Gene Roddenberry’s Apple MacIntosh Plus to be auctioned
Profiles in History will be offering at auction an early production Macintosh 128 at an October auction. The computer was given to “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry by Apple and was later upgraded to a Macintosh Plus for Roddenberry by Apple.
Profiles in History estimates the computer will go for $800-$1200. Also to be auctioned in October is Michael Jackson’s glove from the “Victory” tour and the original cover art from the “Victory” album. 
Previous Profiles in History auctions have included the “Cowardly Lion” costume from The Wizard of Oz ($805,000); a full-scale model T-800 Endoskeleton from Terminator 2: Judgment Day ($488,750); a T.I.E. Fighter filming miniature from Star Wars ($402,500); a King Kong six-sheet movie poster ($345,000); the Command Chair from the “U.S.S. Enterprise” ($304,750); Harrison Ford’s hero blaster from Blade Runner ($258,750); the original “Robot” from Lost in Space ($264,500); Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber ($240,000); a Frankenstein one-sheet movie poster ($212,400); the Black Beauty car from The Green Hornet ($192,000); George Reeves’ Superman costume from The Adventures of Superman ($126,500); the H.R. Giger designed Alien creature suit from Alien ($126,500); a full-scale T-Rex head from Jurassic Park ($126,500), the Leaping Alien Warrior figure from Aliens ($126,500), Christopher Reeve’s ‘Superman’ costume from Superman: The Movie ($115,000), C-3PO’s helmet ($120,000), The Wizard of Oz ‘Winkie’ Guard Costume ($115,000); a “Ming the Merciless” cape from Flash Gordon ($115,000) and the Hydraulic screen-used Velociraptor from The Lost World: Jurassic Park II ($115,000).
Click past the cut for the full release.
Star Trek expo: Did you go?
The Star Trek Expo continues today in Tulsa. Did anyone go? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
Read more about the expo here, here, here and here. See a photo gallery from the show on Saturday at BAM’s Blog.
- Matt Price
Terminator, Star Trek comics go mobile
Given the advanced technology in the future worlds of “The Terminator” and “Star Trek,” it’s perhaps not surprising that the comic books based on these franchises are among the first big-name comic books making the leap to the iPhone.
Publishers IDW and Dark Horse have made “Star Trek” and “Terminator” comic books available in the iPhone App Store this summer, tying in to the release of the movies “Star Trek” and “Terminator Salvation.”
The first iPhone comic book from veteran publisher Dark Horse is “Terminator: Death Valley.” In Death Valley, Calif., two Terminators have been sent back in time to kill John Connor as a boy. Each of the four issues is available for 99 cents from the App Store. The story also is available in print as part of “Terminator Omnibus” Vol. 2, which contains “Death Valley” and four other “Terminator” miniseries for $24.95.
“Death Valley” is by Alan Grant and Steve Pugh and originally was published in 1998. “Death Valley” is meant to be the first in a line of comics apps from Dark Horse.
“This is an evolution for the comics industry, and we look forward to bringing our tradition of innovation and creativity into this new medium,” Dale LaFountain, chief information officer of Dark Horse, said in a release.
IDW’s “Terminator Salvation” prequel also is available on the iPhone, with each of the five issues going for 99 cents or the entire graphic novel for just $3.99.
Warner Bros. and IDW Publishing present the “Terminator Salvation” graphic novel prequel, which takes readers through a series of events that have transpired since Judgment Day, leading up to “Terminator Salvation”.
IDW made its entry onto the iPhone in late 2008 with “Star Trek Archives” and gained even more momentum with “Star Trek: Countdown,” a prequel to the 2009 “Star Trek” movie.
Selected “Star Trek” comics from IDW are available via iVerse, which also distributes iPhone comics from Red 5, Image, Archie Comics, Antartic Press, Boom! Studios and others.
- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
“Museum” tops “Terminator”
The Ben Stiller-starring “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian topped the box office this weekend with an estimated $53.5 million. Terminator Salvation rang in $43 million in its opening frame, and Star Trek stayed strong at No. 3 with $22 million. “Salvation” opened very similar to its predecessor, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” but given ticket prices six years ago, did so by selling fewer tickets.
Here are the estimates from Box Office Mojo.
WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, MAY 22-24, 2009
Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #
1. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Fox)
$53.5 million | 4,096 | $53.5 million | 1
2. Terminator Salvation (Warner Bros.)
$43.0 million | 3,530 | $56.4 million | 1
3. Star Trek (Paramount)
$22.0 million | 4,053 | $183.6 million | 3
4. Angels & Demons (Sony / Columbia)
$21.4 million | 3,527 | $81.5 million | 2
5. Dance Flick (Paramount)
$11.1 million | 2,450 | $11.1 million | 1
Source: Box Office Mojo
(www.boxofficemojo.com)
How will Star Trek fare against Terminator Salvation?
Last week, “Star Trek” nearly held off “Angels & Demons” at the box office. This week, there’s an even tougher task for “Star Trek,” which so far has the best chance at “Iron Man”-type stamina this summer.
The latest ticketing data from MovieTickets.com on “Terminator Salvation,” which releases Thursday night, indicates “Terminator Salvation” is slightly out in front of “Star Trek.”
As of 12 p.m. ET today on MovieTickets.com, “Terminator Salvation” accounts for 28 percent of all ticket sales with “Star Trek” close behind at 25 percent, followed by “Angels & Demons” at 21 percent.
Is there some fan dissatisfaction with “Terminator Salvation” as a PG-13 film, compared to the previous films’ R rating? A MovieTickets.com poll indicates there may be. Seventy-nine percent of poll respondents stated a “Terminator” film should be rated R, while 21% answered PG-13. Two thousand people voted in the poll at MovieTickets.com. PG-13 movies tend to open larger than R films, because of the larger potential audience, so what effect this has on “Terminator Salvation”‘s opening weekend remains to be seen.
– Matt Price
Entertainment Insider: The Killer Inside Me, Angels & Demons and Star Trek
Gene Triplett, George Lang, Matt Price and Brandy McDonnell discuss the beginning of Oklahoma filming for “The Killer Inside Me,” starring Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba and Simon Baker. Does Oklahoma need an improved tax incentive to continue landing films with top-of-the-line stars?
Also, “Star Trek” didn’t fall off much in its second week, barely trailing “Angels & Demons,” which opened this past weekend. What does that mean for “Star Trek’”s chances for the rest of this summer?
More superhero cakes
So superhero cakes came up as a topic again after Marvel’s Tom Brevoort appeared on Last Cake Standing on the Food Network. I noticed more traffic to this page, where I showed off some superheroic cake designs from my wife, Annette.
Since I’m all about giving the people what they want here at Nerdage, I asked Annette if she had more cakes she’d be willing to show off at the blog. She obliged. The Booster Gold cake shown above is one of my all-time favorite superhero cakes. The following gallery showcases superhero cakes including Aquaman, Rorschach from Watchmen, the Wonder Twins and more. For the non-superhero fan, there’s a Spock from Star Trek and a Tom and Jerry. Enjoy! Feel free to share your own superhero cake pictures of you’ve got ‘em.
– Matt Price
Star Trek: The Exhibition to make East Coast debut
If you’re a Star Trek fan on the East Coast, you’ll soon have the chance to take a look at “Star Trek: The Exhibition.” Featuring props and costumes from the new “Star Trek” film, “Star Trek: The Exhibition” covers 12,500 square feet.
The show will make its east coast debut Saturday, May 16 in the Mandell Center at The Franklin Institute. It runs through September 20. The 12,500 square foot interactive exhibition contains a collection of authentic Star Trek ships, costumes and props from over 40 years of Star Trek.
From May 16 through June 18, fans can also see the IMAX version of the “Star Trek” film, “Star Trek: The IMAX Experience.”
The Exhibition will include authentic costumes and props from the newly released Star Trek feature film including the Enterprise uniforms of Spock, Pike, Scotty, Chekov, Uhura, McCoy, Sulu and Nero; Kirk’s black shirt; as well as the prop phasers, communicators and tricorders used in the film.
Tickets are timed and dated, and include general admission to The Franklin with a Fels Planetarium show. More information about tickets is available by calling 1.877.TFI.TIXS or visiting www.fi.edu. Information on tickets for groups of 15 or more is available at 1.800.285.0684.
– Matt Price
Star Trek D-A-C to launch on Xbox Live
Want to take “Star Trek” from the motion picture to your game system? Star Trek: D-A-C is a space shooter inspired by the film. In the game, players can choose their ship, including the new U.S.S. Enterprise, and battle online. Gamers can join Starfleet or the Romulan Empire, and take control of one of three different classes of ship.
Star Trek: D-A-C will be available for download via Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft starting May 13. It’s also scheduled to be released in the near future on the PlayStation Network and Windows PC.
Entertainment Insider: Star Trek
Gene Triplett, George Lang, Matt Price and Brandy McDonnell run down the “Star Trek” box office, and discuss what went right for the revamp.
