Hello, I ran across this message board looking for help with some (hopefully) ST movie props I just picked up. I aquired them from an estate sale of someone who supposedly worked on the set of the early movies. There is 8 insignia as seen on the chests of the crew of the Enterprise, all cast from metal, plated in gold and painted with enamel. The story I got was this person held on to a bunch after the completion of the filming. Is there anyone who can authenticate these or help me with identification? If these are the real deal, it would be pretty danged cool! Ill post some pics shortly. Thanks!
Help needed with movie props!
- Thread starter popeye88
- Start date
Dangit , I should've gotten the name. Ill go back to the house and try to get some more info... were these heavily reproduced? I can't find any others on the net like these. These are plated, then painted. The other ones I've seen are all paint. Or resin. I think they may just be the real deal!
Sorry -- that is just a commercially available "costume" pin.
I can't tell the difference from a cursory look at those photos. Is it a commercial replica because the back has traditional clasp-pins or something? Like the kind used to secure other TREK fan badges and pins to clothing?
Was the person listed in the films' credits?
I am having deja vu, as a similar request was posted right here a few years ago, and we debated then if the insignias used, in ST II to "Generations", were all made in two pieces or not, and how many had to be made later to match the ones originally produced for ST II.
These do look like reproduction casts, not screen-used insignias. Several companies had official licenses to create screen-identical copies. More recently, the Christie's auction and the "It's a Wrap!" eBay auctions sold quite a few of the genuine insignias, both on and off uniform jackets. Someone kept eight more? Doubtful.
Alright, I returned to the house Saturday and spoke to the mans niece as they were clearing out the house and selling more stuff via yard sale. Hr did indeed work under contract to paramount to make the props... she said she wasn't sure if he ever worked on an actual set, and declined to give me a name. She then sold me a bunch more of the insignia that she had found in various stages of completion. Included in the purchase was a few of another style (TNG? 2 Piece with ©pp on the back) and a set of earrings. She told me he also had some molds in the attic but they weren't for sale. Ill post pics of the new stuff tonight!
I mean no disrespect whatsoever, but I'm happy to tell you that my dead uncle also made props, if you'll buy some from me.
The point is that all of these things have been circulating since TOS. With the rise of eBay, provenance is more important than ever. There's been quite an industry in "real" TOS communicators, for example, that are quite fake. They're so good that collectors have built histories of every single hero communicator seen on-screen, to sort out what's authentic and what's not.
You may have the real deals. But you won't be able to get top dollar for them unless you have proof. It doesn't matter what any of us think here.
Good luck! And I mean it. You're caught in a sticky situation.
If they have ©pp on them, they were probably commissioned for Lincoln Enterprises mail order company, or perhaps New Eye Studio, Star Tech, or any number of possibilities. Lincoln also sold earrings.
Screen-used props don't need ©pp to be inscribed on them. Licensed tie-in merchandise does.
She can't make more if she sold you those.
