I don't recall the specifics, but there is something known as (?) the
law of large props. Someone will know this. It says, roughly, that the larger the sci-fi prop, the less sought-after it will be when production wraps. Portable
Star Trek treasures grew legs and walked away in 1969. The
communicators were stolen outright, as were the precious
music score master tapes (which thankfully were later rescued by Neil Norman). By contrast, the big stuff had to be given away.
According to my notes, Paramount gave the Galileo mockup to the Braille Institute of L.A., who didn't want it, so they gave it to a Roger Hiseman of Palos Verdes for his son to play with in their front yard. When it got dirty and disgusting, Hiseman sold it off, and it changed hands several more times over the years. Outdoor living was hard on the mockup, and it's been through at least three restorations. For the owners, it's been kind of a
white elephant.
An even bigger example: the 55-foot, 10-ton Titanic miniature from
Raise the Titanic. Nobody wanted it, so it sat outdoors and decayed for decades in Malta, where the fx scenes had been filmed.
The spacecraft mockup from
Planet of the Apes ended as a battered road sign in Kanab, Utah, proclaiming "Four Seasons Inn - Family Restaurant." There must be a lot of other great props that never got a place of honor in retirement.
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