When Ted Moustakis purchased a poker visor at a Christie's auction, he thought his $6,000 purchase was a 'one of a kind' prop worn by the android Data on the Paramount TV show 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'.
Moustakis has been a fan of Star Trek since he was seven years old, and he purchased several items during the 2006 auction, including a table that was said to have been part of a set on the show, and a uniform, also allegedly 'one of a kind', that had been worn by Data on the show. Moustakis paid $6,000 for the table, and $11,400 for the uniform.
He realised there could have been a problem when he took the poker visor to a convention to get it signed by Brent Spiner, the actor who played Data. Spiner recognized the Visor, and informed Moustakis that it was not the real thing. According to the lawsuit, Spiner told Moustakis that he had sold the real visor in a private auction some time ago, and had told Christie's not to sell their alternative version.
Moustakis' lawyer, Richard Bourzouye, said "They defrauded collectors, fans, honest people, [...] It's negligent misrepresentation."
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