ST TOS Phaser Rifle Origins

[Safetyman]

I don't have the money right now for ONE, let alone both. But someday....

"It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine."

I was fortunate to have been able to save up the money to by it.
Hey thanks for all of the reference pics. Just like the other ST TOS props we all have read about at one time or another, I expected the likes of Matt Jefferies or Wah Chang behind the design of this beast. I don't remember if the rifle was shown or described in the Making of Star Trek book or not...guess I will have to dig out my copy.

All things considered, it is big and perhaps awkward to handle, but it's a one of kind in my mind.

 

[Safetyman]

Finally got the TOS Phaser Rifle form Rodd.com. Very nice kit! I am waiting for the electronics kit to go back on sale. Rodd.com rep said it should be back in stock shortly. Looks like I have a great winter project.......

Bill

 

[phase pistol]

Congrats on the phaser rifle kit! :thumbsup

The Cage laser is a must have as well for the Trek weapons enthusiast. As it happens I have a builtup Cage laser in the Junkyard (ebay) right at this moment. (free plug )

As to the story about the phaser rifle having been "off the shelf", I wonder about that story. Apparently there were problems with the original props being built by Desilu propmen, but Roddenberry and producer Bob Justman rejecting them as amateurish and unusable. Really fine work was commissioned from Wah Chang, but the studio craftsmen rebelled because Wah wasn't in the Union. So a subterfuge was undertaken, to claim that Wah had just built these props "on his own" and that the production had bought them for use in the show (which the Union couldn't complain about). This story is related in, I think, Bob Justman and Herb Solow's book "Inside Star Trek".

My point being, even IF there was a story going around about how the Phaser Rifle was bought "off the shelf", I think it's still possible that it was built expressly for the show but "under the table".

K

 

[Onigiri]

Actually the story I heard was not that it was a rental but that it was built by a toy company and, that like so many other things roddenberry did, the idea (like with the shuttlecraft) was going to be that the Toy Company would be able to market (obviously in a simplified version). They never used the rifle again and because it was a toy prototype and not from a business that dealt with studio rentals thats why you never saw it appear anywhere else.

 

[phase pistol]

I hadn't heard that one. There are stories in "The Making of Star Trek" about how the Tricorder and Phaser pistol had "toy implications" in their designs, but the book says nothing about the Where No Man rifle.

 

[micdavis]

It's my understanding the company that made the rifle was down here in San Diego, another reason it's never showed up in the other places Trek stuff has appeared.

 

[Safetyman]

It's my understanding the company that made the rifle was down here in San Diego, another reason it's never showed up in the other places Trek stuff has appeared.

I e-mailed the guys at HMS to try to get some background also. Steve at HMS understood that the prop was originally built for The Outer Limits show but not used there. Star Trek apparently rented the prop for TOS WNMHGB.

 

[Captain Finney]

That last post DOES ring true. As much as I love the WNMHGB rifle, it doesn't look like any of the other Trek props..Yet, it does have a Wah Chang flavor it it. I wonder if Chang built the prop for the Outer Limits?

That rifle is a dream prop for me, too. However, I'd like to see someone come up with a rockin' design for a companion rifle to TOS Trek's Phaser II. The Starship Farragut folks came up with a decent one a few years ago.

 

[Onigiri]

Sally Kellerman is the owner of the original prop. She actually brings it to some appearances . Apparently Gene gave it to her.

 

[phase pistol]

Sally Kellerman is the owner of the original prop. She actually brings it to some appearances . Apparently Gene gave it to her.

This would be the time to post a photo of her wielding it at such an occasion. :cool

 

[Onigiri]

There actually was a pic posted and I wish I could remember where I saw it...
It was at an autograph show here in LA

 

[phase pistol]

:eek WHA-! WAIT, WHOA! FLICKR!

Phaser Rifle | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

And it's corroborated in an interview with her and Gary Lockwood on Startrek.com!

Why was I not properly informed.

:eek

 

[phase pistol]

OK whoa again, I am skeptical. Here's Roddenberry.com's rifle replica (top) compared with Kellerman's from the Shore Leave 2011 appearance

TOS Phaser Rifle (Built) - Prop Replicas - Props - Roddenberry.com

Same exact stand, the rifles look the same too. So is the convention rifle the original prop, or a replica?

If Kellerman's is the real deal, the Roddenberry replica is better than I thought. :lol

 

[Onigiri]

Thats a Rodd.com and not the pics I was referring to. The other pic I saw didnt look like a Rodd. They may have switched to a Rodd. I know I wouldt be carting a one of a kind 50 year old prop around.

 

[Onigiri]

Karl- Why is MicDavis so much more popular then us? Our reputation meters are non existent!

 

[phase pistol]

Yeah I would have to see something in the realm of actually PROOF before I would believe this (again)... :sleep

 

[Lost in Trek]

I'm somewaht skeptical as well. There is a story going around that Clint Howard was given a communicator when he was on the show (at the age of 7 I believe) and now Kellerman says she was given the original phaser rifle?

Now, if these actors worked on the show at the end of a season, when Gene thought they had been cancelled I might believe the stories. However, "Where No Man" and "The Corbolimite Maneuver" were very early episodes. I have a hard time believing Gene was giving very expesive props away left and right for a new show he was trying to keep within budget and on the air.

 

[Onigiri]

Well, Im still waiting for Clint to call me. we talked for several hours last weekend. He said he did indeed have a comm given to him by Gene and even asked me what they used for the 'paper circle pattern' (Moire). He said it was out of his possession for a while but charlie Sheen bought it back for him but now hes sold it again to a well known Hollywood screenwriter (for $3500). He also has some other things in his possession like his screen test and original script along with some BW photos. He says hes going to go to his friends house (the guy that bought the comm from him) with me to see it. We shall see.

 

[Apollo]

Well if it does turn out to be real I'm sure he will be kicking himself for selling it at that price! :lol

. He said it was out of his possession for a while but charlie Sheen bought it back for him but now hes sold it again to a well known Hollywood screenwriter (for $3500).