Stargate Props Going Up For Auction 131
will_die writes "After all the recent auctions for Propworx's Battlestar Galactica props, they are now selling off 15 years of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis props. Over the next couple of months minor items will be sold on eBay, and the major items will be sold in two live auctions. eBay auctions will consist of smaller props, most costumes, drawings and even parts of Stargates. The live auctions will contain items such as the Thor puppet, The Ark of Truth, and the only fully working Stargate. (Multiple Stargates needed for travel)." My wife will be bidding on Daniel Jackson. I wouldn't mind a Zat gun, but at $3K–$4K, it's a bit rich for my blood... although if the neighbor's dog keeps getting out of his electric fence I might have no choice...
Stargate? (Score:5, Interesting)
Two full stargate props were originally built for the SG-1 pilot "Children of the Gods", the second of which was reconstructed from the prop used in the film. They are made of steel and fiberglass, and are 22 feet (6.7 m) in diameter. The second prop is less detailed, and is used for exterior scenes; in the pilot it was used solely on the planet Chulak. The primary one, however, is quite sophisticated. It is fully automated, and capable of rotating and emitting light. This is achieved by the use of a specially-designed 22-foot (6.7 m) circular gear, which turns the inner ring on a precise pinion drive wheel, using an eight horsepower electric motor. The top seven chevrons emit laser pulses which are read by a sensor fed into a computer responsible for the gate's movement, which is consequently able to start and stop the rotation very quickly. This main prop is kept almost immovably at the permanent set of the SGC, at Bridge Studios, Vancouver.
Re:What do you do with this stuff? (Score:5, Interesting)
1) Have you noticed that the stock market is tanking lately? Invest in what? As for savings, with the Federal government printing money as fast as it can, your cash's value is falling like a rock. You might as well buy something you enjoy with it.
2) Do you tell this to people who buy Picassos too? Those aren't all that easy to sell either. There's probably a lot more geeks on Slashdot who'd be interested in a Stargate prop for $2k or whatever than people able to buy a Picasso for its proper value.
Are you one of those people who has almost no material possessions, because they're too busy "saving" and "investing" all their money?
And the reason we have these economic problems is because of people like you, who "invested" their money in stupid places like the real estate market, creating a bubble that burst. People buying shit like Stargate props actually helps the economy; it doesn't create any kind of bubble, and helps to fund a productive venture (the creation of TV shows) that employs lots of people.
If you had spent your money on some TV show props instead of wasting it on overvalued real estate, then you'd still have those props to look at and enjoy, and probably sell to some other fan. Instead, you're underwater on your investment properties, or you've walked away and the bank is eating the difference and asking the government for a bail-out with newly-printed dollars. Good job on your "investing".
Re:Stargate? (Score:2, Interesting)
No kidding. If I end up with lottery money, I'm getting one built.
I thought of something else I could do in the meantime, though, to scratch that itch--Goa'uld transport rings. You know how the base station is embedded in the ground? I am pretty sure that I have seen on the show a circle made of seemingly weathered stone-like wedges, embedded into the forest floor.
They also simply paint the pattern onto the decks of the ships. It's occasionally shown clearly enough to get a clean image to build from.
Transport ring wedges could be cast in concrete with a mold, painted, and installed outdoors. I'd like to go put one out in the middle of nowhere for a sci-fi fan to find 20 years from now.
Re:A Working ZPM (Score:5, Interesting)
They actually did a fairly good job of slowly integrating technology. At first, each alien tech was extremely rare and hard to find, then they would either find more or find a way to duplicate one.
The ZPMs worked exactly this way. At first they would get one, it would go away and they might get another. They were old and rarely had a charge. Towards the end there were actually a handful in use.
Same with ships and most other tech.
I like that technology wasn't arbitrary like on Star Trek, where they might get their hands on a technology or idea that was world changing to solve a single intractable problem, but then that idea would just vanish instead of getting integrated into the rest of the system. (Being able to travel backwards in time would have solved a LOT of problems, and they had that technology for a LONG time without anything preventing them from using it--eventually they figured out that it was a problem and invented a time-police, but that was much later)