Star Trek: The Original Series "Mirror Mirror" Insignia

[rickrickrick]

Hello, first post in YEARS. Life is what happens while you're busying making other plans...

The 1701st costuming board used to be a good resource for info about ST:TOS costuming, but it seems traffic there has been very light lately, the threads are all very old, and now that Tapatalk has taken over Yuku, the board seems to run slowly, and I find the interface awkward. So, I've come here seeking info.

In the "Mirror, Mirror" episode, everyone has those alternate insignias - the ones with the dagger-like object piercing an embroidered red and white planet. The "dagger" looks like an old chandelier prism - it's clearly translucent, and, knowing how cheap the series budgets were, I assume it was a found object, not something custom sculpted, molded, and cast. Has anyone ever identified that object? Does anyone besides that scam artist Joe Kerezman sell a decent replica insignia?

Also wondering about the supposed military decorations they wear - Spock, specifically. He has that six-point star medal, the weird upside down clam thing, and what looks like gold oak leaf charms. Have those original items been identified, and are replicas available?





My thanks in advance for any assistance/knowledge you can offer.

RRR

 

[rickrickrick]

So, someone at the 1701st came through with some information. I will share everything I learned here.

The "dagger" through the embroidered red/orange patch is a vintage "icicle" Christmas tree ornament. They used to come in several colors, including clear, red, green, blue, orange, and amber, which is what was used for the "Mirror" insignia. I searched high and low for some amber ones without success, but I scored some clear ones, so I will try coloring them a bit. Here's what the original item looks like - the round end has to be sharpened to a point.



The red/orange patch doesn't seem to have been identified by anyone as a found object, and may, in fact, have been custom made for production. The weird clam-like medal is part of an off-the-rack period costume jewelry brooch, the manufacturer of which has not been identified. The gold leaves are obviously just some leaf charms of some kind, and there are lots of contemporary counterparts that are very close. I have found no information about the cross-like star. Kerezman seems to be the only vendor of replicas ( ), but he is not currently offering the Spock awards.

If anyone else has any info or insight, I'd love to hear from you.

RRR

 

[rickrickrick]

Well, it seems some people have looked at this thread, but no one has contributed, but I'll keep posting my findings.

After extensive searching, I found what I think is a very good match for the original six pointed star dealie on Mirror Universe Spock's chest. Got it from an ebay auction.





Scored a vintage icicle for the insignia on ebay, as well, though it's clear, not amber. Clear, by the way, is what I've become convinced they used on the show. The icicles are about 3" long, and I have NEVER seen an amber one. Looking at the episode again and again, and recent photos of originals in people's collections, it looks to me like the icicle is clear, and dusted with gold spray paint. The amber color is too saturated by comparison.

The next real challenge is that weird black backing behind the star. Famous for re-purposing found items due to budgetary constraints, it seems likely that the costume department used a found object for the background piece, but I'll be darned if I can tell what the heck it is.

Anyone have a Kerezman version of this that they'd be willing to share pictures of, so I can see what his solution was like? Thanks!

RRR

 

[nick daring]

Lots of good Trek Prop research going on here- http://discuss.fleetworkshop.org/

 

[rickrickrick]

Thanks, Nick, I just recently became aware of that. Haven't posted over there yet, as it seems almost exclusively prop-related, and I figure these are costume accessories, but maybe I'll hop on-board there, too.

RRR

 

[OB10]

Another excellent Trekish resource is http://www.trekpropzone.com/forum. Annoyingly, you have to register to even be able to view the threads ("Why should I bother registering if I don't know if it's even worth it?" Yeah, that's kinda dumb.). It is a really great resource, though. Also largely prop related, and not as busy as the RPF, but a lot of great info. Definitely worth signing up.

I never got the impression that these things were Christmas icicle decorations. I found a couple lamps with them on (squeeee!), and a candle holder, which I think was originally a lamp. I've never seen anything but the clear ones. I was at a really old antique lamp repair shop that was going out of business, and got a bunch of the original clear ones. The owner (who was retiring) wondered why I wanted to by cheap, crappy chandelier crystals when he had nice glass ones... I also found that there were some much longer. They were maybe 5" - 7" long. I shoulda bought those, too. But, I was in a hurry, they weren't screen accurate, and most of them were sort of deformed from heat. But next time....