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Fans bid for Star Trek bible
19/08/2006 16:07 - (SA)
New York - Star Trek fans are getting a new chronicle of the enormously popular franchise with the release of a 500-page catalogue of the memorabilia next week.
The catalogue is to be auctioned off in Manhattan this autumn.
The splashy two volumes feature 4 000 items - from a costumer's clipboard to a model of the starship Enterprise - and is estimated to sell for as much as $35 000 at the three-day auction at Christie's in October.
"People are flipping out over the catalogue," said Cathy Elkies, Christie's director of special collections.
She was speaking from Las Vegas, where "Trekkies" have gathered for the annual Star Trek Convention.
"It's an amazing visual journey, really more of a reference bible chronicling 40 years of Star Trek," said Elkies.
The catalogue is written by Michael and Denise Okuda, authors of the Star Trek Encyclopedia. They also worked on the Star Trek television shows and films.
Auction estimates could soar
With colour photos, extensive footnotes, commentary, anecdotes and quotes, the coffee table-worthy tome is limited to a run of 10 000 and is pre-selling at $90.
Most of the items on auction in October will be models and miniatures, costumes and props.
Prices start as low as $100, so fans can at least dream of scoring an item.
But prices at memorabilia auctions can soar.
Elkies said the value of objects with such a devoted fan base was notoriously difficult to gauge: "We don't factor in that emotional fury generated around this kind of material."
Past auction estimates for items owned by pop-culture icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy have been far off the mark. Often winning bids reach 10, even 100 times, the pre-sale projections.
Given the strong interest in the sale, Christie's has instituted a lottery for admission to the auction. The application deadline is September 15.
- Reuters
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South Africa
