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John Katsilometes
Dr. Tony Alamo (left) finds himself on the wrong end of a Vulcan mind meld, enacted by Luis Valentine.
Published Sunday, April 11, 2010 | 1:52 p.m.
Updated Sunday, April 11, 2010 | 2:09 p.m.
A Romulan uniform baldrick.
Some visuals are to be expected at a warehouse sale of “Star Trek: The Experience” memorabilia.
A Borg alcove, for example. Racks of Romulan costumes. A giant, plastic Starship Voyager replica. A person wearing pointy, rubber ears and a polyester costume, dressed as a Vulcan ambassador to Earth.
But a prominent Las Vegas physician from a celebrated Las Vegas family who has served on the state Athletic Commission and is currently a member of the Nevada Gaming Commission?
He’s here, too.
Dr. Tony Alamo Jr. was among the 500 or so Trekkers to descend on (or, if you will, beam into) a 26,000-square-foot storage facility on Spectrum Boulevard off Stewart Avenue near U.S. 95 on Saturday.
“I’m dating myself, but I was a big fan of the show as a kid, and grew with it in every incarnation,” Alamo said. “I was interested in Captain Kirk, first, but my father told me to focus on Bones (he was the doctor on the USS Enterprise, for the uninitiated). He said, ‘Dr. McCoy is always in the idle of the action and giving medical care. He’s a confidant of Captain Kirk. He’s trusted by everyone.’ I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was putting the thought of a medical career in my head, even then. It led to my entire career, everything that has happened since was because of ‘Star Trek.’ ”
Alamo’s father, Tony Alamo Sr., is inarguably Vulcan-wise, especially in his rise to prominence in Las Vegas. He moved the family to city in 1974, and first worked as a shift manager at Circus Circus. He also ran the Desert Inn for Kirk Kerkorian, and later opened the MGM Grand. The elder Alamo was at Monte Carlo for a decade before retiring in 2005 when Mandalay Bay was taken over by MGM Mirage.
Alamo Jr. has been a Las Vegas physician for about two decades. He has never practiced the Vulcan mind meld, but was on the receiving end of such by a costumed Luis Valentine, formerly a strolling character actor at Quarks bar and restaurant at the Las Vegas Hilton who was dressed as Vulcan Ambassador Soval.
Both seemed unaffected after the experience, which is good news for Dr. Alamo’s Las Vegas patients.
But nothing lasts forever, even in the Trek galaxy. “Star Trek: Experience” closed in 2008 after 11 successful years at the Hilton. Assets from the attraction, including the Quarks gift shop desk, signage, chairs and tables and assorted “Star Trek” props and effects, have been stored since the attraction went dark.
It has been expected for more than a year that there would be a formal announcement that a new version of the attraction will open at Neonopolis on Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard. CBS, which owns the licensing for all “Star Trek” assets, has contract with developer Rohit Joshi at Neonopolis for the attraction, but there has been no official date or announced plan put in place for the next “Experience” in Las Vegas. Those in the neighborhood, chiefly Downtown Cocktail Room owner Michael Cornthwaite, of flatly stated they doubt “Trek” will ever resume as an attraction at Neonopolis.
Regardless, the stuff for sale Saturday would not likely have been used in any new “Star Trek: Experience” theme park. A lot of it had been too badly scarred and worn after more than a decade of use at the Hilton to be considered salvageable as set pieces. Items ranging from Enterprise bridge pieces to rubber Vulcan ears to “Trek”-designed wall panels to Borg jumpsuits to “Exit” signs were offered for cash. Prices ranged from $25 to $500.
Lording over the sale was the movie and TV prop company Propworx, which deals in the marketing of set memorabilia and stage items from such brands as “Stargate” and “Battlestar Gallactica.”
A larger “Trek” asset sale, which will include a live auction, is scheduled for Aug. 8, at the end of the annual Star Trek convention at the Hilton. This sale was to be an under-the-radar affair, but once the Trekkers learned of it (first through an online report at the popular fan site TrekMovie.com), they showed up in waves. Dozens volunteered their time during the week to help clean up the warehouse and arrange the vast array of props offered for sale.
Two Trekkers, visiting from Los Angeles, came away with what they termed was quite a steal: A Borg recharging station panel for $400.
“A lot of people just walked by it,” said Ben McIntosh, who bought the piece with his companion, Randi Cohn. “They had no idea what it was.”
Imagine that. McIntosh and Cohn gladly packed the piece into the trunk of their Hyundai Elantra for the return trip to L.A.
Interesting story here, too. McIntosh is a 27-year-old graduate research assistant at USC who is working toward a PhD in electrical engineering. He’s part of a team helping develop a prosthetic retinal implant – a bionic eye, in effect.
Yet another “Trek”-influenced medical person. This franchise is facing a universal challenge to keep one warp ahead of those it has inspired.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.
It's sad that they got rid of the whole Star Trek Experience. You didn't have to be a die-hard "trekkie" to enjoy the place, which next to the easily accessible parking garage of the LV Hilton via Paradise or Joe W. Brown was the greatest feature of this place.
I loved the Star Trek Experience because it was a great "Neutral Place" to meet people at when they came to Las Vegas. Not many people aren't into Sci Fi, let alone are totally repulsed by Star Trek, so people always liked it. You can't say the same for other places that were either specifically themed, too adult, too bland, or just had too many loud, obnoxious patrons. So it was a great place that everybody could agree on and enjoy. Even if they had family members who were under 21, they could still go and have a good time as well. Plus when you did bring groups of people there, they staff still gave great service and kept your drinks filled because they were used to accommodating groups. Something you can't say for other places who ignore groups because they figure the tips will be lower. Best of all were the prices. Yeah, you would pay a little bit more here and there for a couple of things than you would if you were purchasing the equivalent from the hotel's coffee shop, but over all it wasn't that bad. And you'd still have cash left over to splurge at the souvenir shop or for one of the interactive experiences.
When Hilton, or rather Grand Vacations Resorts (who simply lease the name from the Hilton group) decided to kick the whole Star Trek Experience out, they really had no idea what they were doing. Since it's gone, the Space Quest Casino doesn't see as many players, it's bar has fewer drinkers, and the hotel gift shop right across from it called "The Strip" DEFINITELY has far less shoppers and is now a ghost town. So the hotel has certainly seen an impact on their own revenue, even if they won't admit to it.
There is still one little part of Star Trek that refuses to die however. Outside of Space Quest, facing down the hallway to the North Parking Garage, there is a sign. Currently it advertises the Benihana at the hotel. However this used to be the big sign that advertised the Star Trek Expereince. As cheap as they are, LV Hilton never bothered to replace the old poster, and instead just put the Benihana one over it. If you look closely you can see parts of Star Trek bleeding through. Specifically it looks like the cook is frying up the Head of Borg 7 of 16 in the flames before him.
Just to be clear, the person in the photo dressed as a Vulcan was NEVER employed by Star Trek:the Experience to be "a strolling character actor at Quark's Bar" (although I'm sure he wanted to be!). Those particular actors were well-trained improv artists whose job it was to remain in character, no matter what they encountered during their interactions with humans. Also, while most of them are also fans, they're still actors, so you probably wouldn't find them dressed up as their characters unless they had been well-paid to do so. The character actors, along with many of the ride actors, were there (dressed normally) during the sale...mostly to see if they could find and purchase their costumes to have as mementos of their years on the Timestation...so the Vulcan guy is NOT an actor and absolutely does not represent Star Trek: the Experience in any way. His rabid fandom, however, does speak to the power that the Timestation (as its fans lovingly referred to it) continues to hold over many people, nearly two years after its demise.
Trekker - I'm a hard core Trek fan myself - but really, who cares?
The "Experience" was awesome. Quark's was not.
I guess O'Brien never got around to fixing the food replicator.
I had some good times in Quark's over the years. I'm still kind of hoping it will reopen at some point, even though it doesn't look like it.