Rod Roddenberry In Talks To Recover What May Be The Lost Original Enterprise Model; Update: Returned!

Discovered on eBay! Wonder if it's a forgery?

https://trekmovie.com/2023/11/14/rod-roddenberry-in-talks-to-recover-what-may-be-the-lost-original-enterprise-model-from-star-trek/

One of the longest-running Star Trek mysteries may be on the verge of being solved. In 1977, the first shooting model of the U.S.S. Enterprise from The Original Series went missing, and for the last 46 years, no one has known where it is, or whether it had been destroyed. But just a couple of weeks ago it appeared to resurface in an eBay listing, which was soon suspended after fans started buzzing about the potential historical importance of this model. TrekMovie can confirm that Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and the President of Roddenberry Enterprises, is actively trying to authenticate and acquire the model that sat on his father’s desk at Paramount for years.

In a statement to TrekMovie, Roddenberry says: “Along with much of the Star Trek community, I was excited and pleased to learn that the original 3-foot filming model of the Starship Enterprise appears to have been discovered after being missing for decades (pending full authentication). I can confirm that I am now, through an intermediary, in contact with the individual who possesses the model.”
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The model appeared to reemerge on October 31st in an eBay listing: “Rare Custom Star Trek USS Enterprise Spaceship by Richard Datin.” The starting bid request was $1,000. Star Trek collectors and fans started buzzing about the item online, identifying it as possibly Roddenberry’s long-lost original shooting model, although clearly underpriced for such a historic item. Just last month the original 2-foot model of the Star Trek Galileo shuttle (from the Greg Jein Collection) sold for $225,000 at auction. An original X-Wing model from Star Wars sold for $3.15 million. So it’s no surprise that just 12 hours after that initial eBay listing went live it was ended by the seller without a sale.