I'm off to the Star Trek Exhibit in Blackpool, UK

[Seven of Five]

So I'm just waiting for my friends to pick us up and we're off to Blackpool, the perfect place for a getaway for the day with sleazy fun in a place stuck in a bit of a timewarp. I love Blackpool.

The Star Trek Exhibit wasn't something that was top of my list of things to do this year, but my two friends love Star Trek so I thought we may as well go. I would have loved to have gone to my first Trek convention or something, but we can also go the zoo today, the arcades, and of course the illuminations.

From what reviews I've seen, I'm a fan of Star Trek, which will help apparently. YMMV and all that. There are some exhibits inside that have props from the shows, and then there are also some bits that have been created there, such as the bridge of the Enterprise (photo op?) I'm hoping it's worth the visit.

Has anyone else been? What have your experiences been like?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Lucky you. I'm off to work.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

There's an exhibit in Blackpool??

 

[Seven of Five]

I hope so otherwise I'll be walking around somebody's living room for £12.50.

 

[Ethros]

I went in early August, there was another thread I posted in about it, so I'll just copy & paste what I put in there-


I live just under a two hour drive from Blackpool, I would probably say if you live further away than that it's not really worth it. But I had a day off with nothing at all to do, really nice weather, and I've never actually even been to Blackpool before so thought why not. Therefore I made use of the day and got to have a little look round the town and walk up the beach, go up the Tower, etc. The town itself is a bit run down I suppose, and fair to say there were plenty of "characters" walking about.


The reason I'd say don't make too much of an effort to go is you're over and done with in well under an hour, I think it was maybe 50 minutes tops I was in there, and I was taking my time having a good look at everything and reading all the information stuff. And £15 I thought was also pretty pricey for what you got, I'd say it should be a tenner tops.



So one of the main first things is a random selection of costume exhibits from across the franchise. This to me was the best thing as I've never been to a convention or anything like that before, so to see such memorable things like this up close and be really able to examine the detail was awesome. Shinzon's outfit from Nemesis stood out for me, along with the classic Klingon and Romulan uniforms and the ENT uniforms too. Some of them were looking pretty worn out though, but I suppose that's just degradation over time and not really the exhibition's fault.

Next was just pictures of all the Enterprise's and info on their launch dates, captain's etc. And later on were big cast shots of all 6 casts (including JJTrek) and who they play, their ranks, positions etc. Both these things were nice but fairly filler.

Then there's a selection of random props, some of which are cool and neat to see, some not so much. There's a transporter bay replica, and near the end a TOS bridge "replica." Which again as I've never been to a con was really cool, but the back wall is just a picture, the only things actually "real" are the Captain's chair and nav & con positions. So yeah it was quite surreal and awesome to sit in that seat (you can take as many pictures as you want, it was dead when I went.) but just saying don't be expecting a total full bridge mock up.

Then there's a few posters of the three JJverse movies and then you're done and into the gift shop, where the prices are most amusing! £30 each for the Eaglemoss ship models, when they were £10 each on release and still are on their website. And no accompanying magazine either.



So overall I'm glad I went and enjoyed it a lot while it lasted, I can live with the price and had a nice little day out around it. But if you were going to Blackpool just for that, especially from far away, I think you may be somewhat disappointed.

 

[Seven of Five]

Yeah I think that was a pretty fair assessment. We were already in Blackpool for the day so it was fine to just go and see it, but I do agree that the price was a bit steep for what was about an hour for us. £10 would be more reasonable but that's Blackpool for you, and I imagine they see it as a way to gouge Trek fans as well as tourists.

I took plenty of photos anyway, and I enjoyed looking at all of the uniforms from different films and series. One of my favourites was seeing the old El-Baz shuttle from TNG that had been signed by many of the TNG, DS9 and VOY cast. I also noticed Bruce Boxleitner and Mira Furlan from Babylon 5 had signed it which made me smile. The shuttle apparently has been a prop for many years at European conventions.

The bridge set and the transporter room set were a lot of fun. They weren't amazingly accurate, but the picture they took of me on the the transporter has a beaming effect to make me disappear, and then on the bridge we all took turns in the different seats.

There were also a few more props used in the show towards the end, and around this area there was a lot of original artwork. A lot of this was a wonder to look at, and the gift shop was too. And no I didn't buy anything.

Overall I'm glad I went. Lots of photos taken and I nearly killed my phone battery.