Star Trek Tricorder and Assault Phaser Preview!

I must agree with the haters on this one. :lol

Mark X tric has all this against it:

- only used on Voyager and a bunch of mediocre TNG movies :sick

- covered with winky blinky Xmas lights to a ridiculous degree

And yet on the positive side, it is the most "refined" of the tricorders... smallest, and has that neat "scanner snaps into replaceable back plate" design. If only they had cut back on the LED count, and if it had been used on shows I have fond memories of :rolleyes I'd be more positive about the Mark X.

Still, an MR replica would be sturdier and more "playable" than a fragile handmade propreplica would be. So if I'm to have one of these things in my collection, maybe the MR is the one to have after all.

Now the Assault Phaser has a bunch of strikes against it too

- introduced in the sucky Star Trek V directed by Shatner

- non-futuristic design based on real world pistol for no apparent reason other than Shatner used one as TJ Hooker

And yet the assault phaser is also used in Star Trek 6, where it is actually integral to the story (assassins kill Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, setting the plot in motion).

And practically speaking, the Assault Phaser "gets it right" in terms of balance, grip angle, and "making-it-look-like-a-phaser". When you get one in hand and see how big it is, the heft, it's a really impressive piece.

- k
 
only used on Voyager and a bunch of mediocre TNG movies

I beg your pardon, but First Contact was not mediocre. :) I would have like to have seen a Mark VII myself, but I think the Mark X will go well with their FC phaser.

Sean
 
Sorry but I have to grind my teeth all the way thru First Contact. Granted it's not as bad as the other TNG movies. :lol

But FC is not in the "spirit" of TNG. Picard behaves like a maniac - I know it's supposed to be due to the Borg implants, but this contradicts TNG where there was no lasting effect.

And it comes off of Generations where Picard acted like a maniac bacause of his nephew being dead. :lol

The new elements of the story - Cochrane, Lily, the Borg Queen - all suck and are totally anti-TNG. Cochrane is a bleeding idiot. Lily is continuously annoying, particularly where she tries to tell Picard how stupid he and the future is ("you broke your little ships" fills me with rage every time I hear it).... and a Borg "Queen" is simply ridiculous. The writer apparently does not understand the nature of the Borg and how they are organized.

Also I don't care for the design of FC at all... the sets, costumes, the Enterprise-E, it all gives me eyestrain. Garish gold and maroon sets... useless-looking layers of detail everywhere... Gah! :unsure

- k
 
"Phase Pistol says crap about my movies, and we fall back. Phase Pistol assimilates entire prop replica forums, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far and no further! And I will make Phase Pistol pay for what he has said!"
 
"Phase Pistol says crap about my movies, and we fall back. Phase Pistol assimilates entire prop replica forums, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far and no further! And I will make Phase Pistol pay for what he has said!"

:lol

Come on... That was a great scene!
 
Sorry but I have to grind my teeth all the way thru First Contact. Granted it's not as bad as the other TNG movies. :lol

But FC is not in the "spirit" of TNG. Picard behaves like a maniac - I know it's supposed to be due to the Borg implants, but this contradicts TNG where there was no lasting effect.

And it comes off of Generations where Picard acted like a maniac bacause of his nephew being dead. :lol

The new elements of the story - Cochrane, Lily, the Borg Queen - all suck and are totally anti-TNG. Cochrane is a bleeding idiot. Lily is continuously annoying, particularly where she tries to tell Picard how stupid he and the future is ("you broke your little ships" fills me with rage every time I hear it).... and a Borg "Queen" is simply ridiculous. The writer apparently does not understand the nature of the Borg and how they are organized.

Also I don't care for the design of FC at all... the sets, costumes, the Enterprise-E, it all gives me eyestrain. Garish gold and maroon sets... useless-looking layers of detail everywhere... Gah! :unsure
- k

I have to disagree on a few things. Picard finally gets pissed off which was refreshing after seven years of being pretty restrained (boring).

Lily was a great character, she held her own against Picard and to me showed us what the female characters on TNG could have been.

The designs of First Contact turned TNG away from the hotel in space look of the series and made me happy. Not as happy as the Enterprise-D digging a trench in Generations but close.

I do agree with you about the Borg queen but is she any worse than Lore and his annoying band of misfit Borg? The Borg were going downhill long before First Contact.
 
We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ... us. Resistance is futile. :sleep
 
Picard finally gets pissed off which was refreshing after seven years of being pretty restrained (boring).

Lily was a great character, she held her own against Picard and to me showed us what the female characters on TNG could have been.

The designs of First Contact turned TNG away from the hotel in space look of the series and made me happy. Not as happy as the Enterprise-D digging a trench in Generations but close.

Well see that's just the thing. You DIDN"T care for TNG, and when you saw First Contact, suddenly you found something to like.

I on the other hand ALWAYS liked TNG. :lol First Contact and the other films were not made for me. They seem like "Star Trek for people who don't like Star Trek". And brother, I cannot STANDS that kind of $h1t. :rolleyes

- k
 
I didn't even notice that the assault phaser was introduced in ST V. I only noticed it in VI (where it was very much in the spotlight). So for me, it'll always be a ST VI prop, not V. And even then, it still looks damn cool to me, regardless of what movie it was made for.
 
Well see that's just the thing. You DIDN"T care for TNG, and when you saw First Contact, suddenly you found something to like.
I on the other hand ALWAYS liked TNG. :lol First Contact and the other films were not made for me. They seem like "Star Trek for people who don't like Star Trek". And brother, I cannot STANDS that kind of $h1t. :rolleyes
- k

Actually I did like TNG quite a bit but I also saw a lot of areas where it could have been improved. I agree that the Trek films were not made for Trek fans for the most part. TOS is still my favorite out of all the Treks.
 
As has been said, the X just has too much going on - any time it's on screen it's almost blinding (especially when it saw use in DS9 which was darker overall). No real-world device is like that, it makes no sense to you have your user interface dissolve your retinas. It's also the exact opposite of the TNG Trics, which are round, solid, minimalist things that had a proper sense of design. They looked like proper, multipurpose, hardwaring but futuristic items, the new ones are too small, needlessley pointy, none of it's lines really make any aesthetic sense to me.

Put it this way - it's like when someone makes a beautiful car, and then that car falls into the wrong hands and ends up with a horrific bodykit and neon underlighting in the name of "updating". :)

Still waiting for a decent Sci and Medical MKVII to appear. Some of the best designed props ever, in my opinon - largely inconspicious, but interesting and convincing enough to pull off thier frequent Dues Ex Machina role in the series.
 
Mk VIIs have been available from Rodd.com as kits, tho I don't see them now. Kits for the Mk VI and X are thre now though.

Here's my Medical VII in kit form.

dsc00216kv6.jpg


- k
 
I do agree with you about the Borg queen but is she any worse than Lore and his annoying band of misfit Borg? The Borg were going downhill long before First Contact.

Yeah, you refer to the episode "Descent", which follows on from "I, Borg", involving "Hugh" and the spinter group of "individualized" Borg...

This leads to First Contact, and then of course in Voyager to Seven of Nine (who is "rescued" from Borgdom but not really), and "Icheb" and his gang of Borg escapees... :lol

The original idea for the Borg, set out in the TNG second season episode "Q Who?" and elaborated in the two parter "Best of Both Worlds", is the ultimate realization of the Borg as far as I am concerned. The Borg are not a "people". They do not care about other life forms, they do not have "enemies". They are a true collective, they do not have "leaders" or even "individuals" among them. They are simply consumers of technology. They do not destroy, they simply absorb and assimilate.

That is why they were so terrifying.

Picard, assimilated and converted to the Borg "Locutus", did not function as a Borg leader either. He was simply the "voice" of the Borg. An experiment, from their persepective.


Unfortunately instead of building on this strong and truly ALIEN way of thinking, the writers backtracked and started giving us stories about Humanized Borg "leaving the collective" such as Hugh and the "Descent" bunch. And then the Borg Queen in First Contact and later Voyager. Thus destroying what was unique and special about the Borg in the first place.

- k
 
In Trek 5 tho we do get a glimpse of the clip being loaded, and the cowling "******" as though that were part of the loading procedure.

st5troopclipcheck2am8.jpg

st5troopclipload1gf8.jpg


Replicas usually include a "p1" keychain mini-phaser under the cowling, but it's not clear if such an accessory really existed in the screenused props.

ktresinassaultrightopenfq1.jpg
 
In the "American Cinematographer" issue on STV, Greg Jein said that the only reason the cowling moved was to have access to the muzzle light, it was held in place with a rubber band. It was never intended to be a part of the 'action'. They were made from airsoft Beretta 93R pistols, the magazines had Mini-Mag lites in them for illumination. The issue also printed the instruction sheet he drew for the phasers.

I must be the only person that really liked ST IV, it is my favorite after ST II.

David.
 
That "American Cinematographer" sounds like a must-read! :)

I have these scans referring to Trek 6, not sure where they are from.

98337164cs1.jpg


tobedestroyed2zw9.jpg


tobedestroyedst0.jpg


There's also this pic from Art of Star Trek I think, which purportedly shows screenused props. Not sure why there are two different styles of Enterprise buttplate though.

starfleetphaserbottomstuo5.jpg
 
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Nobody's heard word yet on when these might be out or when orders will be taken?

If Winter 2008 means this season, time is running out.
 
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