Julien’s Upcoming Hero Phaser & Communicator Auction

[phase pistol]

 

[juvatwad]

The angle at the back looks different to me. It appears flatter to me in the photos posted here of the known real phasers.

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

A forger would have needed to sit and trace that low-res, distorted TMOST photo with a graphics program for ages to get anything even close to the level of detail matched by the auction prop. Every nook, cranny, and blemish appears to be a match. The specific texture pattern on the inside edge of the rising sight cutout on the upper P1 shell, the specific rough spots on the metal thumbwheel axle, the blobby layers of fiberglass resin on the inner edges of the lower shell/cover.

It all matches.

At this point I am much more interested in how it was built, not just to prove if it's real but to know the quality of the materials they were using and the techniques they employed. I know that some fiberglass in the 60's was much easier to work with as the materials an resins used were being improved. It's just something I find very fascinating in general

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

View attachment 1839613

It almost looks like the Finey might be a different phaser as the curve of the cradle looks slightly different.

TMOST & Juliens also appear to have the same metal barrel. I understand that the nature of these being handmade can affect the fit and finish.

 

[Leinads]

View attachment 1839613
Look at each of these photos. I see a small upper-right nick in the side turn dial of all depicted. There are some lighting and perspective artifacts in the black and white pictures, so that must be considered when making these comparisons, but does anyone else see that little cut?

 

[Captain Dunsel]

We both already know.....

IF it was real the current owner of the Jein phaser would own it by now as he intends on getting as many of the hero props he can into his collection.....

Who is this collector, who wants it all to himself?

Kivas Fajo?

I don’t think that bidder #71001 from The Jein Auction (who picked up a lot of the Trek parts of the auction) was ever identified—at least to the public (though he was rumored to be a particular movie director of note).

Was he / she identified?

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

Who is this collector, who wants it all to himself?

Kivas Fajo?




I don’t think that bidder #71001 from The Jein Auction (who picked up a lot of the Trek parts of the auction) was ever identified—at least to the public (though he was rumored to be a particular movie director of note).

Was he / she identified?

I personally don't know the collector or what he does for a living apparently, he has been expressing interest in getting as many of the screen used TOS props into one collection...

 

[genZOD]

Saying what I said earlier in a different way. All “real” props should be documented in such a way that provenance, forensics, and aesthetics are recorded. Aesthetics can be forged. That’s exactly what forgers do. Even seeming minute details. It’s much harder, but not impossible, to mimic details that forensic experts look at. Finally, provenance tends to be the smoking gun. Anyway, building a publicly available catalog of known props will ensure that forgeries have a much higher bar to pass.

All that said, these do seem legit.

Is anyone here interested in building a catalog?

 

[Leinads]

I still think that the elusive and secretive ‘Japanese Collector’ is involved in these shenanigans, whether as a buyer or seller by proxy

 

[Gregatron]

It almost looks like the Finey might be a different phaser as the curve of the cradle looks slightly different.

TMOST & Juliens also appear to have the same metal barrel. I understand that the nature of these being handmade can affect the fit and finish.

It's possible that the P1 was swapped to a different P2 by the time of TMOST and "The Cloud Minders".

Also note that the Finney P2 has the side knob in a different position, whereas TMOST and the auction prop have identical positions.

Meanwhile, the Finney and "Cloud Minders" P2 has the knob in similar positions.

That all being said, the "Cloud Minders" shot is the one we've been using to match P2 shell imperfections. In all likelihood, these are probably all images of the same prop.

 

[Leinads]

Who is going to SDCC?

 

[dbuck]

To help with the timeline for those not fully into TOS but following this story for entertainment, the Finney was the middle of season one, TMOST pics were taken during season two, and Cloud Minders late season three. The odds of it remaining perfectly identical externally is slim, but the heroes were usually treated with far more care. Some minor changes would be expected.

 

[scarf man]

Saying what I said earlier in a different way. All “real” props should be documented in such a way that provenance, forensics, and aesthetics are recorded. Aesthetics can be forged. That’s exactly what forgers do. Even seeming minute details. It’s much harder, but not impossible, to mimic details that forensic experts look at. Finally, provenance tends to be the smoking gun. Anyway, building a publicly available catalog of known props will ensure that forgeries have a much higher bar to pass.

All that said, these do seem legit.

Is anyone here interested in building a catalog?

You’re basically describing HeroComm.com, so I don’t think anyone wants to tread that ground again for fear of lawsuits.

 

[Gregatron]

To help with the timeline for those not fully into TOS but following this story for entertainment, the Finney was the middle of season one, TMOST pics were taken during season two, and Cloud Minders late season three. The odds of it remaining perfectly identical externally is slim, but the heroes were usually treated with far more care. Some minor changes would be expected.

Yep.

Although, as we've seen, the notion of "repairs" or "repaint" has often been used as an excuse when auctioning fakes.

Minor changes, not gaping discrepancies.

 

[Gregatron]

Oh, and while I can't share images, I will point out a unique detail on the auction comm, which Alpha doesn't have--a carved-out depression in the aluminum midplate, to help accommodate the brass actuator tube which turns the stopwatch on and off.

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

Saying what I said earlier in a different way. All “real” props should be documented in such a way that provenance, forensics, and aesthetics are recorded. Aesthetics can be forged. That’s exactly what forgers do. Even seeming minute details. It’s much harder, but not impossible, to mimic details that forensic experts look at. Finally, provenance tends to be the smoking gun. Anyway, building a publicly available catalog of known props will ensure that forgeries have a much higher bar to pass.

All that said, these do seem legit.

Is anyone here interested in building a catalog?

It could be done in the form of a book which is something I could do if I had more free time.

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

Yep.

Although, as we've seen, the notion of "repairs" or "repaint" has often been used as an excuse when auctioning fakes.

Minor changes, not gaping discrepancies.

Yep and we all know how Wah was famous for losing the phaser 1 whenever they were sent in for repairs.........

 

[genZOD]

You’re basically describing HeroComm.com, so I don’t think anyone wants to tread that ground again for fear of lawsuits.

I remember and miss HeroComm pre "communicators only".

I propose a tiered presentation of what's been previously documented. 1) Desilu paperwork, 2) Images from episodes, 3 Production stills/photos 4) Sales information, 5) Historical images & documents after production wrapped, 6) Aesthetic & Materials descriptions. I registered "trekpropcatalog.com" and will begin the process of gathering HD stills to recreate the previously available resource using Wayback as a rough guide. Anyone who wants to contribute is welcomed to. Peer review will be incorporated into the presentation. I want to achieve, as closely as possible, a principled approach to cataloging these props before they are gone. I'll start a new thread when I'm ready.

FWIW, I will not include any of the images & measuremrnts that have been shared with me in the past. Those were intended to help me with builds, and I was explicitly asked not to repost/share them.

 

[genZOD]

It could be done in the form of a book which is something I could do if I had more free time.

Maybe an ebook, something that gets updated periodically.

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

Maybe an ebook, something that gets updated periodically.

I just simply haven't had the time recently between work and medical issues.

I do have a lot of pictures that I have acquired of the known screen used midgrade phasers and several that are in the process of being fully documented for their owners. I'm hoping to have something together in rough form by the end of the year.