There's almost 2 days left to bid on a Vintage 1978 Original Star Trek Pinball Machine from an Austin TX auction house, and as of the release of this article the high bid is only $250. We heard about this one recently and you better believe that if we had a place to put it in our house we wouldn't be telling you about this, but since we are packed to the nacelles here we're letting you in on the opportunity. This particular auction house accepts online bids (as well as in person bidding). That way you don't have to live anywhere near Austin to win this item. They are even willing to help with the shipping coordination, you just have to spring for the cost. From their description and pictures, it looks like the pinball machine is in pretty good condition and even has it's original manuals...however with an "as is" tag we can't tell if it's actually in operating order.

Even if you aren't in the market for a pinball machine of your very own it's still pretty cool to look at. They have quite a few pictures online and quite a bit of detailed information.

If you end up buying this pinball machine let us know. We'd love to post pictures of you at play.

Good luck...and let the bidding begin!

There are three fantastic reasons you should go to Albuquerque this weekend, June 24-26 2011. 1 - The air smells like warm root beer. 2 - We hear you can eat your soup right out of the ashtrays in the local Holiday Inn (it’s ok…they’re clean). …and 3 - Star Trek is making a splash at the Albuquerque Comic Expo. 

That’s right, included in a long list of great guests are LeVar Burton (TNG), Marina Sirtis (TNG), and Raphael Sbarge (Voyager). You’ll get your chance to meet and chat with the stars themselves, as well as hear them talk about…what else but, Star Trek. Marina and LeVar’s panel promises to be very entertaining. Just imagine listening to two of the original cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation reminisce about their time on the show and regale the audience with tales of hard work and hijinks on the set.

Non Star Trek related (but still totally cool) guests include: Stan Lee, Peter Mayhew, Jeremy Bulloch, Ernie Hudson, Richard Hatch, Anne Lockhart and many more!

In a recent interview with Alibi.com, Star Trek: The Next Generation star LeVar Burton reveals that he's truly a Trek fan at heart. When asked if fans can be intense, he responded; "They can. I feel like I not only understand them, but I'm one of them. So I get it. I totally get it."

LeVar also revealed that his visor was literally attached to his head; "It's hard to get a clear sense of what I'm talking about unless you see the visual. It's sufficient to say there was pressure applied through a mechanism of flanges and screws that put pressure on my temples. So after about half an hour I'd get a headache." He continued; "People always ask me, Could you see out of that thing? And the answer is, no, I couldn't. It was always very funny to me because when the actor puts the visor on 85 to 90 percent of my vision was taken away, yet I'm playing a guy who sees more than everyone else around him. So that's just God's cruel little joke."

In breaking news today, Walter Koenig will finally & deservedly receive a star on the world famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. Walter is the last of the TOS main cast to receive a star on "The Walk", for which he had been previously passed over despite a wide-spread fan run internet campaign. All we can say is congratulations to our favorite Russian navigator. It's been a long time coming, but we're glad you finally get your dues. You can also check out our interview with Walter here, plus his official website.

Also included in the Television category are "Batman" star Adam West, "One Day at a Time" co-star Valerie Bertinelli, "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, "CSI: SVU" co-star Mariska Hargitay, "Everybody Loves Raymond" co-star Patricia Heaton, and "CSI" / "China Beach" co-star Marg Helgenberger.

On a side note, "Star Trek: Generations" co-star Malcolm McDowell will be receiving a star for the Motion Pictures category.

Check out the full details from the Hollywood Walk of Fame press release below.

Even though William Shatner desperately wanted to be in J.J. Abrams first film in the Star Trek reboot, he's officially announced that he won't be in Star Trek XII either. At the 2011 Calgary Comic Expo, Shatner was asked if he would make an appearance in the next installment in the J.J.-verse.

The Shat revealed; "I have become an acquaintance of J.J. as of late but I'm afraid no.. no I will not be in Star Trek 2 I'm afraid." There is to say though, that all things can change. And really, it's not unusual for Bill to stir a little controversy to shed light on a topic.

The title of this article sums it up perfectly. If you're a Trek fan and enjoy witty and hilarious improv, look no further than the crew of the USS Sisyphus. Born from a live improvised Star Trek show that ran from October 2009 to May 2010 at Chicago's iO Theater. "Improvised Star Trek" is a weekly podcast that takes title suggestions from their audience, and with no pre-planning aside from the recurring characters, perform a 20-25 minute show based solely on that title. We've listened to several and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one.

(Preface by Captain Pyke: We are thrilled to have "Hey Star Trek!" visiting us here at Subspace Communique! Jerad Formby has been a good friend to the site almost since its inception and we're honored that he would post another fantastic edition of his popular series here. While Jerad has been having some unresolved technical issues posting on Trekcast.com, we're excited to be the surrogate home for "Hey Star Trek!" Hopefully all the problems will be sorted out soon, but Until then, enjoy!)

Meanwhile, back at the lab, it seems Star Trek director J.J. Abrams has put together a new movie designed to help us all remember what it was like to see a movie in the 1980s. It’s obvious that he wants to take us back to a simpler era where movies held for all of us a sense of wonder and a youthful sense of fear.

He’s framed his story around young people who make movies as a hobby so that there is no confusing that this major motion picture is a valentine written and shipped to all of us thirty years ago. This movie, by design, would have played at the emerging cineplexes of old –on a screen right next to E.T. or Gremlins or The Goonies..

He even took it upon himself to film the movie as if it were made in that era. The film doesn’t suffer from frequent cutting and MTV pacing. It’s presented in sweeping panoramas of good ol’ small town kids in their good ol’ small town, flirting with their coming of age stories.

And it’s even a little scary. To ensure that the scares were as 1980s-authentic as possible, Mr. Abrams even observed the old Jaws adage. You know the one we mean.

There's something that you may have been able to gather about us by simply visiting this website... We love Star Trek! Shocker, right? As much as we love Phasers, Warp Nacelles, & Man Skants (okay, maybe not the skant), we also adore H.G. Wells novels and video games. With all of that said, it seems that we've just been beamed aboard the USS Nerdheaven-A. Sir Patrick Stewart (or Sir Patty as we like to call him) is set to voice the upcoming video game version of the Wells classic "War of the Worlds".

On a side note, the original USS Nerdheaven was destroyed at Wolf 359.

Announced at E3, the new XBLA / PSN game is designed by Other Ocean Interactive and published by Paramount Digital Entertainment. Based on the Wells classic, the cinematic side-scrolling platformer sets the player in 1950s London during a decimating alien invasion. Sir Patty (we swear that's the last time we'll call him that) will take on the role of the story narrator, and according to the man himself, has always been a "War of the Worlds" fan.

We’re pleased to announce the thirteenth episode of our “Life After Trek” podcast. In part 1 of our special round-table discussion, that we're calling "Our Lives After Trek", we had the fortune of talking Trek with Trek author Dayton Ward, Trek know-it-all Larry Nemecek, Trek blogger Jerad "Super Spock" Formby, and Geek Fighter Damon Shaw.

In the first part of our discussion, each panelist tells their trek universe introduction story and we also go through each of the Trek series with insightful, funny, and sometimes "inside Trek" conversations about the shows. In true "Best of Both Worlds" fashion, we leave you with a cliffhanger. In the next episode we'll be discussing "Enterprise" and all of the Trek movies. We had a blast recording this episode and hope that you will enjoy this unique conversation.