Christie's Images Ltd. via AP |
| This model of the Starship Enterprise-A, used for visual effects in the film "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," will be among the items put up for auction. |
October's sale of "Star Trek" memorabilia has already touched off a Warp Factor 7 buzz, and the Christie's auction house is hoping that a new online bidding system will boost participation. The system, known as Christie's Live, passed its first test during a home-furnishings auction today - but will the setup be satisfactory for legions of online Trekkers?
Christie's spokesman Rik Pike admits that the unprecedented Oct. 5-7 auction of "Star Trek" TV and movie props "will be one of the major tests of the rollout" for the new online system, which was developed in league with Florida-based Auction Management Solutions.
The New York sale involves more than 1,000 lots, comprising about 4,000 items ranging from a non-playable flute used by Captain Picard (estimated value $300) to a model of the Enterprise used in visual effects (valued at up to $25,000). In all, the auction could raise more than $3 million.
Christie's Live offers a streaming-video window on the sale, plus the capability to enter bids that would be recognized by the auctioneer at the podium. The software interface signals whether your online offer is the high bid.
"This is like being in the room with an auctioneer," Pike said.
Would-be online bidders have to register with Christie's at least two business days in advance of the sale, but Pike told me there would be "no set limits" on the number allowed to register for the "Star Trek" sale.
"The limits will only come down to bandwidth and technological capabilities," Pike said.
That's different from the situation for today's pilot auction: About 15 clients were selected by Christie's to participate in the test, and according to Pike, the process worked out just fine. The first lot to be won by an online bidder was a Victorian colonial carved hardwood banquette that went for $1,680, well above the estimated price of $800 to $1,200.
The "Star Trek" sale will serve as the highest-profile test for Christie's Live, but if all goes well, the auction house plans to offer the online option for all its sales next year, Pike said.
In an e-mail exchange about the upcoming auction, Robert Pearlman, editor of the CollectSpace Web site and an expert on space collectibles, said the online dimension could change the character of the event:
"I have watched and taken part over the past few years as several 'offline' auction houses that specialize in space memorabilia have gone online with their bidding, and it has added interesting, if not always positive, results to the process.
"Obviously, the greatest benefit (from the perspective of the auction house at least) is the influx of bidders — bidders who in the past haven't or didn't choose to have the opportunity to participate because of geography, conflicting schedules or even intimidation by the auction house setting.
"Depending on how the bidding is organized and what software is used to connect the online world to the real-life auction, the introduction of this new audience can sometimes slow the pace of the sale. Unlike in-person or even phone bidding, you can't see or hear if a person is considering a bid, so sometimes you sit waiting for a 'paddle' to pop up on the screen. For the online bidder, this process can also seemed rushed, as again depending on how the sale is presented, it can move at a far greater pace than what they are used to on sites such as eBay.
"Online bidding can also make an auction a spectator sport, as you can sit back in the relaxed atmosphere of your office or house and watch the sale unfold. You could do this before by going to the auction, but there are issues of available seats and whether the auction house allows such.
"Which raises another point: As online bidding has grown in popularity and reliability (early software would reportedly fail to register bids or would crash at inopportune times), some auction houses have seen a drop in physical attendance to their sales. Why spend money traveling to a different city (or country) when you could save that dough for the items you're looking to buy?
"For Christie's, though, their auctions have typically been events unto their themselves, where attendance is part of the fun. At their 1999 first sale of space exploration memorabilia, there were Apollo astronauts in the audience. Not to mention, you had the opportunity to actually view the lots — artifacts — in-person, which besides serving as a mini-museum, can be an advantage to the bidder. A 2-D photo and a description can only do so much before you want to see and hold the actual piece before buying.
"It is appropriate, however, that one of their first online enabled auctions should be for 'Star Trek' memorabilia. Looking past the lack of any currency in the future Federation of Planets (other than the occasional bar of 'gold-pressed latinum,' that is) one can certainly imagine a distant future where auctions are conducted inter-planet (or at least inter-space vehicle/station). Back to present day, 'Star Trek' has certainly captured the imagination of a worldwide audience, and presuming Christie's will allow registrations from any part of the world, their auction could be a very small model of the future unified-Earth that Gene Roddenberry imagined."
As long as it's free, I'll sign up for the auction. Who knows, I might see a fake flute I just can't resist. What about you?