Las Vegas ‘Trekkers’ live long and prosper at local convention

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 9:49 a.m.

At first glance it seems no more than just another costume party, or to be more specific, yet another convergence of "Star Trek" fanatics.

Everyone's dressed for their respective roles, hundreds of "Trekkers" made up as Scotty, Uhura, any number of Klingons and the sadly departed Bones McCoy. A Captain James T. Kirk lookalike chats up a Captain Jean-Luc Picard contemporary as a faux-Scotty shakes hands with fake Worf, all amid a carnival-like backdrop of souvenir booths and "Star Trek" decor.

Somewhere, someone is probably working on his nerve pinch, or brushing up on his Vulcan mind meld.

But the event, a Star Trek convention held at the Imperial Palace on Sunday afternoon, had a bit more substance than a quirky dress-up day. There is true devotion hidden under the costumes, a seemingly religious conviction for a television show that lasted just three years in its first incarnation.

That was from 1966-1969, when "Star Trek" -- famous for melodramatic acting, snugly-fitting costumes, futuristic plots and plastic props -- first aired on NBC.

Since then, the "Star Trek" concept has spawned three spinoff series ("The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager") and nine motion pictures. The original cast can still find work in the roles they made famous, and just when it seems the fad has ebbed, a new generation of fans crops up.

"It might diminish as far as widespread popularity, but I don't think it will ever totally vanish," Dieter Esterbrook, dressed sharply as Scotty, said while taking a break from booth bouncing. "It went through an entire decade from the late '60s to late '70s when it was kind of dormant, but then the first movie came out and it's been strong ever since."

One thing can be said for "Star Trek:" Fans rarely desert the show. Once a fan, always a fan, they claim.

"I've been a 'Star Trek' fan since I was a kid and my mom was an original 'Trekker,' " says Julia Merica, wearing a green-and-black "Star Trek" officer's uniform. "She got me and my brother into the show."

Merica is flying solo on this day but is instantly comfortable among strangers with similar passions.

"I've been attending these shows for 12 years and I made this costume before my first show," she says. "I have a huge card collection that I'm involved with and I meet a lot of people that way. I have seven binders full of cards and I'm pretty proud of it."

Merica is quick to describe the show's lingering popularity.

"It's a look into the future but with contemporary issues," she says. "You look at problems of today, with racism and prejudice and conflict of all kinds, and it's done in 24th-century fashion. It's very well-written, too, and it's not just a gimmick and gadget show."

But there are multitudes of Trek-related gizmos for sale. A phaser goes for $20, a lithograph of the original Starship Enterprise can be had for $150, coffee mugs bearing the likeness of the late DeForrest Kelley and, in one peculiarity, a glossy photograph of William Shatner -- as T.J. Hooker -- costs $5.

"Some of this stuff can be borderline," says Esterbrook, a member of the Las Vegas Star Trek Club who made his own costume and phaser prop. "I'm not here for T.J. Hooker. I'm into 'Star Trek' and the whole sci-fi fantasy it represents."

Esterbrook says the Imperial Palace event had little to do with the slick "Star Trek: The Experience" interactive adventure exhibit at the Las Vegas Hilton.

"That's a much more corporate thing for the general public," he says. "This is more grass roots, more for the true fans."

A sort of litmus test for any "Trekker" is the "Captain Question." Of the four actors who portrayed "Star Trek" captains on television -- Shatner, Patrick Stewart (Picard on "The Next Generation"), Avery Brooks (Benjamin Sisko on "Deep Space Nine") and Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway on "Voyager") -- who is the favorite?

It's an ideal way to get a "Trekker" to reveal his true self.

"That's a tough one," Esterbrook says after a long pause. "It's a toss-up for me between Kirk and Janeway (Mulgrew on 'Voyager')."

Unlike Mulgrew, Shatner has a somewhat spotty reputation for self-absorption, and did little to endear himself to "Trekkers" in a"Saturday Night Live" skit in which he chided a similar convention with the classic line, "Get a life, people."

But Shatner has actually attended several similar conventions and has put on an energetic show for the assembled costumed fans.

"Mr. Shatner has a certain reputation, but I've heard he's the easiest one to deal with out of all the captains," Esterbrook says. "He screams, yells and banters. He's really popular."

One facet of the event that draws snickers from less-fervent "Star Trek" fans is a musical tribute to the four series captains. Highlights of each captain are shown on a big screen to the Starship song,"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now."

"Some of this stuff, you have to be a real fan to get into," Merica says. "It can be perceived as a little hokey."

And there is a somewhat dark side to "Trekkers" fandom, which manifests itself in the other world of the warrior Klingons. One such Klingon sympathizer is a woman dressed in a cleavage-revealing metal mesh costume with a combat helmet and matching cape.

"My name is Hidaq!" she shouts.

Huh?

Upon further questioning, the warrior princess relents and says her name is Heidi Platz. Platz is part of a 12-member fringe club called the Empire Revenge Fan Club that is fascinated by the Klingon philosphy.

"I do this because when you put on the head piece, the outfit, you get to be someone else," she says. "I'm basically a shy person, but this way you get to be out in public, plan parties and picnics and have a good time."

It's an enclosed society, no doubt, and perhaps you have to buy into the space-age fantasy of the show to appreciate the event.

"It could be that not everyone is into fantasy," Easterbrook says. "You have to kind of let yourself go in a way just to wear one of these costumes. But when everyone else is into it, there's a kind of kinship that forms. It's like being a kid again."

And like the "Star Trek" concept itself, these kids plan to live long and prosper.