TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....or maybe a planet

[NCC1968]

I have finally gotten around to looking for more info about this thing.
First is the letter from Michael Foster who is the nephew of Donald Foster (Donald S. Foster - IMDb). The elder Foster worked on Family Ties (Note letterhead), Ferris Bueller and also Trek Next Gen.
This item does not appear in the catalog for the charity auction mentioned. The letter does not say it was IN the auction, but it was sold by Jefferies at that time. It is common to have items sell directly for various reason....often times to generate interest in bigger ticket items.
The letter is not dated and does not specify a buyer. This makes sense as it was done just before consigning it to an auction......and he had sold other items before this one vis the same auction house.

The item as auctioned:

That was the only pic.
Title read "422 Star Trek TV Series Foam Sphere"
Item Desription was "This is a background prop, foam sphere used during the production of the original classic sci-fi series 'Star Trek' (1966-69), though the sphere was not used as background for space scenes. The sphere is made from hard styrofoam and has been painted in grey, red and white tones to resemble a planet. (measures approx. 12" diameter)"

Here is what it looks like through my camera:

Image color saturation a little exagerated compared to live viewing.
Forgive the ancient carpet there
After I bought it I wondered if I would ever figure out what it is really. I figured it probably was not a planet as it appeared. Being a planet would be awesome, but then I figured it would not have been a screen used planet and I wanted something used.

I've met Celeste Yarnall ( Celeste Yarnall - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki) a few times and have a signed pic among many right above my computer desk:

Some luck huh?
Now you see where this is going.......

I broke out the DVD and watched "The Apple" with remote in hand. I looked for something like this and it was easy to find.
Here are a few pics:

Center of image to the far right......orangish globe...and a few black ones can be seen as well.

Near top right.

Some dark ones.

Above Kirk's shoulder.

Near Kirk's shoulder with yellow flowers.........looks like a giant chocolate chip cookie

Now this makes sense as the letter states it was a background prop.

That's where I am now.
Tell me what you think or better yet share what you may know.......
Thanks in advance for the comments and help of good fans.

 

[SciFiMuseum]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Wow, Nice! Hope that it turns out to be real man. Really cool.

 

[NCC1968]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Any TOS is good TOS....this will only be my second item from the first show.

 

[LMFAOSchwarz]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

A) I, too, hope this the real thing!

B) Celeste Yarnall is so gorgeous! (good in a fight, too! :thumbsup)

 

[Rik1138]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

If you are trying to actually screen match it, I'd suggest investing in the Blu-ray version... You'd be able to make out a lot more detail in the trees/fruits.

 

[NCC1968]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

If you are trying to actually screen match it, I'd suggest investing in the Blu-ray version... You'd be able to make out a lot more detail in the trees/fruits.

I kinda don't think it is going to be screen matched. As much as I'd love for it to be I am realistic in all my research and honest about what I find.

I don't see one that it appears to match well, but maybe it was in the back of the set. If someone else chimes in that would be great, but I don't plan to soon replace my DVDs.

All but 1 of the screencaps is from TrekCore (credit to them) and are pretty good.

I plan to again meet Richard Jefferies, but have the item to show him this time and maybe he will know something.

Now I'm looking for the Fosters...see if Donald can help.

Dwyer started after this episode, but maybe he knows something. I may well have been in a different episode.

Either way way....it survives and came from Jefferies and that alone was reason enough for me to get it.

 

[newworld]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Without Jefferies own verification OR a screen-match, I feel it is impossible to definitively say this is a background piece from "The Apple". That said, I love your detective work thus far and I think you've made a great case for it being likely that is was created for that episode. And while I don't blame you for not wanting to replace your DVD collection, if that were my piece, I'd DEFINITELY invest in at least one BluRay disc to see what I could see.

Love the carpet, BTW. :thumbsup Best of luck!

 

[NCC1968]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Without Jefferies own verification OR a screen-match, I feel it is impossible to definitively say this is a background piece from "The Apple". That said, I love your detective work thus far and I think you've made a great case for it being likely that is was created for that episode. And while I don't blame you for not wanting to replace your DVD collection, if that were my piece, I'd DEFINITELY invest in at least one BluRay disc to see what I could see.

Love the carpet, BTW. :thumbsup Best of luck!

If I can just get this damn Ouija board to work LOL

Yep...tough one. I bought it due to the Jefferies connection/production. Matching it to anything is just a bonus.

Trek collecting is like that. I have a "Pretty Maids All In A Row" postproduction party art piece signed by Roddenberry and Theiss....cuz it was what I could find.....

 

[Carey P]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

I have finally gotten around to looking for more info about this thing.
First is the letter from Michael Foster who is the nephew of Donald Foster (Donald S. Foster - IMDb). The elder Foster worked on Family Ties (Note letterhead), Ferris Bueller and also Trek Next Gen.
This item does not appear in the catalog for the charity auction mentioned. The letter does not say it was IN the auction, but it was sold by Jefferies at that time. It is common to have items sell directly for various reason....often times to generate interest in bigger ticket items.
The letter is not dated and does not specify a buyer. This makes sense as it was done just before consigning it to an auction......and he had sold other items before this one vis the same auction house.

Here's an interesting tidbit to compare to your provenance letter. I just got this from the PP auction of 12/8/12 for a sundial I won from the movie named in the letter. I wouldn't have gotten it if I didn't ask for it first. Apparently, this guy's uncle knows other people, or something is amiss, which I wouldn't put past PP with their reputation. Not to hijack your thread, but if you think something's fishy here, please let me know, since mine is not signed and it's on PP letterhead. If you do find Foster, ask him the sundial is real too because it is nowhere in the movie (but it is a background prop:unsure). Feel free to PM me. Thanks.

 

[NCC1968]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Thanks.

That one is on PP letterhead and not signed.......mine is a bit better I'd say and may be the source of the content for the other.

When I questiond PP before the auction they told me that he had brought items for them to sell before this one.

I will continue my research and if I find that the letter is not real......well..........you can guess where it goes next - this IS California LOL

Just selling an item and saying it is one thing and making up a letter is another - even they are not that dumb.

Let ya know what I find.

 

[Apollo]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Looks like it could have been one of the fruit from The Apple.

Extremely cool Prop!

 

[NCC1968]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

This is closer to how it looks in person.....more fruit - less planet.

 

[feek61]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

That is really an awesome piece. Kudos!!

The key with these sort of things is the ownership and being able to trace it back. It seems this is pretty solid as far as that goes. I agree; as much as this looks like a planet it probably is from exactly what you have already deduced. Nice, very nice!

 

[NCC1968]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Now, of course, I have to watch every TOS episode and only look in the backgrounds LOL

It's a tough job to watch TREK, but..........I can survive it.

 

[PotionMistress]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

"...But what is to be gained?
It is not a dance.
It gathers no food.
It does not serve Val!..."

Sorry....had to throw that in. lol

My opinion: I think it's a planet.

 

[Michael Bergeron]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

My opinion: I think it's a planet.

I agree. Still very cool!

 

[Columbo]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

I notice the fruit being held in the signed photo has a hole drilled in it. Maybe this was to attach them to the trees? If your item has a similar hole it would be a little more likely to be from that episode, and if it doesn't then it is more likely something else. If it does have a hole then this would greatly help in matching to blu-ray scenes because it would give the orientation of the sphere when it was in use.

 

[Borjis]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Specifically, it looks like the planet for "The City on the edge of forever."

 

[Apollo]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Or it could have been the mount to film it as a Planet

I notice the fruit being held in the signed photo has a hole drilled in it. Maybe this was to attach them to the trees? If your item has a similar hole it would be a little more likely to be from that episode, and if it doesn't then it is more likely something else. If it does have a hole then this would greatly help in matching to blu-ray scenes because it would give the orientation of the sphere when it was in use.

 

[Columbo]

Re: TOS Trek prop fruit from "The Apple"....maybe..

Or it could have been the mount to film it as a Planet

Absolutely, I was meaning that not having any hole would mean it is unlikely to be one of the weird fruits and if it did have a hole its not really conclusive of anything one way or the other but it could still be a fruit prop. I don't know how planets were done for original Trek. Would they have used a model so small when it would end up being larger in the frame than the Enterprise orbiting it, and that model was 12 feet across! There must be some behind the scenes shots out there somewhere of the original series effects studio.