Some Star Trek Prop History For Inquiring Minds:

Most of these Prop Makers and Technicians have passed-on.

Below are old-timer accounts of convention conversations before conventions were really a fad. (all these are therefore 2nd hand stories) 

Mr. Greg Jein was a very well known Star Trek TOS prop collector and authority (born October 31, 1945 in Los Angeles, USA; died May 22, 2022 in Los Angeles). He had personal friendships with all the listed Star Trek TOS production prop craftsmen (Bob Stone, James Rugg, Richard Heimer, John Dwyer, and Mr. Ruck). 

Greg was an acquaintance of mine (Jon-Paul L), and generously took the time to meet me in California on several occasions, beginning in 2018 right through 2021. He shall be missed.

Mr. Jein was a filming model designer who, starting in the 1970s’, created miniatures for use in the special effects portions of many films and television series. Mr. Jein was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977) and, nominated for an Outstanding Special Visual Effects Emmy for “Angels in America” (1979).

In the 1970s’ Greg worked onTV productions such as “Wonder Woman”, and “The UFO Incident”. Jein then went on to work on Spielberg's film “1941”, where he and his team constructed a number of models including a twelve-foot model of the Ferris wheel that's dislodged from its mount and rolls down the pier and into the water. For their work on “1941” Jein, William A. Fraker and A. D. Flowers were again nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

Then in the 1980’s Greg Jein was invited to work on “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” building planetary models for Spock's spacewalk scene and the interior of the V'Ger craft. Jein continued his association with Star Trek Films, building alien weapons for: “Star Trek V The Final Frontier”, Starfleet helmets for the assassination scene in “Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country”. In 1986 for “Star Trek The Next Generation” Jein and a team at Industrial Light & Magic (ALM) built the original six-foot model of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), the Ferengi Marauder starship and, the Klingon Vor'cha.

BACK TO STAR TREK TOS 1966 THRU 1969

Mr. Bob Stone was Star Trek's machinist and made all the metal prop parts for all three seasons of the show. Parts were made to order for each episode as in those times (the 1960’s) as machining was done by hand and there was no advantage to making short runs (and no studio funding either). Each episode had a specific budget. Speaking of budgets, Bob relied on his Star Trek friend Robert Archer (VP of Budgeting for the show) in getting a little leeway on the $ so he could do the best possible job. According to Bob there was no magic drum of Phaser Nozzles and every job was a mad-dash to meet the filming deadlines.

Because parts were made only to order, parts varied quite a bit. These variations can be seen in all the surviving examples of TOS hand props from Phaser to Communicators and Tricorders. Sometimes it was not that  a new design was needed but rather that when one Wings it from a sketch, in a hurry using what is on-hand, you get an unintended-new-version of something (in the 1960’s the TV audience never could see that).

Robert Archer and Bob Stone worked closely together so when the show was canceled suddenly in season three, Robert Archer ended up with a nice collection of hand props. 

Richard Heimer made the molds for hand props. He also did all the casting and forming. This included; Vacuum form bucks, Fiberglass molds and urethane molds. Again, according to him most work is done in the normal Hollywood maddening rush. He shared with his convention friends that there were many molds made from molds when the production schedule demanded this. He also shared that when the show ended he rescued the molds from being discarded by putting them in his garage. 

James Ruggs (b. 1919) was the director of special effects for the show. He handled and repaired many of the props on-set. When the show was canceled in season three he rescued many hand props and even some models from the scrap heap. Dick Ruben, Prop & Art Assistant on the show, got his Set-Used Klingon disruptor from James.  Mr. Ruggs held on to his rather large Star Trek collection for many years. It is widely known that Greg Jein got his Holy-Grail Hero Phaser from James.

In closing a nod to Mr. Ruck, a prop technician, who reported that he repaired some hand props hundreds of times as they were often damaged during filming. He had also shared that the fiberglass Mid-Grade’s, and some other props often used basswood strips between the seams to establish uniform dimensions. Watch some YouTube Star Trek TOS bloopers to see what he was talking about when it comes to repairs and hand props flying apart.

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