Our History

Intergalactic Trading Company was formed in 1975 by Sue Cornwell and Mike Kott. Sue had been watching Star Trek since its inception in 1966. During her college days in Maryland, majoring in Art and Sociology, she and a group of friends heard about the first-ever Star Trek convention in 1972 in New York City. As they gawked around the convention, it occurred to Sue that the dealers were getting the same experience and enjoyment, except the dealers were making money while she was spending it.

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1973 NY Star Trek Convention Audience
1973 NY Star Trek Convention Audience
A dragon dressed as Santa with elves.

Earlier Life Story

After graduating, Sue began a career training horses, a love she continues to enjoy with her horses today. However, horse training wasn't putting much food on the table, so she ended up at a Star Trek convention as a dealer selling hand-painted T-shirts in 1974.

On the other hand, Mike was busily pursuing a career in Geological Engineering (a fancy name for digging holes in a swamp). He was also an avid comic book collector and supplemented his income as a part-time comic book dealer, primarily at Star Trek conventions.

Comics comprised the largest category of Star Trek convention merchandise in those days. Mike started selling comics out of the back of his car at a flea market and making more money in a weekend than his 50-hour-a-week Master's degree job was earning him. In 1975, he became a full-time comic book dealer.

How It Began

Mike and Sue met in 1975 and, for a short time, engaged in a partnership with a now-defunct Star Trek memorabilia company. They both worked hard and learned a great deal about what to do and what not to do to make a business succeed.

After six months, Mike had had enough and left with his share of the partnership stock. Sue followed shortly after that, bringing her share of the business with her. Over dinner one night, Sue and Mike discussed their mutual aspirations, and several hours later, Intergalactic Trading Company had come into existence.

The Journey Of Learning

From their one-car garage stacked high with Star Trek merchandise, they traveled the country at Star Trek and Comic conventions, earning and learning more trade secrets. Several months later, Mike and Sue's house was completely overrun with the merchandise.

An industrial lot was located nearby, and a warehouse was built. A second larger warehouse followed and now contains 25,000 square feet of space filled with a 40-year accumulation of sci-fi collectibles and non-collectible items. Their travels to Sci-Fi conventions have totaled over 1000 appearances throughout the USA and around the world. You can still see Intergalactic at nearly a dozen major conventions yearly.

Official Price Guides

Mike and Sue are the authors of several editions of the Official Price Guide to Star Trek & Star Wars Collectibles, with more than 100,000 copies over the past 25 years.

The most recent version of this reference book has been divided into two separate books published by the House of Collectibles section of Random House and distributed to all major bookstores in the United States. The most recent Star Trek edition was released in the spring of 1997, and the Star Wars edition in late 1997.

If you like Intergalactic Trading Company's journey, you will love our products. Visit the store today.

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