The Rare Treasures of Star Trek Props: A Conversation with [Name]

As I walked through the exhibit hall, my eyes landed on a stunning display case that caught my attention. The room was filled with an assortment of props and costumes from various films and television shows, but this particular piece stood out among the rest. It was a beautifully crafted dollhouse, adorned with intricate details and a charming miniature figurine inside. I couldn't help but wonder who had created such a masterpiece and what stories it held.

Suddenly, a voice behind me spoke up, "Ah, you've found the treasure of the day!" It was [Name], a renowned prop expert and collector. They invited me to take a closer look at the dollhouse and share its story with me. As I examined the piece more closely, [Name] began to regale me with tales of their experiences in the world of Star Trek props.

"I've been collecting and working on these pieces for over 20 years," [Name] explained. "I have a vast knowledge of the Star Trek franchise and its various incarnations. From the original series to the latest films, I've worked on projects that spanned decades." They gestured towards the dollhouse, saying, "This piece is one of my favorites. It's a great example of the attention to detail that goes into creating these miniature worlds."

As we chatted, [Name] revealed that they had acquired the dollhouse from a private collector who had owned it for many years. The piece was said to have been created by a talented artist who had poured their heart and soul into its design. "It's not just a pretty face," [Name] joked. "There's a lot of history behind this dollhouse, and I'm happy to share some of that with you."

As we continued to talk, I asked [Name] about the process of verifying the authenticity of their props and costumes. They explained that it was an ongoing effort, one that required constant research and attention to detail. "We work closely with the film studios and production companies to ensure that every piece meets our high standards," they said. "It's not just about getting the details right; it's also about capturing the essence of the character or scene."

One of the most fascinating aspects of [Name]'s work was their experience with rare and elusive props. They shared stories of phone calls from fans who claimed to have information about a specific piece, only to be proven wrong. "It's always a thrill when we receive a credible tip," they said. "We take it very seriously and do our due diligence to verify the authenticity of any given piece."

[Name] also spoke at length about their experiences working with actors and directors from various Star Trek productions. They recalled instances where actors would come by to examine their props, sometimes with great enthusiasm and other times with skepticism. "It's always a pleasure to see an actor who appreciates the craftsmanship that goes into these pieces," [Name] said.

As our conversation drew to a close, I asked [Name] about their favorite experiences working on Star Trek props. They reflected on the early days of the franchise, when collecting and restoring original props was a relatively new and exciting field. "Those were the days when everything felt fresh and exciting," they said wistfully. "It's not often that we get to work with such an iconic franchise, but it's always a privilege."

As I left the exhibit hall, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the opportunity to meet [Name] and learn about their incredible passion project. The dollhouse, now back in its case, seemed even more magical than before, a testament to the power of creativity and dedication.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enadam savage here in a warehouse full of movie props literally prop store brandon allenger  thank you guys so much for inviting me to your palace thank you it's like i i walk  around and we talk and then i just sort of wander away and wander down the aisles um  we do have a lot of props here yes and the ones in crates tend to be a lot of fun if it's in a  crate you know it's something a little bit special oh really that's that's a good i think that's a  good that's a good rule yeah a good rule of thumb is crates equals something cool something chunky  and yummy all right so this just came out of a crate and it's clearly an architectural model  um what film is this from so this is evil dead two no yeah and this is you know  we love when things turn up from the 70s from the 80s the early 90s this sort of older content  especially things that haven't been seen before so yeah it's one thing when pieces coming from  another collector because odds are a lot of the other hardcore collectors are aware that that  collector had it it's sort of a scene so there's like a set pool of content that everybody's aware  of and then every now and then a little light goes off on the radar something new shows up  that's very fun for us like when you get a phone call like this this is one of those those pieces  and it came from a guy who was part of the visual effects crew he recognized that it was  a special thing and it should be saved and he's had it in his garage for more than 30 years wow  um i'm looking at its construction which seems fairly basic i'm like some pieces of veneer  and some balsa the roofing is all patterned copper can't tell if they did the patterning them  patterning themselves but it looks just perfect functionally yeah and it's you know a lot of  the models that we would handle would be more like spaceships or aircraft or something like that like  you say architectural is the word it's interesting as a collectible but obviously this is a key  setting a key piece that plays quite a lot in in the film right well so this isn't a maquette this  is actually a shooting manager yes i understand it this is a shooting miniature specifically for  uh shots and sequences where the trees are all coming down and that sort of thing oh wow that is  so cool this is also like one of my favorite kinds of models to build there's something about like  gluing slats on a dollhouse kind of thing that just instantly makes you feel like you're about  12 years old right very traditional in a way i guess oh man i'm looking through the door and i  know the interior isn't dressed but it still looks recognizably creepy as like right from evil dead  yeah i don't know if what sort of functionality it has i mean i can see there's still some wiring  inside of it so maybe they had some sort of lighting effects rigged at some point oh yeah or  pyro that's the kind of wire i'd use for pyro okay maybe you're right maybe less smoke effect perhaps  but actually the wiring goes into it looks like it goes into the door oh no it just terminates  oh yeah there's something coming out here oh yeah there you go there's a light okay a lamp  oh man door light i love how they faked the log cabin look by gluing these right the ends of  the posts yeah yeah and this is real copper huh yeah you can see it here on the edges it's real  copper and i don't know it's i mean it's just a fabulous looking roof there's nothing like real  metal yeah you know you could use tur you could do this with styrene it would take twice as long  real metal just gives you all these great efficiencies right i like the the way it's  sort of dense and you get those textures to it and such yeah and i mean on the extreme end you've got  things like the uh mission impossible helicopter crash where the helicopter has been plated  and the plastic removed so that the plating dents like it's made of real metal yeah specifically oh  oh man here joey if you look through the front door you can see my big dumb facesometimes it's fun when things come in just to go through the process the the archaeology of it  to try to understand exactly not only what it was created for but what the different functionality  or the the sort of gags that are built into it are you know and what types of shots would they  have used for based on what you're seeing on the piece itself oh so now i'm looking i can  see a dimmer switch and two light bulb ports okay and back here we've got floorboards and wallpaper  so there is some interior detail there's interior detailing check this out there's  a wallpaper back here yep it looks like it's a little bit mouse eaten yeah um but you see the  the light bulbs ports over there and the floor is totally cut away so they can get access right  yeah yeah i assume they had to put that wallpaper there just in case they caught through the window  i guess yeah i love the screen porch too that is awesome dude it's creepy like the thing is is that  the volumes of the interior are reminding me of the movie because they're the correct volumes  and it's creeping me out the asymmetrical door here right well that's do i understand i  remember reading that in the film the sets were built with like the lines not perfectly parallel  just so you felt weird looking at it just to throw you off uh-huh yeah yeah what a masterpiece  dude this is great what uh i'm curious about how you guys would consider um  making this sort of more permanent would you guys build a base for this probably yeah i think  especially because the model itself may not have total structural integrity so i think if you can  get it onto a nice base that then serves as like a handling board i think that's good because you  know when we just took it out of the crate now obviously we're very gentle with it but you do  wonder how stable the whole thing is and that's one of the things that we try to do in general  is when we get access to a piece you want to set it up in such a way that it can be safely handled  looked at examined right and it's not always just about putting it on permanent display something  like this you're going to need a big environment to display it in so sometimes it's like how can we  sort of make this transportable and sometimes it starts with a crate it's like this needs a crate  and and it needs to live in its crate to make sure that it is protected well and also who who  where is someone going to display such a thing is it going to be under a coffee table are you going  to hang it up on the wall i could imagine any any one of them i think they need a cave like yours  yes then you can find space you need a cave and you need a space within the cave well i'd be happy  to display this for a while we'll let you know we'll let you know which option is coming up then  that is a great piece and i love that thing that like occasionally stuff shows up and you know how  rare it is because you've never seen another thing it's the most fun is when we get a phone call from  somebody and you can immediately tell the story's credible because we get a lot of non-incredible  phone calls also but when you go okay this is very credible person definitely worked on  the film straight to imdb yes their name is there they've sent me a picture the picture looks right  i have a good feeling about this let's get out the blu-ray let's try to screen match it that's  that's the fun side of our work for sure where all that information checks out i was going to ask you  how do you know someone's not credible but i don't think we want to give that away well yeah but it  does happen not a lot but it's a yes it's a little bit of a dark side something this is zone has been  yeah i know especially with those early star trek props there's been a couple of forgers that  messed up the whole thing yes yeah it's it's it's it can be a bit messy and you know that's why we  always take a lot of pride in the authenticity in the the vetting that we do of our content the  research that we do and ultimately the coa that we issue with everything yeah and the fact that coa  means something yeah it's a great piece wow it's really exciting to see it up close and in person  do you ever how much how many times do you get to actually  uh get a director or actor from a production to see one of these pieces up close it's somewhat  rare to be honest i mean where it happens the most is that events like comic con which obviously  we haven't done for a while at the moment but comic con you would get people coming by  you get a lot of crew folks people like yourself who i worked on that i worked on that but every  now and then you would get an actor who would come in and look at some things and sometimes they're  excited and sometimes they're not it's just you know i mean what's your experience with that do  they care yeah it depends it depends on the actor and the movie i asked gary oldman um do you still  like putting on costume because you've worn so many of my favorite costumes and he said you know  you know it puts me in character but after 30 40 years the bloom gets off the rose of putting on  an elaborate costume every morning yeah they've done it yeah at the same time i'm sure russell  crowe keeps all of his costumes because there's so much character built into every one of them and he  has an affection for that yeah feels i mean i guess it's something of a personality thing but  if i was in that position absolutely i'd want it you know there's a shot from uh there's a behind  the scenes shot from 310 to yuma in which ben foster is talking about wearing that great outfit  of his that white leather dirty weird gunslinger costume and he's like i am in heaven yeah yeah  great character she's such a great great character yeah good movie too yeah wonderful film brandon  thank you so much man this is the best doll house i've ever seen hey always good to see you and  happy to pull out some treasures when you come come on by dude all right see you guys next time\n"