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Firsthand Account of the Christie's Star Trek Auction
DustCollector writes to mention a Scientific American blog post about the highly successful Star Trek auction at Christie's on Thursday. The props, from many different shows, went for far more than was estimated. From the article: "The auction board flickered in perpetual motion as dollars changed along with the equivalent in euros, British pounds, Hong Kong dollars and Japanese yen (what, no quatloos?). Picard's Enterprise-E captain's chair, estimated to sell for $7,000-$8,000, went for $52,000. Two prop wine bottles of 'Chateau Picard,' estimated to go for $500 to $700, sold for $5,500. 'That's probably a record for empty wine bottles,' the auctioneer quipped. The sale prices so exceeded the estimated price that absentee bidders--those who place a maximum and hope for the best--hardly stood a chance: I counted only two successful absentee bids in the first 124 lots."
You know those guys we always used to beat up in gum class?
...
Yeah, they ended up with all the money.
I'm being sarcastic of course, I lacked the bicepts to ever raise a fist in anger/frustration
My work here is dung.
The high bids made me wonder just why people were willing to pay thousands of dollars for cast resin and foam.
It's not just "cast resin and foam". It's "cast resin and foam" that was in Star Trek
Push Button, Receive Bacon
What *DID* you do in school?
:-)
Poking fun.
My mom says I'm cool.
Full-scale? That must have been a large room.
Recycle PCs and build a wireless community network www.hillsborough.org.nz
No mention of the flute from 'The Inner Light' that Picard played. I was thinking of putting in an absentee bid on that, but I knew no way I'd get it. I think they first listed it for something like $300, then upped it to $800 because of interest. Can't imagine what it really went for.
You better get some kind of certificate of authentication so your
parents can sell it after you move out of the basement.
Now, if only I was fast enough to find a Star Trek equivalent to the Magrathea factory floor. Unfortunately, someone will probably beat me to that, too, with an episode that actually shows an auction house that big...
Oh well, Hitchhiker's doesn't have quite the stigma of Trekkie.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Some notable items and sale prices, along with original estimates in parentheses:
-Borg alcove: $8,000 ($700)
-Borg mannequin: $9,000 ($800)
-Worf's Klingon baldric sash: $3,200 ($300)
-Six Romulan Senate chairs: $1,900 ($800)
-Type 2 phaser from Star Trek: Nemesis: $3,200 ($1,200)
-17-inch tall latex-foam statue of Zephraim Cochrane: $5,500 ($500)
-Captain Picard's black-and-grey uniform: $15,000 ($8,000)
-Borg cube model, 30 inches across (the small one): $80,000 ($1,500)
-Enterprise-E model: $110,000 ($12,000)
--
i got a picture i drew when i was a kid of the enterprise, i've priced it at $3 for cost of supplies, its coloured in pen to! taking bids
I am wondering if anyone knows where I could find a complete list of items and their sale prices? I am curious what some of it went for.
How much for William Shatner?
... and then they built the supercollider.
How much does it cost to make a season of Star Trek?
I used to carry a bottle of whiskey for snake bite. And two snakes. -Nefarious Wheel
Appraisers working for auctions routinely set estimates lower than what they really expect the item will fetch at auction - both to encourage bidders to step up to the plate early on and so the auction can claim to get "much higher prices" than expected, thus enforcing the Christie's premium name to sellers/estates who are thinking of consigning items there. Afterall, they have to compete with Sothebys.
And if it turns out to be a very bad auction, at worst, they'll probably just hit estimates - and that doesn't sound as bad P/R wise than missing estimates entirely.
I found the number of currencies used interesting, and can imagine the work needed to get them converted back and forth fast enough to keep up with the action. One thing, though, there was no mention of bars of gold-pressed latinum.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
.. the formula for transparent aluminum.
The sea changes color, but the sea does not change.
What, you couldn't say Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Jeri Ryan, Majel Barrett?
Get out of the basement, man.
Sheesh.
Cure world hunger or bid on an original Enterprise model. Decisions, decisions.
I have a friend (a collector) with an original printed copy of the scripts from the original Star Trek, (a set probably used during the filming given the written markings on them) including one for each episode. I think one or two of them have a signature from by Gene Roddenberry. When he got them, he was excited, thinking they might be worth a few thousand... seeing this. wow... might be more.
How much for the attorney fees for the patent to Warp Speed engines that have been made public domain from the outset? What about for the IP to improbability engines?
'whore'? I think you need to hold either the higher moral or economic ground to make that kind of statement. I 'whored' myself out to former employers for considerably less. :-(
Lot #712 Selling Price: $576,000
Lot Title STARSHIP ENTERPRISE-D
Estimate 25,000 - 35,000 U.S. dollars
Lot Description STARSHIP ENTERPRISE-D
The hero visual effects miniature of the Starship Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation, fiber-reinforced cast resin construction with internal neon lighting [untested] on an aluminum armature with motion control mounts, with motion-control mounting hardware, power supply box [untested] marked "obsolete" and box marked "neon lights" -- 78x59½x14½in. -- built by the Industrial Light and Magic Model Shop for "Encounter At Farpoint," the pilot movie for Star Trek: The Next Generation, featured in the show's main title sequence and in many subsequent episodes, later refurbished for its starring role in Star Trek Generations, the first movie with the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast, some lettering on the saucer has been restored subsequent to filming Star Trek Generations
Lot Notes The sleekly-elegant Starship Enterprise-D was the brainchild of Consulting Senior Illustrator Andrew Probert, whose film and television work includes Tron, Airwolf, Back to the Future, and the original Battlestar Galactica. Probert updated Matt Jefferies' classic Enterprise design, giving it a biomorphic elegance, melded with Probert's signature attention to functional details.
That's rediculous for a prop that doesn't serve any functions.
They made over 7 million in this auction of 1000 items, btw.
I'd hire Bill Shatner to sing me a "happy birthday" song. Will be worth every penny (or quatloo)!
-- You must be yay-high to rule the world.
A ferengi is crying happy tears.
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
Have other TV shows had this kind of frenzy? Like how much would Maryann's original shorts go for? Lotta memories in those babies.
Table-ized A.I.
Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Jeri Ryan, Majel Barrett?
... ...
Let me be the first to say... MAJEL BARRETT!?
One of these things, is not like the other things
One of these things, does not quite belong
I wonder if the auctioned off the costume of the character Kivas Fajo from the TNG episode "The Most Toys"? It would have been an appropriate acquisition for these bidders under the cirumstances.
You are clearly not enough of a geek. Majel Barrett would totally be a score, just get her to record some kickass login sounds for your PC. Or record all of your PBX prompts:
"This phone will self-destruct in 5 seconds."
You'd be the envy of Slashdot.
Wouldn't it be much cheaper to hire the prop makers?
All they would have had to offer were some of Marina Sirtis's & Denise Crosby's "gently used" undergarments.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Majel Barrett was also Nurse Chapel in TOS (as if you didn't know).
She was quite pretty, then.
--- There is a man in a smiling bag.
To me this auction shows that Star Treck is still very strong brand and is very capable of producing popular shows given that it stays true to its theme.
How much for just the planet?
Majel Barrett was also Nurse Chapel in TOS (as if you didn't know).
She was quite pretty, then.
Dude, "then" was before I was born...
Ashley Judd was in an early episode of TNG, did they auction her off?
I suspect that she would go for quite a bit more than Kirstie Alley.
And I was definitly curious... Sum of auction lots - $7,107,040 USD* *Lot 521 has mysteriously disappeared from the Christies website. So give or take some decals...
Colonel Cranium this is Rectal Reconnaissance, we are on a collision course sir, Abort Abort!
It's a feeding frenzy based on the idea that "rare" is the same as valuable. Same as what happened in St. Louis when they tore down old Busch Stadium. You could buy just about anything -- and people did. I don't know exactly *why* people were paying thousands of dollars for used urinals from old Busch, but I guess they figured that urinals go UP in value once the building they were housed in comes down. And much like this auction, I think the value is highest right now. The grandkids might say "Daddy, what's a Vulcan" and simply not get it. Beanie babies are worth all of about $10 now, even though at the height of popularity, people were paying hundreds of dollars for them.
My wife and I - yes, my wife - were there on Saturday. Most of the people in the room had been there the previous days, and had seen what things were going for. Talking to some of them, and looking around the room, I think quite a few people were shell-shocked. Sure, some of the people there had big bucks, and were prepared to spend whatever was necessary. Others clearly had hoped for a few items, but maybe settled for one. Still others were not major collectors, but simply hoped to take a memento or two home with them; many of these probably never ended up even placing a bid as prices spiralled out of control.
We had a few items we were looking at. Some quickly escalated to insane levels, items we couldn't afford without dipping into our retirement savings. One or two were at levels we could have managed, but simply weren't worth what it would have taken to bring them home. Fortunately, the item my wife was most interested in was within our budget.
Sitting back and watching as the Enterprise-D approached, and then finally hit, the $500,000 mark was surprisingly exciting (the quoted price of $576,000 includes the Christie's commission, which is not included in the bidding price). It was an entertaining experience, even for those who left empty-handed.
I live in my parents basement, you insensitive clod!
If you've never won at a traditional auction before, the idea of a buyer's premium can be quite a shock. It's certainly something to budget for.
Back when I bought several lots of (original series and a half) Battlestar Galactica memorabilia from Profiles In History a couple of years ago, the amount of the premium made an impact in my decision to forgo bidding on other items. While tax wasn't an issue for me, because I was out of state, they did also charge an extra percentage for having a credit card transaction instead of funds wired in.
Get off my launchpad!
- Lot 978, $144,000 DR. MCCOY'S SPACE SUIT FROM "THE THOLIAN WEB"
- Lot 1000, $284,800 ENTERPRISE-A MODEL AND POWER SUPPLY (ST: The Motion Picture)
- Lot 983, $307,200 KLINGON BIRD-OF-PREY (ST3: The Search for Spock)
- Lot 712, $576,000 STARSHIP ENTERPRISE-D ("Encounter at Farpoint", ST: Generations)
And the total purse for all 1000 lots comes to: $7,107,040!$576,000 for the enterprise
Starship Enterprise-Dlot 712 results
The description kinda contradicts itself. Its either the huge one that was used from the beginning or the smaller, more detailed model that was built later when TNG was already a couple of seasons old.
``"Computer, what are the nearest sources of gold-pressed latinum" yields no results, for me.
Well there's your problem. You asked it for sources of GPL, not where you could acquire it.''
Of course, with GPL, you do get the sources... (badda-bing).
-- Terry