Before Captain Janeway and her coffee, there was Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his tea. Many times on Star Trek: The Next Generation we saw him take a moment to order up some of his beloved Earl Grey, and the USS Enterprise-D replicator often delivered it in a particular cup. You can now buy a set of those cups from Bodum and Master Replicas.
Tea Cup, Bodum, Back
Picard’s distinctive teacups were actually off the shelf, made by European homewares company, Bodum. The art department wanted something that looked “both futuristic and timeless” and they chose cups from Bodum’s “BISTRO” line, designed in 1974 by Carsten Jørgensen and considered a modern classic of minimalist design.
The original BISTRO cups were discontinued in 2016, but Bodum have partnered with Master Replicas to bring them back into production for a limited run. The cups are crafted from heat-resistant borosilicate glass that won’t alter or impair the flavor of the tea. You can pre-order a set of four now from masterreplicas.com priced at £49.99/$54.99. The Picard cups will also be on sale at the official Bodum site.
Star Trek plushes
Master Replicas has also started selling Star Trek plushes. Their latest is a 10-inch Badgey plush, so you can hug the adorable (but sometimes evil) AI helper from Star Trek: Lower Decks. You can pre-order Badgey now for $24.99 at masterreplicas.com.
Earlier this year they released Moopsy plushes based on the adorable bone-sucking monsters from Star Trek: Lower Decks. Those sold out quickly but another batch is on the way and you can pre-order your own Moopsy for $24.99.
Find more news and reviews of Star Trek merchandise.
Did these sell out fast last time? I’m hesitant but they’re cool!
Wow cool! I still have my Janeway mug. Maybe I should make it a collection lol.
I love the prop collecting communities that are so active online. It’s really great seeing fans ask each other for leads on such and such product that wound up as a prop in that one episode, stuff like the chairs on the Enterprise, the mugs, etc. I know a lot of people who are probably going to jump on this opportunity.
I got a friend a decanter that was used on Voyager and then Enterprise. Silly, but he was touched.
And I just got his kid a Moopsie plush. The indoctrination has begun.
What’s the decanter?
I don’t tend to collect Star Trek memorabilia, but I make something of an exception for furniture and flatware. I’ve been looking for a proper Ospvik chair (what Worf had in his quarters) for a while.
There’s a company called Zuri furniture that makes a lot of furniture that *looks* Trek-ish, but to my knowledge hasn’t been used on the series. I also have a Zuo Unico chair; this chair was repurposed for use on Discovery, as well as Saarinen tulip chairs (used both on TOS and the Orville).
Oh fascinating, I’ll check that out!
I do like the vaguely usable smaller items, they’re fun to have amongst the jumble of my life. I love that you can still get Captain Picard’s epic tea set from Saenger Porcelain, or find the Carlo Giannini espresso cups from Voyager. So Bodum bringing these back is delightful.
The decanter was this sucker:
https://star-trek.design/tableware/decanter-by-studio-nova
Oh fascinating, I’ll check that out!
I do like the vaguely usable smaller items, they’re fun to have amongst the jumble of my life. I love that you can still get Captain Picard’s epic tea set from Saenger Porcelain, or find the Carlo Giannini espresso cups from Voyager. So Bodum bringing these back is delightful.
The decanter was by studio nova. TM won’t let me link to it, but it’s at the star-trek[dot]design website under tableware.
In addition to star-trek [dot] design, there is also the following:
www [dot] ex-astris-scientia [dot] org/database/chairs-trek [dot] htm
One of the dudes who maintains the above is on Twitter; I believe he’s a set designer.
I bought a Zuri furniture pebble chair, which is similar to the classic Corona chair, which made an appearance in a few Trek episodes. They have it available in teal, which is my favorite color and which I use as the main accent color in my home.
I also bought a shell chair, which to my knowledge hasn’t appeared in any Star Trek, but certainly looks like it could. They’ve got a great selection of contemporary office chairs and sofas, too.
I’ve seen Captain Lorca’s ready room desk for sale at my a local Scandinavian furniture store; it’s called a Victor Desk, by Elite Modern. Quite pricey and I decided to pass because I wanted a black glass piece.
All quite reasonably priced, too!
These cup holders are what are called “podstakanniki” in Russia, where they’re frequently used (albeit less so since the days of the USSR). If you travel on a Russian train, it’s traditional to be served tea in a podstakannik. I bought some antique podstakanniki at Izmakilovo (a famous flea market once). All this was long before the current mess, of course; I doubt I’ll be back any time soon.
I like the contemporary take on them used in TNG and may buy a set.
all they need now is to work with Nissin and revive Janeway’s coffee mug
The Voyager Doc made a decent looking replica available as a perk.
I have an older version of this Bodum cup with a metal band. Didn’t even realize it was similar to Picard’s tea cup.
All of them are now vintage items that sell for even more than the reissue! I picked mine up for free by the curb side a few years ago.
Where can I get one, do you know?
I’d rather have metal than plastic, actually.
Pass on the cups.
I still have a dozen unused VINTAGE ones of them, including the teapot and all the other stuff that came with the sets in the 80ies
Are you willing to sell?
Woah how did I miss the Moopsy plushes??? Looks adorable…until it isn’t.