Star Trek has been granted longevity that few franchises could ever dream of because it was smart, well-written, had a specific point of view, and was full of memorable, lovable characters. But, like all enduring sci-fi works, it was also full of stuff. Just as Star Wars had its lightsabers and landspeeders, Star Trek had its phasers, tricorders, Enterprises, tribbles, and pointy ears.
All of these objects and 95 more are on display in The Star Trek Archive: 100 Objects and Stories from the Final Frontier. As the title suggests, the objects are here to be both ogled by Trekkies and provide a way in to discuss aspects of the series' history. So a page of Gene Roddenberry's original pitch allows author Ben Robinson to briefly discuss the show's initial iteration in which Spock is a red martian instead of a yellow Vulcan and there's a Captain called April instead of Kirk. This particular artifact is especially exciting for a piece of paper with typing on it because it includes a number of story ideas, most of which were turned into episodes and two of which weren't, clearly for special effects and potential Christian-angering issues.
Of course, Star Trek kept going after Spock and Kirk, and those later versions are represented too, and though I have never given Deep-Space Nine, Voyager, or Star Fleet Academy a looksee, these post-sixties Star Treks come with the amazing looking props one expects from a series that was not made in the sixties. I'd never before seen Morn, a space salamander, or an advanced teddy bear belonging to someone named Caleb, but I'm glad I now have after perusing the lovely and fairly informative The Star Trek Archive.
