Long-lost first USS Enterprise model is returned to ‘Star Trek’ creator Gene Roddenberry’s son

[GURPS]

Maddalena said the model vanished in the 1970s after Gene Roddenberry loaned it to makers of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” which was released in 1979.

“No one knew what happened to it,” Rod Roddenberry said.

The 3-foot (0.91-meter) model of the USS Enterprise was used in the show’s original pilot episode as well as the opening credits of the resulting TV series, and was the prototype for the 11-foot (3-meter) version featured in the series’ episodes. The larger model is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

The original “Star Trek” television series, which aired in the late 1960s, kicked off an ever-expanding multiverse of cultural phenomena, with TV and movie spinoffs and conventions where a fanbase of zealous and devoted Trekkies can’t get enough of memorabilia.

Long-lost first USS Enterprise model is returned to ‘Star Trek’ creator Gene Roddenberry’s son

Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment, said he’s thrilled to have the model that had graced the desk of his father

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[Kyle]

So is the thief going to be identified?

 

[Clem72]

So is the thief going to be identified?

I was told by a friend in the industry (camera operator) that pretty much everything that isn't nailed down on a movie set is "lost" to cast and crew as soon as they wrap. Even if they knew who owned the storage shed, after 40+ years there's likely no tracing it back to the key grip or stage crew that took it.

 

[GURPS]

I was told by a friend in the industry (camera operator) that pretty much everything that isn't nailed down on a movie set is "lost" to cast and crew as soon as they wrap.

Of Course ... for most of the stuff, the sets are going to me trashed, props can vanish in lunch boxes .... costumes, meh who cares unless there maybe a sequel ...



this is a freaking huge model ....

a mid night acquisition

or bunch of people had to ' look the other way '

 

[Clem72]

Of Course ... for most of the stuff, the sets are going to me trashed, props can vanish in lunch boxes .... costumes, meh who cares unless there maybe a sequel ...



this is a freaking huge model ....

a mid night acquisition

or bunch of people had to ' look the other way '

Honestly, most of those present probably weren't aware that it was on loan and didn't ascribe any particular reverence for the prop. If you recall (or maybe you aren't old enough to remember) Star Trek wasn't the huge cultural phenomenon back then that it is today. It was just barely popular enough in reruns to be worth making a movie. Comparable really to Firefly.