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."

Comments

Re:Picard's Flute

[Y-Crate]

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.

$40,000

FTA

[nihaopaul]

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

Re:FTA

[DarrylM]

"That's odd. Maybe it's just me, but I thought the Enterprise-E was a 100% digital effects model? Why would they bother creating a physical model if they're only shooting the digital set? The only thing I can think of is a rough model to prototype the design before making a digital version."

<geek_mode>
From the Star Trek The Next Generation Companion, the First Contact movie used minatures for most of the space scenes, including a 10 foot model of the Enterprise-E. I'm assuming this was the one sold here. Part of the saucer section was also built in minature for the crash sequence in Nemesis.
</geek_mode>

(Yes, I am moved out of my parents' basement.)

Re:FTA

[istewart]

The ramming scene in Nemesis actually used a physical model of the Ent-E's saucer. Everything else was digital, though.

Re:Authenticate it!

[tehlinux]

ftfa: No jokes about living in parents' basement, please--these buyers can afford their own places.

Re:Complete listing

[IanDanforth]

Lot descriptions

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/search/LotSumma ry.asp?intSaleID=20723

Final Prices

http://www.christies.com/auction/results/results_l otlist.asp?saleno=NYC1778

Thousands of lots, have fun!

Re:Picard's Flute

[IanDanforth]

Incorrect

It actually went for $48,000. And at least to me that 8k matters.

PICARD'S RESSIKAN FLUTE - Lot 537

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/search/LOTDETAI L.ASP?sid=&intObjectID=4780101

Lot Results

http://www.christies.com/auction/results/results_l otlist.asp?saleno=NYC1778&page=6

Re:Picard's Flute

[Teilo]

Correct. A prop only. The dubbed music was played by Brice Martin. We penny-whistlers have had an obsession about the Picard whistle for a long long time. Owning this thing is the ultimate prize for those with WhOA Disorder.

Re:Funding

[Anonymous Coward]

StarTrek: The Next Generation to $1.5 million per episode.

http://tinyurl.com/p44l9

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:RtvA1N2r6sgJ: home.earthlink.net/~scific/nextgen.htm+star+trek+n ext+generations+budget&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9

Re:Estimates are bogus.

[no haters]

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

This is ridiculous. Please try to use some common sense. Have you ever worked in an auction house? The Christie's premium name to sellers/estates has to do with 2 things: The amount of money (people) they can bring to bid to an auction and the ACCURACY of their estimates. If an auction house tried to routinely lowball their estimates to generate interest, it would destroy any credibility they might have and it would have the exact opposite effect: People, unable to know whether or not estimates were legitimate or not, would not bid on items. Also, encouraging bidders to "step up to the plate" as you put it is the job of the auctioneer, who sets the opening bid, not the appraisers. Most items have a reserve price set by the seller, separate from the estimate put out by the appraisers, thus ensuring their independence and (when they get it right) their accuracy.

The Star Trek auction generated far more interest than the company expected. I went to Christie's before the auction and looked at all the items, and it is easy to see how they set the estimates where they did. Most of the stuff had very obviously been sitting unattended in a warehouse for an extended period of time, and Star Trek has been on the decline (in terms of viewership) for a while now. How would they know that the 40th anniversary sale would reawaken the inner geek in so many people with so much disposable income?