Star Trek, The collectibles

Author Steve Kelley

Publisher Krause Publications 2008

Best price found as of 10/26/08 $11.50 with free shipping.

   The front of the book is simple but eye catching. The back covers the basics of what the book is about and offers some credentials of the author. The back cover makes a claim of 1,200 photos in a space of 255 pages and that’s impressive. That is a lot of stuff crammed into a small amount of space.

   The book starts off with acknowledgements to those that helped him and I can fully appreciate that. If I were to ever try such a thing as a book of this scope, there is no way that I could even get started without the support of my family. On the following page is a full page photo of what I’m sure can only be one end of a room full of collectibles.  I found myself staring at the photo trying to identify each and every piece like it was some kind of search puzzle! When my wife walked into the room and asked me who I was talking to, only then did I realize that I had been setting there going over each item in the photo declaring out loud if I had one, didn’t have one, didn’t know what it was, or that I wanted one!

    Turning into the book we find a foreword written by Chris Doohan which is a very nice touch. Then we find the index, then a description of the pricing system used in the book. On page 10 the author makes a small self introduction and explains to the reader how he discovered Star Trek and then later collecting. He states that the photos shown in the book are from his personal collection. As I read that, I look at the book again and all those photos. I’m not sure I like this guy. He might have more toys then me!!

   Now let’s get down to the real reason we are reading this shall we? As nice as it is to know some information about the author we want to know about his book!  Trek fans can be some of the pickiest fans ever and as such we sometimes overlook the massive amounts of work it takes to do things. As someone who has tried to undertake a similar feat as this book with my website, I can understand. So, I’ll try not to nitpick too hard. OK OK I said I would TRY!

Let’s cover some of the wonderful things in this book.

   Remembering in the author’s statements on page 11 that the photos in this book are from his personal collection, I flipped quickly from the front of the book to the back and glanced at the page after page of photos. The book states MORE then 1,200 and I believe it. I should also note that there must have been a considerable amount of care that had to be taken to produce photos from front to back that remains as consistent as these do.  Having shot some huge number of photos for my website, I can tell you it’s no easy feat. If you should happen to want to chase something shown in the book, those photos can be invaluable.

    I returned to the front and started at page 12 with the first Mego figures. While trying to cover as much ground as possible in the 255 pages of the book, this section devotes more space to cover these items then normal, but then this is where Trek collecting really got started. The information here (really throughout the book) is detailed; keeping in mind the limitations of space, it must be tough to balance space VS information provided. With manufacture and year(s) produced for almost every item shown in the book, it makes it much easier to track these items down, should you want to add one to your collection.  While this book does not cover everything ever produced with Star Trek stamped on it (could there ever be such a book with so much produced over the years) I find it a wonderful representation of all things Trek collectible.  If you can think of something that would be cool to have as a Trek collectible, there is probably something similar to it in the book. And, with things arranged in alphabetical order, and with the nice layout of the pages, things are fairly easy to find.  I think that's what sets this book apart from some of the others like it.

OK I have a few small nitpicks.

    In my opinion it would help the collector new to Trek collecting to have it spelled out for him that his book (as thorough as it is) is not an all inclusive collecting manual. Anyone with much of a Trek collecting background would understand that it would be impossible (or as near as I would want to get to impossible) to create such a thing, I’m just thinking of someone new to collecting. A few additional words on the back page could have made that clearer.

    Consider this a nitpick, but with understanding. Some of the photos could have been cropped better or placed better.  As I said, with understanding, as the process to get a photo from camera to page involves several people and when your dealing with this many photos, things are going to happen. For example: there are a few places that the description does not seem to match up with the photo until you realize it’s a somewhat screwy placement issue with the photograph. I found one description of a lunch box that does not have the right photo. In my opinion, to have only been able to find a few in a book of 255 pages and over 1,200 photos is quite the feat on the part of the author and the publisher. To the author’s and the publisher’s credit, they are aware of the few mistakes and have said that if there is a reprint, they will be corrected. To be honest, I would not wait for a reprint if I wanted a copy because they are very, very few and very, very minor.

    I consider some of the pricing placed on things in this book right on the money, some a bit low, and some to be, well, rather optimistic. I give the author credit for trying to place a value on items at any given moment and as long as I’m sure it takes to get a book out, the market sure can change. However, the truth is that anything is worth what someone will pay for it.  The majority of prices are close to what I would expect a dealer to be charging at a convention.

   On page 159 we start the section on magazines and the author has a full paragraph on his finding a very special Starlog Magazine. Then, after saying that it has one of the greatest Trek art covers ever, the book doesn't show the cover of the magazine!!

 In summation

   I thoroughly enjoy this book. I’ve been reading through it for about a week now and I have made somewhere near 20 trips to the other end of the house and asked my wife, “Do I have one of these?” She rolls her eyes and says yes or no and I return to my computer room either with a big smile or looking for a pen to write it down for my future wanderings around Ebay. I have decided that I give this book a big thumbs up, but the author definitely has more toys then me and so I don't like him!! LOL

One last peak at the book.

Mark / FHC

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