Attention all Star Trek fans

[WLJ]

The missing TOS 3ft Enterprise model has been found.
Maybe, although most everyone is convinced it's the real deal
Turned up on E-bay

The discovery first came to light on X (formerly Twitter) when Alex Perry, co-owner of TrekCore.com, spotted an eBay auction for a “rare custom Star Trek USS Enterprise spaceship by Richard Datin.” Images showed a timeworn but instantly recognisable Enterprise, mounted on a wooden stand. The seller listed the model with a starting price of $1,000.

According to Perry, the person who listed the Enterprise model had purchased “an abandoned storage unit” and listed it on eBay, assuming it to be a replica.

You’ve probably guessed where this is going: Datin Jr was the model maker who built the original Enterprise miniature, based on the design by Matt Jeffries. The Howard Anderson Company, which provided the visual effects for the series, commissioned Datin Jr to make several models for Star Trek in 1964, and the 32-inch miniature he built was used for several shots in the unaired pilot, The Cage, and a few other early episodes. Later on, a more detailed, 11-foot-long model was created and used for other episodes in the original series.

When Star Trek was cancelled in 1969, the 32-inch model was eventually given back to series creator Gene Roddenberry. For several years, the mini Enterprise sat happily on Roddenberry’s desk – until one day it was either lent out and vanished or was outright stolen.

https://filmstories.co.uk/news/star-trek-original-uss-enterprise-model-once-thought-missing-may-have-been-found/

RED ALERT Lost 3 ft TOS Enterprise found?
https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/red-alert-lost-3-ft-tos-enterprise-found.354596/

Video that popped up on YT that alerted me

Star Trek 3ft Enterprise has been FOUND!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=javTIoyiBk0

[gunsmith]

 "fascinating"

   man, I would love to own that!!!

[WLJ]

Update video where the photos are examined in detail.
Long story short if this is a fake it's an insanely good one,
Of note is that it was Rod Rod Roddenberry who contacted EBay and the auction was "terminated". And there's something weird going on with the ownership of the storage unit it was supposedly found in, the owner supposedly died in 1957 and something else missing was found in another storage unit under his name.

Analyzing the Lost Starship: The Resurfaced Enterprise Model from 1964"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFQlxIA5phU

[HankB]

Wonder if courts and lawyers will be involved in an ownership dispute . . .

[Angel Eyes]

Wonder if courts and lawyers will be involved in an ownership dispute . . .

Count on it.

[MechAg94]

Wonder if courts and lawyers will be involved in an ownership dispute . . .

It would be a whole lot cheaper and easier to just pay the guy $1000 or whatever for immediate purchase and get it in hand.  Might also see what else was in the storage unit. 

If this is true, I am bit surprised these people put this on blast rather than just buying it.

[HankB]

It would be a whole lot cheaper and easier to just pay the guy $1000 or whatever for immediate purchase and get it in hand.  Might also see what else was in the storage unit. 

If this is true, I am bit surprised these people put this on blast rather than just buying it.

Agree - it seems that $1000 would be cheap for a piece of TV history like this, given what movie and TV memorabilia can sell for.

. . . the person who listed the Enterprise model had purchased “an abandoned storage unit” and listed it on eBay, assuming it to be a replica.

Normally, buying a storage unit confers ownership of the contents to the buyer, unless it's contraband (e.g., illegal drugs) or is provably stolen property.

. . . For several years, the mini Enterprise sat happily on Roddenberry’s desk – until one day it was either lent out and vanished or was outright stolen.

IANAL, but unless someone comes up with old police records reporting the model as stolen, the current legitimate ownership of this model is at best uncertain - with the purchaser of the storage unit having a pretty strong claim. (Roddenberry isn't around any more, so we can't ask him.)

[230RN]

Fascinating story with many interesting implications.  I admit my first reaction was a wise-assed "BFD," but it really is.

[JTHunter]

One of the numerous plastic models I made as a teen was that version of the Enterprise (round nacelles).  It has batteries that, when you turned the sensor dish on the front of the engineering hull, would power 2 small lights on the saucer - 1 on top and 1 on the bottom.
In a move my mother and younger brother made while I was away at college, it and all of my WW2 and newer airplane models were "misplaced".   

[WLJ]

It would be a whole lot cheaper and easier to just pay the guy $1000 or whatever for immediate purchase and get it in hand.  Might also see what else was in the storage unit. 

If this is true, I am bit surprised these people put this on blast rather than just buying it.

$1,000 was the starting bid and I don't see a buy now option in the screen shots, can you imagine how high the bidding would have gone once people found out about this and the auction was allowed to go on?
But once E-Bay was notified this was stolen goods they had no choice but to take it down

That said I hope Paramount gives the guy an award at least since there's a possibly he didn't know it was stolen and he just thought it a ordinary model, a very good one, made by some guy named Datin Jr. who he never heard of.

[WLJ]

I'm sure more on the above matter will come out in time.

[JN01]

Here's a bit long winded video explaining it in more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFQlxIA5phU

Basically, details on the model up for sale match those of old photos sitting on the desk in front of Roddenberry.  Roddenberry had loaned the model to someone, and there is a letter from Roddenberry at the time asking where the model was and wanting it returned, which it apparently never was.

[WLJ]

Here's a bit long winded video explaining it in more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFQlxIA5phU

Basically, details on the model up for sale match those of old photos sitting on the desk in front of Roddenberry.  Roddenberry had loaned the model to someone, and there is a letter from Roddenberry at the time asking where the model was and wanting it returned, which it apparently never was.

Same video in Reply #2

[WLJ]

Update and some details that didn't come out at the time.

After being informed after putting it up on E-Bay that this may in fact may have been stolen the "finders" pulled the auction off E-bay and then went to an auction house to get the item authenticated and to offer it for auction. Yeah, after being informed it was probably stolen  . The appraised value by the auction house was $800K. The auction house then, I guess after realizing what this was, contacted Rod Roddenberry and call in people to look at it and after it was authenticated they turn it over to RR and this is where things start to go sideways with the two original "finders" filing a lawsuit accusing the auction house of fraud.
Plus it comes out someone else may have had access to the storage container opened it and took photos of the model before it's "finding". So something smells very fishy about it's "finding" and the story how it somehow made it's way into the storage container.

June Update: Star Trek's Lost Model Discovery!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7inPb3I3vc

[MechAg94]

Legally, is "stolen" and "borrowed but not returned" the same thing? 

I can understand that stolen property should be returned, but does loaning it out and not getting it back amount to the same thing?  Thinking of a scenario where something is borrowed, forgotten about, they guy dies or it is misplaced, and turns up year later.  Still technically belongs to the original owner I guess, but lots of things are lost that way.

Either way, the high paid lawyers are involved.  Probably end up costing everyone nearly $800K by the time they are done.

[WLJ]

Legally, is "stolen" and "borrowed but not returned" the same thing? 

I can understand that stolen property should be returned, but does loaning it out and not getting it back amount to the same thing?  Thinking of a scenario where something is borrowed, forgotten about, they guy dies or it is misplaced, and turns up year later.  Still technically belongs to the original owner I guess, but lots of things are lost that way.

Either way, the high paid lawyers are involved.  Probably end up costing everyone nearly $800K by the time they are done.

Yeah there may be some legal grey areas here but either way who does it belong to?  Plus there's some questions in the how it was found story if found is even the right word or not.

[K Frame]

"Legally, is "stolen" and "borrowed but not returned" the same thing?  "

I'd say that intent would have a lot of bearing in that kind of determination.

[cordex]

Legally, is "stolen" and "borrowed but not returned" the same thing? 

I believe one is theft and the other is conversion.

One is criminal, the other is civil.  As you note, the end result is lawyers making money.

[WLJ]

He gets into the legal nitty gritty of it.
In a nutshell under CA law the purchasers of the storage unit own the model

Fast forward to 10:25 if you want to dive into the legal part of the video.

Star Trek's Lost Enterprise: Legal Ownership Revealed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt_4v-o-bpE

[Regolith]

I believe one is theft and the other is conversion.

One is criminal, the other is civil.  As you note, the end result is lawyers making money.

I think conversion can still be criminal, at least in some states. Something like not taking a rental car back when your rental period ends could be considered criminal theft by conversion, if you intended to keep it.

[Hawkmoon]

https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/theft-by-conversion.html

https://www.bushwaylawfirm.com/theft-by-taking-vs-theft-by-conversion-whats-the-difference/?post_type=blog_post\\

https://cga-solutions.com/theft-by-conversion-explained/