The main title sequence for Star Trek: Prodigy has been released and with it a look at the U.S.S. Protostar NX-76884. The opening sequence appears to be a blend of Voyager’s and Discovery’s and is accompanied by gorgeous animation and a fantastic theme. Could we be seeing a Protostar ornament in the next couple years?
Star Trek: Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001 with the episode “Broken Bow”. The Jonathan Archer Hallmark ornament came out in 2003, so any episode images or publicity photos that may have been the ornament’s inspiration would have had to come from the first season and a half of Enterprise.
I have only seen the image above twice. First, as the signed 8×10 photo (above right) and I mean this actual photo. I have not even seen this image anywhere else on the internet except as an uncropped grainy image on a Spanish website (below right). It is curious that the ornament matches so well to such a rare image.
By far, a more common image that can be found on the internet (above right) was from the premiere episode, Broken Bow, Part 1 (18:30), as the Enterprise is disembarking on its maiden voyage during the Zephram Cochrane speech. I would like to think that such a monumental moment in Trek history was the inspiration for the 2003 ornament.
‘Star Trek’ ship a hot collectible
It was introduced in July and became a $20 collector’s item. With Gene Roddenberry’s death, it can only get hotter. Hallmark Cards’ “Starship Enterprise” Christmas ornament commemorates Star Trek’s 25th anniversary. About 6 inches long, with headlights that blink, the mini-ship has sold at warp speed.
“We don’t always know how ornaments are going to sell,” said Rachel Bolton, a Hallmark spokeswoman in Kansas City. “But this one is probably our most popular one. And now with the death of the Star Trek author, I’m sure it’ll continue to be a favorite.
“Local Hallmark shops have long waiting lists.
”We sold out the first batch in a couple weeks, and we haven’t been able to reorder any more,” says Diane Wildman of Lynn’s Hallmark Cards in Countyside Mall in Clearwater. “I hear Hallmark is out of them, too.”
Tampa Bay Times, 1991
Newsday THE BALTIMORE EVENING SUN
NEW YORK — Two hundred people a day are calling the consumer affairs office of Hallmark Cards Inc. in Kansas City screaming for a $20 replica of the Starship Enterprise from “Star Trek” with blinking red and green lights. It is Hallmark’s most successful Christmas ornament since it launched the Hallmark Keepsake Magic Christmas Ornaments line in 1973.
At a time when it seems like nothing is selling, there doesn’t seem to be a store anywhere where the Starship hasn’t sold out.”
This is the most demand we have ever had for a single ornament,” said Betsy Helgager, spokeswoman for Hallmark cards. “There are waiting lists in some stores of as many as 300 hundred people.
“The 5-inch-long ornament was designed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the “Star Trek” television show. It also coincided with the pre-Christmas premiere of “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.” The death of the show’s creator Gene Roddenberry apparently has also boosted interest in the already popular Star Trek paraphernalia.
Hallmark will not release production statistics, but Helgager said there are 11,000 stores in the United States that could have ordered the ornament.
THE BALTIMORE EVENING SUN, December 19, 1991
Registry: Enterprise (NX-01)
Class: NX
Service: 2151 – 2161
Captains: Jonathan Archer
Appearances: Star Trek: Enterprise
Ornaments: 1
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) *PILOT*
Class: Constitution
Service: 2265
Captains: James T. Kirk
Appearances: Star Trek episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
Ornaments: 2
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Class: Constitution
Service: 2245 – 2285
Captains: Robert April, Christopher Pike, James T. Kirk
Appearances: Star Trek and Star Trek: The Animated Series
Ornaments: 8
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) *REFIT*
Class: Constitution
Service: 2285
Captains: James T. Kirk, Willard Decker, Spock
Appearances: Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Ornaments: 1
Registry: ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701) *MIRROR UNIVERSE*
Class: Constitution
Service: 2260s
Captains: Christopher Pike, James T. Kirk, Spock
Appearances: Star Trek episode “Mirror, Mirror”
Ornaments: 1
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)
Class: Constitution-class refit
Service: 2286 – 2293
Captains: James T. Kirk
Appearances: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Ornaments: 1
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)
Class: Excelsior-class refit
Service: 2293 – 2329
Captains: John Harriman, Demora Sulu
Appearances: Star Trek: Generations
Ornaments: 0
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C)
Class: Ambassador
Service: 2332 – 2344
Captains: Rachel Garrett
Appearances: Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise”
Ornaments: 2
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
Class: Galaxy
Service: 2363 – 2371
Captains: Jean-Luc Picard, William T. Riker, Edward Jellico
Appearances: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine episode “Emissary”, Enterprise episode “These Are the Voyages…”, Star Trek: Generations
Ornaments: 3
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) *FUTURE REFIT*
Class: Galaxy
Service: circa 2395
Captain: Full Admiral William T. Riker
Appearances: Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “All Good Things…”
Ornaments: 1
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)
Class: Sovereign
Service: 2372 –
Captain: Jean-Luc Picard
Appearances: Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek Nemesis
Ornaments: 2
Registry: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) *KELVIN TIMELINE*
Service: 2258 – 2263
Captains: Christopher Pike, James T. Kirk
Appearances: Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond
Ornaments: 1
Hallmark’s Complete 30-Year Line of Enterprise Ornaments (1991-2020)
Starfleet’s gray uniforms, as depicted on the 2001 Sisko ornament, were introduced in Deep Space Nine’s “Rapture” (Season 5, Episode 10) on December 30, 1996.
This was the first episode of Deep Space Nine to feature the grey-on-black Starfleet uniform with the division color undershirts created for Star Trek: First Contact (November 26, 1996), which would be used for the remainder of the series. The uniforms had been held back in production so that they would not be seen until an episode that aired after the official release of the movie. Besides all the admirals’ (and Whatley’s aide’s) uniform which had not been changed yet, some officers of the lower ranking staff are still wearing the previous uniforms. Unlike the DS9 crew, the crew on Star Trek: Voyager continued to use the old DS9 Starfleet uniforms, due to being stranded in the Delta Quadrant. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 407) notes that all of Deep Space Nine‘s stock of the older uniforms were sent to Voyager to use.
Memory Alpha
Our next clue is the publicity photo (above center) and Sisko with a bald head, goatee and wearing the older red-on-black uniform.
Prior to being cast as Ben Sisko in 1993, Avery Brooks played Hawk on Spenser: For Hire and its spinoff, A Man Called Hawk from 1985-1989. In both series, Brooks sported his preferred look: bald with a goatee. Paramount felt that fans would identify him as Hawk, so they had him grow his hair and shave his face for Trek (this was also done because they were worried about having two consecutively bald captains).
Fans, of course, still recognized Brooks as Hawk, because, wouldn’t you know, it was the same actor. Regardless, Avery Brooks wanted his look back and negotiated making changes over time, first growing the goatee back and then shaving his head. And—surprise, surprise—fans did not leave the series in droves.
Screen Rant
So it appears that the ornament’s pose was inspired by a publicity photo for Season 4 and the uniform was changed to the gray-on-black design that viewers last saw Sisko wear when Deep Space Nine ended its run in 1999.
2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis included a scene with Picard and Data escaping in a Scorpion-class ship. In 2003, Hallmark released The Scorpion ornament and it is the only Star Trek ornament that involved both Lynn Norton (ship sculpt) and Anita Marra Rogers (character sculpts) together. Each artist was known for sculpting dozens of Star Trek ornaments during their career. Unfortunately, The Scorpion went under some last minute changes and Rogers work has gone mostly unseen for years.
Look closely beyond the smoked canopy of the Scorpion ornament, and you may discern painted figures of Captain Picard and Data in the cockpit as sculpted by Keepsake Artist Anita Marra Rogers. Original designs for the ornament included a transparent canopy on the ornament, but changed to match the studio model used for filming. The change came too late to alter photographs on the ornament’s retail box and other Hallmark publications, which clearly show the figures.
Kevin Dilmore, startrek.com
I recently received an email from a reader who was following up on our conversation about the canopy’s shading in The Scorpion’s comments section two years ago.
I am the original poster who inquired about the lighter canopy Scorpion ornaments a couple years back. I see that there were some recent updates on the thread and I thought I’d comment on what I’ve found out regarding the topic. Please feel free to post any of this info to your website if you think it is useful.
While I have never found an ornament with a completely clear canopy as shown on the box, I can confirm that there are contrasting shades of canopies that differ from ornament to ornament. I’ve attached some photos of an ornament I acquired on ebay earlier this year with a lighter canopy next to an ornament with a darker canopy that I’ve had for some time. The difference looks somewhat subtle on camera, but is more apparent in person. I used to have an ornament with an even darker, almost black canopy which I sold off some time ago in favor of one with more visible figures.
So I’ve found that there are multiple variations of this ornament to suit your taste. You can own one with a very dark canopy which is more faithful to the film, or a lighter one which better shows the figures in the cockpit. Most seem to be somewhere in the middle. The good news is that this is one of the more affordable ornaments on ebay and other online marketplaces, so it is cheap to acquire the one you want or to collect multiple variations if you are so inclined.
I hope this information is helpful or at least interesting for someone.
Thanks,
Rob
P.S.
Thank you for all of the great information on this website. Because of you, I was able to acquire an HMS Bounty ornament last week to add to my collection. So as always, thanks and keep up the good work!
There seems to be a wide range of tints available on The Scorpion which result in quite different ornaments. If you have the blackened canopy the ornament could be almost any spaceship since it isn’t one of the recognizable iconic ship designs known in the Star Trek universe. If you have a clearer canopy, the images of Picard and Data turn the ornament from a generic sci-fi spaceship to a true Star Trek ornament.
A big ‘thank you’ to Rob for the information, his photos and the very kind words.
With a search through common images of Spock sitting at the controls of the Science Station we never get the match we are looking for. In all five cases (see above) Spock is never holding the control desk with his left hand as he does on the ornament. By grasping the console he appears to be steadying himself as if the Enterprise is being blasted by some sort of alien attack.
Looking to narrow down the options from the 79 original episodes the inspiration may have come from, I started with the science scope that is prominently displayed at the control board.
Constitution Class Science Scope Design
In 2254, some starships, including the Constitution-class USS Enterprise, were not equipped with a scope. (TOS: “The Cage”)By 2265, however, a dark blue, featureless scope had been introduced at the science station of most Federation starships. This device jutted out of a console at an elevated angle, camouflaged well into the darkness of the console. Unlike the scopes of the previous century, this style of viewer was stationary and its contents could be seen from a further distance. As direct contact with an eyepiece was not necessary, two people could simultaneously view the device’s display. (TOS Season 1)
In 2267, the shaft that comprised the science viewer’s exterior was re-colorized to a light grey, consequently becoming more easily recognized within its console. Also, a circular control was added to the device’s exterior on the left side of the shaft, comparative to the user’s position. (TOS: “Catspaw”, et al.)
Memory Alpha
Star Trek “Where No Man Has Gone Before” Pilot: 2265
Wikipedia
Star Trek Season 1: 2266-2267
Star Trek Season 2: 2267-2268
Star Trek Season 3: 2268-2269
“The Galileo Seven” was the first episode of 2267 and the 16th entry in the first season of TOS which means there are only 64 possible episodes it could be from.
The search for Spock’s inspiration continues…
With the SDCC event less than an hour old eBay is booming with more than 75 new HMS Bounty offerings. Currently, the lowest asking price is $89.00.
Shipping challenges are affecting Hallmark’s product availability for the holiday season. To ensure the best selection possible, they have rescheduled this event to October 16-24 (previously Oct. 2 – 10), with early KOC shopping available on Oct. 15. Holiday Open House (HOH) has moved back by one week to Nov. 12 – 21 (previously Nov. 5 – 14).
Although a number of October ornaments have been pushed back to November there is no word of either Star Trek ornaments being delayed.
The Daily Show
on Comedy Central
Hosted by Craig Kilborn
November 17, 1998
Craig: [William Shatner’s] got the big ego though. He thinks he’s special.
Kate: He has been a starship captain. What do you expect?
Craig: Are you one day going to have that enormous ego.
Kate: No. I keep my ego in perspective. [makes face]
Craig: Ok.
Kate: ‘Cause I’m just a girl, right?
Craig: I’ll tell you what, if I were you, what would expand your ego. This is real, this is a Christmas ornament of you at the helm. [brings out 1998 Janeway Hallmark ornament] Look at this. How do you stay grounded, I mean you’re a super star. This is beyond a doll. This is a Christmas ornament.
Kate: No, but I think the logic behind this little device is extraor…it weighs fifty-eight pounds.
Craig: It is.
Kate: So, what does your Christmas tree look like, is the question.
Craig: The one down in Rockefeller Center is the only one that could hold this.
Kate: You wouldn’t wanna run into her in a dark alley, would ya?
Craig: You look tough there. Is there any… Can this be a stocking stuffer as well? Or is it just an ornament.
Kate: I’m sure you could…stuff it.
[audience laughter and applause]
Read the entire interview transcript with additional photos at Totally Kate: The Official Fansite of Kate Mulgrew.
Kate Mulgrew will return in the role of Hologram Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy.
A word of warning not to buy/preorder the overpriced HMS Bounty that is showing up on eBay. The event exclusive ornament will be available to buy from home on July 23, 2021 at Noon E.S.T. and October 7, 2021 at Noon E.S.T. There will be a limited amount so be sure to log in early.
This year, we will offer event exclusives ONLINE ONLY in conjunction with the following events, typically attended in person: Comic-Con@Home, scheduled July 23-25, 2021, and New York Comic Con, scheduled October 7-10, 2021. Product allotments will be divided evenly between the two convention timeframes. Exclusives will be sold on a first-come basis starting at Noon Eastern Time (9 a.m. Pacific Time, 11 a.m. Central Time) on the first day of each convention.
Additionally, small quantities…will be allotted for sale to Keepsake Ornament Club Members. For more information on membership, go to hallmark.com/ornaments/keepsake-ornament-club.
For details on how to purchase exclusives, visit PopMinded.com/Events and expect the PopMinded convention shop to return in-person, to a full line-up of events in 2022.
For more information about PopMinded by Hallmark and the products offered, visit PopMinded.com.
Hallmark.com
Star Trek stamp illustrator, Keith Birdsong, also created the cover art for several Star Trek Pocket Books novels. Unfortunately, Birdsong passed away in 2019 at the age of 59.
It was a long journey to get the United States Postal Service to issue a Star Trek stamp. Star Trek fan, Bill Kraft, led the effort and captured it in his book, Maybe We Need a Letter from God: The Star Trek Stamp.
The drive to honor Star Trek on a U.S. postage stamp is unique. “Maybe We Need a Letter from God: The Star Trek Stamp” traces an old-fashioned grassroots movement, long before easy access to the speed of the Internet, that involved a strategy of signed petitions, endorsement letters and media exposure. Fueled by the spontaneous combustion of fan fervor, the Star Trek Stamp Committee embarked on a journey that took over a decade to complete. A dubious Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, a bureaucratic “force field,” thwarted the Star Trek Stamp Committee’s efforts for 13 years. The book includes over eighty endorsement letters from some of the most renowned individuals in the worlds of science, science fiction and government, along with documentation from some of the nation’s leading newspapers such as “USA Today,” the “Los Angeles Times,” the “Chicago Sun Times,” and “Time Magazine.”
1998, Deep Space Nine and Voyager were on the air and Star Trek: Insurrection was in theaters. Hallmark had only released its 16th and 17th Star Trek ornaments and Kevin Dilmore interviewed longtime Hallmark Star Trek artists Anita Marra Rogers and Lynn Norton for Star Trek Communicator magazine. The magazine, a bimonthly publication of the Official Star Trek Fan Club, folded in 2005.
A big ‘thank you’ to the wonderful reader who sent me this article.
“It is Paramount’s criteria that the characters do not have a hook in any part of their bodies. Therefore, we have to incorporate a part of their environment with them as a vehicle to place the ornament hook.”
Anita Marra Rogers
Within two years Seven of Nine would have a hook driven into her cranium, a practice that continues with character ornaments to this day.
Hallmark Star Trek Ornaments 