Suggestions to sell TOS (and movies) original props

[Maab]

Hi all! As some of you already know, I live in Rome (Italy).
This is the story: in 1997 an Italian company called "Globo" organized an exhibition called "Star Trek in Italy" with original Star Trek props they acquired from Viacom. After the exhibition tour was over in 1999, all the items were sold to private collectors. Several items were bought by a woman, a Trekker of course, who recently passed away. Her daughter decided to donate all her mother's collection to a no-profit organization which helps sick people (called "Sanes"). So, they asked for my help as "Star Trek expert" to sell these items, but honestly I don't even know where to begin.

These should be all original screen used props and they all have a certificate of authenticity:

1. Star Trek II phaser (http://marcellorossi.info/StarTrekIIPhaser.jpg)
2. Star Trek III phaser (http://marcellorossi.info/StarTrekIIIPhaser.jpg)
3. TOS Agonizer from "Mirror, Mirror" (http://marcellorossi.info/TOSAgonizer.jpg)
4. TOS Communicator (http://marcellorossi.info/TOSCommunicator.jpg)
5. TOS The Cage Laser (http://marcellorossi.info/TOSTheCagePhaser.jpg)
6. TOS Hypospray (http://marcellorossi.info/TOSHypospray.jpg)
7. Star Trek VI Phaser (http://marcellorossi.info/StarTrekVIPhaser.jpg)
8. TOS Cloud Miners hat, gloves and tights (http://marcellorossi.info/TOSCloudMinersGuardHatGlovesTights.jpg)
9. TMP Tricorder (http://marcellorossi.info/StarTrekTMPTricorder.jpg)
10. TOS Crystal from "By Any Other Name" (http://marcellorossi.info/TOSCrystal.jpg)

Please note that I will not earn anything from this, I'm just helping them. So what do you think I should do? Put everything on Ebay? Contact some auction company? Thanks.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Item 4, the TOS Communicator, is a replica. Its shiny black case is the wrong grade of plastic, and there are other ways in which it doesn't match any of the original props. You can see all ten of them here:
https://www.herocomm.com/BeginHere/MasterTrackingList.htm

Edit: I wonder if item 4 was created at Paramount in the 1970s for Star Trek Phase II. That would make it a more interesting find.

 

[NCC-73515]

Why would they be bought from Viacom, the parent company?

Item 4, the TOS Communicator, is a replica. Its shiny black case is the wrong grade of plastic, and there are other ways in which it doesn't match any of the original props. You can see all ten of them here:
https://www.herocomm.com/BeginHere/MasterTrackingList.htm

Edit: I wonder if item 4 was created at Paramount in the 1970s for Star Trek Phase II. That would make it a more interesting find.

Wow, do similar websites exist for other props, ships, etc.?

 

[Maab]

Item 4, the TOS Communicator, is a replica. Its shiny black case is the wrong grade of plastic, and there are other ways in which it doesn't match any of the original props. You can see all ten of them here:
https://www.herocomm.com/BeginHere/MasterTrackingList.htm

You're right, I agree.

Star Trek Phase II[/I]. That would make it a more interesting find.

It could be... this is a picture from the "Bob Justman" collection auction catalogue:
http://marcellorossi.info/img594.jpg

Detail:
http://marcellorossi.info/02-Oggetti.jpg

This is the one I took a picture of:
http://marcellorossi.info/TOSCommunicator.jpg

The grid colour is different, but in the catalogue they say "one of possibly 10 made for Roddenberry".

 

[Maab]

Why would they be bought from Viacom, the parent company?

I don't know, it's said so in the certificates.

 

[mb22]

How many "Cage" lasers were created? Most of the ones I've seen have been modified for "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

 

[Shaw]

How many "Cage" lasers were created? Most of the ones I've seen have been modified for "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

There were four hand lasers made for The Cage, all made from the same mold and all cast in a clear resin. Two were drilled out to make the "hero" versions with depressible triggers and lighting, the other two were non-functioning. Of the two hero versions, one had a fixed length barrel while the other had a barrel that was extendable. The two non-functioning versions didn't have the cavity on top for the flip-up sight, and one had a fixed length barrel and the other extendable.

The two hero versions were later modified for WNMHGB, the other two went missing, though one may have been broken by Hunter.

Of the two surviving hero props, one (with the fixed length barrel) was part of Jein's collection, the other was badly broken and only a majority of the resin body remains in a private collection.

This is my initial study of the props... here and here.

This is my study of the WNMHGB modifications... here and here.

 

[mb22]

So what is the one linked in the beginning of this thread (item #5) -- is it one of the two non-functioning ones that went missing or just a replica like the TOS communicater?

 

[Maab]

So what is the one linked in the beginning of this thread (item #5) -- is it one of the two non-functioning ones that went missing or just a replica like the TOS communicater?

I have the same question for @Shaw : in your opinion, do you think this one could be one of the two non-functioning ones?

http://marcellorossi.info/TOSTheCagePhaser.jpg

 

[KennyB]

Yeah they are nice props but the COAs leave much to be desired.....is "Globo" still in business so that someone could give you a better paper trail history of how they acquired them? 1997 was the run up to Star Trek: The Experience opening in Vegas.....perhaps they were replicas done for that because most of all the originals are accounted for.

 

[Maab]

Yeah they are nice props but the COAs leave much to be desired.....is "Globo" still in business so that someone could give you a better paper trail history of how they acquired them?

No, as far as I know, "Globo" has been out of business for years now, and I seriously doubt that any extra paper can be found...
I do remember the exhibition itself, I went there when it was in Rome, I still have their catalogue, the invitation, and I also have some photos and videos (made with VHS), but this of course doesn't prove or disprove anything.
Someone scanned few pages of their catalogue here: http://imagorecensio.blogspot.com/2014/09/star-trek-in-italy-catalogo-mostra-del.html

 

[publiusr]

There was one "prop" on The Cage...a work light on a stand near Spock...what was that?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

There was one "prop" on The Cage...a work light on a stand near Spock...what was that?

Yeah. I recall a little, portable spotlight for repairing bridge stations in the dark. It was a nice touch, the kind of staging detail that was generally absent later in the series.

 

[feek61]

Sorry to tell you, none of the TOS props are originals, they are all replicas. The communicator is not even close, the Cage laser is not from the same molds as the originals, the handle cross-hatch is all wrong along with the typewriter keys on the side. The agonizer is a replica as is the hypo. The "By Any Other Name" crystal is not even close to anything seen the episode. These obvious fakes put into question the legitimacy of any of the pieces and the bogus COA's really are not worth the paper they are printed on.

 

[TIN_MAN]

The phase two phaser and communicator could well be authentic, but it would take an expert to verify, which I of course, do not claim to be.

 

[Maab]

Sorry to tell you, none of the TOS props are originals, they are all replicas. The communicator is not even close, the Cage laser is not from the same molds as the originals, the handle cross-hatch is all wrong along with the typewriter keys on the side. The agonizer is a replica as is the hypo. The "By Any Other Name" crystal is not even close to anything seen the episode. These obvious fakes put into question the legitimacy of any of the pieces and the bogus COA's really are not worth the paper they are printed on.

I see, thanks.

I wonder if also the Cloud Miners robes, which come from a different source, are fake as well. They are not from "Globo" and they have a different certificate of authenticity, from "Butterfield & Butterfield".
http://marcellorossi.info/TOSCloudMinersGuardHatGlovesTights.jpg

The phase two phaser and communicator could well be authentic, but it would take an expert to verify, which I of course, do not claim to be.

At this point I'm inclined to believe that everything coming from "Globo" is not orginal.

I'll probably try to sell everything as replicas.

 

[TrickyDickie]

Knock-offs.

I noticed that they didn't even take the time to check their spelling in the COA stuff....the ST VI phaser reads "Paramount Picures".

Here is a good page for the genuine Phase II communicator:

http://www.startrekpropauthority.com/2011/03/star-trek-phase-ii-communicator-1977.html?m=1

 

[drt]

I'm pretty sure the TMP tricorder is also a replica, as far as I know most of the little details weren't part of the mold but glued on doodads.

 

[Shaw]

I have the same question for @Shaw : in your opinion, do you think this one could be one of the two non-functioning ones?

The short answer is that it is not one of the original props. And given that, I figured you deserved an analysis of what was in the picture.


Laser Analysis

What is of more interest is where did these props come from. The communicator (for example) doesn't match props from TOS, Phase II or DS9, and is from before ENT, making it unlikely to have been part of any production of Trek.

The thing is, this seems a lot like the situation of the TOS Enterprise model on display at Paul Allen's Sci Fi museum. The owner of the model believed that it was a studio model (used in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations") and had a receipt from Viacom. It wasn't the studio model, but one of a half dozen custom built models using the molds that Jein had used to make the studio model.

Adding that story to what we are seeing with these props makes me wonder if these people at Viacom were playing a little fast and loose with the facts to sell items (either from their store or elements from their tours).

 

[drt]

Adding that story to what we are seeing with these props makes me wonder if these people at Viacom were playing a little fast and loose with the facts to sell items (either from their store or elements from their tours).

My guess is that Viacom sold off the replicas made for the various touring shows and other places that displayed props (I lived near a Paramount-branded theme park that displayed a number of props in little kiosks) with little in the way of documentation and it was more the people who purchased them that wanted them to be more than they actually were.