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Sold! to the man dressed like Capt. Picard

Jon Skillings Editorial director
Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
Expertise AI, tech, language, grammar, writing, editing Credentials
  • 30 years experience at tech and consumer publications, print and online. Five years in the US Army as a translator (German and Polish).
Jon Skillings
2 min read

To get a scale model of the Starship Enterprise, you could go to Amazon.com with a $100 spending limit and still have lunch money left over. Or you could go to Christie's and plop down $132,000.

Star Trek

That was the price fetched by the venerable, Earth-bound auction house Thursday for a model of the Enterprise E as bidding began in a three-day sale of props from the movies and television shows. More remarkably, that was more than 10 times the presale estimate, and other objects also went for more than was expected.

Though much of the bidding is taking place online or by phone, bidders and spectators also used the opportunity to show up at Christie's New York in person and in full Starfleet regalia. Elsewhere in the state, meanwhile, a hard-working crew of fans and filmmakers is putting together a series of new episodes to follow on from the original 1960s series; at this writing, Blogma is unable to say how many might be playing hookey to get their hands on a tribble or two.

The sale is being streamed live, and rebroadcast, via the History Channel's Web site.

Blog community response:

"The high bids made me wonder just why people were willing to pay thousands of dollars for cast resin and foam. Successful marketing by Paramount? Do fans need to redecorate their homes? ...Is it a belief that their purchases will have value one or two generations from now?"
--SciAm Observations

"I wonder if the tech industry's productivity declined today as the grand Star Trek auction began in New York."
--Brier Dudley's blog

"So long story short, Christie's didn't realize how many nerds went on to be rich."
--Laureli on MySpace

"It looked like any other auction, until you noticed the guy with pointed Vulcan ears."
--Science Blog