LOTS OF STAR TREK ITEMS IN THE NEW SCREENUSED AUCTION

Collectors of screen-used Star Trek props and costumes are in for a treat with the release of the latest ScreenUsed auction catalog which features almost 200 lots of Trek stuff ranging from The Original Series to Enterprise and everything in-between.

Most of the Star Trek items come from a single collector and friend of the Blog who has decided to thin her collection in a big way. Her loss can be your gain. There are some incredibly low starting prices that should be of help to anyone who wants to pick up some cool stuff, whether they are a seasoned collector or just starting out.

The offerings are especially heavy on Deep Space Nine materials and include props, costumes and set pieces. Most items originally came from the Christie's or It's A Wrap auctions so there's no concern about whether or not they're authentic pieces. ScreenUsed can tell you about particular pieces and their source.

So check out the auction catalog HERE and good luck!

LLAP,

Don

PREMIERE PROPS NOW OFFERING "AUTHENTIC FAKE" STAR TREK COMMUNICATOR

In yet another new twist on the ongoing problems with Premiere Props' Star Trek offerings, they are now offering the same Communicator prop that had originally been pulled. But now they are offering it as an authentic forgery.

I think my head just exploded.

It comes with a COA so it must be a real forgery rather than a fake forgery. Wait...what??

I have to hand it to Premiere – they're trying their best to make lemonade with the lemons they've been given. According to them there's a collector's market for these fakes, saying:

"Ironically, Mark English "reproductions" have become collectables in their own right."

This is news to me, so I'll be anxiously awaiting the outcome of this auction to see what a "real fake" goes for!

LLAP

Don

PREMIERE PROPS PULLS $100K+ WORTH OF STAR TREK PIECES FROM AUCTION

Every Star Trek item featured on this PP postcard his been pulled.

After being contacted by several parties, Premiere Props has pulled all of the original series Star Trek items from its upcoming auction including:

Phaser 1
Phaser 2
Tricorder
Communicator
Uhura's Pen
Tribble

When these pieces were initially announced a few weeks ago, I was skeptical regarding their authenticity, to say the least (read about it here). Luckily, Premiere was contacted by THE experts on original series props, Herocomm.com, an organization with a mission statement that inclues the following:

"HeroComm is a free and open library of all knowledge that can be gathered on The Original Series Star Trek classic communicator prop. We endeavor through scientific rigor to sort fact from fiction, history from hearsay, and originals from fakes."

While their specialty is TOS Communicators, they also know a lot about the other key TOS props. I can verify from first-hand knowledge that Herocomm lives up to it's mission. When I was working on verifying a TOS Klingon Disruptor, one of their members was a great help. Their process is ruthlessly fact-based and I gratefully endorse it.

Here's what Herocomm told me about their contact with Premiere (reproduced here with their permission). "ME" refers to "Mark English" a known forger of Star Trek props in the 70's and 80's:

"The full credit for pulling from sale what were obvious ME fakes goes to Daniel Levin at Premiere Props. When we initially informed his company of the forgery status of the communicator, he cordially reached out to us and got the information needed to satisfy himself, not just for the comm but the P1, P2 and tricorder. 

In asking for a few key tells, these were the things we pointed out to Dan:

COMMUNICATOR – excessively corroded antenna, mic grill the wrong material, moiré pattern does not match any known undiscovered versions.

P1 – wrong shape (too narrow), the setting window not yellowed, the metal dial too shiny.

P2 – there is no reason for a black/white phaser to ever exist today. All would have been painted grey in Season One.

TRICORDER – no surviving tricorder would have the center compartment "computer disks” and moire as seen in “City on the Edge.” They were removed before Season 2 in Wah’s two and not replicated in the later fiberglass copies. Also rhinestones used instead of watch crowns or painted pin heads.

As it turns out, that batch of TOS props all came from a single owner, and Mr. Levin said they would be returned to that individual.

In fairness, it should be noted we Trek prop geeks take for granted our wealth of arcane knowledge. “Of course that’s a Mark English,” anyone here would say. But imagine being on the outside, where that name means nothing. Items that look good enough come in with a previously assigned CA, just like what happens every day with other prop collections, and, boom, on the sales block it goes. That that didn’t happen this time is a remarkable occurrence. This may very well be the first time ever a major house has cancelled the planned auction of alleged classic Star Trek props due to early fan intervention.

Simply, we were delighted to see action put behind Premiere Prop’s verbal commitment to offer only true genuine items, and we hope this marks a new era of mutual cooperation between auction houses and the many highly-qualified Internet-based experts out there."

While I also applaud PP's willingness to pull the items in question, it still leaves a huge credibility gap for PP going forward. If you're in the prop selling business, you'd have to live under a rock to not know at least the basics of Star Trek prop forgery – ie: that there's a TON of it – and spend at least a small bit of time authenticating such important (and expensive!!) items. It's not like there's a dearth of information out there with HC being at the top of that list. These items would have sold for far more than $100,000 had they been real, and that's something worth doing even the most basic of due diligence for. Beyond the TOS props, calling a yellow TNG uniform a "Data" without a sewn-in tag, or screen matching or solid provenance is also problematic. A real season 1-2 Data uniform could go well in excess of $5000. A no-name background goes for less than $1000.

I can't give Premiere much credit for pulling stuff that they could possibly get sued for later – that's business 101. Had they come to HC BEFORE they put the Trek stuff into their auction, I would applaud them loudly. But IMO, they put those items in there hoping that no one would raise to much fuss about them and they could make some easy cash. And you don't get a slap on the back for that.

I've been told that, because of this experience, Premiere will be instituting new steps to help ensure authenticity of items they sell in the future. Naturally, I think that's a good idea. I also think it's long overdue, though. Shouldn't authenticity be THE key component from day one for ANYONE selling original props and costumes? It should be, but alas, it isn't. Even the biggest, most prestigious of prop sellers, Christie's, recently offered some items that were obvious fakes. Profiles In History, a well-known auction house for movie props has repeatedly offered fakes, in some cases actually featuring them on the cover of their catalogs! On the flip side, Propstore of London does a great job of doing due diligence, so through their example we know it can be done.

Sometimes, debunking or authenticating a prop or costume can be difficult. But many times it can be done in just a few minutes. The Premiere stuff definitely falls into the "easier" category since there's so much information now available on the web.

I hope that Premiere will actually follow through with a new authentication policy. It would be a boon to the hobby and to collectors everywhere.

LLAP

Don

Original Series Prop Windfall? BS Alert!

Premiere Props, a seller with some baggage, will be offering what they claim are "screen-used" Star Trek items from the original Star Trek series. Their offering reads like a greatest hits list:

Star Trek Communicator – Original Series 1966 - From the first orignal black and white episodes. Designed for the series by Wah Ming Chang, this is a screen used original “stunt non-functional” communicator.

Star Trek Phaser – Original Series 1966 - From the first original black and white episodes, designed for the series by Wah Ming Chang, this is a screen used original “stunt non-functional” phaser. This is one of the early rare “white handle” phaser’s, with the black/white color scheme. Rare since many of these were repainted for the color versions.

Star Trek Science Tricorder – Original Series 1966 - From the first original black and white episodes, designed for the series by Wah Ming Chang, this is a screen used original “stunt non-functional” Science Tricorder. Very rare and in excellent condition.

Star Trek – Uhura Pen – Original Series 1966 - A rare triangle shaped pen (made of wood), used in the original Star Trek (1966) series by Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) at her station.

Star Trek – Mini-Phaser Type 1 – Original Series 1966 - The stunt mini-phaser (Type 1), designed by Wah Ming Chang and used in the original black and white episodes of Star Trek.

Star Trek – Orignal Tribble – Original Series 1966 - From what many considered their favorite Star Trek episode (and one of the intentional humorous episodes as well), “The Trouble With Tribbles, which was the 34 episode first broadcast on December 29, 1967. A trader named Cyrano gives Lt. Uhura a Tribble, a furry Hamster like ball of fur. However it multiplies quickly. 1500 Tribbles of various materials (depending on their purpose) were created for the show. Very few remind. This is a very rare actual screen used “Tribble” from this truly classic episode!

If real, such props would fetch well in excess of $100,000. But just the fact that they are being offered through PP and not one of the big dogs – Profiles in History, Julian's, etc – gives me pause. Add to that the fact that the Communicator shown displays a commonly-faked aging detail on the antenna. References to a "white-handled phaser" and "black and white episodes" are also problematic. FYI: there were no B&W episodes. Ever. Not a good sign. This tells us there was ZERO research done.

It's too early to say anything specific, and their site offers NO details as yet. As with all TOS pieces, the proof of authenticity would have to be incredibly solid. Keep in ind that the Big Three – TOS Phaser, Tricorder and Communicator – might be the most faked props ever. To say that I'm skeptical is an understatement. My bullshit meter is shrieking already!

I'll add more info as things become available.

Release the Kraken!

LLAP

Don

The Complete Guide to Starfleet Style: The TOS Movies Rad Suit

When Star Trek: The Motion Picture came along in 1979, Trek fans were introduced to an entirely new Star Trek, far removed from anything seen before. One of the key components introduced was completely new costume design by Robert Fletcher. Gone were the bright golds, blues and reds from The Original Series. In their place were muted colors with an emphasis on gray, a directive from director Robert Wise. And instead of a single style of uniform as seen in TOS, there were now uniforms for every occasion, use, or taste. The crew were dressed in one-piece jumpsuits, 2-piece pajamas, 3-piece lounge wear (no, I'm not kidding) and on and on in a seemingly endless variety. But perhaps the most striking new costumes were featured in Scotty's engine room – the Engineering Radiation Suit or Rad Suit.

Scotty and crew in Rad Suits. Note the helmets held by actors.

The Rad Suit was a completely new concept that had no counterpart in TOS. It spoke to the idea that the Engineering section of a starship can be a very harsh and dangerous place – when energy is released by the controlled annihilation of antimatter, there must be one heck of a lot of radiation. Hence, Rad Suits to protect the engineers that work right on top of a force of nature.

Fletcher's original sketch courtesy of Brett Leggett

The suits were bright white with all sorts of padding and whiz-bang accoutrements that hinted at mysterious, unknown uses. They were finished off with a heavy black collar, heavy gloves, and big black-treaded boots. Some engineers could be seen wearing matching helmets. While it would have made sense to have everyone wearing helmets (the head would be the most important body part to protect, after all) the fact is that when actors wear helmets, everyone looks alike. And in Engineering, we need to pick out Scotty right away, so drama trumps reality and the helmets became strictly background pieces, usually being carried under an actor's arm.

Though most suits were white, there were a few that were not. On his original design sketch, designer Fletcher make this notation: "Make 4 in orange for emergency fire suits". I have not been able to find these in TMP, but they show up in later movies so I have no doubt that they were made for TMP.

Orange "Fire Suits" from Star Trek IV

It's impossible to say exactly how many suits were made, but based on known sales there had to be at least twenty-eight white versions and six orange. And since a lot of money was spent on The Motion Picture ($40 million – the most expensive movie ever made at the time!) and later productions were always tight with budgets, I think it likely that all Rad Suits seen throughout the TOS films were originally made for TMP in 1979 and reused over and over. This idea is supported by the appearance of multiple actor's names inside various Rad Suit components.

An interesting side note: in TMP, an old movie-making trick effect called "forced perspective" was used with the help of Rad Suits. Two special Rad Suits were made in very small sizes and worn by small actors (kids?) in the background of the Engineering Warp Core shots. The small suits made the set appear larger and deeper than it actually was (see photo, below).

Small, "forced perspective" suit is seen in background to help give the illusion of depth.

When Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan came along, the Rad suits were reused and seen extensively throughout the movie. Minor updates made by Fletcher included the addition of a rank/department strap on the arm, a Starfleet patch on the shoulder, some metal clips to the suit's front and a disk designed to accept an emergency breathing tube. Scotty and his crew were wearing Rad Suits throughout the attack by Khan, and when Scotty memorably carries his dying nephew onto the bridge, both are clad in burnt, heavily distressed versions. It became an iconic moment in the film.

Scotty with his injured nephew.

In both Kirk's inspection scene and Spock's funeral scene, both the white and orange suits are present.

In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, some of the orange Rad suits appeared briefly in the Starfleet Command scenes and were worn by emergency crews.

The Rad Suits returned for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Again, they were shown extensively in various Engineering scenes, but this time they also filled a special role. Modified Rad Suits were worn by two Enterprise crewmen who acted as assassins. Their suits were modified with a smaller gray collar which fitted under an all-new, very cool space helmet. Instead of the usual boots, they wore magnetic boots. Later, these same suits were found on board the Enterprise with pink Klingon blood. My specimen matches specifically to one of the assassins, complete with gray collar and blood stains.

For some reason, later incarnations of Star Trek had no equivalent to the Rad Suit. Perhaps they felt that they got in the way of TV storytelling, or maybe by the 24th century (NextGen's era) radiation in Engineering was supposed to be more under control. But whatever the reason, when the Rad Suit concept was discarded, Star Trek lost a unique background element that added to the complex feel of the Star Trek Universe.

LLAP

Don

Klingons!! Part 2: Weapons Display

In an effort to get my stuff out of boxes and into the real world, I created this display for my screen-used Klingon weaponry. I made it from an old piece of slatboard which I then painted and weathered to get that "used Klingon" feel. It is directly lit from a ceiling mounted spotlight. I'm thinking about adding some title cards to each piece.