Trekkie Plates Take the Cake at ‘Creation’ Show

ANAHEIM — Sitting amid his inventory of “Star Trek” fan magazines, “Star Trek” T-shirts and, new this year, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” sewing patterns, Stan Stice made a startling revelation:

“I don’t particularly like ‘Star Trek,’ ” the memorabilia dealer said, stifling a yawn. “To some people, ‘Star Trek’ is a life; to me, it’s just a business.”

Ah, but what a business it is. At the Inn at the Park over the weekend, several hundred television fans paid $16 each to attend “Creation in Anaheim,” where they also had the opportunity to purchase such items as “Beauty and the Beast” door hangers, “Lost in Space” videotapes and “Growing Pains” trading cards from dealers like Stice.

They were further entertained by appearances of two television icons: Dawn Wells, who played the perky Mary Ann on “Gilligan’s Island,” and Mark Lenard, who, among other roles as upscale TV aliens, portrayed Spock’s icy father, Sarek, on “Star Trek.”

Both actors shared behind-the-scenes high jinks with members of the adoring crowd, who shouted out trivia about the shows that even Wells and Lenard had forgotten. They deftly handled controversial questions: On the question of whether it would be artistically wrong to colorize the early black and white “Gilligan’s Island” episodes, Wells confided to her fans, “I don’t know how I feel about that.”

Asked if he agreed with the unenthusiastic critical response to “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” Lenard, who appears in the film, said: “It’s not quite right to knock the thing that feeds you.”

The most amazing story from “Creation” came not from the fantasy worlds of Hollywood but rather from the unlikely industry of porcelain and bisque: “Star Trek” collector plates, issued two years ago for a mere $39.99, now were fetching minimums of $75; some up to $200. In contrast, collector plates featuring the buxom horror movie personality Elvira could only command $65.

Interestingly, the plates cannot be used to serve food, dealer Leonard Ericson explained, as they are made with toxic paints. Instead, they are intended to be displayed on the wall. Linda Tanenbaum, a court clerk wearing a “Star Trek: The Next Generation” T-shirt, said she has four such plates decorating her Brentwood home.

“It’s nice to have this stuff as a reminder of what ‘Star Trek’ represents,” she said, namely “that we can have world peace.”

Tanenbaum said she contributes to world peace by repeating the singsong chants of the Buddhist sect known as NSA. While the Pax Startrekiana still may be out of reach, Tanenbaum said her religious devotion has been supernaturally rewarded on a smaller scale: At an October “Star Trek” convention in San Jose, she proudly recalled, she was chosen to help escort Leonard Nimoy, who plays Spock, to the stage.

Tanenbaum was among dozens of fans who said they had purchased collector plates to adorn their homes. One even said that the opportunity to buy the porcelain trinkets helps avid Trekkies maintain their moral compass. Asserted Gary Blog: “Say what you will, they’re a whole lot better than doing drugs.”

Blog, 26, had paid his own way from Edison, N.J., to volunteer as a doorman for the convention, which is a profit-making enterprise of Long Island-based Creation Entertainment Group.

The firm is headed by Adam Malin, 33, who journeyed from his Mineola, N.Y., headquarters to oversee the Anaheim affair. Malin said Creation operates more than 100 events nationwide each year, focusing on the interests of science fiction and fantasy fans.

The name of the company, which he and a partner founded as teen-agers, pays tribute to the artists behind such works as “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Gremlins,” he said.

“ ‘Creation’ refers to the creativity of various creators who have brought their creative properties and their creative processes to the world,” Malin said.

He described Creation as a “multimillion-dollar business in the multibillion-dollar entertainment industry,” but wouldn’t elaborate on its financial standing.

Asked to comment on the remarkable appreciation of “Star Trek” collector plates, though, Malin displayed considerable investment savvy: “You think that’s something? Listen to this: a pair of Spock ears from ‘Star Trek V’ go for $1,000--And we at Creation,” he said with a smile, “have got one.”

As often is the case in the entertainment industry, while those on the business side reap fortunes from their investments, those with creative talents find themselves with little to show for their work.

Told of the skyrocketing prices of collector plates, Lenard, whose image appears in them, was taken aback.

“Really? Two hundred dollars? Why so much?” he wondered, almost losing the cool Vulcan demeanor he says has become part of his personality. “I thought they were supposed to go for $35.”

Lenard revealed that he and other “Star Trek” cast members had received “a nominal fee” for posing for the airbrushed mock-tableware portraits and were, additionally, to receive copies of the finished product.

These copies, he said, had never been delivered. Gazing straight ahead with unearthly equanimity, he logically concluded: “Who would’ve thought they’d be worth so much? No wonder they never sent them to me.”