This Friday, the Original Memorabilia Company (OMC), a British concern specializing in collectibles and limited editions, will be offering one of the coolest bunch of Star Trek props that I've seen for some time. While there's not that many pieces – only nine in all – these are far better than the usual stuff that comes along. Every once in while we might see one or two of these kinds of pieces being offered, but there's seldom so many gems in one place. The term "rare" gets bantered around a lot in out hobby. It's nice when it's actually true.
OMC contacted me last summer regarding this lot of props and asked for some help in identifying and authenticating them. The process was greatly aided by the fact that every piece had originally come from a Star Trek prop master which is about as good as you can get as far as provenance goes. My job was to confirm that they were what they appeared to be. And since most of the pieces were Original Series film props from Star Trek II-VI, I was a natural choice since that's ALL that I collect.
A number of the pieces had originally been made by Star Trek prop maker Richard Coyle, a name well known to Trek prop collectors. Mr. Coyle had aided in prop making with Star Trek IV, V & VI and several of these pieces were originally made by him. He has confirmed his involvement with those pieces and one of them was screen-matched by me as confirmation.
So what's the big deal? Check it out for yourself:
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Starfleet Phaser Pistol
These things are definitely a rarity for one simple reason: they are incredibly fragile so few have lasted through the decades. This version is a true Wrath of Khan (WOK) vac-formed background piece with WOK-style control panel on the top. It is totally intact with original silver-blue paint and hologram-tape side strips. It shows the kind of wear you'd expect in an original prop but is overall a beautiful piece. The photos are not retouched in any way.
Star Trek V & VI Starfleet Assault Phaser Pistol
These come up from time to time but most versions offered are static background versions. But not this time. This is a "Hero" version made of fiberglass and resin and features a still-functioning trigger-activated light in its nozzle, a sliding cowling and ID plate in it's handle. Inside the handle the number 4 has been hand written in red ink. The "power pack magazine" is removable. This type was created for close-up use in action scenes in Star Trek V and VI where lights and details were needed making this version especially desirable. Shows some minor damage consistent with production use but is in overall good working condition, which is a rarity in itself – its lights still work! This piece also features a number of machined aluminum parts that give its design a real-world authenticity.
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| Light still works! |
Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country Klingon Disruptor Pistol "Shotgun-Pump-style"
Talk about a rarity – how about a one-of-a-kind? This awesome piece was screen-used in Star Trek VI by
Brigadier Kerla and matched to a 1989 photograph on Richard Coyle's RAC Props website of the identical piece. Mr. Coyle has also confirmed in writing that he made this special pistol. This pump action beaked-nose Disruptor is a solid very heavy piece made of cast resin with a sliding black piece and is painted in the familiar Klingon rust, metallic silver and black color scheme with distressed finish. A truly unique piece with the ultimate provenance. Approx dimensions 16" x 7.5" x 2.5" Shows wear from production use.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Klingon Beak-Nosed Disruptor Pistol
These come up for auction occasionally, but many times they are a stunt version made of foam rubber. This version is one of the hardier resin versions and was made specifically for Star Trek VI (modified from an earlier design to better fit in a holster) and then reused throughout the various Star Trek TV incarnations as the standard Klingon sidearm. Made of cast resin components by Richard Coyle and painted in the Klingon rust color scheme with distressed finish, it shows normal wear from production use.
Star Trek V & VI Klingon Tricorder
According to Richard Coyle, Greg Jein purchased a number of identical Tricorders from him for use in ST5/6 and for the Next Generation episode ‘The Chase’, all of which were replicas of the ST3 Tricorder. All were modified in some way – some had markings removed by Jein (including Klingon glyphs) before adding various new details. This example has these same identical production-made details added over the glyphs and Richard Coyle has advised he believes this is an unused ST6 version. Since it came from a Paramount prop master, that would make sense. It's made of cast resin components and painted in the Klingon rust
color scheme with distressed finish. The Tricorder also features a
pop-up screen with fantastic functioning lights on both sides.
Star Trek VI Klingon PADD/panel
This is something that I had literally never seen before. It's a green piece of plexi with Klingon characters and various graphics silk-screened on. But with a little help from a friend I was able to determine that these pieces were used in Star Trek VI scenes aboard the Klingon ship. These were in front of Chancellor Gorkon during the assassination scene, both on the table and floating in zero-G. Cut into an angular "Klingon-esque" shape, it's about 11 inches high. Unfortunately, the lower left corner was snapped off, and it has overall wear from use. But, whatever its condition, it's definitely a unique piece.
Star Trek V Scotty Flashlight
Made for everyone's favorite engineer, Scotty. This Starfleet-issue flashlight is complete with applied detail and metal Starfleet ID badge. One of these can be seen in Scotty's hand as he walks through the Enterprise. This must be one powerful flashlight because it sure is big for the 23rd century!
Star Trek V/VI Metal Coffee Mug
1989 production made coffee mug made for Star Trek V/VI. This metal coffee mug features the familiar Starfleet symbol applied to the side opposite the handle rather than at right angles. Possibly a prototype? No way of knowing but it's made with the same materials as screen-used versions.
Star Trek: The Next Generation PADD
The only TNG piece in the sale, this is an unusual PADD in that it's made from clear blue-tinted plexi rather than the usual opaque resin. It features various "functions" and metallic stickers
applied to it so as to appear to be advanced technology. A version of this piece was featured on one of those Newfield "Mission Data" sheets that were out in the 90's, though it was misidentified as an "Optical Chip".
So that's it. Nine cool pieces you definitely won't find anywhere else, all with that thing we all struggle with – solid provenance! You'll be able to check this stuff out at the OMC website:
www.originalmemorabilia.co.uk
And in the interest of full disclosure, I was paid for my services as a consultant but I make nothing from actual sales.
LLAP
Don
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