This is an excellent thread...thanks to all involved! I started a thread late last year that asked if anyone would be interested in signing a petition to ask Bezo to donate the refit model to the Smithsonian. The response was, unfortunately, quite negative; most that responded felt the model wasn't nearly as important as the TOS model and therefore didn't deserve the effort. I believe the model to be an important part of film history that deserves to be fully restored and put on protected display for all to see. It galls me that a billionaire is hoarding something that truly belongs to everyone just because he won an auction for it.
