TrekSpace - The Star Trek Social Network hits 1,000 members!

Well, if you haven't been on TrekSpace, the Social Network for Star Trek fans, you should be! This past month, TrekSpace passed 1,000 members and hasn't stopped growing. Think MySpace for Star Trek fans. It's a blast and you should come by and make friends, talk Star Trek, and just plain have fun!

Alec

Star Trek Crew Member selling on eBay

Tom Talley, who you can read about on Memory Alpha, has decided to auction a bunch of items he collected while working as a construction and location foreman on Star Trek. You can see Tom's auctions here. Tom is a really nice guy and his stuff has pretty solid provenance. In addition Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum member Chrissy is designing a nice COA for all these items.

I recommend you check out Tom's auctions and bookmark his list as he has more stuff to come!

Alec

Richard Coyle ST III Communicator on eBay

There is one of Richard Coyle's replica Star Trek III Communicators on eBay now. The auction was brought to my attention and a quick email to Richard by Don from the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum confirmed this. Richard had an original to cast off of, but made certain changes to make it easier to reproduce.

Still a nice piece and probably worth $ 150 or so. Richard Coyle and Ed Miarecki props from the 80's are still in demand by replica collectors.

Alec

Phaser Update - Resolution all around!

Well, the good news is that Scott, the second buyer of the fake Phaser 1 got his money back from John, the seller, when John was presented with the evidence of the Phaser being a fake. John then went back to the seller who sold it to him, Massimo from Italy, about a refund. Massimo, a member of the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum, to his credit, gave John back his money.

I first spoke several times with Scott, who contacted me after reading my blog and pulling down the Phaser from eBay. I then offered my help to John, the seller, since I knew Massimo,who he bought it from and emailed Massimo to get John his money back. After a couple of emails, Massimo and John worked things out.

I think this goes to show that if people work together, deal with things in a mature manner (something that often doesn't happen on the Internet), and pick up the phone, you can resolve these issues. It also shows the value of public, open blogs like this, and the need for transparency in the hobby. Jason DeBord and I are always available by phone or email to consul prop buyers and sellers and help them out.

Alec

Phaser Update

I had a good call with Scott, the seller of the fake Phaser. He canceled the auction after reading my blog and wrote me an email. We talked on the phone and it appears he was taken in by the previous buyer. Scott is an experienced seller of memorabilia, but just not experienced with Star Trek props. He was even surprised when I told him how rare TOS props really were. He joked about how every auction always seemed to have a TOS Phaser or communicator in it!

Scott is going to try and get his money back from the guy he bought it off of. This is the problem with fakes, people try and pass them off on someone else, rather than either trying to get their money back, or accepting that you got taken. At least Scott is honorable and trying to do the right thing.

Alec

Fake Phaser on eBay...More Movies Galore fraud

Well, the fake Phaser 1 on eBay has resurfaced. This appears to be the same one sold recently and comes with the COA from "Movies Galore", a suspect memorabilia seller. This isn't even a good fake, and is gray, while the screen used ones were black.

The COA here is worthless. The company is out of business, and the authenticator isn't anyone who anyone in the prop hobby seems to know. While most of you would never buy this Phaser, I need to warn you again, that a COA is WORTHLESS from almost every source. In fact, right now the ONLY COA you should value, is one from IAW. Christie's didn't give them out, and Profiles in History generally doesn't, and even if they did, I would find it worthless.


I am ALWAYS suspect of props and you need to approach any prop with the attitude that the seller needs to prove that a prop is real. A COA is never proof. Provenance is key, and carefully researched evidence is needed in the absence of provenance.

Alec

Profiles in History Auction Results

The new Profiles in History auction ended with mixed results. Some items went very high, many did not sell. Here is a rundown:

894: Scotty's Tunic was an unused Class C and sold for a reasonable $ 1,200.

895: The Star Trek III Phaser went for a staggering $ 14,000. However, it was NOT the one Profiles claimed They claim it was used by Kirk in the final scenes on the Genesis Planet, but the one Kirk is holding has flashing lights and this one does not. None the less, this was a huge price for this piece. This is one of the good things about profiles. They can get big prices for things.

897: The Star Trek III Communicator's, history is in question, even according to Profiles. PiH claims it comes from an associate of Jein's (unnamed) and that it was made at the same time as the others for Star Trek III, but wasn't made for the production. Sounds like some prop guy made an extra one for himself. At $ 1,000 a good deal though.

898: The Klingon Costume actually sold for an astounding $ 10,000! IAW was selling these in the $ 2,500 range. So a pretty big surprise here.

899: The Klingon Bird of Prey Wing Section didn't sell, but basically because it was over priced. It was a great prop, but the market is way less now. Did Not Sell

900: The Geordi LaForge uniform sold for an astounding.$ 13,000. An identical costume with a comm badge and boots sold for $ 3,000 at Christies. A Generations LaForge just sold for $ 4,055 WITH a VISOR on IAW. Again, Profiles has a group of bidders who have more money than sense sometimes, but maybe that is a good thing for those of us who want to sell!

901: The Distressed LaForge Tunic was a bad deal at a $ 3,000 starting bid and didn't sell. That is a $ 1,500 item MAX. Did Not Sell

902: The Geordi holo-Suit Apllicator was a tiny 1 1/2" long prop and the opening bid was $ 1,000. Way overpriced and not a meaningful prop. It was also TINY! Did Not Sell

903: The Model Miniature Casket/Probe sold for $ 2,200 at Christie's and sold here for a very strong $ 6,000. I am amazed this sold at this price. Models that were much more impressive have sold at half this price (Like the awesome TNG Enterprise D Shuttlebay).

904: TNG Medical Scanner Did Not Sell

905: The Marina Sirtis Starfleet Uniform went for $ 13,000. Another big surprise which was WAY overpriced compared to current market sales.

907: The Data Head Appliance sold for its opening bid of $ 4,000. Pretty rich, and I am not sure I want Data's scalp!

908: Lore's SFX Thumb started at $ 4,000 and didn't sell. Pretty over-priced. Did Not Sell

910: The Worf Tunic, was distressed. Starting bid was $ 4,000, but this is a $ 2,000 MAX, even with the comm badge. Did Not Sell

911: The Burned Starfleet Uniform failed to sell with an opening bid of $ 1,000. MAYBE this is a $ 500 item, since you can get a perfect one for under that on eBay from IAW. Did Not Sell

912: The TNG Cobrahead Phaser went for a reasonable $ 1,300.

914: The Picard De-Assimilation Neural Link was a joke at $ 1,500 and a crappy prop. It didn't sell. Did Not Sell

920: The Trill Computer from DS9 failed to get off it's outrageous starting bid of $ 6,000. Did Not Sell

924: The Doctor Chaotica costume failed to sell with a starting bid of $ 4,500. It sold last year for $ 2,700 at Screen Used Props. The buyer needs a reality check. Did Not Sell

927: The Static Starfleet PADD was claimed to be from First Contact, but it is clearly NOT. In fact Trek expert Jorg can't find this PADD ever being used. It is in fact a Cardassian PADD repainted, and the photo Profiles uses isn't even of this PADD! None the less, it sold for $ 1,500. It was pretty cool and unique.

So, overall, some crazy prices on some uniforms, and a lot of unsold props which were either undistinguished or just plain overpriced. I think some sellers need to understand that the high starting bids won't get their items sold. But still, a good selection and some good buys.

Alec