This week Prop Store announced their latest live auction for Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), which will happen on December 2nd and is officially in partnership with Paramount Pictures. Up for sale will be over 400 film artifacts used in the two productions. [Read more…]
In addition to shooting video at the Profiles in History offices yesterday, I also took 175 high resolution still photos of some of the material comprising their “Hollywood Auction 37” catalog. The event will be held next month at Calabasas Hills, California on October 8th and 9th. [Read more…]
James Comisar and the The Comisar Collection were featured in last week’s issue of RadioTimes magazine. The article provides some background about Mr. Comisar and the Collection, his objectives in preserving original props and wardrobe from classic television, and his hopes to find a global exhibition partner to allow the public to enjoy and appreciate the important pop culture artifacts. [Read more…]
A Star Trek: The Original Series “hand phaser”, marketed as original and from the 1966-69 classic television series with a Certificate of Authenticity from “Movies Galore”, has been offered for sale and sold, offered for sale again and sold, and is now offered for sale on eBay for a third time over the span of just three months. [Read more…]
As noted in recent articles, there are many Star Trek “Original Series” (1966-1969) era prop replicas that have been traded in the marketplace as authentic, fooling experts, dealers, and auction houses, as well as collectors.
As a result, there are profound challenges in authenticating the iconic, high value props from this classic television series, especially the Tricorder, Communicator, and Phaser. The current ’state of the marketplace’ poses a significant potential risk for Star Trek collectors who could inadvertently buy an inauthentic piece.
The most productive manner in which collectors can help other collectors to mitigate this risk is by talking to one another, sharing information, and spreading awareness of the ’state of the marketplace’ for these types of props and underscoring the importance of formal and thorough authentication.
I thought it would be productive to catalog and archive information relevant to these props. [Read more…]