Original Star Trek Shuttlecraft Auctioned For $70K

Trekkies recently had an opportunity to own a cool piece of television history: The Galileo NCC-1701/7 shuttlecraft prop of the U.S.S. Enterprise that appeared in the original Star Trek series in the 1960s was sold in an online auction.

The lifesize prop vehicle, which is pretty beat up judging by the photo, commanded a last-second high bid of about $70,000 from a group called the “Galileo Restoration” who plan to restore it in time to go on tour for the 50th anniversary of Star Trek in 2016 according to London’s Daily Mail. It may later wind up permanently located in a museum.

The group plans to solicit for donations for the restoration which is expected to be very expensive.

Kiko Auctioneers of Ohio handled the bidding. Cantonrep.com explains:

The 24-foot-long, 9-foot-tall shuttle had been acquired by an Akron-area collector several years ago, and it has remained in storage there. The partially-restored Galileo NCC-1701/7, shuttlecraft of the U.S.S. Enterprise, was offered in an 11-day online auction by Kiko Auctioneers.

The Akron collector, who presumably beamed up a nice profit in the transaction, is said to have acquired the fake shuttlecraft–the largest prop used in the series–in the 1980s for $3,000 and started but evidently never completed fixing it up.

Bornrich.com provides some additional history:

This shuttlecraft prop sat on the movie lot for years after the Star Trek TV series was cancelled and fell into disrepair. However, the second owner did minor restoration work and displayed the prop on several events. The current owner purchased the prop and moved using a special oversized trailer from Hollywood, CA back to Ohio for restoration.

Even if you were a die-hard Star Trek fan, would you ever pay that kind of money for a prop from the show?