JULIAN'S OFFERING TOS TUNICS WITH LITTLE TO BACK UP THE IDEA OF HERO USE

Several months ago, I was approached by someone in the prop and costume collecting world who had, in turn, been contacted regarding three Star Trek tunics that had recently been unearthed and are now being sold by Julien's Auction House. The three shirts – a command gold with captain's stripes, a science blue with commander's stripes, and a short-sleeved medical version – were touted as having been given to a relative (now deceased) of the current owner sometime back in the early seventies. The owner also claimed that the three pieces were hero costumes worn by the main cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley. Since this kind of thing is extremely rare – and it's not like you can look up an expert by Googling – I was contacted in hopes that I might know someone who could shed some light on the true nature of the three pieces.

Let me be clear. I was not contacted as an expert myself, but rather, for any contacts I might have. My experience with these pieces is strictly academic, meaning that, while I know more about these things than most people would, my knowledge is limited to research and conversations. I have never owned a true production-made TOS tunic and make no claims to expertise.

Gold TOS Tunic being sold by Julien's

As it so happened, I did know some folks who might have been able to help and I thought I could probably find some others as well, so I agreed to help. The possibility that these three shirts might actually be what they claimed to be – no matter how unlikely – was too great an opportunity for me to say no to. But before I moved to contact anyone else, I knew that the chances of these being true TOS pieces was not great. Tons of fake TOS props have shown up over the years and while fake costumes are a different thing, I felt that they were just as likely to be fakes as would be a "real" phaser or tricorder that suddenly surfaced after decades of being "lost". The odds were against it. So with that in mind, I first checked out the photos I was sent to see what I could determine, even with my limited insight. It's not that I thought I could authenticate them, but rather, I knew I could spot obvious fakes and the matter might end there. I knew many of the key "tells" of a true piece (and I knew some of the bogus claims that were made about the topic) so I figured I'd at least be able to tell if it was worth going any further. And the more I looked, the more excited I got. On the surface, these appeared to be accurate first and second season TOS tunics (third season tunics changed to a different polyester material).

Blue TOS Tunic being sold by Julien's

To be blunt, I couldn't find anything wrong with them. Usually there's obvious stuff – the wrong zippers, wrong collar material, wrong basic construction, etc. But I wasn't getting any of the easy red flags. The color couldn't be used as a tell because color changes so easily with different cameras and lighting and so it can only be used in person. But with that said, the color was not obviously wrong. Based on my examination, I deemed it worth going to the next step – to true experts.

I sent out some feelers and ended up in touch with four people that had been exposed to TOS tunics, either through ownership of acknowledged TOS pieces or through handling of said pieces. I sent them the various shots I had and got more taken to satisfy requests for different kinds of things. The shots weren't great, frankly, but they weren't terrible either.

What they showed were three pieces that looked like they had been rolled up in a ball and thrown into a box for years and were basically forgotten. And, while that goes along with the basic claims of the owner, in and of itself it meant little except that the pieces looked like crap.

Medical TOS Tunic being sold by Julien's

But, crap or not, the final consensus was that these were probably real production-made tunics. But some of the stitching did not match other, known hero pieces. It seemed to be cruder, less exact. The materials all checked out, but the braid was an unknown quantity. There were too many ways for real or fake braid to be added to shirts after the fact that the presence of braid was meaningless. The braid also presented a bit of a mystery. The science blue showed commander rank (corresponding to Spock) but the braid use was incorrect to second season use. It showed a mix of first and second season braid as evidenced by the different direction of the slant of the design. This was definitely a red flag, but it was not a conclusive detail as, again, the braid could have been added after the shirts were removed from the lot. With all this mind, however, it's important to remember this: while everyone I spoke with thought they were real based on the photos, they could not truly authenticate them without holding them in their hands, and unfortunately due to lack of proximity, that wasn't possible. To my knowledge, Julian's never had that done, and that's a big deal.

And now we come to the most important aspect of this situation: the claim that these were worn by the three stars of the show – Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley. To that end, the only overt evidence of that use is a label on the command gold that says "BILL", handwritten in ink. As far as I know, that type of label has never been seen on TOS shirts before. It could be real or fake. I could make one that looked just like it in about a minute. It's worth noting that the other two shirts contain no such label.

So what other evidence is there regarding proof of "hero" use? As mentioned earlier, the braid can't be relied upon, so we have to take the shirts ONLY and discount anything sewed onto them. What does that leave us with, then? In my opinion, not much.

Here's the problem, in a nutshell. Dozens and dozens of these shirts were made and while Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley got the lion's share of screen time, there were dozens of times these same types of shirts would have been worn by supporting cast – George Takei and Walter Koenig both wore command gold shirts in every scene they were in – and by background and stuntmen as well. A gold tunic with captain's braid would have been worn by every stunt double who ever stood in for Shatner. Same with Nimoy's science blue shirt.  And, while the short-sleeved medical tunic is more unique than the normal uniform shirts, DeForest Kelley was not the only wearer, as he, too had stunt doubles. There was also another doctor on board the Enterprise who we only saw in two episodes: Dr. M'Benga, a specialist on Vulcan physiology. Dr. M'Benga also wore the telltale surgeon's tunic in his various scenes, the same type worn by Dr. McCoy. So there's no exclusivity to these shirts whatsoever. Contrary to other claims, there's there are no construction details that are "Shatner-exclusive".

So, the only way to substantiate these shirts as hero versions is through the unlikely process of screen-matching, which means, find some unique detail on each shirt being offered and match that to a corresponding scene from an original episode. While this is incredibly hard, it can be done. But it can take a huge amount of time and, of course, if these aren't really hero pieces but only background or stunts, a screen-match to a main cast character would be impossible. So you could spend hundreds of hours scouring screen caps for something that simply doesn't exist. And even if these pieces are real heroes, there still might not be a way to match them as it's incredibly difficult due to the lack of unique details on a TOS uniform shirt. It's really a tough, tough thing to pull off.

So if there's no actual proof that these are hero shirts (or any confirmed hand's-on inspection  authenticating these as true TOS production pieces. hero use aside – see my earlier statements about that, above), why are they selling at such high prices? Because Julian's want you to think that they are indeed not just real production pieces but authentic main cast pieces, despite not showing one shred of evidence in support of that theory. They know that many collectors are gullible and will believe what they want to believe – that these are the real deal. Please, please don't be one of those people. An unproven "Kirk" shirt that starts at $50,000 ($62,500 with the buyer premium!!) is a bad buy in my opinion. A LOUSY buy!! A normal background/stunt tunic would normally fetch between 4,000 and $8,000 and there is no proof offered that these pieces are anything but backgrounds at best. Julian's is hoping you're dumb enough to believe otherwise. If they have any additional information beyond what I supplied they'd say so as it could help substantiate the claim. That they have not done so tells us there's nothing to tell.

I sincerely wish I had better news about this, I really do. Unearthed TOS pieces are always exciting and three shirts worn by the main cast would be amazing! But without far more proof than the shirt colors and some general screen frames, any claim about these being heroes claim is unconfirmed and, in my opinion, invalid.

As always with such things, caveat emptor.

LLAP,

Don

THE BEST GIFT I'VE EVER GOTTEN – FROM MY SON THE TREK GEEK!

On Saturday, June 6, 2015, My son, John, was married to his beautiful bride Molly and a great time was had by all. Here's the happy couple at the end of the evening about to embark in their sweet ride:

Though there were many, many high points during the weekend, one of the greatest occurred on the evening before the wedding, during the rehearsal dinner when John presented my wife, Paula, and I some gifts. One of them was a pair of embroidered handkerchiefs:

If you're reading this blog then you undoubtedly recognize the sentiment as being paraphrased from Spock's funeral scene in "Wrath of Khan" when Kirk delivers a eulogy for his lost friend. (If you don't recognize it, go watch "Wrath of Khan" for God's sake! Your education is sorely lacking!)

Growing up in a house with me, naturally my son was exposed to Star Trek from the start. He was born during TNG's first season so he literally grew up with Star Trek! When he was about 12, I took him to a local midnight showing of "Wrath of Khan" so that he could experience it as it was meant to be seen – on the big screen! It was a very old and scratchy print which kind of made the experience a bit more special, though there was at least one down side. When Kirk went to deliver his immortal "Khan!!!" scream, the soundtrack jumped and all we got was kind of a gulp instead of one of the defining moments of the movie! But it kind of made it more memorable, so what the hell.

Star Trek has always occupied a special place in my heart and it was awesome for me to receive this insider accolade from the person most dear to me.

It told me that not only did that night in the dark theater hold some true magic in the moment for both of us, but that it also resonated forward to this specific and most important time in all our lives.

So to my son I can only say, "I have been – and always shall be – your friend".

Live long and prosper, John and Molly.

Dad

THE PROPWORX WORK ETHIC – OR LACK THEREOF.

If you're a screen-used Star Trek collector, you are no doubt aware of the "Propworx" auction that concluded in February (not to be confused with another which is currently under way).

After that auction, a strange thing happened. I started hearing from lots of people – both friends and complete strangers – about how they weren't getting the items they won. First, there was a delay with getting invoiced. But after they (quickly!) paid that invoice they got... nothing. This went on for weeks (and I'm afraid my response to these complaints wasn't all that supportive). No one who contacted me received a notification of delay or indeed any indication that anything was wrong. Just silence – and no merchandise.

When it became obvious that there was a problem (more than a month after the auction ended), Alec Peters – the person who put on the auction under his "Propworx" name, despite its bankruptcy – issued the following statement to members of his online Board who had apparently had the temerity to ask about where their stuff was:

"We are a tiny auction house, and there are two of us... Plus, as we told you all, Jarrod was very ill for about a month right around the auction and was almost hospitalized. That being said, with only 100 lots, you don't go hire more employees. We simply do not make that much off of these auctions."

So, because his one and only employee was sick, he himself was unable – or unwilling – to pick up the slack. This is ironic, considering that at every opportunity in the past, Mr. Peters always stressed how customer service-oriented he was. He has repeatedly sung his own praises on this count. But this time around, at the first sign of adversity, out goes customer service like a fart in the wind.

So let's look at this realistically and see what could have been done. After all, as Peters' himself stated, there were "only 100 lots" that had to ship. If Peters had picked up the slack – as anyone in charge of a company should do – he could have shipped everything out in less than two weeks if he had packed only 10 lots a day. Given that there was not one single over-sized piece in the auction – no set pieces, panels or large models – 10 per day would have been child's play for a guy whose sole purpose is to deliver stuff into customers' hands. But let's make it even simpler. Shipping only FIVE PIECES PER DAY would have gotten everything out in about three weeks. But even that didn't happen. While some favored buyers got their wins almost immediately, many waited weeks – some up to eight weeks! – to get their merchandise. All because Mr. CEO Peters couldn't manage to do a little work on behalf of his customers.

Here's how easy it truly is (I do it every week for my clients):

1. Buy the box.

2. Pack the box.

3. Seal the box.

4. Label the box.

5. Ship the box.

Given the ease of prepping shipments online and the small size of most pieces that were sold, there's no excuse for everything to not have been delivered in a timely manner. It would have required work, naturally. But not a Herculean effort or anything close. Frankly, one person could have easily prepped the entire 100 lots in two weekends. But that would have required a motivated person. You know, someone who actually gave a damn about customer service rather than just lip service.

Perhaps it was this lack of awareness of what needed to be done that led to Propworx's bankruptcy a while back. After all, you don't go bankrupt being competent. You don't go down the tubes by being good at what you do. You go bankrupt when you're unable – or unwilling – to do whatever is necessary whenever such effort is required. What a concept.

When Peters was recently asked how the consignors were faring, he replied:

"Maybe like every consignor we have had, very happy with the job we do and the prices we get."

I guess the $100,000+ that he owed to MGM – one of his largest consignors ever – before the bankruptcy doesn't count.

One last thing. Had this shipping issue happened with another auction house – say Profiles in History, for example – I have no doubt that Mr. Peters would have stood on his soapbox and railed against such singular incompetence, against the arrogance in dealing with customers in such a shabby manner. But when it's him on the line, it's apparently no big deal.

So now there's another auction in the pipeline. Perhaps this one will go better. After all, even a chimp can learn from their mistakes.

Well, maybe not. Caveat emptor.

LLAP.

Don

LEONARD NIMOY IS GONE. "REMEMBER".

Like thousands of Star Trek fans around the world, I feel as though I lost a friend today. Leonard Nimoy has died at the age of 83. Unlike his counterpart, we all knew that Mr. Nimoy was all too human and would some day journey to that undiscovered country to which all must go. But it's far too soon for me.

Almost a half-century ago, as a very young boy I discovered Star Trek. I had no idea that it would change my life, of course. But even then, with all the bright colors, phaser blasts and the fighting captain, Spock was the character that grabbed my attention from the start. He was alien and smart and.. well... cool. In every way. More than any other character, Spock would define what, exactly, Star Trek was – and is.

All Trek fans know what Mr. Nimoy brought to Star Trek so I won't waste your time with that. But suffice to say that this Trek fan is grieved more than I thought I could ever be about the loss of someone that I have never met. Mr.  Nimoy's innate intelligence and grace will be missed by this life-long fan more than I can say.

As Dr. McCoy said about Spock at the end of "Wrath of Khan", "he's not really dead – as long as we remember him."

And we will remember. And feel grateful that we got to experience the fruits of this man's art. We'll always know that he truly did live long and prosper.

And we're the better for it. Here's his last Tweet:

A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) February 23, 2015

Amen, my Vulcan brother. Thanks for a lifetime of fun, Mr. Nimoy.

Don

SHIELDS UP! ANOTHER HORRORDOMAIN AUCTION, ANOTHER ROUND OF BULL

There's another auction on-line from HorrorDomain. And the horror is the crap that they are offering. To wit:

"STAR TREK 3 THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK ADMIRAL UNIFORM WITH RANK PINS RARE MAROON VERSION"

Let's be clear, This is NOT and never has been a production-made maroon uniform, not for Star Trek 3 or any other production. What it probably is is a uniform made for "The Star Trek Adventure" at Universal Studios in LA that ran in the 80's/90's. The Star Trek Adventure had various costumes – Maroons, Radiation Suits, etc – for the participants to wear as they re-enacted a scene from Wrath of Khan. The "Paramount" label is probably real since the Paramount costume department apparently furnished the pieces that were used by various park employees and participants. But that does NOT make it production-made in the film sense. The label says AO-3, which probably means it is "uniform #3", as it was definitely NOT made for Star Trek 3!

Below is a real Star Trek 3 Admiral shown with the HorrorDomain offering. The band on the sleeve is particularly bad-looking and the material is obviously not the same. It is identified as a "background admiral's uniform". This despite the fact that background maroon jackets looked EXACTLY LIKE main cast maroons. They didn't dumb them down, especially in such an obvious way.

 Here's a shot from The Star Trek Adventure that shows their maroon uniforms. Note that they are overall sloppy because they had to be able to be worn by tons of people. And no, DeForest Kelley wasn't actually there!

The other silly Trek piece is the "Uhura Wig" signed by Uhura herself, Nichelle Nichols! The likelihood of this being real are so astronomical that I won't even waste time with that. Suffice to say that, other than a Nichelle Nichols autograph on a wig stand, there is ZERO proof offered that this piece was actually used in Star Trek. It definitely could NOT have been used in the pilot episode as Miss Nichols didn't even appear in it!

Keep in mind that the autograph could be real but has nothing to do with authenticity of the wig. It could have gone like this: picture someone at a Trek con coming up to Miss Nichols with this item saying, "Hey, Nichelle, look what I have – a wig that looks just like the one you wore! Could you sign the stand for me, please?" And, voila – we have an authentic wig! To be truly authentic, this would have to have impeccable provenance – a chain of ownership that could be proven to go back to the studio. This offers nothing but an autograph.

As for the "Saavik robes" that style was originally made for The Motion Picture and they made a TON of them! There's no label that says "Kirstie Alley" or "Saavik" or anything like that. So, while the style is similar, there's NO PROOF OFFERED of authenticity. Same for the attribution of the TNG teal uniform to Gates McFadden/Dr. Crusher. There were plenty of teal uniforms that were worn by other actors. Just because it's teal doesn't make it hers.

HorrorDomain's past auctions had crap like this going on as well. Don't be fooled.

LLAP

Don

BANKRUPT PROPWORX RETURNS FROM THE DEAD? THERE'S A SUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE.

How does The Wizard of Oz put it? "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" Apparently that's what Alec Peters, president of Propworx, is hoping his consignors do. Though, "pay no attention to that bankruptcy in my past!" is more like it.

Mr. Peters' former company, Propworx, a movie prop and costume reseller, went bankrupt under his leadership back in 2012, leaving behind a debt in excess of $400,000. Many of his detractors (like me) said "good riddance". His creditors had their own words for him, I'm sure. On a side note, along with Propworx, Mr. Peters also brought us The Prop Blog, written by his pal and former employee Dan Benton. Fong Sam, head of Blacksparrow Auctions, called The Prop Blog "the most antagonistic, divisive and disingenuous prop blog extant" when it shut down. Fong's headline for that event was "Good Riddance".

Are you sensing a theme?

So with Propworx securely and rightfully snug in its well-deserved grave, imagine my surprise when I heard rumors of a new Propworx auction coming down the pike. Was Propworx being re-born as a new company? Or was the name simply being used by Mr. Peters as a DBA ("Doing Business As")? Beats the hell out of me. Whatever the details, Mr. Peters has recently announced a new Propworx Star Trek auction with a catalog and everything.

Which begs the question: who would consign their valuable props and costumes to a company that went bankrupt just two years ago? After all, the last time someone trusted Propworx (like MGM with their Stargate materials) they got burned. Really bad. Like hundreds of thousands of dollars bad. Keep in mind that, when things went south, Mr. Peters could have tried to keep things going and attempt to pay back his creditors by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy – what is commonly called "restructuring". But instead, he went directly for Chapter 7 – liquidation. Nobody got paid. No one, that is, except for Mr. Peters, of course. Apparently, bankruptcy's not as bad as it's made out to be as long as you're on the right side of said bankruptcy.

Again, why would anyone put their property in the hands of someone who ran his company into the crapper? I have to assume that those involved are either not well-versed in Mr. Peters' past, or, if they are, they don't care. But given the $400,000+ debt that Mr. Peters walked away from in 2012, who wouldn't care? It boggles the mind. The headline says it all.

So, will Mr. Peters be afflicted with bankruptcy yet again, to the chagrin of his consignors? Or will he find a way to more responsibly manage the funds at his disposal than he has in the past? Is he suddenly a better business man? For the sake of his consignors, I certainly hope so.

Only time will tell.

LLAP

Don

"THE CAGE" LASER ON AUCTION AT JULIEN'S PART 3: THE OUTCOME

If you're someone who was watching the Julien's auction of the Cage Laser, you know by now that the piece was pulled from the auction. Here's the rest of the story as to how it got to auction and why it was pulled. FYI: I was recently caught up in the home-buying experience which took my total attention away from this topic. Sorry for the delay.

Also, much of what has come to be known is a result of a discussion that I initiated on The Trek Prop Zone, a forum of passionate Star Trek prop fans. Members include contributors to HeroComm.com, one of the most respected clearinghouses of Star Trek TOS prop information in the known universe! It was that discussion that yielded the inevitable truth regarding The Cage Laser at Julien's. All photos of the Jein Laser have come from various gray sources and I hope my use here is acceptable. If you are the owner of any image used here and object to the use, please contact me.

So why was the Laser believed to be real? One of the most important things to me was the person who was selling it. While I'm not free to share that person's identity, suffice to say that they have had a great track record in the past with such pieces. The owner believed that it had a line of ownership that took it back to the studio. But that belief could not be proven. So the piece had to stand on its own merits.

So what's right with the piece? A lot! Let's start with a basic comparison. Here's a side-by-side comparison of the only known Laser – the Greg Jein version mentioned in Part 1 – on the left (note that the Jein version shows the opposite side from the auction version – we have to use what we are given):

The most obvious issue to me was the fact that the auction piece seemed way too clean, especially when compared to the Jein which shows tons of wear. But that alone couldn't disqualify the piece. After all, it could have gone from the set to a box in a closet for fifty years and so wouldn't show the same wear as would a prop that might have been used as a child's toy. So what about the components? The proportions and sizes are an excellent match. Not perfect, but good when we take into account that these things were not mass-produced but individually created. Some parts were probably "found" items (like the barrel) while others were definitely made specifically for the props (the black body). I concluded that the only way this could be a fake was if the maker had access to an original for reference, and what are the odds of that? The size and details shown could not have been achieved from simply using screen captures from the original film. The piece never gets shown cleanly enough to get this close. I deemed it a physical impossibility. More on this later.

What about the triggers? The Jein trigger is a functioning, moveable trigger that was used to activate a battery-powered light for the tip. Since not all props would necessarily have had that feature, the difference doesn't tell us much. The white button doesn't tell us anything either, since that detail was added later (after production of The Cage wrapped) and we don't know if all the Lasers were modified in the same way.

The black raised detail on the top of the body isn't a perfect match in length. But again, so close that any difference could be explained by simply sanding one a bit more than the other. Hand-made pieces, remember.

The most significant difference, though is the grip detail. On the Jein, the detail is cross-hatched, while on the auction piece it is strictly a linear detail. But that's not a deal-breaker if you look at this shot from The Cage:

Grip detail from The Cage

Note that the grip clearly shows a linear pattern like the auction piece, not a cross-hatch like the Jein. Because of this, it's long been held that the original Lasers had a linear pattern on the grip that was then changed to a cross-hatch detail for later uses. After all, it's clearly linear in the screen-caps, right? What else could explain the difference?

So what about the barrel? That's where things get really interesting, IMO. Here's a side-by-side comparison of the two barrels:

Note that the two end rings are a perfect match in size and texture. The center, moveable ring is slightly larger on the auction piece, but, again, well within the tolerances of a hand-made prop that might have used parts cut to size for use. Slight variances would not have been an issue. The makers simply would not have cared. But the bottom line is that the center ring is another detail that does not specifically match the Jein.

Let's move on to the emitter end itself – the business end of the pistol. Here's the two examples:

The Jein is on the left. The black paint was added for later use while the original Cage use had clear acrylic rod (known from screen caps). And when we superimpose the black ends of the Jein over the auction piece, we see that the rod sizes are an absolute match. Not "kind of", but exact. Note that I did not individually resize the Jein details. All three were sized as a single image and placed over the Jein for reference.

Again, this confirmed my belief that the only way this could be a fake is if they had a real piece for reference. And the only known real piece was the Jein which had been in the possession of a TOS production person prior to Jein's ownership, and the piece had never been made public as far as anyone knew. And if this were made specifically from the Jein, all the details should match EXACTLY. And yet they don't. So how could this be a fake? It seemed to me that it was possible that multiple people made the props and variances were introduced because no one executed anything in exactly the same way as the other guys.

But there's one huge element that I thought would be conclusive. The original Lasers were made of Perspex, a very unusual material. It was basically clear plastic which then yellowed over time. Here's what the Jein Perspex looks like now when the metal barrel is removed:

I reasoned that if the Julien's auction piece could be shown to be made of yellowed Perspex, it would be a definitive element since no one really knew what the lasers were really made of all those years ago until the Jein (and the Chopped version mentioned in earlier Parts) came out in to the light of day. How could a faker know that fact decades before it was established as fact?

And so I asked that the barrel be removed so that the material could be established. And this is where things went south. I was told that the barrel was too tight and couldn't be removed. They weren't crazy about drilling a sample, either (though that's exactly what I did with my TOS Klingon Disruptor). So what I considered to be the single most important piece of information was not to be made available. So I gave them my opinion: that while I could not state that the piece was real (I don't have that right with ANY TOS piece), I felt that the only way it could be a fake was if an original was used for reference, and how could that be?

At this point, I want to mention a rather important thing. I was not allowed to talk to anyone about the Julien's auction piece, except in vague, general terms. I was not allowed to tell anyone about it nor share any photos. a situation that greatly hampered the free flow of information. Had I been given the freedom to start a discussion with others, this whole business could have been avoided. It was only by crowdsourcing that the true nature of things could be realized. And it is something that I will insist upon in the future, should the occasion arise.

So once the piece hit the public through the auction catalog, the shit hit the fan, big time.

Of course I was prepared for that. After all, it's a steep hill when you are trying to prove whether a TOS prop is real or not, especially in this case since so little is known about these Laser props. Until now, no one had really made a study of them beyond showing the Jein photos. And, like everyone out there, I knew the unlikeliness of any piece being real. There's so many examples of TOS fakes out there that one would have to be a fool to not know there would be controversy.

But that doesn't mean that all the criticism should be taken at face value. For instance, I was told in no uncertain terms that the piece was a replica that had been made by a specific, known prop maker. But when I checked that out it was obviously not the case, despite the casual insistence that it was. I mention this because, while many people are quick to say "fake", it is only by defining EXACTLY WHY it's a fake that we can know the truth. We need to delve into the true nature of the piece in a very specific, very detailed examination. Only then are we be able to separate the facts from the supposition.

To that end, Trek Prop Zone member and friend of the Blog Will Smith (no relation) brought the first of the unexplainable discrepancies to our attention. He pointed out that even if the grip detail started out as linear but then became cross-hatched, if the bodies came from the same molds (and everyone agrees that must have been the case) then the angle of the linear pattern should match half of the cross-section pattern in the Jein.

But they don't. Here's Will's photos that demonstrate what I'm talking about:

This image clearly shows that the angles not only don't match but that they aren't even close. So unless they totally obliterated the linear pattern and then created the cross-hatch (and that makes no sense whatsoever) these pieces couldn't be from the same molds. No way.

It was then that an older discussion was brought to my attention regarding this same subject – the grip. Despite evidence to the contrary, the grips as shown in the Cage might NOT have been linear but cross-hatched as seen on the Jein. The argument was that the severe angle of the point of view obscured the true nature of the grips texture – that the cross-hatching was indeed present all along!

And that's where, once again, the wonders of Blu-Ray come to our aid. Once again, here's the only decent shot of the Laser grips from the Cage:

When the two grips are blown up, something interesting can be seen:

The handle on the left shows the laser on the left apparently has a linear pattern that goes diagonally from high to low, in a similar fashion to that on the auction piece. The image on the right shows the laser on the right, BUT ROTATED 180 degrees so that it now has the same "up and down" as the laser on the left. But this grip clearly shows a linear pattern that goes diagonally from low to high, completely opposite that of the other Laser. But if they came from the same mold, how could that be? The explanation is that the severe angle creates a moire pattern that only permits us to see one angle at a time based on the camera's POV and the lighting angle. The cross-hatching would be at such a severe angle as not to be discernible. And when we examine the left grip on more detail we can see hints of that cross-hatching. Notice that the overall linear grip texture seems to be bumpy:

And when we take the cross-hatching pattern from the Jein Laser (care of TPZ member Gene G.) and overlay it we get this:

We think the "bumps" are actually highlights of the cross-hatched pattern. Because of the severe angle, the grooves are lost, but the hint of the pattern remains. This explains the two angles that can be made out in the Cage pistol shot and why the Jein has cross-hatching.

It's been a mystery as to why they would add cross-hatching after The Cage for use in later episodes. Such a detail would never be seen and would take valuable time. Why bother? The short answer: they wouldn't.

Since the maker of the Julien's piece decided to do an "original" Cage version, ie: not one modified for later use, he probably used the best Cage reference available at the time: VHS or Laserdisc. "The Menagerie" – the TOS episode that incorporated footage from "The Cage" –  was available on both formats and the image appeared in that episode. Laserdisc would have given an image which could not have been matched in quality until DVDs came around. The bumps would still have been impossible to see, though, leading the maker to assume the linear pattern was there. He might have even used that detail as a selling tool!

The last lingering piece of the puzzle was finally addressed, though, when the seller authorized Julien's to drill into the body of the laser to determine what EXACTLY it was made of. And it wasn't yellowed Perspex. It was white resin. Definitely not the true material.

So with this conclusive piece of evidence in hand, the seller pulled the Laser from the auction. I want to stress that the seller is a victim here. The seller was offering the piece in good faith and when so many questions arose, they authorized the drilling. They did not hesitate to pull the piece upon receiving the bad news. I want to point out that there's at least one self-appointed "authority" out there that to this day refuses to accept the fact that he owns a fake TOS piece. The owner of the Laser holds no such delusions. When confronted with facts, they graciously accepted the truth and did the right thing.

But that still doesn't answer the big burning question: how did someone make this piece without having access to an original? And if they had access, why wouldn't they have made a mold from it and have a perfect copy? The licensed replicas made over the last decade or so can all point to the Jein as their source material. Only with that piece can you achieve accuracy. But the Julien's isn't an EXACT copy of the Jein, just a damn close one.

Remember how I said that I thought the Julien's Cage Laser could only be made if the maker had access to a real one? Well, I think that's EXACTLY how it happened.

Here's how I think it was achieved. While the maker might have handled an original, I think it's apparent that he wasn't given extensive access, ie: an opportunity to make a mold of it. But how did he get so close by simply handling it? I think he had some visual aids, namely this:

But this is just another photo of the Jein, right? Sort of. This is actually a photo of the Jein BEFORE Jein got hold of it.

There's a series of these photos that show various Star Trek props, most notably a hero phaser and this Cage Laser. They are easy to pick out with their distinctive blue background and ruler and have been floating around for years. You can buy some copies of these on Ebay right now. Until recently, I had never understood their source, though I incorrectly assumed they were from Greg Jein. But they aren't.

Apparently, back in the 70's or early 80's, a couple of Star trek fans named Bruce Weggman and Dave Hielman visited Jim Rugg, former special effects man for the original Star Trek. When Star Trek wrapped in 1969, Mr. Rugg evidently ended up with several original props including – you guessed it – a true Cage Laser. Remember that back then nobody really cared about what happened to these pieces. He would later sell some of these props to Greg Jein. But these photos were undoubtedly taken many years before Mr. Jein took possession. What happened to these photos after they were taken is anybody's guess, but they were apparently distributed among the photographer's friends, though never widely distributed back in the day.

There's several important things going on here. First, there's the ruler that gives anyone access to the props dimensions by simply measuring right off the photo and adjusting per the ruler. It's in color so it shows the tones of the barrel and rings very well. It's a profile view so it would really inform the maker of the overall shape. I think it's safe to assume that multiple angles were taken that would reveal all the details, their size, shapes and positions. A set of these photos would be enough for an enterprising prop-maker to make an incredibly tight copy of an original. It would explain why certain things are inaccurate while having an uncanny closeness to the original.

I think this set of photos explains a lot about the Cage Laser as well as many Star Trek fakes from the past. This series of photos could have acted as a blueprint for the forger. Since so few knew of the photos' existence, the forger would have free reign. Until the internet, that is!

And now, I have to have a mea culpa. I have to admit that I wanted this piece to be real. Not for any monetary reason or anything like that – the piece was not mine and I was in no way compensated. Rather, I wanted it to be real because I think any true TOS piece that can be found and brought out into the light of day a half century after it was made is an amazing and wonderful thing. That's how I felt about the incredible Phaser Rifle that seemed to come out of nowhere a year or two back. Everyone thought it was lost to history and yet there it was in all it's 60's sci-fi magnificence. A truly great Star trek piece. I was hoping that this Laser was like that. But it was not meant to be.

Here's the takeaway: a piece MUST be traceable back to the studio in clear, specific terms or it cannot be taken as real.

Through the efforts of the members of the Trek Prop Zone, a new understanding of this piece is possible and will be presented in due time as a permanent record for all to use. It's important to note that only through collaboration can such a piece as the Laser – or ANY TOS piece – be dissected and understood. If a piece cannot survive the spotlight, it doesn't deserve to be there in the first place.

So again, my sincere thanks to all those on the TPZ for their tireless enthusiasm and their willingness to dig. You are individually and collectively a true resource for TOS prop fans everywhere.

LLAP

Don