Neat pic!Still have my tracer gun.
And here's me and some friends in 1982 keeping the spirit alive (I'm helm):
Fandom way, way back...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
Still have my tracer gun
And here's me and some friends in 1982 keeping the spirit alive (I'm helm):
Wow! How did you guys manage to get the real Bill Shatner??
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A few more tidbits...
A Sacramento Star Trek convention at Sac City College in late 1975..with a (radio controlled?)Horta plastering "No Kill I" every few feet..meeting James Doohan and Bruce Hyde. a wonderful costume contest..making fun of Space 1999 seeing Star Trek episodes projected on a big screen (Doomsday Machine and Mirror, Mirror)..buying Franz Joseph's technical manual there...making models of all the different starships in that manual using the AMT model.. fiber optic lighting some of those... visiting the "Federation Trading Post" in Berkeley.. man..some of these stories take me back to my Sacramento Star Trek Association for Revival days...
Guess I'm just crazy...
A Sacramento Star Trek convention at Sac City College in late 1975..with a (radio controlled?)Horta plastering "No Kill I" every few feet..meeting James Doohan and Bruce Hyde. a wonderful costume contest..making fun of Space 1999 seeing Star Trek episodes projected on a big screen (Doomsday Machine and Mirror, Mirror)..buying Franz Joseph's technical manual there...making models of all the different starships in that manual using the AMT model.. fiber optic lighting some of those... visiting the "Federation Trading Post" in Berkeley.. man..some of these stories take me back to my Sacramento Star Trek Association for Revival days...
Guess I'm just crazy...
You know, I was just looking at my Franz Joseph Tech Manual last night. I started laughing at a guy on craigslist who wanted $100.00 for his, knowing they rarely ask for more than $9.95 on E-bay. Until I remembered why it was one of very few collectibles I'd kept since the 70's. *sigh* [sarcasm]Yeah, I know how to detect the REAL collectible[/sarcasm]. (did I mention my fantastic condition 1st edition "Making Of..." can go for up to $7.00? Or how my still sealed second copy of the original AMT Bridge goes for $9.95 max?)
But the flip side is that I did get around to looking for and immediately finding my 70's Holy Grail... Bjo's Concordance for a handful of dirt!
Still have my tracer gun
And here's me and some friends in 1982 keeping the spirit alive (I'm helm):
Wow! How did you guys manage to get the real Bill Shatner??
.
Are sure thats not Jerry Mathers?
On topic.
I was a fan but not into organized fandom. Went to maybe one convention in the 1970s. I was was fun but not my cup of tea. Mostly I read the books, watched the reruns and discussed Star Trek with my friends. But we weren't the costumes and model types. Picked up Starlog magazine once in a while too. Went to a few more cons in the 80s. Mostly because I knew some people who ran various aspects of a local convention and I got in free because I did artwork for them. Can't recall the Cons name(I'm old), but it was in San Jose and was a decent sized operation. Met a few stars, listened to some nice stories and spent a little money. When the movies hit I was usually a first showing type. We'd get in line early to get the best seats. We went to a lot of genre films back then so we had it down to a science. Sat with a friend in a theatre when he was trying to set a record for the most viewings of STMP. That's about the "craziest" Trek related thing I've done.
I was a fan but not into organized fandom. Went to maybe one convention in the 1970s. I was was fun but not my cup of tea. Mostly I read the books, watched the reruns and discussed Star Trek with my friends. But we weren't the costumes and model types. Picked up Starlog magazine once in a while too. Went to a few more cons in the 80s. Mostly because I knew some people who ran various aspects of a local convention and I got in free because I did artwork for them. Can't recall the Cons name(I'm old), but it was in San Jose and was a decent sized operation. Met a few stars, listened to some nice stories and spent a little money. When the movies hit I was usually a first showing type. We'd get in line early to get the best seats. We went to a lot of genre films back then so we had it down to a science. Sat with a friend in a theatre when he was trying to set a record for the most viewings of STMP. That's about the "craziest" Trek related thing I've done.
Thanks Warped9 and the rest of you for wonderful stories about how to be a Star Trek fan back then when there were no Internet and not the same amount of Star Trek series, books, merchandise or even TV channels that we have today. Not to mention how to get in touch with other fans.
But you seem to have had a lot of fun back then too!
But you seem to have had a lot of fun back then too!
I've always wanted to have a command gold uniform with phaser and communicator for going to conventions, even into my current 40s.
Well, I've been to conventions and I have the very nice Art Asylum TOS phaser and communicator. But--*sigh*--sadly still no command uniform.
Strangely, though, in many ways fandom for me hasn't changed much. I still collect TOS stuff although I'm more discriminating now (particularly when you're spending your own cash as opposed to dad's
). I still draw starships and stuff even though the computer makes it much easier and more professional looking than I could ever imagine back then.
The computer has been a plus in other ways in that while my social circle of those interested in Trek remains small in my day-to-day life the internet has enabled me to connect with many like minded souls that I may likely never have met back in the day, particularly in that I was very introverted and shy then. That and the internet has opened up access to all manner of reference sources and news that were otherwise closed to me way back.
One big change is that I don't read Trek novels any more. Something has changed and the newer books--even the TOS ones--don't work for me anymore. The flip side is that I read much more non Trek science fiction than I used to. It's there I find the things I feel are missing in current Trek.
Well, I've been to conventions and I have the very nice Art Asylum TOS phaser and communicator. But--*sigh*--sadly still no command uniform.
Strangely, though, in many ways fandom for me hasn't changed much. I still collect TOS stuff although I'm more discriminating now (particularly when you're spending your own cash as opposed to dad's
). I still draw starships and stuff even though the computer makes it much easier and more professional looking than I could ever imagine back then.The computer has been a plus in other ways in that while my social circle of those interested in Trek remains small in my day-to-day life the internet has enabled me to connect with many like minded souls that I may likely never have met back in the day, particularly in that I was very introverted and shy then. That and the internet has opened up access to all manner of reference sources and news that were otherwise closed to me way back.
One big change is that I don't read Trek novels any more. Something has changed and the newer books--even the TOS ones--don't work for me anymore. The flip side is that I read much more non Trek science fiction than I used to. It's there I find the things I feel are missing in current Trek.
Yes, we did. But I must admit to a measure of angst as well. I took a lot of ribbing and ridicule in school for being into Star Trek through my teens. And it could also be a bit lonely when so few around other than myself shared my interest. Yet the Star Trek universe was a respite and sanctuary from many trials of youth. There I learned that ideas matter and I was introduced to so many new things.Thanks Warped9
But you seem to have had a lot of fun back then too!
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I was a little more fortunate since my teen years occurred during and immediately after the series ended. And unlike most geek/nerd stories, The Making of Star Trek played a direct role in one of my earliest sexual encounters. With a real live girl even! For some reason, probably the timing, being a Star Trek fan really wasn't much of a social detriment throughout my high school and college years.
But wait! There's an alternative! Lookup The Star Trek Experience's store in Vegas and mail order a very expanesive uniform styled long sleeve tee-shirt. Do it now before the next convention come to town!I've always wanted to have a command gold uniform with phaser and communicator for going to conventions, even into my current 40s.
Well, I've been to conventions and I have the very nice Art Asylum TOS phaser and communicator. But--*sigh*--sadly still no command uniform.
Back in the early 1970s, my brothers and I would play Star Trek in our living room.
We would put a big easy-chair in the center of the living room, and my oldest brother (he was probably about 12 or 13 at the time) would be Kirk. My other brother and I would sit in front of him at the long coffee table/helm & navigator console. We face the wall behind the couch and imagine that the big painting over the couch was the main view screen.
Sometimes I would take a walkie-talkie into our Garage/Ships's Engineering Room and be Scotty (accent and all).
We would put a big easy-chair in the center of the living room, and my oldest brother (he was probably about 12 or 13 at the time) would be Kirk. My other brother and I would sit in front of him at the long coffee table/helm & navigator console. We face the wall behind the couch and imagine that the big painting over the couch was the main view screen.
Sometimes I would take a walkie-talkie into our Garage/Ships's Engineering Room and be Scotty (accent and all).
That is really weird - I have an almost identical experience from my boyhood. In the basement of our house, my brother and playmates would set up the basement lounging room to be the bridge of the Enterprise. as with you, we had the one big easy chair, which put in the center of the area, became the captains chair. Also a long, black enameled coffee table put in front was the helm and navigation console. We used some of my dad's poker chips, which spread out over the table, made attractive control buttons in bright colors of red, white and blue. smaller swivel chairs placed at the appropriate points around the area were perfect as the crew station chairs. The captain's chair and helm faced the rear wall where my parents had hung an abstract art painting - this became the main viewscreen.
Other parts of the basement became other areas of the ship. The central area of the basement had a round table surrounded by more of the swivel chairs, this became the briefing room. A small bar at the back end of the basement, was a sickbay bed. The laundry room became the engine room, and the bathroom the transporter room. From the main basement area, a set of double doors opened up into the backyard, which became the arena for any planetside adventure.
I suddenly have an urge to grab a phaser and run out to the park...
You just jogged my memory a bit. Besides the garage, sometimes the laundry room was Engineering, with the washer and dryer being the engineering consoles (buttons to push and knobs to turn)
I have a recurring urge to phaser one of my district managers, and not on the stun setting. He's already stunned.
We'd probably get arrested as terrorists if we ran around with a phaser these days.
The big guy in the chair in my photo, and the guy behind the super-8 camera, both worked security at Balticon and/or shore Leave for many years. They had some good stories. And not Trek nerd stories - my pal Frank had his first threesome at Balticon, his first interracial fling, his first all-green girl...
The big guy in the chair in my photo, and the guy behind the super-8 camera, both worked security at Balticon and/or shore Leave for many years. They had some good stories. And not Trek nerd stories - my pal Frank had his first threesome at Balticon, his first interracial fling, his first all-green girl...
And not Trek nerd stories - my pal Frank had his first threesome at Balticon, his first interracial fling, his first all-green girl...
I used to love that convention. Weird as hell. In a good way.
There's a reason they call Baltimore "Charm City."
Now...this isn't me...I just found it somewhere and kept it for the sheer quantity of AWESOMENESS on so many levels that it contains.
And now I share it with you all...
Is that beautiful or what?
-Rabittooth
And now I share it with you all...
Is that beautiful or what?
-Rabittooth
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