Hey, all,
As most of you know, CBS decided to clear out the warehouse holding all the physical assets (except the museum artifacts) from Star Trek: the Experience back in May. At that time Propworx was commisioned to find and clean up any pieces deemed worthy of an auction. They also had a sale at the time for many large pieces that could not be easily transported. Several former STTE employees helped with the clean-up and identification process. You can find pictures of the event in Vernon's photobucket listed in one of the posts above.
Today, Aug. 8, 2010, they had the auction. Several pieces from the Experience were on display in the lobby area of the Creation Con at the Hilton. It was the first time I had seen them in person since the closing. I had been somewhat prepared for their condition by the above mentioned photos and stories from my friends who helped at the clean-up. While not in horrible condition, I was still struck by the obvious neglect that the items had been handled with. Scratches, broken plexiglass pieces, dents, etc. I'm forced to admit I got a bit misty. The good news is that the pieces sold for a bit more than Propworx thought they would. As and example, the two Quarks signs went for about $4700 and $5500. Propworx thought they'd get between $600 and $800 for them. Nice. I was glad to hear that there were people out there who thought enough of the old place to want to pay that much for a piece of it.
The other bit of good news is that the large Voyager and Enterprise refit models were bought up at the time of the May sale for The Tour and have since been refurbished for display. First stop; Valencia, Spain.
This was the last Creation Con for the Hilton. We also heard that the SpaceQuest Casino (built at the same time as The Experience) will be getting a complete remodel to eliminate the spacey aspects of it. I now have no more reason to go to the Hilton. Next year's Con will be at the Rio which I think is a much better fit for us wild and crazy Trekkies.
Hope to see you all there.