Heritage Auctions is hosting another auction of items from the estate of model designer Greg Jein, which includes a number of artworks from TV Century 21 by Ron Embleton and Frank Bellamy, and one page from Fleetway’s 1990s Thunderbirds comic by Keith Page.

The art is being offered in the The Greg Jein Collection Hollywood/Entertainment Showcase Auction, taking place 29th March 2024, alongside more original Star Trek art and kit box collected by Jein, film and TV scripts, costumes, props, rare comics, photographs and much more.

As Frank Bellamy Norman Boyd expert notes on his invaluable “Checklist” blog, unfortunately you can see that all three of the Frank Bellamy pieces have been exposed to sunlight and faded. It’s not uncommon, but it hasn’t stopped such art selling for a good price in the past.

The Thunderbirds art by Keith Page featuring Thunderbird 3 was previously sold by Hakes in 2014 for just $115, but with the show’s 60th anniversary fast approaching, and Heritage Auctions track record for strong sale figures, it might sell for more this time around.

Jein’s incredible collection, some items sold last year, reached epic proportions during his lifetime. Eventually it was housed all over Los Angeles, in friends’ workspaces and in houses where Jein stored — and restored — ships, helmets and other props from such TV shows as Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Space: 1999, Star Trek, and V. 

“Greg didn’t collect things for their value,” his first cousin Jerry Chang said before last year’s auction. “He collected because he enjoyed these things.” Now others will get to enjoy, preserve and protect them.

The artwork from British comics on offer is as follows:

Stingray art by Ron Embleton for TV Century 21 No. 4, cover dated 13th February 2065 (1965)

Stingray art by Ron Embleton for TV Century 21 No. 20, cover dated 5th June 2065 (1965)

TV Century 21 No. 67, cover datd 30th April 2066 (1966) – Thunderbirds

TV Century 21 No. 77, cover dated 9th July 2066 (1966) – Thunderbirds

TV Century 21  No. 147, cover dated 11th November 2067 (1967) – Captain Scarlet

TV Century 21  No. 149, cover dated 25th November 2067 (1967) – Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds art by Keith Page for Thunderbirds No. 36, cover dated 20th February 1993

Gregory “Greg” Jein was a twice Academy Award-nominated Chinese-American visual effects specialist and miniature model maker. A lifelong fan of the Star Trek franchise, Jein collaborated on the un-realised original series sequel Star Trek: Phase II, designing an alternative Klingon D7-class battlecruiser. He received his first Oscar nomination as chief model maker for Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), notably for creating the model of the alien mothership, now permanently exhibited at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum Collection).

Jein worked for Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Walt Disney Imagineering before setting up his own company in July 1979, his workshop located in Marina Del Rey, California. He was involved as a key model maker on five Star Trek films, as well as on Star Trek: The Next Generation, for which he built studio models, based on designs by Rick Sternbach and Andrew Probert, for the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-D, the Klingon Vor’cha and Negh’Var class warships and the Ferengi D’Kora-class Marauder. Gregory Jein, Inc went on to construct and supply the majority of models and props during the whole run of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Items sold in last year’s auction included a surviving model from Star Trek: The Original Series: the Galileo shuttlecraft, so popular it once had its own episode (“The Galileo Seven”), along with and an AMT model kit in the 1970s. It realised $225,000.

Tagging along was the more than 3.5-foot-long SS Botany Bay from “The Space Seed” episode in which the U.S.S. Enterprise crew first encountered Khan Noonien Singh. That extraordinary treasure realised $200,000, the same amount garnered for a collection of more than 300 scripts from Gene Roddenberry’s original Trek.

• The full catalogue for the The Greg Jein Collection Hollywood/Entertainment Showcase Auction #41185 on 29th March 2024 is here

• Greg Jein on IMDB | Greg Jein on Wikipedia

With thanks to Norman Boyd

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: Art and Illustration, Auctions, British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds

Tags: Auction News, Frank Bellamy, Heritage Auctions, Keith Page, Ron Embleton, Thunderbirds, TV Century 21