eBay seeing a growth in sales of Star Trek memorabilia

Jonathan Ross at the Star Trek premiere

When we were down at the premiere of the new Star Trek movie last week, one of the things that surprised me was the lack of people in full on Star Trek uniforms. There where loads of people, but only a small group of 5 or 6 dedicated fans that had been there since 10.30 in the morning where in complete starfleet outfits. A couple of the celebs also made an effort, although surprisingly not Jonathan Ross! Knowing what a huge geek he is, I rather expected him to turn up in either a full star fleet uniform, or Klingon head, but nope, nothin! Most dissapointing!

However, with the new Star Trek movie due on general release on the 8th of May (read our review here), it seems Trek fans have rediscovered their geekdom, and have been seeking out new Star Trek bargins. eBay has released a some stats regarding the sales of Star Trek memorabilia over the last few months, having seen a 100% rise in purchase of various Star Trek related items in last month alone!

• Sales of fake Spock ears are up 500% in the last month and selling on average at £2.58
• Spock wigs sell on average for £15.11 so whether you are a fan of old spock Leonard Nimoy or new spock Zachary Quinto you can complete you Spock look for under £50.
• Almost 2,000 replica phasers have been sold in the last 3 months and sales are up 388% in the last month
• Sales of replica tricorders are also up 300% over the last month and sell for £30.36.

Carey Maguire eBay pop culture specialist says “With the credit crunch biting, many households are tightening their budgets so it is interesting to see that Star Trek fans and collectors are still indulging in their passion and buying memorabilia. The fact that they can get great value on eBay is a bonus. The current trend of Star Trek memorabilia shows that if something is hot in the news then it is hot on eBay.”

Star Trek clothing is also selling well (for a bargain average price of £29.65), and sales of costumes are up 300% in the last month as fans prepare their wardrobe before going to explore strange new worlds, new life and new civilizations of J.J. Abrams Star Trek.

Michael Shanks

The nice folk over at scifiwire.com have been chatting with SG-1 star Michael Shanks about his upcoming appearance in Stargate Universe.

He describes SGU as:

• Having a very “different tone” to previous Stargate shows, with “some darker elements to it”
• Visually stunning
• Saying of the audience’s reaction to it “It won’t be quiet on the bulletin boards is the best way to put it”.
• He’s back with a cameo, as are RDA and Amanda Tapping but he wouldn’t be drawn on whether it’s a 3 solo cameos, or if they are all in one scene.

Shanks also mentions the next SG-1 DVD movie is apparently greenlit, but there are no contracts in place yet.

Clicky here for the full interview

Bootleg of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer has popped up on youTube. Grab a look before the lawyers get all cease and desisty.

Russell Brand

How’s this for a left of field idea! Russell Brand will star in a remake of the 1991 um… ‘cult hit?’… starring Rik Mayall, Drop Dead Fred.

The new movie is being scripted by ‘Saturday Night Live’ scribe Dennis McNicholas whos recently finished writing duties on Will Ferrell’s Land of the Lost.

Well, I suppose if you base the commissioning of this movie on the fact it’d be hard pushed to be worse than the original, it actually makes sense for a remake…

This is an extract from the one of the Star Trek Bluray’s we mentioned earlier in the week. Pretty cool having so many of the various Star Trek cast together.

Terminator Salvation

Variety are reporting Arnold Schwarzenegger WILL be appearing in McG’s Terminator Salvation… well kinda….

The Governator gave his approval to McG to use the digital footage the production had secretly been working on just in time for the director to add it into the final cut of the movie which is out next month.

The source for the newly created digital actor, was a full body cast taken of Arnie back when he first appeared as the Terminator. That means Arnold himself didn’t even have to take a break from governing California to appear in the film, other than 10mins to look at the footage and give it the thumbs up!

Terminator Salvation is released in the UK on 3rd June 2009