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Trekkie boldly bids $576,000 for model of Enterprise from ‘Star Trek: TNG’

NEW YORK - Star Fleet Capt. Jean-Luc Picard commanded it. Now some Trekkie owns it.

A model of the Starship Enterprise used in the pilot and title sequences of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" sold for $576,000 Saturday at an auction of costumes, sets and props from 40 years of the "Star Trek" sci-fi franchise.

The 78-inch-long miniature of the "Enterprise-D," built by Industrial Light and Magic, debuted in 1987 in the episode "Encounter at Farpoint," and then was used in many subsequent episodes, as well as the film "Star Trek Generations."

More than 1,000 items from the archives of CBS Paramount Television Studios went on the block over three days at Christie's auction house, and by early afternoon on Saturday fans of the series had forked over more than $4.9 million for set furniture, pointy Vulcan ears and other props.

Some Christie's employees taking bids by telephone wore “Star Trek” uniforms, and a live feed of the auction was carried on the History Channel's Web site.

Other top sellers on Saturday's action included a replica of Capt. James T. Kirk's command chair from the bridge of the Enterprise-A on the original "Star Trek" series.

The painted wood chair was only a re-creation for a 1996 episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" that mixed action from that newer series with old footage, but it still sold for $62,400.