Warp Factor Fabulous

Nick Gillespie | May 19, 2006

Sploid--the most excellent site whose motto is "news with a tabloid mentality"--has broken a story that will send nerds all over the galaxy scurrying at Warp Factor 6 to NYC come October:

Virgins everywhere are smashing their piggy banks to see where they stand; an auction of Star Trek memorabilia has been announced for the fall....

The collection will tour Star Trek conventions around the world before going on the block in New York from October 5 through 7.

The most expensive item, estimated at $15,000, will be a replica of Captain Kirk's chair built for the series "Deep Space 9." Others may opt for a pair of phasers....

The piece that will no doubt have the drag queens hocking their extra wigs will be an actual uniform once worn by Lieutenant Uhura. Sadly, she wasn't wearing it for TV's first inter-racial kiss.

The ultimate piece of Star Trek memorabilia sold to date was William Shatner's kidney stone, which sold for $25,000 in last year.

Whole thing, written in prose as compact and powerful as a fistful of dilithium crystals, here.

For a funkified, not-to-be-missed Star Trek promo for a mega-40th-anniversary DVD collection of the original series, go here.

The show debuted in September 1966 and the long cultural shadow it continues to throw like a Klingon Cloaking Device will be the subject of a very special essay by Reason's own resident red-shirt-wearing web editor, Tim Cavanaugh, in the August-September issue. (So subscribe now!)

Me, I'm waiting for the TJ Hooker auction. I'll pay up to $3 Canadian for the Santa Claus beard Shatner wore in one of that show's memorable episodes (which they all were).

Comments

Jeff P|5.19.06 @ 1:18PM|#

Let me say for the record that both Jennifer and I watch a lot of Star Trek. She also reads many of the books.
And we fuck a LOT.

|5.19.06 @ 1:40PM|#

Lots of Vulcan around, eh, Jeff?

Gabriel Chapman|5.19.06 @ 1:58PM|#

15k, thats nothing, the Original Gorn Mask was going for 30k recently.

|5.19.06 @ 2:00PM|#

And we fuck a LOT.

Thanks for the image.

Gabriel Chapman|5.19.06 @ 2:06PM|#

Whoa, went and checked out the Auction results and found that Trekkies have more disposable income than Imelda Marcos: http://198.173.236.176/

307. William Shatner hero tunic worn as Capt. Kirk in Star Trek episode �Mirror Mirror�. SOLD $43,125.00

310. Original Klingon disruptor from "Star Trek". SOLD $17,250.00

311. The Klingon D7 Battle Cruiser filming miniature from The Original Star Trek series. SOLD $74,750.00

319. Original �Gorn� full-head mask from the Star Trek episode �Arena�. SOLD $31,625.00

Jeff P|5.19.06 @ 2:24PM|#

We only do it with the Kirk vs. Spock fighting music playing...

My issue is the portrayal of Trekkies (or whatever) as virgins. Its bad enough that it was reported that something like 9 out of 10 serial killers had Trek memorabilia at home.
And of course there's nothing wrong with spending several million dollars on a canvas ball that someone hit with a stick...

SPD|5.19.06 @ 2:35PM|#

Just saw the trailer for the DVD package.

Two words: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww YEAH.

|5.19.06 @ 3:14PM|#

Of course, it was the Romulans who developed the cloaking device first. The Klingons got it later on, presumably as technology transfer during the period the two species were allied.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloaking_device

Kevin

|5.19.06 @ 4:13PM|#

Oh, good, kevrob failed the Geek Test before I could get around to it.

|5.19.06 @ 4:20PM|#

And we fuck a LOT.

Well, I'm not going to fuck you...

|5.19.06 @ 4:24PM|#

Jeff, do you use the lirpa and ahn-woon?

Kroykah!

|5.19.06 @ 6:26PM|#

My Dad was too cheap to stay in the same hotel as us on the Vegas strip for my wedding, but when he found out that one of the hotels on the strip had "The Star Trek Experience" he was suddenly VERY willing to open his wallet up.

Granted, I like Star Trek (original and TNG, can't seem to get into the rest of them), but DAMN...

However, in support of Dave P's contention that Trekkies are not virgins...

My Mom & Dad apparently "do the deed" like horny teenagers/porn stars about 3x a day, now that all of us kids have moved out of the house.

Since I've already had my reaction to THAT revelation, which I suppose is why my reaction to Dave P's studly claim is a shrug of the shoulders...

|5.19.06 @ 8:47PM|#

rob, I stayed there when I spoke at an American Chemical Society conference back in the 90s. It's the Las Vegas Hilton (which also houses a NORAD-like sports book center, with giant computers and TV screens). Unfortunately, I was there a few months before they had completed construction of the "Experience". Oh, well.

|5.20.06 @ 12:10AM|#

From the link selling the DVD set...

...This box set features all 29 episodes from the first series...

There were 78 Episodes, plus the unaired pilot, "The Cage," which was later mostly incorporated into "The Menagerie."

|5.22.06 @ 12:10PM|#

Shawn Smith: There were actually 29 episodes in the first season of TOS. The rub is that in Britain (and IIRC Australia and New Zealand also), the word "series" is used to refer to what we Americans call a single season, not the show's entire run.

|5.22.06 @ 12:16PM|#

Shawn Smith:

Perhaps they're using "series" in the British sense of the term, what Americans would call a "season."

|5.25.06 @ 11:04PM|#

Joshua and Son of a!,

Thanks for the info. :-) I consider myself more properly educated.