Just asking.
Who has/is -
Best writing in books based on the series/movies?
Best quality outfits at get togethers?
Pickiest in attention to technical details?
Best conventions?
More populous female contingent?
Best/worst personal hygiene?
Are there “combo” geeks that are equally Star Trek and Star Wars obsessed or do these twains normally never meet?
I know somewhat more about ST than about SW, but I was just theorizing the other day that many SW fans seem to be more like kids–you know, still playing “swords,”–and that many of the characters in Episodes 4, 5 and 6 look like muppets; whereas the ST fans, though they still like to play dress-up, take it more seriously. There was Barbara Adams, the Whitewater juror who wore a Starfleet uniform to court for a while. And the dentist who turned his office into Starfleet Dental. And the Klingon fans who really do follow a code of honor–not to mention the whole Starfleet honor, loyalty, sacrifice and duty philosophies.
(disclaimer to above: it’s all just an opinion.)
That didn’t really answer your question, I guess. Just some thoughts I had recently, and your thread title drew my attention.
Soooo… we’re moving out of the “just for fun” category where a hardcore Klingon fan is going to seriously challenge someone who disrespects them to some kind of a real world duel to the death, or are we just talking some kind of geekish “take that back” sissy fight, wrestling match… or what?
Actually, the differences are easy to spot. Star Wars is a campy, fun, outerspace version of the westerns that have been staples of the entertainment industry forever. In other words, it’s about as deep and meaningful as dirt, and poorly written, too.
Star Trek, OTOH, is a campy, fun, outerspace version of the adventure story, often written as a morality play. In other words, it’s slightly deeper then dirt, but often badly written as well.
The difference is that SW is nothing more than a TOTAL of about 7 hours ( and I’m including Attack of the Clones in the total) of mindless pap. ST encompasses 5 series, 10 movies and countless books and ruminations of mostly mindless pap. Sometimes, however, it amounts to more. I challenge any SW fan to match the brilliance of the DS9 episode “The Visitor”. Won’t happen, that’s not what SW is about. It’s an apple and oranges comparison. SW is a simple story, told to an ten year old to make him go “neat”. Trek is much, much more than that.
Both are nothing but entertainment.
Ahahahahaha…
Trekker? ----> ;j <---- Star Wars fan?
<---- Me
I’d say that the biggest difference is that Star Trek fans are a bit more enthusiastic. There are more Star Trek books, more Star Trek conventions, more Star Trek clubs, and more Star Trek movies. All of which have been sustained for more then 30 years.
This doesn’t even take into account the hardcore Star Trek or Star Wars fans. I suspect that hardcore Star Trek fans would eat the lunch of hardcore Star Wars fans.
Marc
Star Trek fans are better organized.
Star Trek fans conventions have a more spontaneous feel to them, rather than the “marketing event” feel of SW cons.
Trek fans can bludgeon SW fans to death 2 out of 3 times, even giving the Junior Jedis their toy lightsabres to protect themselves with.
Data can trash C3PO in a steel cage match, and the same applies to their fans.
Me? Biased?
Nah. 
Both have a problem when it comes to critisism.
The newest whine from SW fans is “If you bash Star Wars you are only doing it for Cool points”
Ugggh that is like saying everyone loves Star Wars but it is fashionable to diss it so everyone does it except us non lemmings who must line up for the next film and buy all the merchandise.
Trek Fans have this weird self attacking, My Captain is better than yours attitude in which they may attach themselves to one series over another forgetting the whole thing is one giant franchise (About the size of V’ger and still growing)
The oddest thing is both groups (ST and SW) tend to attack each other so much for no real reason. After all is said and done the only ones to benifit in the end are Lucas Films/20th Century Fox and Paramount.
Sorry, from this SF aficionado’s POV, both groups are pathetic fanboys eagerly swallowing warmed over servings of bits of 1940s space opera, snippets of ancient cultures, and pop spirituality filtered throught the sensibilities of a 6-year-old. Hell, even Lucas says that SW is for kids. And Trek isn’t much better.What really frosts me is that you people have ruined the market for new SF books. SW and Trek books sell well, so writers who could be creating new universes with new insights and ideas are forced to write hack novels aimed at arrested development cases.
In this essay by Paul Riddell, he writes:
Klingons are an example of what irritates me about TV and movie fans. People go to conventions dressed as aliens from a TV show, learni a language that was invented for a movie, and pretend to be warriors when most of them couldn’t run a mile without going into cardiac arrest.
Why not learn about real warrior cultures, like the Zulu, the Aztec Eagle Warriors, or the samurai of Japan? Make yourselves into real warriors through working out and learning a real martial art instead of playing with a plastic bat’leth?
SW is just a movie, and ST is just a TV series. Neither one features much about real science, real religion, or emotional interactions between grownups; they’re entertainment for kids. And I think the way they have crowded out adult speculative SF is a crying shame.
Star Trek fans will admit when a film blows chunks. Star Wars fans will re-edit the film.