Unless you haven’t a television set in your home, and unless you never set foot inside a supermarket, drugstore, discount store, convenience store, or newsstand, you know that TV Guide recently celebrated Star Trek’s Thirty-Fifth Anniversary by issuing thirty-five different covers on their April 20-26/2002 edition.

Now, I have collected every Trek cover ever published by TV Guide (for a complete, illustrated list go to http://star-trek-tv-guides.fanspace.com, but I must admit that I was resistant to such an obvious marketing ploy. Until the end of week when it was too late! A frantic run from store to store garnered me a measly five different covers. Oh, well, better some Trek than none at all!

The whole enterprise, however, piqued my curiosity: If I had purchased the guides earlier in the week, would I have been able to find all thirty-five? Were some covers rarer than others? Just how many of the little suckers had been scattered across the nation?

Hoping to gain a little knowledge, I contacted TV Guide through their Web site http://www.tvguide.com, where I was informed that the covers were printed in even numbers, meaning that none were rarer than others. In addition, the covers were distributed through TV Guide's regular distribution channels, and full sets were available at TV Guide Online http://www.tvguide.com. (Note: of the 2,000 complete sets originally offered through TV Guide’s Web site, a very few are still available and only through their eBay store.) Also, five autographed copies (one of each captain) are being auctioned off for charity at http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/tvguidestore. Proceeds from the auctions will benefit The For All Kids Foundation in Allendale, New Jersey.

My respondent, who asked not to be quoted personally, declined to provide either average circulation figures or circulation figures for this particular edition. However, by clicking on e-Data at the Audit Bureau of Circulations Web site http://abcas1.accessabc.com/ecirc, I found that the average weekly circulation of TV Guide as of December 2001 was 9,097,762. This means that AT LEAST 259,936 copies of each cover were published. So, why are some collectors already shelling out big bucks for this edition of TV Guide? Answer: Because they didn’t want to pay $1.99 each at the store?

A quick survey (05.03.02) of Star Trek TV Guides on eBay showed that complete sets of the thirty-five covers are already selling for as much as $201! And an auction at the TV Guide Store on eBay is presently up to $300 and rising!!! (Wished I’d had less sales resistance after all!)

There are hints that TV Guide may not long continue in its present form, so it is possible that many or all of its issues may continue to increase in value. Only time will tell. For more on the status of TV Guide, read the following:

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/article.asp?ArtID=2064

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2002/apr02/apr08/5_fri/news1friday.html

Note: As with any collectible, condition is paramount. Always protect a magazine in a polyethylene bag or archival-quality non-acidic box. Never use any product containing PVC (polyvinyl chloride). And avoid excessive humidity, sunlight, and heat.