Over on TrekBBS, someone was wondering why fans latched onto the USS Kelvin's Captain Robau as a "badass" many months before they had any idea what he'd be like in JJ Abrams' "Star Trek" movie.
The now-defunct "Star Trek" Club of NSW, Astrex, once had a bizarre in-joke running about an enigmatic actor called "Frank Force". I was in the US, at a Creation convention in January 1984, and I won some very rare "ST III: The Search for Spock" call sheets in their auction. The call sheets declared that one of the very last new main actors introduced in the script was Frank Force, playing "Nacluv".
This seemed rather bizarre, till a friend of the production team mentioned it was an anagram - "Vulcan" spelled backwards. Yes, it was Leonard Nimoy under a secret, assumed name, to hide his participation as a regenerated adult Spock till the last minute. After all, Spock was the most "frank force" in the universe.
Australia waited many months after the US to see ST III, giving Australian fans a lot of idle time to generate wacky Frank Force jokes. One penpal of mine, from Perth, arrived at Sydney airport for the film's gala premiere night, only to be collected by three complete strangers wearing large "Frank Force Fan Club" badges.
You'll notice that Director Nimoy also voices the USS Excelsior Elevator in ST III as "Frank Force", which got a huge cheer from us on opening night when the credits rolled.
Showing posts with label auctions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label auctions. Show all posts
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Auction nostalgia
Green "Number 96" delicatessen jacket, as worn by Harry Michaels as Giovanni Lenzi.
Bought at auction after the series ended (in 1977).
Underneath the jacket, the red T-shirt reads "I'm quite ardamant about that", a Dorrie Evans catch-phrase from the show. Unused wardrobe item made for Andrew Mercado, TV1's "The Best of Number 96" (2000).
Raw footage of 1975 Christmas message by Arnold and Giovanni,
"Number 96". Harry Michaels wears the jacket I now own.
See the full Christmas message on the bonus features of the DVD "Number 96: Aftermath of Murder" (2010, Umbrella Entertainment).
Reg, Edie, Trixie.
Dorrie, Herb, Flo, Don, Dudley.
Jane, Norma, Gary.
See the full Christmas messages on the bonus features of the DVD "Number 96: Aftermath of Murder" (2010, Umbrella Entertainment).
A young, impressionable, trainee teacher, Ian McLean
(wearing Giovanni's deli jacket from "Number 96"), interviews Elaine Lee,
who was playing Principal Margaret Gibson in TV's "Glenview High" at the time (1978).
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Salute to eBay and Voyager - Weird Al style
This is one brilliant, conscientious fan's Youtube salute to all those "It's a Wrap!" auction-lovers who went through major withdrawal symptons as IaW moved warehouses for a week, and posted no new "Star Trek" costumes! Music by Weird Al Yankovic.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
The Tellarite vs Australian Customs
"Tellarites don't argue for reasons; they merely argue." (Sarek of Vulcan)
How ironic that I felt like arguing over a Tellarite costume! I took a leaf from Star Trek and quit while I was behind. It really wasn't worth trying to argue with Australian Customs, especially when I had no choice but to admit defeat. But today, I also have to come clean - and tell you about my latest eBay acquisitions.
A few weeks after winning a set of screen-used Andorian robes from It's a Wrap!, I placed bids on two other Star Trek items. ('Tis the season to be greedy?) I had found an amazingly detailed Tellarite ambassador's costume from the "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode, "Babel One" (as worn by actor Lee Arenberg, as Gral*), that wasn't garnering much interest.
Ambassador Gral of Tellar Prime
Ditto a casual grey Starfleet shirt from the doomed Epsilon IX Space Station of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". While I fully expected to lose both auctions, I was rather startled to win both auctions - for very reasonable prices!
For the two weeks of my recent vacation, I watched the mail closely. My calculations had the parcel due sometime in that fortnight, but alas! In my haste to save on postage, I'd requested that both items travel Down Under in the same carton. Because the combined total cost nudged itself over the $AU 1000 mark, my latest haul was delayed... in Customs. Drat! Thus, I got hit with a hefty inspection fee, plus customs duty, and GST (sales tax). Drat and double drat.
The most frustrating aspect was that the box was to be held up for at least five days while I filled in the paperwork, calculated the separate amounts in Australian dollars (as per the day they were purchased) and faxed them back. After ten days I'd still heard nothing more, so I rang to inquire. Yes, there was a general delay. When I pressed for my details to be checked, customs said they'd never received my paperwork, even though the paperwork was sent in two different batches and the fax machine had printed out receipts confirming the correct fax number.
The faxes were re-sent, and suddenly there was another form - the payment invoice for the Customs charges - to fill in and fax back. (That was last Thursday, so it's been an agonizing few more days.)
Of course, the top secret box arrived this morning, while I was in the shower. My housemate answered the door to the postal delivery man - maybe he'd assume the box contained new Star Trek action figures - but his first question to me was, "What costumes have you bought now?" Drat and triple drat.
Having come clean on my latest eBay adventures, I had to wait until this afternoon, after work, to open up the box. The costumes are quite exciting! The TMP shirt looks like it was made for me! Perfect sleeve length; a beautiful, raw cotton, grey shirt, in beautiful condition, especially considering it's been in storage at Paramount Studios since 1978!
"A costume featured in 'Star Trek I: The Motion Picture' for wear by characters on board the 'Epsilon IX Station'. The costume is a gray colored shirt with an open neck and an affixed yellow backed 'Epsilon IX' assignment patch on the left breast. Item Number 3716."
The Tellarite costume is an elaborate, two-layered brown jacket, covered in brass buttons, cords and tassels, and metal trim. It comes with matching trousers - and a "fat suit". Now, part of my strategy was that buying a costume requiring a fat-suit would be ideal, since if it was too small for me, I could just omit the padded undershirt. (After yesterday's "diet" post, it was all quite ironic.) Amazingly, the costume, although worn by the petite Mr Arenberg on-screen, fits me perfectly, even in the sleeve length. And yeah, I don't need the fat suit. Hardy har.
"'Ambassador Gral' (Lee Arenberg) was a high-ranking Tellarite official featured in the 'Star Trek: Enterprise' episode 'Babel One'. Gral was transported by the U.S.S. Enterprise NX-01 with the rest of his delegation to discuss a trade dispute with the Andorian Empire on the planetoid Babel however he complained for the entire voyage. His costume includes a cropped sleeved padded undershirt with padding around the belly and shoulders to create the Tellarite appearance. The ornate coat is ribbed brown with many gold and black colored buttons over the surface. It zips up the front and there are also two metal fastening on the front. Worn over the coat is a cropped long sleeved coat with more buttons and impressive detail on the back. Black cord with metal accents and brown tassels add to the detail. Corresponding brown trousers complete the outfit. Costume comes complete with costume tag. Item Number 3780."
By the way, the sewn-in "Enterprise" tag in the fat-suit shows that this costume element has an interesting pedigree! It indicates that, after "Babel One" (and "United"), the same fat-suit was used by stuntman Tony Brubaker, in the Klingon-themed episode "Divergence"; extra Pablo Soriano in "In a Mirror Darkly, Part I" (as Terev, the Tellarite in the agony booth); and extra Trey Stokes, as one of the Tellarite ambassadorial aides in the "Demons"/"Terra Prime" two-parter.
Shran & Gral shooting "United". Thanks Frontier of TrekBBS!
I must stop looking on eBay on Saturdays...
* By the way, Lee Arenberg has played a Ferengi - also called Gral - in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode, "The Nagus"!
How ironic that I felt like arguing over a Tellarite costume! I took a leaf from Star Trek and quit while I was behind. It really wasn't worth trying to argue with Australian Customs, especially when I had no choice but to admit defeat. But today, I also have to come clean - and tell you about my latest eBay acquisitions.
A few weeks after winning a set of screen-used Andorian robes from It's a Wrap!, I placed bids on two other Star Trek items. ('Tis the season to be greedy?) I had found an amazingly detailed Tellarite ambassador's costume from the "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode, "Babel One" (as worn by actor Lee Arenberg, as Gral*), that wasn't garnering much interest.
Ambassador Gral of Tellar Prime
Ditto a casual grey Starfleet shirt from the doomed Epsilon IX Space Station of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". While I fully expected to lose both auctions, I was rather startled to win both auctions - for very reasonable prices!
For the two weeks of my recent vacation, I watched the mail closely. My calculations had the parcel due sometime in that fortnight, but alas! In my haste to save on postage, I'd requested that both items travel Down Under in the same carton. Because the combined total cost nudged itself over the $AU 1000 mark, my latest haul was delayed... in Customs. Drat! Thus, I got hit with a hefty inspection fee, plus customs duty, and GST (sales tax). Drat and double drat.
The most frustrating aspect was that the box was to be held up for at least five days while I filled in the paperwork, calculated the separate amounts in Australian dollars (as per the day they were purchased) and faxed them back. After ten days I'd still heard nothing more, so I rang to inquire. Yes, there was a general delay. When I pressed for my details to be checked, customs said they'd never received my paperwork, even though the paperwork was sent in two different batches and the fax machine had printed out receipts confirming the correct fax number.
The faxes were re-sent, and suddenly there was another form - the payment invoice for the Customs charges - to fill in and fax back. (That was last Thursday, so it's been an agonizing few more days.)
Of course, the top secret box arrived this morning, while I was in the shower. My housemate answered the door to the postal delivery man - maybe he'd assume the box contained new Star Trek action figures - but his first question to me was, "What costumes have you bought now?" Drat and triple drat.
Having come clean on my latest eBay adventures, I had to wait until this afternoon, after work, to open up the box. The costumes are quite exciting! The TMP shirt looks like it was made for me! Perfect sleeve length; a beautiful, raw cotton, grey shirt, in beautiful condition, especially considering it's been in storage at Paramount Studios since 1978!
"A costume featured in 'Star Trek I: The Motion Picture' for wear by characters on board the 'Epsilon IX Station'. The costume is a gray colored shirt with an open neck and an affixed yellow backed 'Epsilon IX' assignment patch on the left breast. Item Number 3716."
The Tellarite costume is an elaborate, two-layered brown jacket, covered in brass buttons, cords and tassels, and metal trim. It comes with matching trousers - and a "fat suit". Now, part of my strategy was that buying a costume requiring a fat-suit would be ideal, since if it was too small for me, I could just omit the padded undershirt. (After yesterday's "diet" post, it was all quite ironic.) Amazingly, the costume, although worn by the petite Mr Arenberg on-screen, fits me perfectly, even in the sleeve length. And yeah, I don't need the fat suit. Hardy har.
"'Ambassador Gral' (Lee Arenberg) was a high-ranking Tellarite official featured in the 'Star Trek: Enterprise' episode 'Babel One'. Gral was transported by the U.S.S. Enterprise NX-01 with the rest of his delegation to discuss a trade dispute with the Andorian Empire on the planetoid Babel however he complained for the entire voyage. His costume includes a cropped sleeved padded undershirt with padding around the belly and shoulders to create the Tellarite appearance. The ornate coat is ribbed brown with many gold and black colored buttons over the surface. It zips up the front and there are also two metal fastening on the front. Worn over the coat is a cropped long sleeved coat with more buttons and impressive detail on the back. Black cord with metal accents and brown tassels add to the detail. Corresponding brown trousers complete the outfit. Costume comes complete with costume tag. Item Number 3780."
By the way, the sewn-in "Enterprise" tag in the fat-suit shows that this costume element has an interesting pedigree! It indicates that, after "Babel One" (and "United"), the same fat-suit was used by stuntman Tony Brubaker, in the Klingon-themed episode "Divergence"; extra Pablo Soriano in "In a Mirror Darkly, Part I" (as Terev, the Tellarite in the agony booth); and extra Trey Stokes, as one of the Tellarite ambassadorial aides in the "Demons"/"Terra Prime" two-parter.
Shran & Gral shooting "United". Thanks Frontier of TrekBBS!
I must stop looking on eBay on Saturdays...
* By the way, Lee Arenberg has played a Ferengi - also called Gral - in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode, "The Nagus"!
Monday, June 25, 2007
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Props, costumes and auctions, oh my!
Over recent weeks, my monitoring of the It's a Wrap! auctions of Star Trek props and costumes led me to a great online bulletin board (BBS) for collectors of Star Trek props and costumes. I can highly recommend it as a place where questions are answered, answers are questioned (always in a friendly, helpful manner), and the members display amazing access to encyclopedic knowledge of ST trivia.
Star Trek Props, Costumes and Auctions BBS
As for my own journey as a SF media costumier - and authentic Star Trek prop collector - I cobbled together my first TOS redshirt in 1980, from an old red velour sweater. Coincidentally, this favourite velour top had some tiny holes right where the insignia and rank stripes should be.
Over the years, my Andorian persona, Therin, got to wear a homemade beige TMP costume, a ST II-style uniform, and a formal tailcoat, depending on the occasion, be it convention or movie premiere night. A friend made me the TNG outfit in which I played Data several times. My mother helped me to make a Robin the Boy Wonder costume (from TV's "Batman" series), a David Marcus shirt, and a "Greatest American Hero" costume. Our Star Trek club once spent a weekend casting plaster moulds of each other, and making latex appliances, which is when I made my Maltz (the Klingon from ST III) head! After growing a beard for a few years, I also began to play a Tellarite named Grol.
Owning an actual screen-used costume is going to be a very different type of satisfaction and excitement, as making replica costumes was a wonderful challenge, and perhaps something I've really missed since so much of interactive ST fandom vanished from Sydney in the 90s.
Performing in a costume parade (when not actually hosting or judging them) was also very fulfilling. It's not just wearing a good replica, or choosing something that suits your personality and/or physical dimensions, it's staying in character. And that clever one-line quip during the performance can really make a costume, and can definitely tip the voting in your favour.
A few examples:
I was in my Robin the Boy Wonder costume, with friends dressed as Batgirl and Lois Lane. Our Batman failed to turn up at the convention. The theme of the convention was "V: The Series" and the guest was Judson Scott (aka Lt James). As we came out, Lois pretended to be taking notes and I exclaimed to Batgirl, "Holy indigestion! Batman's been eaten by a Visitor!" (We won best group in that costume parade.)
My friend Karen and I came out dressed as Andorians - at a science fiction literary convention, no less - and I presented her to Guest of Honour, Harlan Ellison, and said, "Isn't she blue-tiful?" (We won best couple, even though Harlan has his infamous love/hate relationship with Star Trek.)
Bjo Trimble - "the woman who saved Star Trek" in the 60s - once told a convention audience about a very shy girl in a costume parade, who came out dressed as a female version of Luke Skywalker ("Star Wars"), with a life-sized Yoda doll/backpack on her shoulders (as per "The Empire Strikes Back"). She asked the Yoda doll, "How can I prove my Jedi powers, Master Yoda?" Yoda replied, "Levitate audience you will." She simply closed her eyes and wiggled her fingers a bit. When she opened her eyes again, the entire audience had stood, as one. Spectacular!
Bjo also mentioned one of the poorest efforts she'd seen at costuming. A beautiful young girl, wearing a stunningly brief slave girl Leia "Return of the Jedi" outfit, but she walked out "as if going to the shop to get a milkshake". As I said the other night, clothes maketh the alien - but so, it seems, does performance.
Raiding my old photo albums for some fun stuff to put on Flickr!, here are some scenes from Sale of the 23rd Century. This was a parody game show, performed and videoed live at Brisbane's Con Amore in 1985. The edited footage, with titles, a few newly-shot insert sequences, plus some special effects, became the first fan film of Harpic Productions. As a lark, I nominated the fan film for an Australian Science Fiction Media Award, and it ended up winning in the category of "Best Audiovisual Production". No doubt we were helped by the fact that many fans voting had seen the live version at the previous national convention.
Therin of Andor and Tackee the Orion slave girl (left); Therin and Tharrah see Tackee get shocked (centre); the contestants resolve a tied score (right). Photos by John Tipper, 1985.
Propwise, I own one of the very last large two-toned, screen-used 60s tribbles (from "The Trouble With Tribbles") that David Gerrold found in his garage a few years ago. I also have: a security clearance set pass from TMP; a patch of artificial Genesis Cave grass from Stage 5 (ST II); Majel Barrett and Michael Berryman cue cards (from ST IV); an unfinished breathing mask prop from ST V; a security clearance set pass from TNG; two "Starfleet Materiel Supply Command 01" cargo deck decals (one red; one blue); and a "baggie full of Star Trek" - bits of carpet, decking, wood and wire from ST: TNG - collected from the set by Bjo Trimble.
My favourite item might just be: a little clay tabletop-model house from the Old Bandi City of "Encounter at Farpoint", which were once attached to dozens of Christmas cards given out by the SPFX guys to the cast and crew.
Originally located on Deneb IV, somehow this little cottage was transported backwards through time and space - and is now situated on a plot of grass from the Genesis Planet. Yes, it's my Little Bandi House on the Prairie.
And my apologies to my niece, Beckie, who likes all my blog posts except the Star Trek ones. Sorry, Beck, it's been a big Star Trek week!
Star Trek Props, Costumes and Auctions BBS
As for my own journey as a SF media costumier - and authentic Star Trek prop collector - I cobbled together my first TOS redshirt in 1980, from an old red velour sweater. Coincidentally, this favourite velour top had some tiny holes right where the insignia and rank stripes should be.
Over the years, my Andorian persona, Therin, got to wear a homemade beige TMP costume, a ST II-style uniform, and a formal tailcoat, depending on the occasion, be it convention or movie premiere night. A friend made me the TNG outfit in which I played Data several times. My mother helped me to make a Robin the Boy Wonder costume (from TV's "Batman" series), a David Marcus shirt, and a "Greatest American Hero" costume. Our Star Trek club once spent a weekend casting plaster moulds of each other, and making latex appliances, which is when I made my Maltz (the Klingon from ST III) head! After growing a beard for a few years, I also began to play a Tellarite named Grol.
Owning an actual screen-used costume is going to be a very different type of satisfaction and excitement, as making replica costumes was a wonderful challenge, and perhaps something I've really missed since so much of interactive ST fandom vanished from Sydney in the 90s.
Performing in a costume parade (when not actually hosting or judging them) was also very fulfilling. It's not just wearing a good replica, or choosing something that suits your personality and/or physical dimensions, it's staying in character. And that clever one-line quip during the performance can really make a costume, and can definitely tip the voting in your favour.
A few examples:
I was in my Robin the Boy Wonder costume, with friends dressed as Batgirl and Lois Lane. Our Batman failed to turn up at the convention. The theme of the convention was "V: The Series" and the guest was Judson Scott (aka Lt James). As we came out, Lois pretended to be taking notes and I exclaimed to Batgirl, "Holy indigestion! Batman's been eaten by a Visitor!" (We won best group in that costume parade.)
My friend Karen and I came out dressed as Andorians - at a science fiction literary convention, no less - and I presented her to Guest of Honour, Harlan Ellison, and said, "Isn't she blue-tiful?" (We won best couple, even though Harlan has his infamous love/hate relationship with Star Trek.)
Bjo Trimble - "the woman who saved Star Trek" in the 60s - once told a convention audience about a very shy girl in a costume parade, who came out dressed as a female version of Luke Skywalker ("Star Wars"), with a life-sized Yoda doll/backpack on her shoulders (as per "The Empire Strikes Back"). She asked the Yoda doll, "How can I prove my Jedi powers, Master Yoda?" Yoda replied, "Levitate audience you will." She simply closed her eyes and wiggled her fingers a bit. When she opened her eyes again, the entire audience had stood, as one. Spectacular!
Bjo also mentioned one of the poorest efforts she'd seen at costuming. A beautiful young girl, wearing a stunningly brief slave girl Leia "Return of the Jedi" outfit, but she walked out "as if going to the shop to get a milkshake". As I said the other night, clothes maketh the alien - but so, it seems, does performance.
Raiding my old photo albums for some fun stuff to put on Flickr!, here are some scenes from Sale of the 23rd Century. This was a parody game show, performed and videoed live at Brisbane's Con Amore in 1985. The edited footage, with titles, a few newly-shot insert sequences, plus some special effects, became the first fan film of Harpic Productions. As a lark, I nominated the fan film for an Australian Science Fiction Media Award, and it ended up winning in the category of "Best Audiovisual Production". No doubt we were helped by the fact that many fans voting had seen the live version at the previous national convention.
Therin of Andor and Tackee the Orion slave girl (left); Therin and Tharrah see Tackee get shocked (centre); the contestants resolve a tied score (right). Photos by John Tipper, 1985.
Propwise, I own one of the very last large two-toned, screen-used 60s tribbles (from "The Trouble With Tribbles") that David Gerrold found in his garage a few years ago. I also have: a security clearance set pass from TMP; a patch of artificial Genesis Cave grass from Stage 5 (ST II); Majel Barrett and Michael Berryman cue cards (from ST IV); an unfinished breathing mask prop from ST V; a security clearance set pass from TNG; two "Starfleet Materiel Supply Command 01" cargo deck decals (one red; one blue); and a "baggie full of Star Trek" - bits of carpet, decking, wood and wire from ST: TNG - collected from the set by Bjo Trimble.
My favourite item might just be: a little clay tabletop-model house from the Old Bandi City of "Encounter at Farpoint", which were once attached to dozens of Christmas cards given out by the SPFX guys to the cast and crew.
Originally located on Deneb IV, somehow this little cottage was transported backwards through time and space - and is now situated on a plot of grass from the Genesis Planet. Yes, it's my Little Bandi House on the Prairie.
And my apologies to my niece, Beckie, who likes all my blog posts except the Star Trek ones. Sorry, Beck, it's been a big Star Trek week!
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