A Golden Collecting Opportunity For Trekkies

…. or Trekkers? I don’t know what you finally decided to call yourselves. Geeks?

I know that most of us prop collectors and Trek fans probably have certain keywords set up on eBay to alert us when certain things come into the realm of public bidding, but if you’re anything like me, you probably miss a good deal of stuff that exists outside of eBay because, well, the internet is vast and full of misdirection. Well, I’ve come to learn of an exciting opportunity for some great Trek stuff coming up soon.

Starting on October 31st, Anaheim’s Ready Auction House will be auctioning off a great deal of Trek, TV and animation items that were collected by a fine fella named Bob who recently passed away at the age of 85. Let me quote directly from an e-mail :

“Bob worked for a movie trucking company for more than 25 years. He made friends with many actors and, like many of us, was a collector. He kept some things for memory’s sake and some just because he was not very good at cleaning up or throwing things away. The pictures that he had with his friends, the actors, were his treasured keepsake. John Travolta, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and Kelsey Grammar were among his favorites.  He was 85 and still working hard around his house when a stroke took him.”

A man who definitely seems like us – a collector at heart. The proceeds of these auctions will assist his widow, so bid early and often. There are many items of note, and what strikes me most is that Bob and I had very similar interests. I’d love to sit down and talk with an 85 year old guy who was into Star Trek and animation cels.

Some items that are of special note include props used in the Star Trek movies and TV series. Authentic Trek props are pretty high on any collectors list. Of special note to me, a hardcore Deep Space Nine fan, is this screen-used comm badge. I’ve always preferred this design to the oval, anyhow. While there’s no indication who actually used it, the fact that it was used at all is enough for me. Even cooler is the fact that you can bid on an accompanying ‘damaged’ version of the same badge, as if it were hit by a phaser.

Also very cool is this Klingon plaque prop. While slightly damaged, it’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed fairly easily – especially because it’s meant to look weathered anyhow. Klingons are serious business, people. People who dress up as Klingons for conventions are intense. They drink tequila and rum mixed with Tabasco sauce and call it ‘bloodwine’. (It’s worth noting that a screen-used bottle that contained Klingon bloodwine was sold for $255 about a year ago).

My personal favorite is this screen-used gold Enterprise model, which had some screen time in ‘First Contact’ – or at least in the DVD extras. The material is unspecified, so I can’t tell if it’s an original sculpt or a spraypainted Diamond toy model, but dammit, Patrick Stewart totally touched it.

In addition to these things, there are production crew jackets, ‘now filming’ signs that were used during studio shoots, and a whole ton of animation cels from shows like Ewoks and Ghostbusters. Seriously, this guy was 85?

Go and bid. It’s awesome stuff, a rare opportunity, and for a good reason.