PROPSTORE OFFERING SOME AMAZING TREK PIECES!

Propstore of London is once again having an auction with all sorts of cool genre pieces, including some Star Trek items. But this time out, their Trek offerings are truly staggering in their rarity and coolness quotient. There's props and costumes of course. But for the first time a loooong time, key Original Series hero pieces will be offered with solid provenance. Brandon Alinger from Propstore was kind enough to give me a sneak peak at some amazing photos and descriptions on some key pieces and gave me permission to share them here. Exciting stuff!

Simply put, the single most amazing piece has to be a Spock tunic worn by Leonard Nimoy. See for yourself:

Oh, MAN, what a beauty. Here's Propstore's description:

"Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) science officer costume from sci-fi television series Star Trek.
This costume was worn exclusively by Spock in The Original Series’ second season, and
screen matches the tunic worn in episodes “The Ultimate Computer” and “The Omega
Glory,” based on the placement and stitching of the Science Division patch.
The costume is composed of a blue velour tunic and a pair of black fabric trousers. The
tunic features a pair of faux-gold rank braids on both sleeves, indicating the rank of First
Officer, with a Starfleet science patch made of reflective faux-gold material with black
embroidery affixed to the left breast.

The collar is made of a loose-weave black fabric and would have featured hook closures,
which were removed some time during or after use the production. The collar has lost
most of its elasticity due to age, which is common in such costumes. The zipper fitted
along the left side – used by actors to get into the tunics and commonly known to fail
through use – was also removed and the seam for the zipper stitched closed.

The trousers feature Velcro strips on the side, rear and on the right-hand pocket for
attaching communicators and phasers during wear, a trait seen only in the costumes
of principle characters. Both garments were uniquely tailored for Nimoy in the role of
Spock with side-stitching used to reduce the size of the tunic’s chest, some of which
has come away over time. The bottom cuffs of the trousers were modified for use in Star
Trek: Phase 2. The tunic displays some light fading. The name “Nimoy” is hand-written
internally on the trousers’ left pocket.

Acquired directly from Paramount Studios in the early 1990s and offered with original
Paramount Archives wardrobe tags, the costume remains in overall very good condition.
£50,000-70,000"

The phrase "acquired directly from Paramount Studios" is the holy grail for such a piece, of course. And screen-matching it helps to seal the deal. Here's a few more shots to whet your appetite:

Incredible stuff, right? Thanks to Brandon for sharing this amazing piece. Best of luck to Propstore on the upcoming auction. Their catalog will be released soon. And I'll be sharing more amazing Trek pieces this week as my Sneak preview continues!

LLAP

Don

A NEW ADDITION TO WRATH OF DHAN COLLECTION

Some folks have been asking me to post my newest acquisition but, alas, my mannequins are in storage (and no, that's not a euphemism) and I really need one to do this justice. So for the time being all I'm able to show is a little clue regarding the nature of the piece:

I've blurred out the number for the sake of keeping certain data secret. You never know who's out there! Anyway, stay tuned as I hope to get some real shots up soon.

LLAP

Don

THE WRATH OF DHAN SALE: ROUND TWO – KLINGONS!

Here's a couple more choice pieces up for sale from the Wrath of Dhan Vault:

Screen-used Movie Klingon Uniform: Gorkon's General

From Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, this is the Klingon uniform worn by Gorkon's General – the one with the bad table manners. Most Klingon costumes were reused over and over throughout the run of the many Star Treks and as such, show signs of wear and crude changes like spray-painted boots. But not this one. It was apparently re,moved from inventory early on and is amazingly clean, complete and screen-matched. Includes the very-hard-to-find split-toe Klingon boots in their original black finish. This uniform looks like it was just taken off the set last week. Makes for a fantastic display. Purchased through Propstore.

$4950 plus shipping

Screen-used Movie Klingon Mask

Also from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, this Klingon mask was used in the big courtroom scene where dozens of Klingons are raucously shown. It's in fantastic condition with hair and life-like coloring. I'll include the hand-painted mannequin head (shown) that helps make for an eerily accurate display!

$1099 plus shipping


Screen-used Klingon Disruptor Rifle

 

First seen in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, these rifles made appearances throughout the various incarnations of Star Trek. This is a resin and metal prop that shows some signs of use and repair, but since these are built with a "weathered" look, these areas don't detract. Features tell-tale "death's head" emblems on pistol. A similar specimen just sold at auction for $3500!

$2399 plus shipping

That's it for Round Two. More to come!

LLAP

Don

THE WRATH OF DHAN SALE: MAKING SOME ROOM

I recently made a purchase for my collection that will require me to do two things:

1.  Make some room for it

and

B. Replace the room that used to be taken up by my money before this purchase

To that end, I'll be offering up some significant (and some not so significant) pieces from my collection over the next couple of weeks. I'm trying to keep costs down (for both buyer and seller) by keeping off of Ebay as much as possible. You can contact me at neoworx2001@gmail.com if you have any questions about anything (or want to tell me how bad Into Darkness was – I'm all ears!). I'm open to reasonable offers but keep in mind that it's first come/first served.

We'll start with a Shatner-worn piece from Star Trek IV:

SOLD Kirk "Whale rescue" Shirt

At the climax of the story, all could be lost if the whales are trapped in the Klingon Bird of Prey. Cue Captain Kirk to the rescue. He dives into the flooded hold and releases the emergency latch for the cargo hold, freeing the whales. Shirt shows definite water exposure and use. And, most importantly, the shirt includes a sewn-in Western Costume tag with the name of Shatner himself:

They aren't making any more Shatner Kirk costumes these days so this is your opportunity to own a genuine rarity – a Captain Kirk piece worn by Shatner himself. From IAW: #3333.

$2460 plus shipping

Up next, a genuine prop rarity:

SOLD Klingon Death Sting Pistol (Original construction – not the later cast version)

 

A real workhorse of a weapon, the Klingon Death Sting made it's first appearance in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and then continued to make appearances in the various movies and shows for the next twenty years. This is an original style piece made up of toy gun components. Later versions were made from castings of these originals and were solid resin. This is sporting the paint scheme adopted in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and used thereafter. This might be a repaint of the Motion Picture version, given the nature of its construction and the evidence of silver=gray paint beneth the existing paint. For more about this piece, go HERE.

This was purchased directly from Star Trek Prop guy Ed Miarecki and includes a COA from him.

$1850 plus shipping

There will be more to come so check back regularly. Thanks for stopping by.

LLAP.

Don

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