One of Star Trek‘s more unusual props is going back up for auction this week — a study model for a possible USS Enterprise redesign — created by artists Ken Adam and Ralph McQuarrie for the abandoned film Star Trek: Planet of the Titans during the late 1970s.
Created as one of a few different possible Enterprise designs for the eventually-scrapped film project, this model — now labeled “B-24-CLN” after it was reused in TNG’s “Unification I” in the Qualor II ship yard — is a handmade wood-and-plastic build measuring 8″ x 15″.
This model, as well as its blue-toned counterpart from the ’77 production, has a triangular secondary hull which served as a direct influence on the look of the Crossfield-class USS Discovery in the current Star Trek: Discovery series now in production.
While this is certainly a historical collector’s item from Star Trek of decades’ past, the starting bid for this week’s auction — which ends at 5PM Pacific on Thursday — begins at a whopping $40,000.
For comparison, the last time this went up for public auction in 2010, it sold to a bidder at merely $3,500… so we’re not sure if this year’s auction will get much traction at that high price point.
If you’re in the market, however, you can check the auction yourself at Nate D. Sanders Auctions right now.