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STAR TREK AUTOGRAPHS

The 1950s and 60s were decades when Americans were fascinated with all things involving space travel. With the advent of sending men into orbit this increased the interest. In 1966 Gene Roddenberry created the television Sci-Fi adventure Star Trek. It was not an overnight success by any means. Syndication actually put it on the map since it attracted younger non-prime time viewers. Early Star Trek "conventions" were underway almost from the beginning with dedicated fans (mostly younger) showing their support. After the series was cancelled a cartoon series Star Trek: The Animated Series was created with all the major cast except for Walter Koenig providing voices. The lack of Koenig was apparently apparently a cost saving measure. Star Trek became my favorite Sci-Fi show surpassing my previous favorite of Lost in Space. The series expanded to several movies with many of the original stars in the same roles.

Many Star Trek collectors concentrate on the seven or eight major actors/actresses that had recurring roles on the show. For my own collection I tend to expand that (as I tend to do with all my collections) to include some somewhat minor characters and also favorite guest stars. The ones included below are my idea of a good collection.

Unlike most on AML I tend to dislike multi-signed pieces this is due in part to the fact that I do not frame ans display. I prefer the notebook method. That is simply a matter of personal preference many friends have great framed "walls" of autographs. My list for "major" autographs are the first seven the remainder I like to have since they had identifiable roles on the show. The number after the name is the number of episodes according to imdb.

William Shatner (79) Capt. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy (80) Lcdr. Spock
DeForrest Kelley (76) Lcdr. Dr. McCoy
James Doohan (66) Lcdr. Scott (One is credit only)
Nichelle Nichols (70) Lt. Uhura
George Takei (52) Lt. Sulu
Walter Koenig (36) Lt. Chekov
Majal Barrett (36) Nurse Chapel/computer voice
Grace Lee Whitney (8) Yoeman Janice Rand
John Winston (11) Lt. Kyle
Eddie Paskey (60) Lt. Leslie/others
David L. Ross (9) Lt. Galloway/others
Sean Morgan (7) Lt. O'Neill/others
Paul Baxley (10) Security/others

As for guests I merely add ones that were personal favorites of mine. Spock's parents played by Mark Lenard and Jane Wyatt are examples. John Fiedler, Elisha Cook, Jr.,William Schallert, Lee Bergere, William Campbell, Bruce Hyde, Stanley Adams, Roger Carmel, Ian Wolfe, Ken Lynch, Byron Morrow, James Gregory and many others are on my list.

As a collector I am more interested in the signature than the photograph it is on. While I like to have them on Star Trek items is not a necessity for me.

Tags: DeForrest, Doohan, George, James, Kelley, Koenig, Leonard, Nichelle, Nichols, Nimoy, More…

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 9, 2017 at 9:45am

Yes... there are known forgery styles that you can attribute to certain sources and you just know where they came from based on the signature look alone.

It's always a problem when quantities of signatures have a distinctive atypical look and fit a certain pattern and come from a unique source and they could NOT be the result of a mass one-time signing, e.g., Michael Jackson, Neil Armstrong, Elvis, The Beatles, etc etc.

However, when they are modern celebrities known for being available for mass paid signings, it's not necessarily as damning.

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Permalink Reply by Charley on October 9, 2017 at 3:35pm

And this "large batch" point is precisely why I believe these are not authentic, Steve. As a collector who has obtained as many as a dozen Shatner autographs in a single session at some of the many appearances he has made over the past two decades, what does it say that I have not seen him sign his name in the fashion shown with the questioned item on any occasion, not once? The very fact that he signs his name as you correctly state, with a great deal of variation, underscores the fact that Bill Shatner autographs are indeed not cookie cutter. He did exhibit some consistency in his commercial signings with Scoreboard and Creation Entertainment in the late 90's, typically partnering with Nimoy and for some items, Deforest Kelley or Ricardo Montalban, and also on the voluminous limited edition full cast photos, but once again, do you ever see the style questioned here in any of those pieces? I certainly haven't.

Speaking of Creation Entertainment, look at the results of their sales on ebay. They have a rock solid reputation built on years of conducting conventions and contracting with the various cast members for signed pieces. You will not see their Shatner/Nimoy combos going for $80-$100. $150-200 is the norm for those. Long time collectors like myself recognize the quality of those pieces, and no TPA sticker is required for that recognition.

Here are two other "foods for thought" on this. One, can examples of the signatures I have questioned be found in Al Wittnebert's study of Star Trek autographs? There's an invaluable resource for any beginning collector.

Secondly, we all would agree that each and every autograph should be judged on its own merits, and therefore what I am posing with this final point is not about casting judgement on any particular piece. But, again, food for thought--Perhaps you have heard that as many as 90% of all Star Trek autographs offered online are fakes. Says who, right? But, with that estimate in mind, conduct a quick search of Shatner/Nimoy signed pieces on ebay, and see which signature styles will come up in overwhelming numbers.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 10, 2017 at 10:17am

@Charley - Thank you for your challenging and reasoned argument.

In the past day, I have connected with a few contacts -- people well-known and respected in the hobby. I have learned more about the questioned Shatner + Nimoy SPs and even the alleged backstory behind them. I asked people in confidence for any info they had, so I am sorry I cannot share more detail than that.

Suffice it to say, I have lost any confidence I had in these pieces.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on October 10, 2017 at 10:52am

Thanks for the information Steve.

Permalink Reply by Charley on October 10, 2017 at 5:23pm

Sorry, Steve, but to clarify......are you stating that those hobbyists you have contacted shed additional light on the authenticity (or in my view, lack thereof) of the items that have been questioned here? Have the concerns I and others have expressed been confirmed?

Thank you for sharing at least the fact that you have reached out to others on this matter. Nevertheless, I would hope that a path to providing more information for the larger collecting community exists, since if I am in fact interpreting this situation correctly, others who may have had knowledge pertaining to the offering of spurious Star Trek autographs have for some reason remained silent all the while collectors spend hard earned money on the countless examples of these pieces that, as has been noted here, have made their way into some reputable dealer catalogs and/or are sporting TPA labels.

Please kindly clarify in the event that I am not reading this accurately....

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 10, 2017 at 5:58pm

@Charley - Yes... my losing confidence in these pieces means the concerns you raised have been reinforced by others.

There is no smoking gun or "evidence" to share. But several other credible people I know -- who know the hobby and these celebs habits very well -- independently reached the same conclusion. Case closed in my mind.

The backstory behind these pieces are they are allegedly "private stock" from a now defunct show promoter. That is how they have landed in the inventory of otherwise credible dealers. Some honest people believe that story. Other reputable people do not.

Some of these were likely approved by the various TPAs in the past when the "story" was fresh and more believable. A zillion Shatner + Nimoy SPs later, people will re-evaluate. It's very possible they would not pass now.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on October 10, 2017 at 6:09pm

Is there any indication of the original source of these? i would doubt it is the eBay seller since I believe he mainly buys collections. What I wonder about is are these limited to dual signed or are there problematic single signed too? If I recall correct there were some single signed photos on AWA along with the dual. Just am not sure if they were the same source or not. Never saved screenshots of those.

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 11, 2017 at 6:57am

@Scott Paul - The original source is supposed to be the private stock of a defunct show promoter. It is unclear if it truly sourced back to the promoter or a 3rd party claiming to have obtained it from the promoter.

From what I understand, these first surfaced in the early 2000s.

Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on October 9, 2017 at 4:11pm

People who stand in line and pay the big money to, at very least, witness the likes of Shatner, Nimoy, Hamill, Fisher etc signing their item, tend to complain about the rush to get you thru the line, or the lack of personal interaction with the celeb. Yet in reality the person paying full price for a single item or even a handful of items is really getting the best the celeb does put on paper.

The promoters and dealers who cut the side deals or private hotel room signings at these events, sometimes get the "rush to get em done quick" graphs. There is certainly a correlation between one item at a time being placed before the signer and nicer signatures as compared to the laying out of hundreds of items for a signing and uglier rushed graphs.

Just about every celebrity will cut a side deal for someone asking for hundreds of graphs, the dealer/promoter will get a better per-piece price, but they will also have to settle for a pile of sloppier speedy graphs.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Klamer on October 9, 2017 at 11:37am

I've had this print for many years and kind of forgot about it but recently I started getting it signed by the different Star Trek crews. So Far I have the cast listed below. Every signature has been done in person by me.

This is the last time I posted this I have added about 10 more signatures since this was posted the last time back in 2011.

William Shatner
Leonard Nimoy
Patrick Stewart
Kate Mulgrew
James Doohan
Nichelle Nichols
Levar Burton
Brent Spiner
Robert Picardo
Bruce Davison
John de Lancie
Malcolm McDowell
Louise Fletcher
Scott Bakula
Jonathan Frakes
Marina Sirtis
Armin Shimerman
Robert Beltran
Denise Crosby
Rene Auberjonois
Avery Brooks
Walter Koenig
Natalia Nogulich
Daniel Stewart
and Julie Newmar