Julien’s Upcoming Hero Phaser & Communicator Auction

[AdmiralBaxter]

I believe there were wooden handles as well based on the production memo that mentions 6 wooden power packs.

Yes, we know of at least one midgrade with a wooden handle

 

[Gregatron]

This echoes the conclusion I’ve reached after being immersed in this business for months now: they were WAAAAY over-engineered for what their actual use would be. I'm sure others have reached this same conclusion as well - not claiming to be the first. Including “The Enemy Within” business there is not a single use of the various mechanisms that help tell the story in any meaningful way. If they had simply given four phasers the hero add-on details and never made any of the internal mechanisms, we would see the stories in exactly the same way we see them now. I can love the fact that all this stuff is there while simultaneously concluding that none of it was needed.

But that in itself is a testament to the unprecedented level of thought and detailing which went into making both the show and the fictional universe believable.

"The Naked Time" was the first mention of the warp drive being powered by a controlled matter/antimatter reaction. And "The Savage Curtain"--the second-to-last episode of the entire series--was the first time we got any kind of explanation as to how the transporter worked.

The people who made the show put a lot of thought and work into making the universe believable. But the show itself treated all of the technology as matter-of-fact, without tedious exposition scenes about how everything worked. The audience either picked it up from watching the characters using the tech, or they didn't.

And this mindset even extended to the props. Their features and functions were predetermined in the design phase, and the props were built to showcase those functions and details, just in case they were ever needed onscreen.

They didn't just throw together some Buck Rogers rayguns and call it a day.

That Sulu scene in "The Enemy Within" doesn't have a closeup of the P1 being inserted, or a line of dialogue explaining that the pistol body will make the beam more powerful.

The moment is just there, without comment--in a wide shot, no less--and the audience is left to connect the dots. The show was packed with details like this, many of which would have been invisible on low-res, 1960s TV.

And that's how the show always worked. Which is one of the many reasons why it was utterly brilliant.

 

[phez]

Wasn't one of the design requests that the original phaser be something like the Man from Uncle gun where it could be a pistol or add pieces and it could be a rifle, with clips etc...
They probably thought they were going to do a lot more with it before the series started but the stories just did not need it,

 

[newworld]

But that in itself is a testament to the unprecedented level of thought and detailing which went into making both the show and the fictional universe believable.

"The Naked Time" was the first mention of the warp drive being powered by a controlled matter/antimatter reaction. And "The Savage Curtain"--the second-to-last episode of the entire series--was the first time we got any kind of explanation as to how the transporter worked.

The people who made the show put a lot of thought and work into making the universe believable. But the show itself treated all of the technology as matter-of-fact, without tedious exposition scenes about how everything worked. The audience either picked it up from watching the characters using the tech, or they didn't.

And this mindset even extended to the props. Their features and functions were predetermined in the design phase, and the props were built to showcase those functions and details, just in case they were ever needed onscreen.

They didn't just throw together some Buck Rogers rayguns and call it a day.

That Sulu scene in "The Enemy Within" doesn't have a closeup of the P1 being inserted, or a line of dialogue explaining that the pistol body will make the beam more powerful.

The moment is just there, without comment--in a wide shot, no less--and the audience is left to connect the dots. The show was packed with details like this, many of which would have been invisible on low-res, 1960s TV.

And that's how the show always worked. Which is one of the many reasons why it was utterly brilliant.

You know you're preaching to the choir, right? I can love and appreciate all the things you mention while also making a simple observation: that 95% of what they put into the phasers was never utilized. The fact that they are over-engineered makes me love them that much more. It represented a mindset that led to excellence.

But don't get me started on the whole "stack the battery pack/handle" thing.

 

[Gregatron]

You know you're preaching to the choir, right? I can love and appreciate all the things you mention while also making a simple observation: that 95% of what they put into the phasers was never utilized. The fact that they are over-engineered makes me love them that much more. It represented a mindset that led to excellence.

But don't get me started on the whole "stack the battery pack/handle" thing.

Of course. I wasn’t trying to correct or contradict you at all. Just expanding on your thought.

 

[feek61]

Wasn't one of the design requests that the original phaser be something like the Man from Uncle gun where it could be a pistol or add pieces and it could be a rifle, with clips etc...
They probably thought they were going to do a lot more with it before the series started but the stories just did not need it,

Funny enough, the inventory states that 4 "power packs" (the handles) were made "to make phaser #3" which was apparently the phaser rifle that never was. This bit of information seems to confirm the intent to at some point have a phaser rifle in the series.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

…many viewers probably wouldn’t have even realized that the smaller hand phasers were supposed to combine with the pistol body to form Phaser Two. There were no freeze-frames, no rewinding, minimal reruns (at first), and the aforementioned low-res TVs standing in the way.

You are exactly correct.

When I was a kid, watching syndicated Star Trek in the late 70’s and and 80’s, I originally thought that the “Pistol Phaser” and “Hand Phaser” were two completely separate models of weapon. I recall that my first cardboard and paper “Pistol Phasers” (made around age 6 or 7) did not have a “Phaser I” attached. The resolution via terrestrial television was really that bad, at the time.

I don’t recall when I finally realized that “Phaser II’s” had “Phaser I’s” attached to them, but it was after watching the series for a couple of years, I think.

 

[Chrisisall]

You are exactly correct.

When I was a kid, watching syndicated Star Trek in the late 70’s and and 80’s, I originally thought that the “Pistol Phaser” and “Hand Phaser” were two completely separate models of weapon. I recall that my first cardboard and paper “Pistol Phasers” (made around age 6 or 7) did not have a “Phaser I” attached. The resolution via terrestrial television was really that bad, at the time.

I don’t recall when I finally realized that “Phaser II’s” had “Phaser I’s” attached to them, but it was after watching the series for a couple of years, I think.

I got The Making Of Star Trek in '71 (I think that was it) and that was the first time I fully realized it.

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

Wasn't one of the design requests that the original phaser be something like the Man from Uncle gun where it could be a pistol or add pieces and it could be a rifle, with clips etc...
They probably thought they were going to do a lot more with it before the series started but the stories just did not need it,

Yes it was designed so it could be expanded as needed.

Basically the producers had designed props that were intended for use in the series as if they were real handheld weapons.

That simply shows they already had an idea of what they wanted to do.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

Looking at one of my JLong builds (this one by Robn1) compared to the Finney / MOST Phaser I, I can see that one of the details that are “off” on the JLong kit is the width of the site and site cover…these parts now look very oversized, compared to the original, to my eye. The thumbwheel and acrylic half round “power meter” also appears to be set too far away from the acrylic site on the JLong.

Still, despite these issues, I love my JLong kit phasers (even the shattered one in parts in a bag):

 

[Chrisisall]

Looking at one of my JLong builds (this one by Robn1) compared to the Finney / MOST Phaser I, I can see that one of the details that are “off” on the JLong kit is the width of the site and site cover…these parts now look very oversized, compared to the original, to my eye. The thumbwheel and acrylic half round “power meter” also appears to be set too far away from the acrylic site on the JLong.

Still, despite these issues, I love my JLong kit phasers (even the shattered one in parts in a bag):

View attachment 1840883
View attachment 1840884

This is something I've always noticed. Still, Long's are excellent. There are some noticable differences in the hero P1's though- so there IS some wiggle room there....

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

This is something I've always noticed. Still, Long's are excellent. There are some noticable differences in the hero P1's though- so there IS some wiggle room there....

J.Long's Phaser 1's are known to be flawed as they are simply too long and part of the shape is incorrect. ....

If you research the forums you can find information about the folks who designed phaser 2's around the J.Long P1 as it wouldn't work with any of the existing kits

 

[Captain Dunsel]

This is something I've always noticed. Still, Long's are excellent. There are some noticable differences in the hero P1's though- so there IS some wiggle room there....

Absolutely agee.

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

Looking at one of my JLong builds (this one by Robn1) compared to the Finney / MOST Phaser I, I can see that one of the details that are “off” on the JLong kit is the width of the site and site cover…these parts now look very oversized, compared to the original, to my eye. The thumbwheel and acrylic half round “power meter” also appears to be set too far away from the acrylic site on the JLong.

Still, despite these issues, I love my JLong kit phasers (even the shattered one in parts in a bag):

Well, that's part of the problem when folks produce kits and try to imply what they think is correct.

People forget tend to focus on accuracy a bit too much and forget these were made by hand on a very tight schedule.

 

[Leinads]

The width of the hood and acrylic used in most reproductions has been 1”, and I believe all the current internal mechanics are modeled after Long’s. Here’s some for reference: 1”. The Hero P1 sight width definitely looks narrower, maybe 3/4” - 7/8”?

 

[KUROK]

It has an additional screw on the back bottom and the emitter is strangely short along with the painted P1 release. Seems like this was the pathfinder. Also, it's in the early promo photos with Shatner so it may have been the first finished.

View attachment 1840786

Just my personal opinion: The short emitter may just be the spring-loaded catch is not installed yet or is damaged.

 

[AdmiralBaxter]

The width of the hood and acrylic used in most reproductions has been 1”, and I believe all the current internal mechanics are modeled after Long’s. Here’s some for reference: 1”. The Hero P1 sight width definitely looks narrower, maybe 3/4” - 7/8”?

I think 3/4" is the more accurate size

 

[feek61]

Just my personal opinion: The short emitter may just be the spring-loaded catch is not installed yet or is damaged.

Hummm, our understanding of the mechanism would not allow the emitter to be retracted if the P1 was in place because the P1 pushes the emitter forward when it is inserted. It could be that this one phaser did not have that feature and perhaps the P2 emitter was even fixed in place otherwise, the only way it can be retracted is if the P1 is detached which allows the spring to pull it back in. I still am of the belief that the Conscience / Lenore / Ripley phaser was the first one converted and delivered and the lessons learned from it lead to improvements on the ones that followed. To my recollection, this phaser is only seen it "Conscience of the King" and "The Galileo Seven." Could be that phasers that followed were more refined and were used more, none more BTW than TMOST which seemingly was the star of the four phasers since it had more screen time and was also featured in the TMOST book. It stands to reason that they would pick the best one to photograph. Interesting that the Conscience / Lenore / Ripley was seen early on in the episodes (after the conversion) and in the early promo shots; probably because it was the first completed and delivered to the studio making it the only one available at the time. The invoice for the conversion is dated 8/22/66 which coincides with the first day of filming of "Miri" followed directly by "Conscience of the King" and then "Galileo Seven." The invoice was not actually paid until a month later on 9/22/66 so was it standard for payment to take a month or was the order not delivered in full until sometime in between. Unfortunately, we will probably never know the answer. I will have to go back and look but I believe there is a hero in "Dagger of the Mind" which was filmed on 8/9/66 which would mean they were delivered much earlier than the invoice. We do know that the Conscience / Lenore / Riley was never featured again, in either promos or in the episodes which does imply it was the worst of the 4 hero phasers.

 

[Chrisisall]

Hummm, our understanding of the mechanism would not allow the emitter to be retracted if the P1 was in place because the P1 pushes the emitter forward when it is inserted. It could be that this one phaser did not have that feature and perhaps the P2 emitter was even fixed in place otherwise, the only way it can be retracted is if the P1 is detached which allows the spring to pull it back in. I still am of the belief that the Conscience / Lenore / Ripley phaser was the first one converted and delivered and the lessons learned from it lead to improvements on the ones that followed. To my recollection, this phaser is only seen it "Conscience of the King" and "The Galileo Seven." Could be that phasers that followed were more refined and were used more, none more BTW than TMOST which seemingly was the star of the four phasers since it had more screen time and was also featured in the TMOST book. It stands to reason that they would pick the best one to photograph. Interesting that the Conscience / Lenore / Ripley was seen early on in the episodes (after the conversion) and in the early promo shots; probably because it was the first completed and delivered to the studio making it the only one available at the time. The invoice for the conversion is dated 8/22/66 which coincides with the first day of filming of "Miri" followed directly by "Conscience of the King" and then "Galileo Seven." The invoice was not actually paid until a month later on 9/22/66 so was it standard for payment to take a month or was the order not delivered in full until sometime in between. Unfortunately, we will probably never know the answer. I will have to go back and look but I believe there is a hero in "Dagger of the Mind" which was filmed on 8/9/66 which would mean they were delivered much earlier than the invoice. We do know that the Conscience / Lenore / Riley was never featured again, in either promos or in the episodes which does imply it was the worst of the 4 hero phasers.

I can imagine that the emitter extender assembly broke, and no one had time to sit down with it for three hours to fix or replace it. A "We'll get to it..." that never ended up getting got to.

 

[TOS Phaser]

The short emitter may just be the spring-loaded catch is not installed yet or is damaged.

KUROK - I was thinking the same thing after I saw the photos this morning provided by Dhan on his blog (THANKS DHAN! BTW) - it explains why (IMO) there is no gap between the back of the P1 and P2 rear deck now. And to be clear the P1 release mechanism locking bar ( the stud on the flapper that holds the P1 in place see drawing below) is missing now. You can see the stud in the Court photo below. Also you can see a gap, between the P1 and P2, in Matt's original working drawing. And though there is no mention of a Phaser Unit # 4 in the Desilu Inventory list - there is mention of the 4 special power pack grips to make phaser unit # 3.

The Desilu production "Inventory List", dated 14July1966, provided by "feek61" reflects:

PHASER GUNS
4 Practical Guns - - includes #1 & #2 – Power Packs
4 Practical Power Packs (extra)
4 Power Packs to make Phaser #3 <-------------------------------------------------
6 Wood Dummy Power Packs

5 Rubber Guns Complete #1 & #2 – Power Pack
4 #1 Guns

"PLASTIC GUNS"
10 Complete Dummy Guns #1 & #2 - Power Packs
9 #1 Dummy Guns
4 #2 Dummy Guns
4 Guns-includes #1 & #2 -- without Power Packs