The three foot model of the Enterprise — the original shooting model, seen in The Cage and in stock footage in other episodes — has reportedly been found. And it looks like the real thing.
The ship popped up in an eBay listing and the auction was taken down shortly after. The opening price was set at $1,000 and two bids were placed, for $1,500 and $2,500, but they were both cancelled by the seller.
At time of writing, it is unclear why the auction was cancelled but I suspect someone told the new owner that there is big money to be had. Really big. At the recent auction of Greg Jein’s collection, the Galileo model sold for $225,000 and the X-Wing model for more than $3 million. The original Enterprise would come in somewhere in the upper end of that range.
Here is every photo from the short-lived eBay appearance. Click on the photos for larger versions.
The model looks like the real thing and, while no one yet knows for sure, the consensus of the knowledgeable folks at the Replica Prop Forum is that this is legit.
The rumour on the Internet is that the Enterprise was found in an abandoned storage locker, but that is not actually stated in the auction, which said only:
Item description from the seller
This ship is a custom made spaceship by Richard Datin jr
Made by wood and hand painted
It’s a 1 in 1 very rare and very old
It will have its aging like wooden cracks and sticker pealing off
Very nice for a collection
32 inches long
A fuller story will come out soon, but for now it seems that the greatest missing piece of Star Trek history has been found.
Collecting Trek 
8 responses to “Has the three-foot shooting model been found?”
Concurrently exciting and heartbreaking news, if this is actually the missing model ( and, in my non-expert opinion, it appears to be…if not, it’s a remarkable work of detailed forgery ).
Since the listing was removed, one can only hope that the Roddenberry estate has been contacted and the model will end up in caring hands.
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Hi David. Heartbreaking because the mystery is over?
My guess is we’ll next see it at a big auction house.
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No, the heartbreaking part is that it’s in such deteriorated condition ( although we can be grateful it’s in as good shape as it is ). Whoever’s hands it ends up in will have to make some hard decisions as to preservation vs. restoration.
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I get what you’re saying, but I am just amazed that it still exists at all.
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That Richard C. Datin, Jr. label alone (and the handwritten notes) would be worth a fortune alone to most of us early Trekkie fans. Thanks for this wonderful piece of news!
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That’s right. And you’re welcome. Thanks for reading.
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The original model shown in ‘The Cage’ had an extremely large deflector dish that was larger than the housing for it. It also had spikes coming out of the Bussard collectors like the one Spock is holding in the image. Anyone know the reason for the discrepancies?
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Hello Kevin. The model was modified a few times after its use in The Cage and the early publicity photos. According to the book The Enterprise NCC 1701and The Model Maker by N. Datin McDonald, quoting Richard C. Datin Jr.: “It was updated along with the eleven-footer after the first pilot and again before the regular series episodes, and before the second season.”
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