I should start paying attention to the props used on Star Trek when the shows are new so that I can buy something I like when they’re still sold new, instead of searching around for them after-the-fact.
(I bought a pair of Nike sneakers off Ebay for cosplay a few months ago. Luckily they weren’t expensive, but they were used and I had to settle for ones a half-size larger than what actually fits me.)
It’s definitely interesting what the props and model people found from everyday objects.
In the very first show of our first season (recounts Roddenberry) (“The Man Trap” by George C. Johnson) we needed some salt shakers because we had a creature that craved salt, we had a story point which required the creature (disguised in human form) to give himself away when someone passed with a salt shaker on a tray. This posed a problem. What will a salt shaker look like three hundred years from now? Our property manager, Irving Feinberg, went out and bought a selection of very exotic looking salt shakers. It was not until he brought them in and showed them to me that I realized they were so beautifully shaped and futuristic that the audience would never recognize them as salt shakers. I would either have to use 20th century salt shakers or else I would have to have a character say, “See, this is a salt shaker.” So I told Irving to go down to the studio commissary and bring me several of their salt shakers, and as he turned to go, I said, “However, those eight devices you have there will become Dr. McCoy’s operating instruments.”
For two years now the majority of McCoy’s instruments in Sick Bay have been a selection of exotic salt shakers, and we know they work, because we’ve seen them work. Not only has he saved many a life with them but it’s helped keep hand prop budget costs low.
For example, when the Enterprise is in Dry-dock a small utility vessel passes by. It is actually a broken toy robot foot embellished with throw-away razor handles glued to it. We didn’t have much time and used whatever was available to do the job. The makers of everyday objects do a great job of precise industrial design and manufacturing. If you can look at things independent of their actual size you will discover that the world is filled with space ship parts.
I was “propmaster” for my buddy when he was making films (just some small ones, we had a tiny crew so propmaster is really overselling it I was the guy who knew how to make shit. Also held the camera. biggest we ever got was selling a short to HBO and that was because he won a big festival. Mad props to him) and this is legitimately how we’d build our props. If it wasn’t already something we had laying around we’d head over to someplace like ACE hardware and look for cheap stuff that looked neat and we could glue/weld/bolt/whatever together and then paint. Made some really cool props that way.
They’ve also just released a ‘Cadet’ low cut version which may be great cosplay even if they don’t show up eventually onscreen. Preorders closed in September, but one expects them to be on sale once they’ve been released to stores.
I appreciate the heads up. That price tag, though, just makes me appreciate the practicality of my “Starfleet athletic wear” cosplay even more. (FYI, it’s pretty awesome to be able to show up at a hot summertime convention wearing a T-shirt, jogging pants and sneakers and still have it “count” as cosplay. Way better than, say, TWOK or later-season DS9 uniforms, let alone the nonsense crazy people from other fandoms wear in the heat.)
I should start paying attention to the props used on Star Trek when the shows are new so that I can buy something I like when they’re still sold new, instead of searching around for them after-the-fact.
(I bought a pair of Nike sneakers off Ebay for cosplay a few months ago. Luckily they weren’t expensive, but they were used and I had to settle for ones a half-size larger than what actually fits me.)
It’s definitely interesting what the props and model people found from everyday objects.
http://www.startrekpropauthority.com/2009/01/dr-mccoys-sickbay-on-original-series.html
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Shuttle_drone
I was “propmaster” for my buddy when he was making films (just some small ones, we had a tiny crew so propmaster is really overselling it I was the guy who knew how to make shit. Also held the camera. biggest we ever got was selling a short to HBO and that was because he won a big festival. Mad props to him) and this is legitimately how we’d build our props. If it wasn’t already something we had laying around we’d head over to someplace like ACE hardware and look for cheap stuff that looked neat and we could glue/weld/bolt/whatever together and then paint. Made some really cool props that way.
If you don’t have the SNW boots from John Fluevog, suggest getting a pair.
They’ve also just released a ‘Cadet’ low cut version which may be great cosplay even if they don’t show up eventually onscreen. Preorders closed in September, but one expects them to be on sale once they’ve been released to stores.
I appreciate the heads up. That price tag, though, just makes me appreciate the practicality of my “Starfleet athletic wear” cosplay even more. (FYI, it’s pretty awesome to be able to show up at a hot summertime convention wearing a T-shirt, jogging pants and sneakers and still have it “count” as cosplay. Way better than, say, TWOK or later-season DS9 uniforms, let alone the nonsense crazy people from other fandoms wear in the heat.)
Fluevogs are very well made and last for years. Definitely worth it from a quality/price perspective.
Depending on where you live in North America, there’s likely a John Fluevog location where you can try them on before buying.