Sometimes, doing what you love can have some really wonderful consequences.

The Detroit Free Press brought us the story this weekend of how some Star Trek fans got treated to a surprise appearance by one of Trek’s biggest stars. George Takei, Sulu from The Original Series, turned up unannounced at the “Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds” exhibit in Dearborn, Michigan last Friday, ahead of his appearance at Motor City Comic Con.

Takei spoke to fans and posed for pictures, while he took in the exhibit and talked about Star Trek. Quoting the Detroit Free Press: “Noting that the Starship Enterprise was meant to be metaphor for Earth, Takei explained how [Gene] Roddenberry cast the main roles to represent the continents of the world. ‘The strength of the Starship lay in the diversity of the team coming together, working in concert,’ he said.”

Of course, it was the fans who really won out on Friday, getting to meet a Trek star whose autographs alone can run to a hundred dollars or more at a convention. The piece quotes Jacob Smith and his mother, from Detroit suburb Romulus: Jacob said “It’s absolutely amazing,” and his mother, Rhona Bassett added: “I was so excited, I couldn’t contain myself.”

“Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds” is on at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, in Dearborn, Michigan, now through September 2.