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."

Picard's Flute

[bwave]

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.

That's a lot of money....

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Shell-shocked

[Anonymous Coward]

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.