Heritage Auction - Greg Jein Collection Star Trek and many genre props and costumes October 14-15 2023 summary (3 Viewers)

[Nelson Au]

I thought I’d post this here as it might not be of interest to many.

This weekend was the Heritage Auction for the Greg Jein collection. Greg Jein was an Academy Awards nominated model maker and special effects technician known for building the mothership for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the effects for 1941and working on many of the ships for the Berman era Star Trek franchise. He was a life long Star Trek fan and with his industry insider access, he acquired a massive collection of props from the original Star Trek series as well as other TV shows of the time. His collection encompassed props and miniatures from films and TV series from the 1950’s to the 2000’s. He died last year and there were no instructions for the collection’s disposition. The extended family decided to sell the collection with help from Greg’s film industry friends.

His collection of costumes was also impressive from Star Trek to 2001: A Space Odyssey. There is no questioning the provenance of the items. I knew the Star Trek props are genuine as I’ve researched them for years. The surprise is the range and variety of the items. Plus one surprise filming miniature from Star Wars thought to be lost.

I was mainly interested in his collection of Star Trek TOS props. I had tracked all the items I was interested in as well as a couple of other things from other films. Below is a list I threw together to take inventory. I did not try to seriously bid, I tried one item via internet and was quickly out bid. I knew it was going to be way over my limit anyway. But I can dream. The prices below include the premium the auction house adds to each sale to get their cut. About 25% for the first $300,000.00. ( the dedicated Star Trek fans should be able to know what the props are from the names) I only tracked the Star Trek props, the auction had a treasure of costumes from Mirror Mirror to the dress uniforms Kirk wore and the wrap around tunic he wore. Many costumes were from the films as well.

If curious, for the entire listings, see here: https://entertainment.ha.com/c/sear...=hero-gregJeinCollection-viewLots-7278-090823

Prop	Selling price
Hero phaser	$187,500.00
Communicator 1	$150,000.00
Communicator 2	$100,000.00
Wah Chang Tricorder	$175,000.00
Arena Tricorder	$112,500.00
Universal translator	$61,125.00
The Cage Laser	$52,500.00
The Cage Communicator redressed as remote in Spock’s Brain	$21,250.00
Uhura earpiece	$32,500.00
Vulcan Lute	$40,000.00
The Teacher knowledge helmet Spock’s Brain	$42,250.00
Eymorg Controller bracelet Spock’s Brain	$4,750.00
Hero Klingon disrupter	$35,000.00
Eminian disruptor	$30,000.00
Ray Generator Spock Built (trident scanner)	$17,500.00
Desktop intercom (seen on Kirk’s desk, briefing room table and transporter console)	$16,250.00
Set one Collection of Android ID necklaces (I, Mudd)	$11,875.00
Set two Collection of Android ID necklaces (I, Mudd)	$10,625.00
Kelvin Belt Device Neural paralyzer - (By Any Other Name)	$10,625.00
Cuboctahedron - Yeoman Thomson reduced to- (By Any Other Name )	$46,250.00
Terran Empire agonizer	$8,750.00
Terran Empire dagger	$10,000.00
Portable computer data tape reader. Seen in Conscience of the King and Errand of Mercy	$8,750.00
Set of 15 computer data tapes, multi colored	$7,500.00
Anti-matter bomb detonator - Obsession	$6,875.00
Vian Device 1	$6,250.00
Vian Device 2	$6,000.00
Mortae mining tool	$6,000.00
Scalosian weapon	$10,312.50
Galileo filming miniature	$225,000.00
Botany Bay filming miniature	$200,000.00
Surak long range shuttle filming miniature Star Trek The Motion Picture	$57,500.00
Other notable items
Forbidden Planet blaster	$35,000.00
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - Admiral Nelson desktop Seaview model	$27,500.00
Star Wars Red One X-Wing with internal lights and servos working wings - thought to be lost. - a record sale!	$3,135,000.00
	$4,907,937.50

‘Star Wars’ X-Wing Fighter, Which Had Been Lost for Decades, Sells for Record $3.1 Million at Auction

The 20-inch model of an X-wing starfighter was used in filming the climactic space battle in 'A New Hope,' and according to Heritage Auctions it "just set the record for the most expensive 'Star Wars' screen-used prop sold at auction."

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[B-ROLL]

Somewhat ironically, I was thinking of the "ready-made" props created by/for Wah Chang for rental by DesiLu when it became obvious the union prop-makers at RKO/DeslLu were not able to produce the props needed for the show from the 1st pilot on ...

 

[Nelson Au]

There’s a story about Wah Chang who’s one of the heroes who helped make Star Trek work. Robert Justman hired him to help from his experiences on the Outer Limits working with Wah and Projects Unlimited. Because Wah was not Union, the Union guys was not having it and Wah was not paid for some work. So he destroyed the Romulan Bird of Prey model he built. That is an un-verified story, but it would explain why that model doesn’t exist.

 

[DaveF]

It seems like these prop auctions have spiked in getting attention / promotion online this year. I was looking at the two recent ones for BSG and The Expanse items. And then I saw what items were going for. Hundreds or thousands of dollars for prop coffee mugs!

Too many people with too much money to burn on this stuff. So I’m out. I’ve unsubscribed from the promo emails and can stop imagining buying such memorabilia.

 

[TravisR]

Star Wars Red One X-Wing with internal lights and servos working wings - thought to be lost. - a record sale!	$3,135,000.00

Someone stole that "lost" X-Wing decades ago and now someone else made $3 million from that theft. It's not like George Lucas or Lucasfilm or ILM or Disney need another $3 million but that's still kinda messed up.

 

[Nelson Au]

We don’t know the circumstances of how that X-Wing came into Greg’s possession. He worked in the special effects field. He knew all those guys at ILM and I suspect when the filming was over, they didn’t think anything of it. This was before the film was released. He likely asked for it. The Star Trek props were given to him by the property master after the series ended and I heard he traded props for other props he was interested in.

 

[Nelson Au]

It seems like these prop auctions have spiked in getting attention / promotion online this year. I was looking at the two recent ones for BSG and The Expanse items. And then I saw what items were going for. Hundreds or thousands of dollars for prop coffee mugs!

Too many people with too much money to burn on this stuff. So I’m out. I’ve unsubscribed from the promo emails and can stop imagining buying such memorabilia.

Dave, this seems to have been going on for sometime. I agree, the auctions have gone nuts. If some fans really wants something and they have some money, the sellers will want to get as much as they can.

 

[DaveF]

Dave, this seems to have been going on for sometime. I agree, the auctions have gone nuts. If some fans really wants something and they have some money, the sellers will want to get as much as they can.

I’m sure this isn’t new. But for whatever reason it seems (to me) these auctions have particularly broken into greater public awareness and marketing very recently.

 

[TravisR]

We don’t know the circumstances of how that X-Wing came into Greg’s possession. He worked in the special effects field. He knew all those guys at ILM and I suspect when the filming was over, they didn’t think anything of it. This was before the film was released. He likely asked for it.

I don't know who stole the X-Wing and I made sure to not say who stole it but it was stolen nonetheless.