Battlestar Galactica: The Last Frakkin’ Auction
I got stuck on Battlestar Galactica right after the bar exam. I was bumming around, de-barring, at a friend’s place when he pulled out the Season 1 DVD set and asked if I had ever seen it. Being one of those people without cable (which isn’t as bad as being one of those people without a television), I had to shake my head no. He popped it in, and that was it. I was done for. Less than a day after sitting 18 hours for the bar exam, I sat for 8 hours to watch the first half of the first season before I reluctantly realized that I really, really, really should sleep.
Converting other people to the show has not been as easy. BSG fanatics are easily labeled as nerds – but when you have an entire United Nations event (oddly or not) dedicated to discussing how the show can be used as a tool to educate about the pressing issues of our time - abortion, terrorism, torture, colonialism, imperialism, fear as a political weapon – well, we the devoted must be on to something. The series ended a month ago, to much controversy (I for one hated it – I knew there was an implicit theme about imperalism, but I didn’t think it was that), but new and old fans can forget that the finale exists and instead fondly recall one of the best television shows in our time by bidding on an authentic piece of Battlestar this weekend at PropWorx’s Battlestar Galactica “Last of the Best” live auction at the Pasadena Convention Center.
A preview of the auction, including a nice bird, Baltar’s notes from when he actually did science-y things, and, yes, the red dress that wet dreams are made of, after the jump.
Starbuck’s Mark II Viper is up for auction, for an unspecified price (a full-sized Mark VII Viper recently sold for $21,300). Awesomely for the 10 year old boy and girl in all of us, we were allowed to jump right in during the preview. In terms of life experiences, this was right up there with the one time I climbed into a full-scale replica of an X-Wing on a school field trip to somewhere I do not remember.
Also up for auction are props from pretty much every nook and cranny of the Battlestar universe: Six’s sublime red dress (”iconic,” as it is listed in the auction catalog, estimated to fetch $8-10,000); Baltar’s science notes from Season 1 (estimated $400-600) and the manifesto written on his journey to self-appointed martyrdom while in the brig in Season 3 (estimated $1,000-$1,500; sample chapter: “The Emerging Aristocracy and the Emerging Underclass”); the FTL key (that is not unlike Superman’s memory crystals in his Fortress of Solitude) (estimated $2,000-$2,500); Starbuck’s flight briefing notes from the episode “Someone to Watch Over Me” (apparently, in case Katee Sackhoff forgot her lines for the scene, they are handwritten there for her) (estimated $600-800); and Hera’s venture into connecting dots (estimated $600-800).
On exhibition, not for auction, was a Lego model of Battlestar’s hanger deck. Apparently, SuperNerds with Lego Skills have created an amazing Lego/Battlestar mashup.
I cannot afford a single thing here, nor am I sure I would want to house a giant Viper in my tiny apartment, but these props are totally giddy-inducing and worth a gander. The massive 380-page catalogue of all the props available for auction can be downloaded here. Additional photos from the preview can be viewed on my Flickr stream here. The auction starts TODAY and runs until Sunday. So say we all.
The Last of the Best BSG Auction
Pasadena Convention Center, Hall B
300 E. Green Street
Pasadena
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[...] Queequeg gave us a good look at the Battlestar Galactica props and costumes that were up for auction last weekend in Pasadena. The first sell-off this past January was awesome too, but of course it couldn’t feature any items from the last several episodes. This time I didn’t make it over to the convention center early enough on Preview Day to peruse as many items as before (or sit in a viper! How did Queequeg get so lucky?). However, I was able get there in time for a couple of entertaining and informative panels, one with some members of the cast and the other with various crew members. Personally, I could have listened to all of their stories for several more hours. [...]
[...] Queequeg gave us a good look at the Battlestar Galactica props and costumes that were up for auction last weekend in Pasadena. The first sell-off this past January was awesome too, but of course it couldn’t feature any items from the last several episodes. This time I didn’t make it over to the convention center early enough on Preview Day to peruse as many items as before (or sit in a viper! How did Queequeg get so lucky?). However, I was able get there in time for a couple of entertaining and informative panels, one with some members of the cast and the other with various crew members. Personally, I could have listened to all of their stories for several more hours. [...]