Star Trek Movie Prop Photos from Julien's Auctions

Here are the photos as posted by Julien's of the Star Trek movie props that will be auctioned off. The props were from Bad Robot and are being auctioned off by JJ Abrams wife for her charity.

I believe these are the props that were shown in the Arclight Theater, that I reported on previously, and which i inspected in the Bad Robot offices.

I think there are going to be some very high prices realized, and I will write on my thoughts about that soon. In the mean time, enjoy the photos!

Today, the Enterprise props.

Alec

USS ENTERPRISE INSIGNIA BADGES

Four silver tone plastic Star fleet insignia badges created for "Star Trek" (Paramount Pictures, 2009) these types of badges are seen on crew members throughout the film. 2 by 1 1/4 inches.

ENTERPRISE CREW MEMBER COMMUNICATOR

Communicator prop of metal and black plastic with magnetic closure created for "Star Trek" (Paramount Pictures, 2009). Closed, 3 3/4 by 2 inches

ENTERPRISE CREW MEMBER DATA TABLET

Enterprise prop Data Tablet of glass with plastic base created for "Star Trek" (Paramount Pictures, 2009). Data tablet is operated by batteries and lights up. 13 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches

MEDICAL TRICORDER

Prop Medical Tricorder of white molded plastic with white case created for "Star Trek" (Paramount Pictures, 2009) Tricorders are used by Starfleet physicians for medical diagnostic purposes. 7 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches

Star Trek Movie props to be sold by Julien's at Planet Hollywood!

STAR TREK (2009) FILM MEMORABILIA COMING TO AUCTION AT
PLANET HOLLYWOOD RESORT AND CASINO LAS VEGAS CONDUCTED BY JULIEN'S AUCTIONS

In the summer of 2010 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada you can own a piece of movie history as props and costumes from the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Star Trek (released May 8, 2009) hit the auction block with Julien’s Auctions. The J.J. Abrams directed blockbuster exploded onto the screen to rave reviews and box office success and next summer you can bring home a piece of the adventure.
The Julien’s Auctions Summer Sale of entertainment memorabilia, planned for early Summer 2010, will contain 25 props, costumes and set pieces from Star Trek. These items are being auctioned to benefit Children’s Defense Fund (childrensdefense.org) and Student Veterans of America (studentveterans.org).
Highlights of the iconic costumes available from Star Trek include wardrobe worn by franchise legend Leonard Nimoy during his pivotal meeting with the young James T. Kirk, Starfleet cadet costumes as worn by Zoe Saldana and Chris Pine, and the insignia badges needed to complete a Star Fleet Uniform ensemble.
True Star Trek Fans can also own the equipment needed to survive in the final frontier. Seat yourself aboard the bridge of the U.S.S. Kelvin in uniform with your Hero Chair and try to avert future and past disasters. Outfit yourself for a fight in a rugged Romulan costume armed with the prop weaponry from Nero's mining ship The Narada. Whether it’s a physician’s Tricoder or your own phaser, these props will make you feel like you’re a part of the action.
As a very special addition to the auction, eight one-of-a-kind artist rendered U.S.S. Enterprise models will also be available. Built by Quantum Mechanix and painted by artists from around the world, these custom-made collector dream items will also be sold to benefit these remarkable charities.
ABOUT THE FILM: The greatest adventure of all time begins with “Star Trek,” the incredible story of a young crew's maiden voyage onboard the most advanced starship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. On a journey filled with action, comedy and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind.
The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock (Zachary Quinto), was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before!

For more photos an dinfo, go to the Julien's Web Site.

Propworx Star Trek auction slated for May

While the Battlestar Galactica auctions have dominated my working life the past year (and cut down on my Star Trek activity), my passion for Star Trek has not diminished. And so, last year I started working on making the sale of the Doug Drexler collection into a full blown auction.

Propworx, my company, is now working on 5 new auctions for 2010, Iron man being the first, which will be April 17-18 at the Chicago Comic Con. But right after that will be the Propworx Star Trek auction in May. We haven't set a date yet, but we are working on it now. The auction will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Los Angeles. We are also hoping to get CBS involved, and more on that will follow.

This auction will consist of the Doug Drexler collection, the Rick Sternbach collection and items from other behind the scenes Star Trek luminaries. So far we have about 300 lots, including some amazing pieces of Star Trek history, dating back to TOS. Most amazing of all is the Star Trek Kirk filming miniature from The Motion Picture.

And if you liked our Battlestar Galactica catalogs, then what we have planned for the Star Trek catalog will blow you away. The catalog will be a true collector's item, and be a signed, limited edition. It will include interviews with Star Trek creators and be a real work of art.

We will also be having a "Behind the Scenes at Star Trek" event the day before the auction, with panel discussions from the people who created the art, props, models and costumes for Star Trek, so you really will want to come out to this event. Plus there will be a get together for Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum members.

Also, if you have any Star Trek items you would like to consign, we are taking consignments now. Contact me at alec@propworx.com. We have a few more surprises up our sleeve that we will let you know about over the coming months.

Klingon D7 model cast from the original filming miniature by Greg Jein

NOMAD model from Trip's quarters on Enterprise

Enterprise "E" Dedication Plaque

Star Trek IV Klingon Communicator

After returning the Assault Phaser I bought when we found out it wasn’t a production made piece, the seller, a member of the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum, offered me a screen used Klingon Communicator instead. Now, the seller didn’t purposely try to deceive me on the Assault Phaser. She just fell into the trap of believing the story she was told about its origins. She also had many other real Star Trek props and costumes, and I had bought from her before, so I jumped at the chance to buy the communicator.

The comm was a Klingon Star Trek II/IV type as seen on-screen used by commander Kruge and Kirk in Star Trek III and by Kirk and Chekov in Star Trek IV. When the comm arrived I was impressed. It was in excellent shape, the lights worked and there was a slide switch on the right front that moved. Now the task to authenticate the item.

There are two great parts of this hobby that make my life richer. The first is the friends I have made and the community we have built on the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction forum who I get to share this hobby with. The second is the times I have spent authenticating props with my good friend Brett Jones.

As many of you know, Brett is the entrepreneur behind Federation Surplus, and he makes the best Star Trek prop replicas on the market. He works now for Hollywood’s top prop shop because he is so good. And because of his years of experience working with Star Trek props, and his meticulous nature, he is an expert at authenticating Star Trek props. He knows paint codes, manufacturing processes and many collectors I know, including myself, give our props to Brett when they need repairs, so he has handled more original Star Trek props than most people I know. When he and I start on authenticating an item, it is a blast, because it is like detective work. There are screen caps to be seen and people, like the prop makers we have to talk to in order to get the story.

So when I got the comm. and sent photos to Brett he and I spent time comparing the comm. to the Blu Ray of Star Trek III and IV. It was clearly not the one from Star Trek III. While you could pretty much only see the back of the comm in Star Trek III, and it was clear this wasn’t that one. And it was hard to tell if it was the one from Star Trek IV, because you always see the communicator from the back when someone is holding it in their hand. It looked like it, but again, nothing definitive.

So Brett contacted Richard Coyle, who worked on the early Star Trek movies. Richard sent Brett the below photograph of the communicator and identified it as the one he sent to the set of Star Trek IV. He took this photo before he sent the communicator off to the set. Mine matched this one exactly.

What happened was that when Star Trek IV started the propmaster sent Richard the ST III communicator and asked him to make another hero and a dummy. So Richard recast the whole communicator without the blades, making a metal buck for metal blades to be inserted after the resin casting of the body.

There are two pieces on mine, of different color, appeared to have been added on the set, something that happened often when props went to set and needed something extra. You can tell these parts are add-ons by the color.

Coyle then recast this piece to make a master for his replicas that he used to sell. The one on the right in the photo is one of these replicas. Richard also made changes to the ones he sold so they are recognizably different and can’t be mistaken for a production made piece. So, with a little work the communicator’s authenticity was resolved and it now resides in my collection.

Thanks to Brett and Richard for their help!

Alec

Vulcan Lyra on eBay - Another repro

A seller on eBay is claiming that the Vulcan Lyra she is selling is a set used one from TOS.

Unfortunately, this is not real, but a reproduction.

The description claims:

"This is an actual set prop: Spock's Vulcan Harp from Star Trek the Original Series. Only three have ever been made. Christie's auctioned one of these about 15 years ago, I have this one, and I have no idea where the other one is. I don't know if this was ever used in an episode; the broker who sold it to me just said it was on the set. I actually contacted Christie's to auction it, but they told me it wasn't something they dealt with anymore, so they suggested I auction it locally. And since no one where I live really cares about Star Trek, here I am auctioning it on ebay...LOL I bought this years ago from a private broker in Long Island New York. It comes with a wooden stand that matches the wood on the harp. The only thing wrong with this is that it's actually supposed to play when you push the buttons on top of the harp, but the circuitry inside of it doesn't work anymore, presumably just because of age. It's been stored for years in a protective case; it's just that it's old. One of the pics has a closeup of the back of the harp where you can see the switch that is supposed to turn the harp on."

As Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum member Seleya pointed out in the thread on this prop reproduction:

"This ebay item appears to be made to some blueprints published at some point, http://cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/vulcan-ha...ction-plans.php. Note the screws at either end of the guard plate under the knobs. Note the back. They fit the plans exactly.

The screws are not on the original screen used: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/mediaview...76&count=-1 http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e333/mik...eKing116-Ar.jpg

EVERY other reproduction that has appeared over time, and the remakes used in Voyager, were *seriously* different from the original."


Also,

"These plans specify use of an electronic component, the 50240 integrated circuit, which became available in the mid 1970's."

Thus, being a TOS item from the 1960s would be out of the question.

And as always, pay attention to the provenance, which is absent here.

Alec



UPDATE: The seller pulled this item after being informed it was not genuine. As as is clear from the above post, I didn't accuse her of trying to defraud anyone, but I was clear that this was mis-described and not what it claimed. It appears she was duped and was passing on what she was told.

Klingon Propganda

"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