And it appears you can get it for a reasonable price too!
Trek’s Of The Trade
It may not be the final frontier, but you can see it from there.
And that may be enough to send rabid fans to either the Big Apple or their computers this fall.
That’s when famed auction house Christie’s is set to offer a one-of-a-kind lot of material that’s never been on the market before – some of the original props and costumes from the various incarnations of “Star Trek”.
Paramount Television Studios needs to get rid of the iconic items that are taking up space in its vaults and will put more than 4,000 TV and movie mementos up for grabs to the highest bidders between October 5th and 7th.
So what can you beam up if you have enough bucks?
Capt. Kirk’s uniform is expected to fetch among the highest prices. Jean-Luc Picard’s jumpsuit won’t be far behind.
Or you can pay a little less and get Spock or Uhura’s Starfleet garb from “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”.
There’s a miniature reproduction of the Enterprise from the film “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country,” which was used as part of a special effects shot to show the ship travelling through space. That could fetch $15,000-25,000 alone. (All figures in US funds)
And a recreated version of Kirk’s captain’s chair from the 1996 “Deep Space Nine” episode called "Trials and Tribble-ations” is expected to be worth $10,000-15,000 when the gavel bangs down.
…
But you don’t have to be rich to be able to kling on to something you really covet.
A 10-inch Resikkan non-playing prop brass flute used by Picard in the “Next Generation” episode “The Inner Light” could be music to your ears for about $300.
Crud. This is what we should have bought Dale. It would’ve been
an excellent entry in the C&F Hall of Fame.
EDIT: I just looked at Christie’s online tour of the collection, and
they must have updated the info. The Ressikkan Flute is estimated
at $800-$1000, which seems more likely to me.
I’m willing to bet it goes for $1500-$2000. Maybe more. Think about what O’Riordans have been going for…
The only thing that might keep the price down a bit is the fact that it can’t be played, but still, I’m betting there’s a rich fan out there somewhere willing to THOUSANDS for that thing.
Methinks there is an opportunity here for some enterprising (pun intended) whistle maker. Why not make a playable whistle that looks just like the Ressikkan flute? Any whistle smiths out there willing to try it? It might help hold the Crystal People at bay. Whatever happened to them anyway?
I had the same thought, but on second thought it’s probably not a great idea. Hollywood studios are VERY protective of their properties, so unless the flute was sold with full rights to use it in any way whatsoever the buyer chooses, the studio would probably sue anyone who tried to make and sell copies. Those rights would probably apply ONLY to the buyer, so the whistlemaker would have to find the winner of the auction and negotiate for those rights.
As an example of how vicious Hollywood can be about these things.. a number of years back, there was a local bar/club around here called Mickey’s Mousetrap. The logo did not in any way resemble Mickey Mouse, nor did the place use Disney images in any way. However, the Disney people got wind of the place and threatened to sue the owners and they eventually simply closed the bar.
I guess we’ll have to form a secret society, pledged to keep the secret of the REAL Ressikkan flutes forever hidden. We’d meet in caves and old buildings in the dead of night, arriving cloaked in robes and hoods. We could call ourselves something cool like The Priory of Scion… oh wait, that whole idea is already taken.
Well, I wouldn’t say that, since this auction is thru Christies. Like I said, I could be wrong, however I suspect more than one exists, and I’ll bet someone “important” ended up with the original prop used on screen. My guess is that 1 or more “re-creations” were made or comissioned by the studio somewhere along the line - could be for any number of reasons, so I don’t doubt it came from Paramount or whichever studio it is.
But again, I could be mistaken.
Anyone have the episodes and related movie on DVD and want to have a look?
Does anyone else find it strange that the instrument doesn’t play? I mean, the whistle is among the simplest form of wind-blown instruments in the world and to go through the trouble to make such a nice looking prop, how much harder would it be to make the thing sound? Hollywood could’ve contacted hundreds of people who could make a nice looking whistle- I mean “Ressikan Flute”- that played at least as well as a manufactured cheapie.
Also, if I remember correctly the thing was used in an episode by Picard playing Frere Jaques (wow, such a difficult tune for that advanced civilization) to accompany a woman playing a fictitious rollout keyboard (is that up for auction too)? I could understand the keyboard not playing but the whistle? I find it silly.
I don’t find it strange, propmakers aren’t woodwind makers, and hollywood has little need for “reality”, since they can fill in any blacks with the aid of computers.
Hmm, can’t make enough out in the picture for it to be helpful. Brass tarnishes quite a bit over time (you know that), so it’s not a lack of shine that set me off. I don’t remember the sides of the block being silver against a brass body. I also don’t remember the tone holes being silver, but I might not have seen them from the camera angles and lighting that were used. Something else seems “off” about it as well. But then, I never really paid that much attention to it anyway, I saw the episodes, but I’m not the sort of obsessive fan who really pays attention to this sort of stuff.
That’s what I was saying, I don’t remember it being two toned. I thought it was either solid brass or solid silver. I also did not pay that close attention though, my memory comes from watching the episodes with my Dad over ten years ago. I just remember it being shiny and having a tassle. Maybe when it was used in the movie it wasn’t tarnished and the “shinyness” of it made it harder to distinguish the two metals from each other.
OK, so are any C&F’ers planning to submit a bid? It would be way cool if THE Ressikan flute ended up in the C&F family. Talk about a grand addition to the WhOA collection. However, since we are all WhOA-poor, I guess it will end up in the hands of a 40-year old computer programmer from Canton who still lives in his parent’s basement.
Thinking back on the copyright discussion earlier in this thread, I wonder if owning the flute would entitle one to reproduce it? Knowing lawyers, I’d guess not but…
