USA: A wide array of Star Trek memorabilia shall be going boldly to auction

Auction house Christie's is celebrating the upcoming 40th anniversary of Star Trek with a sale this October of the enterprise's extensive memorabilia. The auction will include over 1000 lots of television material, weapons, props, sets and detailed models of the Enterprise and various alien ship and space stations. Star Trek has had mass appeal for around 40 years producing six television series and ten feature films. Director of Special Collections at Christie's, Cathy Elkies believes that this is an appropriate time for the auction because fans are finally ready to enjoy the memorabilia. "As this year's the 40th anniversary celebrations, September 8th is the official 40th anniversary, I think it was a good time for CBS Paramount television to consider putting the collection upmarket. The fan base is mature, I think its at appoint that, you know, they would be able to participate and own a piece of Star Trek history has meaning to them. So I think it's actually just a very good time not only because of the anniversary but kind of where the Star Trek fan base is in terms of their own maturity," said Elkies. Awaiting auction are pieces from each chapter of the Star Trek story, ranging from the very first television series to the most recent films. Among the items, Christie's expects to sell a model of the Starship Enterprise E from the film "Star Trek: First Contact" for 8000-12,000 US dollars, a blue space suit worn by William Shatner for 5000- 7000 US dollars and a replica of Captain Kirk's chair from the original series for anything between 8000- 12000 US dollars. But according to Elkies, the high prices Christie's is expecting on the major items shouldn't worry Star Trek fans. "We have things for couple of hundred dollars, we have things for tens of thousands of dollars and we were very conscious in putting the sale together to try to have something for everyone. So not only according to price point, but it covers costumes, small props, large props, weapons, sets, furniture. It really embodies not only the whole story but hopefully has something that everybody can find to get excited about," she said. The Starfleet Flag, for example, has a 200- 300 US dollar tag and the fully painted replica of a Borg drone's head is valued at between 600 and 800 US dollars. These items are reportedly being auctioned off after the studio decided to cancel the prequel to Star Trek: Enterprise.

ITN Source | July 20, 2006

Tags:. .maturity. .mature. .september. .terms. .october