June 2006

Through contact of a fellow Klingon costuming enthusiast - as a request by a person I've never met before named Peter Christian - I was asked if 'they' could borrow my Klingon costume. The people filming a new Startrek show called "Of Gods and Men" needed a Klingon costume in the size fitment as Mr. J.G.Hertzler. I am a good match to the same size as he is.- So I went ahead and volunteered my my entire Klingon costume and Klingon costume props to "New Voyages" studios in NY.

(everything in the image further down below)

They agreed to take care of my property and return it post filming, and promised to pay for any damage done. So . . . I immediately sent everything carefully packed in a small Honda BF2 outboard motor shipping carton through Fed-Ex. I soon got my mailed back confirmation of delivery.

They put J.G.Hertzler in my costume and filmed away. They packed up and went home, and were supposed to send me what they had borrowed back to me.

. . . and then I waited.

. . . . and waited.

. . . . . and I waited some more.

My property had not yet been returned when I saw the internet notice that filming was over and the editing was going on.

So . . . I got in touch with Peter Christian and Sky Conway as to the whereabouts of my property. I found out that my box containing all my property got inadvertently left behind in the shuffle. (?) The production crew of Star Trek "Of Gods And Men" responsible for returning my property ...utterly failed to send me my property back.

Sky Conway is back in Florida, and Peter Christian is in California(?) [So ...not one of these guys is going to just "drive over there" and pick it up.] and will evidently never go back to NY to retrieve my property they had control over.

So much for keeping promises.

But... according to Peter Christian, He and Scott Nakada personally repacked my box back up with everything I sent. It was simply kicked to one side and forgotten. OK, so... it was an accident to have left it there. But... Why didn't ANYONE who caused this accident rectifiy the situation?

Oh boy, the finger pointing ensued. Although Peter Christian was responsible for supposedly returning - but leaving my property there... James Cawley was the one actually holding the box containing my property in question. That's where MY problems started and ended. They passed blame around like a hot potato for over several months. I also did not know that "OGAM" and "NEW VOYAGES" were two separate combative entities > that unbeknownst to me were having a major bout of disagreement going on with each other over the imagined debts caused from the use of the studio at New Voyages (now known as "Star Trek Phase 3").

NOTE: I was NOT among the cast or crew of STOGAM, nor was I affiliated with it in any way > other than my voluntarilly lending the costume and props. I am also NOT with New Voyages in NY, nor am I where I could drop in and pick things up myself. I am all the way across the entire continent. [aaaargh!] All I could do was get e-mail from everyone and read excuses and "It's not my fault" statements...

IN A NUTSHELL:

The folks involved with STOGAM won't get me my property back, since Peter Christian simply points at James and states James should simply 'send me the property'. Peter insinuated New Voyages somehow managed to 'hide' the box during pack-out, and refuses to go over there and get it back for me. All James has to do is "send the box" - problem solved - right?

But . . .

James Cawley claims he was stepped all over by Sky Conway and Peter Christian, has all manner of "they did this, and they did that" chips on his shoulder and claims monetary compensation is due for his grievences. ...and refuses to understand I am a private entitiy and NOT part of "STOGAM".

So ... James refuses to cooperate. He's refusing to return my property himself, since HE didn't want my stuff underfoot and was not the one originally responsible for it, and is subsequently taking his backstabbing attitude out on me - like I am a part of the 'STOGAM' crew and therefore a target for his revenge.

Since I can't simply go over there on my own. . .

. . . we have a 'stalemate'.

I can't get anyone to budge.

James points at Peter, Peter points at James.

Understandably - I got really pissed off at these people. So . . . in August 2007 I posted my original "rant" web page on my website and started spreading the word through contacts I could get through.

The eventual discussion reverted to getting my property back to me. . . An issue between :

(1) the one in possession of my property (James Cawley)

...and... without any more references to the 'middle' people that caused it all... I posted a changed 'rant' page toned down to this.

(2) the property owner (me).

The rest of 'those other people' got dropped out of the conversation. I decided to act on my own and convince James Cawley to send me my property without Jame's insistance of the 'middle man' (i.e; anyone but him) involvement.

James Cawley verified it was indeed my property that was there by e-mailed digital image comparison. OK, He and I both know he has the correct property. There will be no mix up - such as sending me someone elses property. At first James Cawley verified ALL the stuff was still there, but he "couldn't find the time to send it".

Over a two year period I offered to pay for the transaction, several times. I gave him a UPS account number from my work (with permission from my work) three different times for him to send it UPS. I offered to take it COD through USPS several times. I told him I'd send him back what it costs, double, if he'd just SEND it!!

However, James Cawley could never find the time out of his "oh-so busy" schedule. He simply keeps repeating "Why are you attacking me? It's NOT my responsibility". All he had to do was get off his ass and send the box, prepaid, and be done with it.

But... Later ...the story changed to: the box was not the one it was sent in - and not all the contents were there.

And... After well over a year of excuses, pointing the responsibility to return my property at everyone BUT himself, he later denied having anything. (?) He started claiming the entire costume is now missing!

By June 2008, James stopped responding to my e-mail...

But wait there's more...

When I'd began to think it was a lost cause :

My costume appears!!!

August 2008

Two years into this fiasco - I got an e-mail from a suspicious Star Trek collector & buyer in West Virginia. He came across my web-page-rant describing my lost costume. He and I had a "me-to-him" chat about identifying features. I described how it was assembled and where things went together. ...while he listened and said nothing. Well, well, well... He had my costume.

This guy said he bought my costume from New Voyages in NY!!!

He sent the costume back to me, after realizing he had inadvertantly bought illegally sold stolen property. Yeah, I got the whole story from him.

Especially 'sweet' was the return of my [custom-made-to-fit-my-feet] Klingon style boots!

The still missing things (mouse over the image below)

Highlighted above (mouse over the image) are the items still missing that were shipped to NY along with the bulk of the costume, such as . . . My hand made gauntlets with my own design emblem, my old biker gloves with my designed claws, my hand made holster with a correct Klingon disrupter home-built-kit gun, working 'screen correct' prop knife and sheath, the arm pins and right upper arm tubes, and the belt box I made myself.

If I can believe Peter Christian, my box was opened after he and the rest of the crew of STOGAM left the scene. New Voyages people raided the box and dispersed the contents about. Well ... Live and learn.

But wait there's even more...

July 2009

Hello! I just found my missing gauntlets and gloves!

Here's the cropped 'screen-grabs' off a Facebook posting describing the event and location.

Those are my missing costume parts still at the "New Voyages" studios!!!

As posted in June 2009 on Facebook : Here's <name witheld> getting put into a Klingon costume for a photo shoot ...at New Voyages in NY!! Hmmm... those were supposedly NOT there at New Voyages, according to James Cawley. Well, well, well....

SOMEBODY was obviously not being truthfull about certain things. (sort of ...like trying to fake my costume as Paramount property?)

Yes, these are mine.

19 June 2009 - I got back in e-mail contact with James Cawley,

and.... after three months of badgering him...

November 2009

- FINALLY . . . the gloves and gauntlets are back in my hands.

(yeah!)

Damaged , but repairable.

I can fix ALL this... no problem.

The glyph bottom part had been forceably ripped off!?

(hehe) I got more where that came from.

... and a flex-cracked glyph.

As of July 2010 : Four years ... I still don't have everything back that I sent for use in filming. (big sigh)

Although my agreement was with Peter Christian, Peter has yet to lift a finger to replace anything HE borrowed, and my bet is James Cawley will never admit to having the rest of the missing items.

My personally made disruptor holster, my kit made disruptor, and Klingon knife with it's aftermarket sheath wasn't returned, and I lost my Quonos badge (I had the only one I'd ever seen painted gold) and my metal Trifoil communicator badge is gone. I have to remake the triple-tube arm decoration, and my personally made belt box also went away. At this point I have to repair major damage to my gauntlets and gloves. I was in contact with Scott Nakada about replacing the disruptor, but he wants me to pay for it, not Peter Christian.

I think at this point, it's over. I will have to replace missing items out-of-my-own-pocket.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

NEVER let anyone involved in a Sci-Fi context event borrow anything that has the potential to be valuable as an E-Bay item!

...especially if you can't stand next to them while they have it.