Andorian generals and ambassadors...

* need the help of at least two attendants to get dressed

* cannot bend their arms, let alone shoot a phaser rifle

* are either very tall, or wear platform boots, or have very clean floors as their cape sweeps over surfaces

* cannot put on their own boots, since they also cannot bend over.

(This is all to be kept in mind when I go hunting for boots to complete my eBay win.)


Ambassador Thoris from "Terra Prime"

It's a Wrap!

My eBay win arrived this morning! And it fits! It fits!


Left: Andorian Ambassador Thoris's robes ("Enterprise: Terra Prime");
Right: Andorian General's outfit ("Enterprise: Proving Ground").

The cape has a long piece of Velcro where Ambassador Thoris had his universal translator attached, but I decided to put my facsimile UFP pin from ST IV into this position, and it looks great!.

And yes, as I suspected, the Paramount "Enterprise" label inside the dark blue, sleeveless, full-length costume has three actor names on it: Ted Sutton (originally cast as the Andorian general in "Proving Ground"), Granville Van Dusen (who played the role in the reshot, aired footage) and Joel Swetow (a "Star Trek" alien veteran) who featured in "Terra Prime". The top with the blue-furred sleeves lists Granville Van Dusen and Jowel (sic) Swetow, and the silver cape just Joel Swetow!

The Andorian's new clothes

I told you a while ago about John Paul Lona's Rasiinian ambassador's costume from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" in the It's a Wrap! auctions of Paramount Star Trek costumes. I was sort of kicking myself because it went for a very small amount, but it made me determined to find something more suitable for longterm display, and which still meant a lot to me. The ad had also warned that the rubbery materials on the Rasiinian were highly perishable.

Last week, the impressive Orion costume worn by WWE professional wrestler, Big Show (aka Paul Wright, see last pic), in the "Enterprise" episode, "Borderland", came up on eBay and I figured it would be a good one to try for, but would I also be competing with Orion fans, wrestling fans and just large-framed ST fans who wanted a costume they could fit into.

I also started to wonder if the metal buckles, and the huge, decorated boots, included with the outfit would be way too expensive to ship to Australia. From the description, it sounded like two people could live inside Big Show's footwear! Big Show seemed to be a man mountain of green in "Enterprise", and the metres of imitation reptile skin used in the costume reminded me too much of the female Andorian outfits (I have two rare costume-swatch trading cards of leatherette Talas outfits). But this costume got me wondering as to what complete Andorian costumes might yet turn up as auction lots. A ST:TMP Andorian outfit of purple suede, perhaps? A TMP flabbjellah? A TOS Andorian tabard?

Jeffrey Combs' Shran uniforms would command prices into the thousands, of course, and the Enterprise-patched Arctic jacket he wore in "The Aenar" had sold for a fortune recently, as did a slinky Talas number from either "Proving Ground" or "Babel One". I didn't have to look far, though: there, on eBay, was the outfit worn by Granville Van Dusen's unnamed Andorian General from "Proving Ground"! Bingo!

Mmmmm, I thought. Not many people would bid for this item. It was only seen as a rather brief head-and-shoulders viewscreen shot. I placed a very reasonable top amount on it and watched my bid move me into position as top bidder, where it stayed for the rest of the week.

Two days ago, I had a brainstorm. What was the outfit worn by Ambassador Thoris (Joel Swetow) at the intergalactic peace talks in the episode, "Terra Prime"? I suddenly realized that this "new" outfit had actually been recycled from "Proving Ground" - now with its additional robe and leather belt - and was the one I was trying to win! But would anyone else realise that Thoris's outfit was being auctioned? Probably not! Oh joy!

This morning I told myself I could not bear to lose it. Or rather, my alter ego, Therin of Andor, had decided that he "simply must have it". On his behalf, I upped my bidding maximum. (Yesssss, my precioussssss! We wants it, and we must have it!) I didn't want anyone else wearing that costume! (Nassssty little hobbitses!)

Now, I'm not telling how high I was prepared to go - that way embarrassment lies - but I sat here this morning, eating breakfast and pretending to surf the 'Net, fully expecting to be outbid. The time crept by sooooo slooooowly and, with what I thought was only five minutes to go, an incoming email chirped.

Ah, this was it: the notice that I'd been outbid - and how many more thousands of dollars was I willing to part with? But no! It was an email to say that the costume was mine: a winning automated bid of only $US 743.33! Ten bids in all. (Incidentally, the Orion costume was a bargain for anyone not needing international shipping: $US 455.00.)

Doin' the Andorian happy dance! Soon winging its way Down Under, via Andor:

The auction description said: "A costume featured in the 'Star Trek: Enterprise' episode 'Proving Ground' where Commander Shran (Jeffrey Combs) suddenly appears to assist 'Enterprise' in locating the Xindi super weapon. The costume is that of the Andorian General (Granville Van Dusen) who orders Shran to keep the prototype of the Xindi super weapon for Andoria should he come into possession of it. The costume is a full-length sleeveless blue-black jumpsuit that is a black spandex type material/blue-black vinyl with a circular pattern, a silver vinyl jacket in a vaguely reptile skin design and fake fur-lined sleeve and plastic bead piping, a full-length, sleeveless vinyl cape of the same design as the jacket, a leather pouch and harness. A sewn in tag reads ‘Enterprise, Granville Van Dusen 065’. Item Number 3366."

PS. Now I have Andorian boots from the auctions as well!