It was a Trekkers dream over the weekend here in Las Vegas, with records shattered and iconic actors paid tribute by their legions of rabid fans. The 2011 Official “Star Trek” Convention was held at Rio Las Vegas, just off the Strip, Aug. 11-14.

There go all your stereotypes about "Star Trek" conventions, right out Cargo Bay Four.

We popped in on Aug. 13, just in time to catch an appearance by Mr. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy.

Leonard Nimoy, in what he says was one of his last public appearances.

The sci-fi icon was warmly greeted (understatement of the millennium), and Nimoy bid fans a touching farewell, since this is the last time he’ll appear at the event because he’s retiring from acting. Yes, this blog got a little weepy along with all the other “Star Trek” nerds, thank you.

Leonard Nimoy recounted stories from the long, colorful history of “Star Trek,” including how he improvised his now-famous Vulcan hand salute on-set during the taping of the “Amok Time” episode in the original “Star Trek” series. The salute was inspired by a Jewish blessing performed by priests, and the hand symbol represents the Hebrew letter “Shin.”

Never have so many "Star Trek" fans swooned in unison.

Another highlight of the “Star Trek” convention was a new world record for “Most ‘Star Trek’ Costumes in One Place.” The previous record of 691 was trounced at Rio Las Vegas, with a new record of 1,040.

We caught some video as the count hit 1,000. The exuberance of “Star Trek” fans is pretty evident in this clip.

From what we hear, there were dozens more people in costume who didn’t make it into the room for the official count in time. There’s always next year!

Participants chanted "Star Trek! Star Trek!" as the world record was broken.

Click here for a poorly-stitched panorama of the colorfully-costumed crowd, just as the record-breaking moment was announced.

The weekend was overflowing with photo and autograph opportunities, and “Star Trek” fans shifted into hyperdrive with elaborate, detailed costumes from a variety of “Star Trek” films and the full array of “Star Trek”-inspired TV series.

C'mon, you remember the episode, "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." A true classic!

Other convention events included a lavish reception at VooDoo Lounge atop the Rio, seminars, a “Klingon Summit,” trivia and costume contests and other Tribble-riffic (possibly not a real word) excuses to get together and talk “Trek.”

Hey, that guy looks familiar.

No, really, he looks familiar.

Many fans also got their first peek at the new version of Monopoly, the “Star Trek Klingon Limited Edition.”

Bonus: When you're done playing, you can use the game's sharp corners to commit "Mauk-to 'Vor." Trust us, eight people thought that joke was hilarious.

And don’t even get us started about the giddy buzz surrounding the $1.5-billion-dollar “Star Trek” theme park set to open in Jordan in 2014. Learn more.

Naturally, we have an exclusive photo gallery from the official 2011 “Star Trek” convention. We dare you to remain unphased. (See what we did there?)

This entry was posted on Monday, August 15th, 2011 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Celebrities, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Casinos, Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino, Things to Do. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.