With the Star Trek XI Blue coming along quite nicely, I thought it would be neat to show you the newest test for upcoming product. To say our team nailed this dye job is an understatement. Take a look for yourself ! Once more, this is a statement of our commitment to you to put in the time, effort and blood to get you the best possible replica…

…as indiscernible  to the real thing as possible.

-Joe

Read it up !

http://www.ugo.com/the-goods/exclusive-first-look-at-the-star-trek-uniform-replicas-by-anovos

Here’s a fun update: The world of spandex is complex. Just a little back history, the Star Trek XI shirt fabric had been identified as “jumbo spandex” by a combination of research and the fan base. In efforts to find a supplier of a seemingly simple fabric, in the last few weeks, I’ve taken the plunge head-first into the world of Spandex creation. This seemingly ubiquitous fabric is amazingly complex and depending on the use has totally different compositions. On top of that, I can’t tell you how many names the same thing is called and how many different compositions are called the same thing !!! Adding another layer to the complication, the Star Trek XI large reference swatches we were given, clearly show a ribbing texture and a sheen on only once side of the piece, thus making the search even more of a challenge. So, this seemingly simple fabric is anything but… simple !

In the past few weeks, I had tried various sources and had just about every spandex house  in the nation send me their heaviest gauge spandex, lycra, jumbo spandex, super spandex, jumbo lycra sample out there. I even contacted China mills to produce the exact ratio of dull nylon, bright nylon and spandex to produce the elusive “Jumbo Spandex”. To our disappointment, most of the samples had either one element or some elements of the original piece, but none of them had all elements I was looking for in this quest for the perfect replica. Challenging ? Yes. But in all honesty, this is the part I love most in high quality costume replication. Unfortunately, the clock doesn’t stop ticking and we had a schedule to maintain in getting out our prototypes ready for order.

I quickly had to make an order from a fabric shop to start our prototypes. Its a nice family-owned business. As we were talking, I told them our purpose with the material and maintained a casual supplier/buyer conversation. We then started talking about their history in general and suddenly they started dropping names that became all too familiar, especially one of a good ol’ “Mike” (as in Michael Kaplan). I pressed further and realized I had serendipitously stumbled upon the original source for the fabric used in the ST XI shirts and one more piece of the puzzle solved. As you can imagine, this pretty much made my day and immediately signed them to the “team”. I met with them yesterday and they showed me the “good stuff” in the back  and sure enough, it  was the exact match for the shirts, with the exact ribbing and asymmetric sheen on one side of the fabric.

If you would grant me one second on a soapbox: This is why we do this and why ANOVOS was started. We love the quest for the perfect replica. In doing so, we are blessed with learning the personal stories of how this all came together. In certain cases, some suppliers had no idea the integral part they played. In fact, one of them just saw ST XI for the first time three days ago (his comments on it were hilarious)! (okay, off the soapbox).

So there you have it folks. You can check this off your list for exactness. If you have a tally so far, we have exact fabric and exact post production. Now on to prototypes ! I hope to have pictures of that process.

I just wanted to quickly post that I had a conversation with Bad Robot Productions last week. I have to say how completely impressed I was with their love for the fans. These guys are one of “us” and are just as dedicated to see product’s quality meet previously unmet levels of excellence ! Here’s to a beautiful relationship !

I met with the our manufacturer for fine fabrics in the 2009 series. He’s a truly dedicated man to his art, as we met at 8p with him being more than accommodating to me. I showed him the 2009 fabric and what we hoped to accomplish. He looked closely at the samples and we started laying out a plan for execution. What still impresses me  to this day is the level of attention they took in the design of just the base fabric in the 2009 uniforms. Remember the 10ft rule (looks good from 10 ft, good enough for the camera) ? Yah, that doesn’t apply here. The costume design team did their homework. This is fabric is stunning !

Today was spent living it up in Hollywood. After some rest and good eats at the “Griddle” we headed into the conference room with a renewed energy. The Hero’s were gone and we were left to categorize the background pieces. Today was also spent really getting to know the staff at Paramount. The most amazing thing was that they are just as much enthusiasts about the product as we are. Admittedly and expectedly they had their hesitations when we first met much like momma bear protecting her cubs (cubs being Trek) but as time went on, we both realized a common ground : a love and respect for Star Trek and its meaning to everyone. The day was more relaxed filled with a bit more laughter and fun. I had to break away from the group for a lunch appointment with our public relations representative and rounded the end of the day with pulling patterns from screen used items. Today, the Paramount/CBS team also discovered one of Dana’s hidden talents : his ability and tricks to pull a near perfect pattern from the screen used pieces. Even the costumers from their side were impressed with what Dana could do with some tape and scissors!  The day came to an end with a very unique surprise : A tour of the lot. We were very much appreciative to the folks who gave us a wonderful tour of this lot. I would like to think we got the “special” tour with all the background stories of the 50’s and 60’s landmarks on the lot. Most important though was the feeling of family as pulled out of the lot’s drive way. Its a real paradigm shift when for close to ten years you’ve thought about licensing groups as the “enemy of the state” in our hobby. Now, just like our future customers, we feel just as compelled to “wow” them with something they have never seen before.

The sight was classical, inspiring, and frightening all together. As we pulled into Paramount Studios for the first time, the classical large arched gates that have become symbolic for movie making, also became the symbol of a new beginning for all of us at Anovos. I wish I would have taped that moment because I leaned over to Dana and simply said “This is it; Here we go.”

We were greeted by Paramount on our head of product development at the door, but as we entered the conference room to begin our project, an immediate rush reverberated through the crew as we laid our eyes on the screen used Star Trek XI (2009) costumes / uniforms used on set. It was a mix of “hero” outfits both for men and women, both post-processed items and for production pieces. As I stepped closer to these items, I was in awe of how much detail and fine craftsmanship went into even the background actors. I can say without hesitation, these are items no one has ever seen before, nor has any retail costume, doll or toy even come close to replicating the richness and top notch quality these screen used items had. I loved what I saw – this was going to be challenging on our side, but this is something the public will never have seen . You will be wow-ed.

The day was spent mostly on photography. Art set up his professional studio with light boxes and white balancing. The overall reference taken was fantastic – something you’ve come to expect from this professional photographer if you’ve ever had the opportunity to work with him. We also had access to notes, measurements and test samples. In many ways, I reveled in all this feeling like an investigator trying to put together a story of how all these items were produced from the binder’s of notes over a long period of time. How neat if this was actually documented…hmmm.

The wrapped up with us saying good-bye to the Hero men’s and women’s pieces and resting up for another day. That night we met with EFX and had some great conversation pieces about potentially working together. I cannot let out much but can say that we at Anovos have the utmost respect EFX and her leaders. I ended the night just in reflection.

How far all this has come from humble beginnings as a collector and prop enthusiast. One day working on a proton pack to then somehow ending up in the offices of NBC, CBS and Marvel. Every now and then, I kick myself and wonder how I should act as a co-founder of Anovos but then realize the answer quickly : the same way. I am the same person who posted alongside my fellow propmakers on the RPF, TDH, 300DC, ASAP and TCF (if you  don’t know those acronyms, look them up if you’re a budding collector). Just like all of us then and now, I wanted something that was better than commercially available and always questioned if these companies even had true enthusiasts behind the helm. With a few phone calls and some good talking, I can tell you with Anovos…that’s all that we have at the helm !