The first week of new Star Trek auctions on eBay from It’s a Wrap Hollywood ended yesterday, bringing in about $72,000. Surprisingly only 67 of the 100 lots sold, the others not hitting their reserve (or minimum) prices. These unsold items had received bids totalling over $24,000, but apparently CBS Paramount and It’s A Wrap wanted more. The item topping the sold list was a Captain Janeway Command Uniform which went for $4,150. However, this is less than half of what the same type of costume went for in the Christie’s auction. Other Voyager uniforms sold well, averaging $960 apiece. The big surprise was the price people were willing to pay for dress uniforms from Star Trek Insurrection and Star Trek Nemesis; two of which went for $3,505 each (three times what would be expected for items worn by background players). Other First Contact uniforms also went for more than expected indicating that movie costumes were suddenly more in demand. Oh and remember those skants? Well a gold one sold for $739 and the red sold for a whopping $993!
EDITOR’s NOTE: If a TrekMovie.com reader was man enough to buy one of these 2 skants and sends in a picture wearing the skant (for publication on TrekMovie.com), we will send you a Star Trek XI poster.
Unrealistic Expectations?
Of course the aspect everyone in Trek collecting fandom who followed these auctions is discussing is the high reserves on so many items. Typically a reserve is set to protect the downside of an item at auction, to make sure that the item does not sell below the actual cost of an item, so the seller does not lose his investment. The Christie’s auction had no reserves, yet It’s a Wrap Hollywood had reserves set at the high bid realized at the Christie’s auction PLUS 20% buyer’s premium Christie’s charged buyers. Considering only one person at Christie’s was willing to pay that price, and that person won already, thinking you can charge the same at another auction ,and find another person to pay that price, is probably unrealistic. Its A Wrap’s Tiara Nappi tells TrekMovie.com that these high reserves were due to CBS Paramount who were worried that Christie’s winners would feel cheated if items sold for much less than what they did at Christie’s. However many items that were also sold at Christies had no reserve, and other items that didn’t sell at Christies did have a reserve, so for now it seems a bit random.
This was only the first week of the Its A Wrap Star Trek sale. Each week a new set of items will appear over the next 6 months. Despite Christmas being the slowest week of the year on eBay, It’s a Wrap Hollywood has put up another 100 items. It is not a great selection, but there are some gems such as a Tom Paris uniform and a Jem’Hadar Kar’Taken Sword. Yet again there are some items which seemed to be priced too high, such as a minimum of $1600 for two foam phasers from Voyager that are a bit worse for wear. It’s A Wrap also continue to sell separate Trek items at their site. Sales at that site are for fixed prices and so far it appears the higher priced items going slowly, but the sale has just started so time will tell.
The big sellers
Top selling items:
Voyager Janeway Uniform | $4,150 |
ST II: Wrath of Khan, Captain Terrell Uniform | $3,707 |
ST: Insurrection style Dress uniform (white) command red | $3,505 |
ST: Insurrection style Dress uniform (white) operations gold | $3,505 |
ST: First Contact style Male uniform command red | $3,040 |
ST: First Contact style Male uniform operations gold | $2,750 |
Vulcan uniform | $2,500 |
ST: First Contact style Male uniform science blue | $2,425 |
Star Trek: TMP style Starfleet uniform | $2,400 |
ST:The Motion Picture Orange Radiation Suit | $2,125 |
these items were just priced too high
Top items that didn’t reach reserve price:
Next Gen Season 3 style Command uniform | $2,247 |
Enterprise MACO Assault kit | $2,200 |
Klingon Full Head mask | $2,000* |
DS9 Romulan Tal Shiar Soldier Costume | $1,925 |
Next Gen Season 3 style Operations Uniform | $1,726 |
Enterprise Xindi Costume | $1,481 |
TOS Movie era White Radiation Suit | $1,475 |
Star Trek: Enterprise Half a Missile | $920 |
Next Gen Season 3 style Sciences uniform | $810 |
Enterprise style Klingon Disruptor | $785 |
* no bids
Alec Peters has joined TrekMovie.com as our Auctions and Collectables Editor. Alec has been a Trek fan since the 60s and collector of memorabilia since the 70s (counting 3 Star Trek Captain’s costumes in his collection). As Founder and CEO of Auctionworks, he is also an expert in auctions and eBay. For more check out Alec’s Trek Auctions Blog
Scarce skants secure some serious shekels!
Did any of the Enterprise miniatures at Christies wind up in the Seattle scifi museum?
cute adam
RE: seattle
i asked Alec that and he said he was looking into it…he did mention some models were going to London…maybe he will drop by and report what he knows…Alec is very wired into the whole collectors universe
The idea of user-submitted skant modelling shots is scary. Skant owners: please put it on someone who has the legs for it and just say it was you.
I really want to know the whereabouts of the Enterprise-refit. Alec, any leads on her location/owner?
Not sure why anyone would want to buy movie props, having been involved with a premotion some years back that used actual film props all I can say is most were badly made, and cheap and nasty. Your muck better off with faximilies which are generally much better made. But I don’t supose they have the snob value of being able to say you own a genuine prop.
LLAP
Let’s adhere to the 1960’s standard for the skant…a very attractive woman with nice legs.
Adam isn’t the refit at the Smithsonian with the original??? I know they sold a smaller production replica at that Christies Auction built for ST6. Problem is various model builders(specifically those at ILM and then Bran Ferran) ruined Douglass Trumbull’s gorgeous pearl paint job. Culttvman.com has a wealth of info on the original TV and movie models
I agree with 6. Find a local hobby shop. You’ll be amazed at some of the items fans can bang out. One shop in Gwinnett Co., GA has a 2-foot fan-made version of the Enterprise-A in her death throws over the Genesis planet. I challenge Hollywood to do better.
Having said that, if Santa wants to give me a Klingon bat’leth for Christmas, that’d be cool.
oops… Enterprise refit. Silly me.
Some of the lots in the Christie’s auction were a bit iffy, but my God, they’re selling all sorts of tat this time. A roll of black material that they don’t know when it was used or how long it is? Screw the kids’ Christmas presents this year, I gotta get me THAT!!
There are a few oddities and interesting bits and pieces, but they really seem to be grasping at straws now.
#8
As far as I know, the actual refit model was auctioned off at Christie’s. And that model was repainted, re-decaled to be the 1701-A for Treks V and VI. If I’m wrong (and boy do I hope so) let me know. If the Trumbill refit is at the Smithsonian, I’ll be a little relieved. Still, unless she’s under my direct care, I’ll always be uneasy about her condition. You can’t even trust the Smithsonian anymore! Remember what they did to the tv model? Sacrilege!
Adam the model auctoned of at Christies was a three foot model built for 6. The Douglass Trumbull was 7 or 8 feet long. If it’s not at The Smithsonian then it must be in Paramount drydock.
The original Enterprise from the original TV show is on display at the Smithsonian. The Enterprise “A” or refit, went for $ 240,000 in the Christie’s auction, but has yet to surface. I asked a prop collecting friend to keep an eye out at Paul Allen’s Sci Fi museum, which is located in the Space Needle and quite amazing.
Picardsucks is wrong. The Enterpise sold at Christie’s was the large, main filming miniature. Check out my blog for photos.
Also, every item at Christie’s was from the Paramount vaults and inspected by Denise and Mike Okuda. There wasn’t a fake or dubious item in the lot.
Alec
http://startrekauction.blogspot.com/
#13
“She’s out therel… somewhere!”
Scan for a neutron radiation surge. We’ll find the Trumbull model soon enough.
#14 Alec
I missed your comment before I posted. Thank you for scanning the sector. A ship that big doesn’t just disappear!
Guess you are right I thought it was a smaller shooting model but it was infact the 100″ long original. Went for $250,000.00. They also sold the demolished smaller model from Trek III. Sorry for the mistake. Can’t believe they actually sold it. Further research it was at the Smithsonian for the Star Trek celebration a few eons back. Below are some interesting links detailing it’s enterprising journey
http://members.aol.com/IDICPage/main.html
http://culttvman.com/assets/images-STAR_TREK-2005/SmEtv2.jpg
We as fans really should consider getting a campaign going to have the NASM repair that terrible paint job they commissioned in 1991 on the original Enterprise model. It looks simply atrocious. That model deserves an accurate restoration, not this insanely overdone weathering paint job it has now.
What do you guys think?
Agreed but let’s ad the refit medel to the campaign as well. Douglas Trumbull’s peeps should repaint the meticulous paint job and interior lighting from TMP on the refit (who ever owns it now) that ILM dumbed down (star wars flat greys paint scheme) over the years. At they very least the must get rid of the airbrushed deflector web/grid they did on the Original’s lower saucer – quite lame!!!! HMMMM… Wouldn’t it be cool if they refurbished the Original model to be used in scenes from the coming movie????????????????
Auction Highlights include: a replica of Captain James Kirk’s chair from the original television series made for the 1996 Deep Space Nine episode “Trials and Tribble-ations” (estimate: $10,000-15,000); two console sections made as replicas, also for “Trials and Tribble-ations,” of the Enterprise bridge from the original television series (estimate: $6,000-8,000); over 60 special-effects models, including the Enterprise-A miniature used for visual effects in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” and a Romulan Warbird used in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (estimate: $10,000-15,000); costumes worn by all major Original Series main characters — Captain Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and Uhura — as well as from the later generations of Star Trek — Captain Picard’s Starfleet jumpsuit and Deanna Troi’s Starfleet mini-dress worn in the pilot episode for The Next Generation.
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/16219.html
– ha I knew I read Enterprise minature from the Undiscovered country somewhere directly from the Star Trek site.
The same model has been used in every Star Trek motion picture to represent the refit/A. At leats that is what I am lead to believe.
Christie’s sold three models of the movie Enterprise (refit 1701/1701-A). One was the “Hero” 8-foot model, the “Trumbull model”. Second was a small 22-inch model that was made by ILM from a tricked-out model kit. The third was a large (4-6 foot?) version with extensive battle damage on the saucer, made by ILM for the self-destruct scene in Star Trek 3.
Re #22. Wow!!! But as Indiana Jones said “It (the hero refit) belongs in a museum!!!”
Hello.
Anthony ,David,Mike,Denise and Niel to all thoughs that have begun the making of the next star trek movie my father and i have been a fan since the beginining from captain kirk to captain picard and all of the other captains and episodes i know that you have probably picked out all of your cast by now and in the middle of filming i only wish that i could be a part of the movie so that my children would know how much their dad loves the adventure and at least they can begin.
Ps.
Thanks for the Dream!