doesn't release information about what they have or what they are going to have. When I make comments about being patient and that there are many of an item, it is based on a few things.

First, each season there were a number of uniforms made for each actor. Refer back to what Robert Blackman, the Star Trek costume Designer since TNG, said in the Robert Blackman interview:

"During the season we make 4-6 uniforms for each actor."

So that is the first piece of information that I use. After that, there is the History Channel Special that was recently on in which we see a ton of views of the warehouse where all the Star Trek costumes and props were stored and it is abundantly clear that there is a massive amount of costumes and props available. Some of those scenes are mind-boggling.

All my friends who are collectors, many of whom have been collecting a lot longer than I have and have much more experience, agree that there is a huge supply, and we have only seen a part of it all. I think it is entirely reasonable that these auctions will last over a year. It has been over 4 months already!

So it is really collecting all the available facts and making reasonable conclusions about what exists. As far as the Nog costume, he was an important character and so the Blackman axiom goes. There should be 8-12 of these. If you say, "Well, he was a secondary character", then maybe there were only 4-6. Either way, that is a lot of costumes. So, I decided to be patient.

I hope that helps!

Alec

Comments and emails.....

Hey all:

I have been getting a bunch of email as of late from y'all (as we say here in Atlanta) and I love reading the email and appreciate all the great comments. I will respond to every email I get and I have made some great friends from doing this.

Please do me a favor though, and if you want to ask me a question, in addition to emailing me, please post the question here as a comment, so, in addition to answering your email, I can also answer it here for all to see. Blogs are meant to be a dialog, not just an article, and I want everyone to get used to being part of that dialog.

Thanks!

Alec

It's a Wrap eBay auctions - Week 16 Results

Week 16

This was a funny week in that there were some surprises in prices that were higher than they should be and some that were way less than you would think they should be.

The Garak costume was the top item and sold for $4,250. What is it with Garak? His last costume went for an astounding $ 3,250 which we all thought was crazy at the time. This one went for $ 1,000 more than that! Now, many of you know I have been after a Garak costume and so I actually was the under bidder on this one as it was from my favorite Garak scene. I came to grips with the fact that I might have to pay what the last one went for, but when I got outbid on this I was SHOCKED. I really wanted this one, and so I am bummed, but heck, I got my Kirk costume for less! This was an insane price to pay for this costume. (yeah I would have been calling myself out if I had won this at a price near where it finished!).

The Chief O'Brien Uniform went at a healthy $ 2,493, which was $ 443 more than the last O'Brien that was identical to this. Itr was a nice costume and I think the gold operations color always makes these costumes look great.

The Borg costume at $ 2,279 was reasonably priced and a really nice example. These will look awesome on display. Just keep that latex out of the sunlight!

The TNG two piece Operations Uniform was way high for a background player costume. There seems to be a high demand for these and they have been going high, but I don't see these holding that value.

The Cardassian Solider Costume at $ 2,158 was pretty reasonable and won by the same guy who won the Garak. It was a beautiful example of what is a great costume (I was underbidder on this too!....not a good week for Alec).

The Ensign Nog costume was another I lost out on, but I didn't bid higher because I know there are more of these, and I wasn't happy with the neck on the under shirt here. I already have the cadet Nog and simply didn't want to overpay. These are kind of cool, because they are really the size of a tall child. I have my Nog next to the Sisko and it is quite a display (photos to follow).

The Hierarchy alien costume was a bit of an enigma. I just saw this Voyager episode, and it is quite funny, but I think that was a strong price for an alien costume. It did have a gun prop and so that certainly contributed to the price.

The Rom costume went for a healthy $ 1,025 which I thought was high for a Rom, but he was a strong second tier character and so the price is not unjustified.

Similarly, the Kai Winn costume was really nice and went for a respectable $ 860. I know this will make an awesome display as the fabric and color really pop.

I have to say that the DS9 Starfleet Uniform at $ 675 was a steal. When you can get an original Star Trek uniform for a price like this, you really made out!

Similarly, I like the Starfleet Academy Cadet Costume at $ 661.51. These are just very reasonable prices for very nice costumes.

The Neelix at $ 600 was an absolute steal! Neelix costumes just don't bring very strong prices.

As far as props go:

The DS9 PADD went for $ 1,287.85 and was the top prop this past week. It is a working model and lights up. I think this was a fair price for this piece as PADDs are going in the $ 1,000-1,500 price range.

The Kira Sniper Weapon was pretty sharp and went for a reasonable $ 1,225. Supposedly one of a kind, we saw Kira use this in the episode "Shakaar". It's a little beat up but pretty cool.

The Transport Pattern Enhancers were a good deal as the winner got 3 for $ 1,204. There are some nicer ones out there, but you can't beat this price.

I think the Grand Nagus head appliance was WAY overpriced. It is latex, and already shows signs of deterioration. This is basically a used piece of make up. So I think the buyer paid too much, but if di9splayed right, will look good with a Nagus costume. Better get it treated though so it lasts.

The Krenim PADD at $ 811 was also a nice piece. This was one of the best Voyager episodes and this PADD shows the time line as the Krenim saw it. I didn't find this a visually striking prop, but I did think it relevant and so I think the buyer got a good deal.

My good friend Jason snagged the Enterprise Energy Carbine at a very reasonable $ 636.






So here are some awards for the week:

Best Costume of the Week: OK, I am very biased I will admit, but the Garak costume was a beautiful piece and was the basis for the 9" action figure. I think the costume is beautiful and in my favorite Garak scene in DS9. But as you will see below, it was a ridiculous price.

Best Prop of the Week: Not spectacular, but the pattern enhancers at $ 1,204 were a great deal and the best of the lot in a weak selection of props.

Best Buy of the week: Hirogen Hunter at $ 840 was a great deal. This costume looks great in very photo I have seen, and this one has boots.

Worst Buy of the week: The Garak costume at $ 4,250. Yeah it was the best costume, but $ 4,250???? That is INSANE.

Sleeper of the Week: The Niners pennant went for only $ 315 because most of us didn't read the fine print and thought this was your typical felt pennant. It was in fact the big one that was on the Dugout! We need to be very careful about reading descriptions!


And here are some prices realized:

5 HIGHEST PRICED ITEMS THAT SOLD

DS9 Garak Costume $ 4,250

DS9 Chirf O'Brien Uniform $ 2,493

ST: First Contact Borg Costume $ 2,279

TNG Two-Piece Starfleet Uniform $ 2,225

DS9 Cardassian Soldier Costume $ 2,158


Special thanks to Aaron Carlson, who every week, compiles all the stats on that week's auctions.

Additional Spock Space Suit info

From Jeff Kula of Uhrichsville, Ohio:

A while back ItsAWrap had auctioned off Spock's spacesuit from Star Trek:TMP. In describing the helmet it was mentioned that it had a hole/slit carved on the top.

I was over on TVLand's website and caught an interview with a few of the cast members (Takei, Nichols, & Koenig). In Part 3 of the Live Chat Walter Koenig said what they did was they had to cut a hole on top of the helmet to be able to drag/manipulate the worm going across the face. Cool piece of info. Here's the link....

http://www.tvland.com/shows/startrek/

(Click on Pre-Recorded Live Chat located on the left)

Part 3 talks about the helmet / worm.

Final word on the Doohan Shirt

I had a discussion with Anthony Pascale, who runs the Trekmovie.com web site the other day and the topic of the Scotty Shirt came up. He shed some new light, confirming the origin and explaining that both of James Doohan's sons, (Chris and Montgomery) were in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He had the photo below in an article he wrote which you can read here:


So the shirt was screen-used, just not by James Doohan. :-)

It's a Wrap eBay auctions - Week 16 Preview

Week 16 Preview

There is a good selection of hero items this week, as well as three great alien costumes. The prop selection is weak, but there are a few good items.

The First Contact Borg costume is a real beauty. The detailing is amazing and am sure this will look amazing on display. At Christie's, one like this went for $ 3,840 (before buyer's premium) and the the last one went for $ 1,625 from It's a Wrap. The only thing to remember is that these are made from cast latex, and so they will deteriorate if not well preserved. If you win this, let me know and I will introduce you to an amazing artist who specializes in creating and preserving these items.

There are both a Dr. Bashir black and gray uniform and a Chief O'Brien black and gray uniform. The last Bashir like this went for $ 1,843 and the O'Brien that was sold that was identical to this one went for $ 2,050. The O'Brien is interesting in that it has a sewn in rank insignia for a Chief Petty Officer as opposed to an officer who has metal pips. These are beautiful uniforms and display great. I think both will go over $ 2,000 as new bidders have been bidding up hero costumes recently.

The Garak costume is already at $ 1,225. Now the last Garak went for an amazing $ 3,250, which is quite high. The winner had emailed me and told me it was the last costume he needed to complete his collection, and he knew he bid high on it. That costume was from the best Garak episode "In the Pale Moonlight" when Garak gives his ending monologue to Sisko after getting hit across the room. There are plenty of Garak costumes out there as none were sold at Christie's and, like Quark, we saw Garak in a ton of different costumes.

The Cardassian Soldier Costume is a beauty. These generally go in the $ 1,500-1,800 range, and this one could easily top $ 2,000 as it looks in great shape and has boots.

The Hirogen Hunter costume is cheap right now at $ 500, but should go around $ 1,200-1,500. This one has boots and looks great. See my comments above regarding latex costumes though.

There are a number of distressed uniforms from DS9 and Voyager main characters. These should go at very reasonable prices, so keep an eye on them if you are on a budget. There is a Kira, a Chakotay, a B'Lanna Torres and a Paris. The Harry Kim Racing Jumpsuit is beautiful, buts hows signs of mold, so be careful there.

Other costumes of note are the Kai Winn costume, which is quite striking, The Mila costume from The Dogs of War, is intriguing for you DS9 and Garak fans and there is a fine Neelix costume as well. There is also a great Kess costume from her last appearance on Voyager.


As far as props go:

The Romulan Senate stools and chair are nice and have been on before. Two stools went for $ 1,125 in February and $ 699 two weeks ago. No reason to pay high for these as there are a ton fo them! The Romulan Senate was a big place!

The Kira Sniper Rifle is nice and different from other Bajoran weapons. This is the best weapon in the auction this week, and should go around $ 1,000 -1,200.

The Starfleet Energy Carbine failed to hit reserve at $ 609 last week and so is up again. No clue why IAW is still using reserves on average items.

There is a DS9 PADD which lights up which should go in the $1,000-$ 1,500 range. These keep showing up and the price will be dropping on these after a while I think.

The Voyager Pattern Enhancers are pretty nifty. There are three of them, which would look cool set up around your TV room!

There are also two pennants from the DS9 baseball episode "Take me out to the holosuite". be careful here as there are a LOT of these and this is the perfect example of why you should be patient. I would love to have a set, but I am not going to pay $ 300 for a pennant!

Finally, there is a latex "Grand Nagus" head appliance. This is very cool, but you can see the problem with latex as this is already starting to deteriorate. If you didn't win the Grand Nagus costume that was on a few weeks ago, don't bother!

Thanks for all the emails and compliments I have been getting. Feel free to post them on here as well.

Good hunting!

Alec

The Scotty Shirt Mystery solved.

Jay Combs was the poster who noted the probable history of the James Doohan shirt in last week's auction. As I noted in my last post, Jay posted a comment about the likely explanation of the origin of the Doohan shirt. He said:

"...if you look on page 104 of Grace Lee Whitney's biography "The Longest Trek", you will see a picture of one of James Doohan's sons wearing a shirt that looks exactly like the one being auctioned in a candid photo taken during the Rec Deck scene from STTMP. Doohan and Whitney are posed with their respective sons, all three of whom are extras in uniform in that scene."

And he just emailed me the photo from the Whitney book. Here it is:



And the photo of the shirt at auction:

Of course this isn't definitive, but it looks like the best explanation. Thanks Jay!

It's a Wrap eBay auctions - Week 15 Results

Week 15

I mentioned that it was a particularly strong week, and outside of two strong costumes, that observation was pretty much right on. The total for the week was only $ 52,898, which is weak compared to most weeks which are in the high $ 60,000 to low $ 70,000 range. Props especially didn't do well due to the poor selection, but there were some great bargain s on costumes in the $ 1,000 range.

The Neelix Klingon costume was the top item and sold for $4,127.25. Is the fact that it was used by Neelix in an episode reason for it to go for almost twice what the previous high for a Klingon uniform did? I guess so, but this is certainly way overpriced considering what the previous ones have sold for. The last two Klingon Warrior costumes have sold for $2,850 and $2,225. Before that the were selling about $1,850 or so. The previous high also had boots, which this one did not.

The James Doohan "Class B" shirt mystery may have been solved by the person who posted a comment on my last blog entry. I am going to repost that comment for all to see here:

"I'll offer another theory - if you look on page 104 of Grace Lee Whitney's biography "The Longest Trek", you will see a picture of one of James Doohan's sons wearing a shirt that looks exactly like the one being auctioned in a candid photo taken during the Rec Deck scene from STTMP. Doohan and Whitney are posed with their respective sons, all three of whom are extras in uniform in that scene."

The poster didn't leave their name, but this is some AWESOME detective work, and solves an important question about this costume. it also shows that the costume went WAY high for what it is.

The Star Trek:Generations Crusher stunt costume went for $1,825 which was probably about right considering it is a stunt costume. It is a beautiful costume none the less and will look great in someone's display. Too bad there was no hat with it.

The Dr. Zimmerman costume from Voyager went way below my expectations at only $ 1,075. This is an important costume in that it is the one worn by Dr. Zimmerman of Starfleet Medical, on who the Doctor's holo-matrix was based. I think the winner got a smoking deal here!

Another steal was the Jem'Hadar costume that went for only $ 1,146.51. This costume had boots as well and I almost bid on this myself. These are the type of great deals I think are there to be found every week.

Another great deal was The Terran Empire MACO Uniform which sold for a paltry $ 885! This was VERY cheap for a great uniform that will look awesome on display.

The Starfleet Cadet Future Uniform was in line with previous auctions at $ 590 and I think people should look at these. They show very little wear as they were only used in one episode and they look great AND come with a Comm badge! $ 590 is a steal.

The Blue TNG Scant went for a strong $ 1,130.89. These are probably pretty rare, so that price doesn't surprise me.

I said in my preview that I thought the Feature Film Vulcan Robes and Hat were being overlooked, and I was right as they sold for only $ 865.

The Dixon Hill hat and shoes sold for only $ 620. I am not sure what you do with the shoes, but the hat alone was worth that price.


As far as props go:

The Ferengi Disruptor Rifle (also used by the Romulans) was the top prop at $1,650. I actually bid on this, but felt, though it is a beautiful piece and would go great with the Romulan pistol I just won, was a b it more than I wanted to spend.

The Starfleet PADD went for $1,534 and was well worth it. It has a great graphic and was rather large. It also works, which is an important consideration for these. Working PADDs are rarer and well worth it.

The 24th Century Computer went for $1,454. i think that was a good price and as I have said before, there are a lot of great props that sell around $ 1,500. Any one of them will make an awesome centerpiece for a collection.

The Electronic Starfleet PADD went for $966 but was a bit beat up. I really didn't like this piece because of its condition, but reasonable since it lit up.


The Star Trek: First Contact Type III rifle went for $916.99. It was foam, so it was a reasonable price.



The Enterprise Starfleet Energy Carbine was a rubber version, and for some bizarre reason had a reserve. It failed to hit that reserve at $ 609. IAW had stopped with reserves, so I am not sure why an average prop like this had a reserve.

As predicted, the The Klingon PADD went reasonably at $815.99. I think that was probably one of the deals of the week. When you can get a great prop under $ 1,000, you have done well. It doesn't light up, but most alien PADDs didn't.


So here are some awards for the week:

Best Costume of the Week: Tough one as I don't think there were any standout costumes. The Neelix Klingon is just like any other Klingon costume, the James Doohan wasn't used in the flim (at least not by Scotty) and the Naval uniform was a stunt version. SO I am giving my costume of the week to the Dr. Zimmerman costume. Pretty cool and this went cheap!

Best Prop of the Week: The Ferengi Disruptor Rifle The detailing on these is very nice and this is a clean resin copy.

Best Buy of the week: The Starfleet Cadet Future Uniform at $ 590 is just too good a deal to not win this award this week.

Worst Buy of the week: The James Doohan "Class B" shirt for $3,450 is a really bad buy as the costume was never used onscreen by Doohan.

Sleeper of the Week: The Jem'Hadar costume at only $ 1,146.51 was pretty hard to beat. Complete with boots and cool detailing, this costume was a great deal.


And here are some prices realized:


5 HIGHEST PRICED ITEMS THAT SOLD

Voyager Neelix Klingon Costume costume $ 4,217.25

ST:TMP James Doohan Shirt $ 3,450

Dr. Crusher Stunt Naval Uniform $ 1,825

Ferengi Disruptor Rifle $ 1,650

24th Century Electronic PADD $ 1,534


Special thanks to Aaron Carlson, who every week, compiles all the stats on that week's auctions.

More on the Scotty uniform shirt...

Here are two thoughts on the "James Doohan" shirt that is ending today, from two of my prop collecting budddies.

"As you have noted, the colors of the patch and shoulder straps and the rank are wrong for Scotty. My guess is that they took a shirt that already existed but not needed for Scotty and used it for another cast member to avoid having to create it anew. It might have seen the screen but not on Doohan.

One thing that I noticed is that the material for the shoulder straps has often faded over the years for some of the divisional colors. Check the pictures in your Christie's catalog for the security (gray) and medical (green) straps. They are almost tan now. But other colors such as red and orange have fared well.

Incidentally Spike's great ST uniform site has this very image of the shoulder strap featured and explains it as belonging to a crewman second class."

And from another buddy:

"Another case of a costume made for the movie and not used. We have seen many of these so far, (Rand last week, McCoy in the upcoming Profiles auction). I’m sure this one is a relisting from the week 2 or 3."

It's a Wrap eBay auctions - Week 15 Preview

Week 15 Preview

This isn't a particularly strong week, which is evidenced by only 9 items being above $ 500 as of Wednesday. The selection of both costumes and props is rather thin, which gives those of us who have been buying in these auctions some welcome relief! It also offers collectors a chance to get some inexpensive items if they shop wisely.

The Neelix Klingon costume is the top item so far at $ 2,180. This episode was just on TV and so it is fresh in some of our minds. The disappointing thing is there are no boots with this costume.

The Star Trek:Generations Crusher stunt costume is a nice piece and should go at a reasonable price since it wasn't used by Gates McFadden. Truly beautiful costumes, this may jump up because it is kind of iconic.

The Dr. Zimmerman costume from Voyager is kinda of cool and rather unique. It is at $ 810 now but could easily go over $ 1,500 and maybe $ 2,000. Display this next to a Doctor and it will be a great display.

The James Doohan "Class B" shirt is a bit of an enigma. Scotty never used this costume and the rank and insignia are wrong. So what is the story of this costume? No way to tell. It is a nice uniform though.

The Terran Empire MACO Uniform recently sold for $ 1,075 and this one is at $ 510. I think they are well worth the price.

The Starfleet Cadet Future Uniform is one I actually own, having won one about two months ago. They are really nice and come with a Comm badge and well worth the $ 500 I paid. I think this one will go higher due to the new bidders that have come to the auctions

The Blue TNG Scant are pretty funny and certainly worth a look. Now I have never seen a guy wear one of THESE to a convention!

Finally, I think the Feature Film Vulcan Robes and Hat are being overlooked as they are at $ 228.50 right now. A fine costume that should bring a $ 1,000 price.

I think there are some good deals on secondary and civilian hero costumes. The Janeway Velocity costume, The Jem 'Hadar costume, and the female Klingon costume are all potential good deals.


As far as props go:

The Ferengi Disruptor Rifle (also used by the Romulans) is the top prop at this point and should top $ 1,500.

The Star Trek: First Contact Type III rifle is the EVA version used when Picard, Worf andf Hawke go EVA to blow up the Deflector Dish. It is a foam version so don't go high on this.

The Enterprise Starfleet Energy Carbine is a rubber version, and you all know I hate how rubber props don't age well. Be careful how high you go here too.

The 24th Century Computer is a great prop which should go around $ 1,500. A nice and classic prop that I think appeals to a lot of people.

The Dixon Hill hat and shoes are a great item. OK, who wants shoes? But the hat is awesome! And it is Dixon Hill!

The Klingon PADD could go at a reasonable price. There were a ton of PADDs created for all the various shows, so these should start coming down in price as more and more become available. There were 4 last week alone. This week there are 3. The two Federation PADDS are both nice.


With all but 9 items under $ 500 there are a lot of bargains to be had. Keep your eyes sharp and be smart!

Also, feel free to email me if you have any questions!


Good hunting!

Alec

Thoughts on Scotty Shirt from IAW this week....

I get a lot of emails lately and one the other day asked about the Scotty shirt on eBay this week from it's a Wrap. Seems the label says James Doohan, but it clearly has the wrong rank and department insignia.

I thought this was a good opportunity to prompt people to write comments on the blog to help each other out. So go to the comments link and add your thoughts here. There are a lot of experienced collectors who read this blog and a blog should be a dialog, not a monologue!

Also, I will soon be launching a Star Trek prop and costume message board so we can all start chatting more on that soon.... Alec

It's a Wrap eBay auctions - Week 14 Results

Week 14

I am sitting here writing this blog entry watching "Star Trek: First Contact" on Sci Fi channel. Damn, this was a good movie. I really think it was one of the best Star Trek movies. Certainly the best TNG based movie. When Lilliy Says "It's my first ray gun" I still laugh out loud. And James Cromwell really was awesome as Zephram Cochrane.

Back to the auctions.....I think we have settled into a routine the past couple of weeks of a mixture of items that is not as deep as the first two months of the auctions. There are some nice pieces, but not to the extent we first saw. Thus I think the better items are getting higher prices because there are fewer of them along with new bidders coming in.

The top item of the week was the Spock "Mindmeld" costume from Star Trek IV. Basically his underwear, it went for a RIDICULOUS $ 4,550. This one totally boggles my mind. Someone must love that movie a lot to pay that for this costume.

The Major Kira went for $ 3,250. Previous ones have gone for $ 3,601 and $ 1,554. I think this a bit high for this costume, but the market is driving the prices up on hero costumes.

The "Nemesis" style dress uniform went for $ 2,425 which is very strong for a background costume. My friend won this costume and has wanted one very badly, so I know he was willing to go higher than I told him he should! :-) but he is happy and that is what matters.

The Ezri Dax uniform at $ 2,176 was the first Ezri dax we have seen, and it was pretty much in line with other hero costumes of this type. I think the price was fair and these costumes display well. (I have Sisko's in my family room and it looks amazing). I think if you can get a hero black and gray around $ 2,000 you are doing well.

The USS Relativity costume went pretty high at $ 2,026.89. This was a background player's costume, and though it has the rank and communicator badges, I think it went high. It is a beautiful costume with rich colored fabrics and quilting. I would love one of these as it will look great on display, but there are a few more of these and so I think this was only a $ 1,200-1,500 costume at best.

The "Captive Pursuit - Alien Hunter" costume went for $ 1,536.99. I think costumes with strong visual appeal, ones that will display well, are going in this price range. This one is nice as it has a helmet and boots and so I think it is a good price.

The Dr. Bashir uniform at $ 1,525 was a reasonable price as was the Captain Picard civilian costume from Insurrection at $ 1,525. The Janice Rand from Star Trek: The Motion Picture went for $ 1,287.11 which was reasonable as well. Getting hero costumes in the $ 1,200-$ 1,500 range is a good investment.


On the prop front:

There were a lot of PADDs this week and some weapons, but nothing that really stood out. The top PADD was the System Analysis PADD which sold for $ 1,850.36. A less expensiv e buy was the Crew Roster PADD that went for $ 1,192. The Klingon PADD went for only $ 720, and the Romulan PADD went for a paltry $ 685 which shows that there are still good deals if you are smart.

The giant Defiant console went for a healthy $ 2,000. Good luck with the shipping!

The hero Reman RIfle was beautiful and a good deal at $ 1,900.75. The one at Christie's went for $ 2,640 (before buyer's premium), so this was a good deal.

The Insurrection Son'a hand pistol went VERY high at $ 1,531, which I think is too high for a pistol prop like this. Yes it was resin, but still, i think this should be a $ 1,000 item.

The Klingon full head mask at $ 1,526 was $ 1,000 higher than these have gone for in the past. The first couple of these went around $ 500. There are a ton of these and it is just not that rare because they needed a bunch for Star Trek VI in teh Klingon Court scene. (Go check out yoru DVD and you will see what I mean).

As far as the other weapons go, the Bajoran Phaser Rifle went at $ 1,075. Not bad and a style that I think is one of the better ones they came up with.

My good buddy Dana finally got a Reman Pistol. He has been very patient and passed on two previous ones because they went high. He snagged this one for only $ 735 because he was smart and patient as I have told you all to be. The last two went for $ 900 and $ 1,000. Remember, there are a lot of props out there and you need to not overpay.


So here are some awards for the week:

Best Costume of the Week: USS Relativity uniform. Truly beautiful costume, but WAY too high for a background player's costume. $ 2,026.89

Best Prop of the Week: Hero Reman Rifle. A beautiful piece at a reasonable price. It sold for $ 1,900.75.

Best Buy of the week: 2 Romulan Senate Stools for $ 698.88. These went for about $ 1,000 each at Christie's.

Worst Buy of the week: Spock's "Mindmeld Costume" at $ 4,550. Basically glorified underwear! Give me a break!

Sleeper of the Week: DS9 Ferengi costume at $ 467. These costumes are beautiful and this is a great deal, because even the background Ferengi costumes are beautiful..


And here are some prices realized:


5 HIGHEST PRICED ITEMS THAT SOLD

Star Trek IV Spock whale Mindmeld costume $ 4,550

Major Kira uniform $ 3,250

Operations Gold Dress Uniform $ 2,425

Ezri Dax Starfleet uniform $ 2,176

USS Relativity uniform $ 2,027


Finally, I hope you all keep our troops in Iraq in your thoughts and prayers. It helps keep life in perspective when you realize there are brave young men and women who are willing to risk their lives for the rest of us whiel we sit around and talk about props and costumes. (and hopefully they all come home safely soon).

Special thanks to Aaron Carlson, who every week, compiles all the stats on that week's auctions.