The William Shatner Store Authenticates Merchandise With New Crypto Process

Published on August 31, 2020

CBS just rolled out a disappointing and short lineup due to COVID-19 interrupting the filmmaking of most shows. Apparently, the bug wants to both strand us at home AND force us to watch droll reruns. Fortunately, Trekkies can consider themselves spared from waiting for a good dose of Star Trek since the sparse lineup consists of the new season of Star Trek: Discovery. However, if that’s not enough Star Trek to satisfy, fans can also check out the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks. Or even head to The William Shatner Store to snatch up some genuine memorabilia that is bound to make any Klingon say, “jIyajha’law’ jIH neH!” By the way, Grit Daily readers, there is an online Klingon to English translator out there if you want to find out what that means.

Who is William Shatner?

William Shatner is a Canadian actor, screen and science fiction writer, director, writer and entrepreneur. His most recent role is the host of The UnXplained on the History Channel. But one of the 89-year-old’s most memorable roles is when he was the lead in the original Star Trek series. If you are new to the whole Star Trek universe, Gene Rodenberry, the creator of the original Star Trek series, cast Shatner as James Tiberius Kirk, Commander of the USS Enterprise. He played the commander of the Enterprise after Jeffrey Hunter, who played Captain Pike in the pilot, wasn’t picked up as a series regular by NBC in 1965.

His overacting approach, also known as The Shatnerian School of Acting on YouTube, is well-known. However, Shatner gets the last laugh, as he has two Emmies that prove it works. Twitter user, filmmaker and animator, Anthony Elchibekyan acknowledged it and even rushed to Shatner’s defense recently after someone slighted the TJ Hooker’s acting skills. Elchibekyan tweeted,

“Not sure who the original tweet was from, but Shatner has accomplished a lot within his field. Say whatever you want about his “shatnerian” style of acting, but he’s a talented actor/voice actor, and his performance as Kirk shaped a lot of pop culture today.”

The Re-imagining of Two of His Iconic Roles

Two of the prolific actor’s television roles are part of blockbuster movie recreations. And, besides Captain Kirk being played later by Chris Pine in the new Star Trek movies, one of his other memorable performances was portrayed later in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). In Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, he plays a passenger on a plane who sees a “Mississippi Frog” sort of gremlin. Every time he complains the creature is out there, it disappears! That episode, part of the original Twilight Zone TV series run, was later played by John Lithgow in the 1983 movie.

William Shatner’s acting skills saved him from being typecast throughout his seven-decade career. Today, Shatner still has passion and remains one of the busiest people in Hollywood. A few paragraphs here will never do his 70-year career justice.

William Shatner Shares Stories and News About His Store

William Shatner is many things, but one thing he’ll tell you firsthand is that he is “not a one-trick-pony,” and that his “life didn’t begin and end with Star Trek.” Besides happily sharing about “going to where no man has gone before” regarding his ticket to Mars, you can often see him on social media taking an irascible approach to people that goad him or follow him into the bathroom stall for an autograph.

Even when he scolds you it’s never mean-spirited, though. Most of them probably leave the experience thinking, “Oh wow. A legend just ‘read’ me.”

He’s been sharing a lot of tweets about the online William Shatner Store with his followers lately, too. Conversely, it’s perfect for the devoted fan looking to score some vintage and contemporary Star Trek merchandise. The store has a wide array of products that range anywhere from autographed items to props, to very rare keepsakes.

The William Shatner Store Ensures You Receive “The Real McCoy”

Recent industry-wide estimates placed 2017 global merchandise licensing revenue for Star Trek merchandise at $271.6 billion. So far, William Shatner figurines alone have already amassed $10,000. As you can probably guess, the lucrative nature of the franchise has led to rampant counterfeiting of its collectibles. Because of this, Shatner has believed from early on that the SciFi franchise’s merchandise should have a way to be authenticated. He says that items in the collections at his store are verified as genuine through the “Authenticated By Crypto process.”

The Shatner Store page states that,

“[the Crypto Process] places a tag on the item and records the item on the blockchain where it will reside forever. The record cannot be altered or counterfeited. The provenance of the item is airtight. In addition, the ownership and authenticity can be transferred if the product gets sold in the future ensuring you get top dollar for your item on the secondary market. The process places a tag on the item and records the item on the blockchain where it will reside forever. The record cannot be altered or counterfeited. The provenance of the item is airtight.”

Will Star Wars Memorabilia be Featured at the Shatner Store?

William Shatner’s humor, which often manifests itself at conventions where he is a guest, can be seen in his tweets. For instance, take his Ugly Kirk Doll jab at Amazon below. The comment resulted in a lot of back-and-forth on the social platform.

He sometimes slips into his Captain Kirk persona on social media and lets people know where he stands on the whole Star Trek versus Star Wars debate. Of course, he’s team Star Trek, and he often ribs his followers about Star Trek being superior.

He finally gave in if the Luke & Leia action figure he has for sale on The William Shatner Store is any indication.

If you are a big Star Trek fan, you might also enjoy reading what is going on with the production of the movies right now.

Holly Chavez is a News Columnist at Grit Daily. She enjoys sharing hot, trending news stories with her readers. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, she focuses her writing on travel, brands and tech. Holly's professional interests include business and entrepreneurship. 

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