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Giant Paramount Auction of Star Trek Items

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Sun May 21, 2006 01:39 AM
from the scott-me-up-beamie dept.
Sci-Fi Hardware
Alien54 writes "The first official studio auction of memorabilia from all five 'Star Trek' television series and 10 movie spinoffs, to be held from October 5 to 7 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the original 'Star Trek' series, was announced by Christie's on Thursday. CBS Paramount Television Studios is cleaning out its vaults for the sale, comprising more than 1,000 lots totaling some 4,000 items. Items to hit the block include props, weapons, prosthetics and set dressings unearthed from five Paramount warehouses, as well as many special and spectacular items highlighted in the various shows." Update: 05/21/2006 14:57 GMT by SM Several users have provided us with the direct link to the auction site for easy viewing.
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  • The nicest prop (Score:4, Funny)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (209368) on Sunday May 21 2006, @01:42AM (#15374760)
    I want Shatner's toupee.

    • Re:The nicest prop (Score:5, Funny)

      by HTTP Error 403 403.9 (628865) on Sunday May 21 2006, @01:47AM (#15374772)
      I want Shatner's toupee.
      Over.....my.....dead...........body.......Spock.
    • (Sung to the tune of Prince's Raspberry Beret)

      Shatner's scary toupee,
      the kind that you find in a used rug store....

    • Best Part of Star Trek Cannot Be Bought (Score:5, Insightful)

      by reporter (666905) on Sunday May 21 2006, @02:51AM (#15374934) Homepage
      I am a lifelong fan of "Star Trek".

      However, I am not a fan of Star-Trek conventions. 99% of the content of a typical convention is whoring (a.k.a. selling) memorabilia: photos with the aging actors, cards, spacecraft models, etc. The entire convention is lined with booths hawking memorabilia.

      Yet, the best part of "Star Trek" cannot be bought. It is a story about how humankind transcends the suffering and limitations of life in the 20th century and 21st century. The Enterprise's entering warp is a metaphor for our breaking the bonds of our limitations as we soar to a greater, better future.

      The best part of "Star Trek" is the message of hope. (I have read the profiles of many felony convicts and have yet to come across one who is a Trekkie.)

      Hope is not what Christie's auction will sell. This auction is a bigger, more expensive version of a typical convention.

      • rather specious reasoning to assume anything from the fact you dont find trekkies among the convicted felons being because its somehow enlightening... a more logical argument would invlove say, ex cons reforming as trekkies inspired by the show somehow... but i cant possibly fathom how myself...

      • Re:Best Part of Star Trek Cannot Be Bought (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Atario (673917) on Sunday May 21 2006, @03:48AM (#15375042) Homepage
        The best part of "Star Trek" is the message of hope. (I have read the profiles of many felony convicts and have yet to come across one who is a Trekkie.)
        Not to politicize the discussion, but I'd be fascinated(, Captain,) to see how what percentage of Republicans and what percentage of Democrats (and of the other parties too) are Trekkies.
      • Yet, the best part of "Star Trek" cannot be bought.

        The best part of "Star Trek" is the message of hope.

        Hope is not what Christie's auction will sell.

        No, no, check the catalogue. Hope is in there. It's item number 47. This auction really has got everything.
      • It would be nice if they'd give some of those sets or rights to the sets to Star Trek Hidden Frontier. I am so sick of the bluescreen background sets that are not proportionate to the characters. I am tired of the characters looking like drop-ins to a set, with the obvious "halo" effect around the actors.

        Tragically, CBS/Paramount and Christies will probably make a killing off of this, but the fan-based Web Trek activities could benefit immeasurably in terms of quality and maybe even respark a whole now surg

  • I want (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dasheiff (261577) on Sunday May 21 2006, @01:46AM (#15374769) Homepage
    7 of 9's cat suit. :-)
  • The big angry black thing that killed Tasha Yar.

  • Dibs! (Score:5, Funny)

    by payndz (589033) on Sunday May 21 2006, @01:56AM (#15374800)
    I call dibs on the Enterprise!

  • I know what I'd buy (Score:5, Funny)

    by From A Far Away Land (930780) on Sunday May 21 2006, @02:02AM (#15374820) Homepage Journal
    A warp core. No wait, a transporter. These things are in working condition right?

  • I want to go... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bieeanda (961632) on Sunday May 21 2006, @02:02AM (#15374821)
    Just to see the time-travelling aliens bid furiously on the tox'utat, or however it's spelled.

  • ahh the smell... (Score:5, Funny)

    by DilbertLand (863654) on Sunday May 21 2006, @02:04AM (#15374828)
    Can anyone else imagine the smell in the auction room with lots of nervous Star Trek fans?

  • boneheads (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2006, @02:05AM (#15374830)
    There must be something about joining an **AA, lowers IQ or something. This is a pretty valuable collection. Sell it once,you get one pay day. Open a museum, add the props, have movie showings, interactive kiosks, etc, host conferences, what-ever, and have 365 paydays a year, for a *long* time.
  • Finally the time has come to sell the captains chair I... found.

  • Why Kirk is Better Than Picard (Score:5, Funny)

    by R3d M3rcury (871886) on Sunday May 21 2006, @02:15AM (#15374860) Journal
    FTFA:
    Fans and collectors will have a chance to acquire "Star Trek" artifacts [...] Capt. James Kirk's uniform or Capt. Jean-Luc Picard's jumpsuit [...]
    See? Kirk wore a uniform. Picard wore a jumpsuit.

    'nuff said. :^)
    • At least Picard boldy went where no-one in pajama's has went before.
      When I'm in my pajamas, I don't want to step out my front door.
      Kirk had a spiffy uniform. If I had a spiffy uniform, I'd go places too.

  • Transparent Aluminum (Score:3, Funny)

    by [HeMaN] (35302) on Sunday May 21 2006, @02:22AM (#15374873)
    I sure could use some of that for a new garage door :-)

    -H
  • captains chair and a replicator... and a couple of phasers.. hmmmm, that would be enough... also the giant viewing screen, old STTNG epiosodes would look great on that!
  • http://www.christies.com/special_sites/startrek/ov erview.asp [christies.com]

    Tragically it is in Flash.

    I wonder if they have the dilithium crystals from "Mudd's Women"? If you ever need a dilithium crystal there's really no substitute.
    • If you ever need a dilithium crystal there's really no substitute.

      "Here in the engine room of the starship Enterprise, we've secretly replaced the dilithium crystals with new Folger's Crystals. Let's see if anyone notices the difference."

  • Probably no real good stuff (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mike Peel (885855) on Sunday May 21 2006, @03:08AM (#15374964) Homepage
    Hopefully, this is a sale of all of the useless bits of junk accumulated over the years - no real good stuff. The equivalent of a garage sale, where you're selling odd bits you no longer want, but keeping the useful/valuable stuff in the house.

    I say this because Star Trek seems to have become an important heritage nowadays, and they seem to keep doing exhibitions etc. about it. Exhibitions would be rather difficult, and not very good, if all the interesting stuff was in the hands of a few thousand fans.

    Of course, if it is decent stuff, I guess a single person / group could try to buy as much as possible, and open up a mini Star Trek museum, or something. That could be interesting.

  • Ressikan Flute (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2006, @03:19AM (#15374996)
    I have a feeling that the Ressikan flute, estimated to sell for $300, will sell for much, much more. That particular episode struck a very large emotional chord from a lot of people, and that flute was the symbol representing the episode. If only I could go. :-(

  • Oh man... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2006, @03:29AM (#15375012)
    President Bush got word of this... It seems he now wants to purchase 20,000 shield generators to protect the mexican border, "some of those shuttle thingies" for NASA, and by presidential decree, NO ONE is to sell Dick a phaser.

    -JDS
  • A Klingon Captain's chair.

    I think it'll work marvelously in my office. :-)

  • This can't be a good sign for future production. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by YaRness (237159) on Sunday May 21 2006, @08:08AM (#15375515)
    Anyone who's watched all the documentaries, Trekkies 1 & 2, behind the scenes, etc., knows that Paramount's huge collection of props gets reused over and over again from movie to movie to show to movie ad infinitum.

    Are they offloading their entire collection, or only part of it? Does this signify any particular decision with regards to future movies or shows?

  • Boston Legal (Score:3, Funny)

    by Animus Howard (643891) on Sunday May 21 2006, @08:43AM (#15375615)
    ...should have an episode where Denny Crane buys a phaser pistol from the auction, and starts carrying it instead of his handgun.

  • the little items (Score:3, Insightful)

    by v1 (525388) on Sunday May 21 2006, @08:47AM (#15375632) Homepage Journal
    There are basically two variety of memorobilia collectors... those that want the big things, like the captain's chair or a wardrobe item etc, and the people that look for the little nicknacks. Probably the wisest collector would go for the little items, as they can have more of them and display them easier.

    Hmm... I'm not a big trekkie but I can think of a few items that would be nice. That flue of Picard's would be nice. Maybe a few isolinear chips. A comm badge. (STTNG please, those from the movies are gawdy!) Or that huge hunk of crystal dilithium that was in the enterprise's warp core.

    Get a bunch of the touch pads from the doors or holodecks and use them for light switch wall plates. :)

    And of course the computer display props. From what I've read, most of them (the ones that were not animated) were backlit reverse-glass paintings. Those would make awesome wall decorations in a chosen room of the house, hang 'em like paintings.

    I also hear the props in the captain's ready-room are very popular. hah... remember the episode where the enterprise had an alien computer virus and picard ordered tea and got the teacup with the what.. bird of paradize flower in it? "now THAT should not have happened!" That would be a fun one to have.

    Probaly the most fun props to have are the ones that not many people will even be considering.

    Though previous poster is right, that flute is going to go for a lot more than $300. I'd expect it to draw $1500-2500. Key props from emotional/memorable episodes are bound to go for a mint.

  • Don't sell this individually... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Simonetta (207550) on Sunday May 21 2006, @12:14PM (#15376370)
    Paramount is making a big mistake even considering selling this items individually at auction. The collection should be kept whole and rented out to people and groups who want to make low-budget Star Trek movies.

        Since Star Trek fans are different from ordinary movie audiences in their willingness to pay for any filmed episode even remotely related to this genre, the studio should rent the Star Trek sets to low-budget productions. They own the copyright and would make money off any production that uses the Star Trek motif, logos, and fictional settings.

        The reason that they are selling the sets is because they don't plan to make anymore of these films themselves. The individual actors are too expensive or are no longer available due to age (or passing). The promotional costs are too high and the specialized audience too small to justify continued expenditures of $50-$100 million on further 'offical' Star Trek productions.

        So let someone else make a new set of films for the fanatic audience. Hire new actors, write new plots, and establish new distribution channels. The biggest cost for new independent Star Trek productions is the elaborate and detailed sets. And these sets are already built, documented, and vacant. The money that could be made by renting these sets for independent productions is greater than the money gained by selling off the props individually. Especially since the individual props can be sold off to the fans for the same price in the future after the market for low-budget ST productions has been fully exploited.

        For any other film series, selling off the props makes sense. But Star Trek has never been just any other film series. And selling off the props at this time makes no sense.

  • These won't look like what you think they will. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by blair1q (305137) on Sunday May 21 2006, @12:16PM (#15376376) Journal
    Anyone buying one of these things remotely will be rather surprised, maybe sorely disappointed, when they receive them in the mail.

    They're very shoddily built. Almost laughably unartistic. Nothing like the realism and solidity and quality they seem on the television.

    An acquaintance of mine, who worked for a company building props for ST:TNG, explained the illusion this way:

    Seeing something on TV is like catching it out of the corner of your eye going 60 mph in a rainstorm.

    So, since time is their least resource, they don't bother with fine detail that would just disappear, and they don't care about alignment, overspray, or fit, which you can't measure or even apprehend, nor durability, since almost everything is used for a very short time in a zero-stress environment by someone whose standing orders are "don't break the props".

    Much of the "metal" will be painted foam or extruded plastic. Controls won't operate. The costumes will appear cobbled together from the cheapest possible fabric and will have strange and coarse alterations, plus any damage that's accumulated since it became junk. Literally all the value left in these items is bragging rights, sentimentality, and ego boost.

    Which is going to have to do.

    Because I want a pair of Spock's ears. Bad.
  • I still got 100 gross in my basement and don't know what to do with them...

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