Alec Peters has one of the finest collections of Star Trek props and costumes in the galaxy. From Romulan Disruptors to classic Tricorders to the various styles of Vulcan robes, Peters either has one in his collection or know where to find one and how much you should pay. His Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction blog is a major online hub for folks into such things, and a way of sharing his knowledge and collection with the federation at large.
"I bought my first prop from Profiles in History in 1996," Peters told The Prop Blog. "It was a Judge Dread Lawgiver pistol from the Stalllone movie. I then bought a screen-used Captain America costume from the Reb Brown 1980′s TV movie on eBay. I am a huge Captain America collector and so that piece is special, despite the movie being so bad!
I then really dove into the hobby during the 2006 Christie's Star Trek auction. I bought two costumes at the auction, two more right after, and I then started my blog."
The next step was turning his obsession into a career. Eventually, Peters moved from Atlanta to Hollywood to launch Propworx, a company that helps studios make cash by selling costumes and props. Interestingly, Propworx sometimes gets involved while shows and movies are still in production. How? By "ensuring the correct number of props and costumes are created and used on-camera to preserving and cataloging those assets to ensure they are available after the production. For Battlestar Galactica, Propworx created an additional $ 200,000 in auction receipts in just one month of production." It's a strange form of product placement where the product's use in a film is an advertisement for that precise thing, as opposed to a mass-produced item. By making and using yet another uniform rank pin a BSG episode, the studio creates an aura of authenticity around the pin with the intent of selling it later.
Want a piece of the action, literally? Propworx has just launched a new science fiction auction on eBay with nearly 300 items from BSG, Iron Man, Aliens, Star Wars, X-Men, and other shows and films. Now is your chance to own a segment of a Stargate, an Iron Man Mark III costume (with battle wounds!) or even my pick seen at left, an Alien Queen leg from Aliens! Starting bid on that lovely appendage: $1500.
(Peters photo from Trekspace)
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