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Trekkies live long, prosper, spend millions at auction

NEWS RELEASE CHRISTIE'S ************************* 40 years of Star Trek: The Collection reaches a galactic total of $7.
StarTrekFlute
NEWS RELEASE

CHRISTIE'S

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40 years of Star Trek: The Collection reaches a galactic total of $7.1 million at Christie's New York

Total more than doubles pre-sale expectations

Enterprise-D model fetches $576,000 - a new world auction record for Star Trek memorabilia

NEW YORK, Oct. 7 - This week, fans and collectors from across the world converged at Christie's in New York to pay homage to Star Trek and take part in a unique three-day 40th Anniversary auction event that celebrated one of the most popular franchises in television and movie history.

The extraordinary sale, that featured 1,000 lots of
never-before-released official Star Trek contents from the CBS Paramount Television studios, offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a model, costume, or prop from the fabled archives.

The auction totalled a stunning $7,107,040 and was 100 percent sold.

Virtually every lot exceeded its catalogue estimate and the auction total more than doubled pre-sale expectations.

Saleroom attendees, some in intergalactic costume, battled it out not only against the banks of determined phone-bidders, but also against hundreds of online buyers who were utilizing the recently-launched Christie's LIVE(R) technology to fantastic effect.

Among the most expensive lots, models dominated the three-day proceedings.

Nine made over $100,000 each, including an incredible $576,000 for a 78-inch long model of Starship Enterprise-D, used extensively in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series, and starring in Star Trek
Generations
the first Next Generation movie.

A notable costume highlight was Dr. McCoy's space suit from the original series episode The Tholian Web, which realized $144,000 and was the fourth most expensive lot of the sale; and prop highlights included Picard's Ressikan flute [shown] from The Inner Light, one of the most memorable episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

It fetched $48,000.

Cathy Elkies, director of special collections at Christie's says, "This unprecedented collection has catapulted Christie's across a new frontier. Christie's remains the leader in iconic collections at auction, and has also proven the universal appeal of its recently-launched Christie's LIVE(R) technology."

John Wentworth, executive vice president, communications, CBS Paramount Television, says: "The ongoing passion and dedication of fans and collectors worldwide has impressed us yet again. We were thrilled to be able to bring them tangible, coveted pieces from our beloved Star Trek and we are grateful to those who participated. They now own Trek history and have made this auction a huge success."

With participation from Asia, Europe, Australia, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East, the sale was a truly global event, and was streamed live in its entirety on the History Channel website - and the website plans to re-play the auction next week.

The two-volume Christie's catalogue will be available at a reduced price of $60 for a limited period immediately after the sale - and can be ordered at Christies.com

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