NakedMoleRat
Legendary Member
So a color you don’t like makes it worthless and a toy? Ok...
The Wand Company TOS Tricorder is coming!
- Thread starter Jediwannabe
- Start date
You keep trying to make this into a personal attack.
The issue of the color palette is NOT about personal "like". The colors TWC has chosen remove this item from the category of "replica" - just as much as the paint scheme I depicted would remove this item from the category of "replica". Moreover, it removes this product from the color palettes established in TOS for Starfleet equipment of this sort. You have *not* disputed this fact. Many here have CONFIRMED this fact. Some, like yourself, have simply declared 'who cares'?
Well, some people - who are supposedly being sold a REPLICA and not a TOY - care that it is not a "replica". That is why MANY made a fuss when TWC had mistakenly used a Starfleet Logo from Prime TOS ("Discovery" timeline) at the beginning.
You obviously do NOT care about such things. That is certainly your prerogative. But why are you ATTACKING people for THEIR prerogative?
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NakedMoleRat
Legendary Member
Well, a replica would not have removable, functioning discs either.
It did come off as an attack, that was not my intention, I apologize.
It did come off as an attack, that was not my intention, I apologize.
That is not true. Canon on the series identifies the fact that they were functional/removable. As such, it is a replica of what would have been found in-universe - NOT a replica of the prop. And the former is what TWC *claims* to be creating. But, as essentially everyone has admitted, this color palette is not one found in the Starfleet world. THAT takes this out of the "replica" category. And the primary colors they are using are those found on LEGOS and most other *young* kids toys. So, yes, that fact shifts this towards the toy category - the same way having to paint orange on the end of a blaster makes the item look like a toy and NOT a replica.
Orange is simply NOT part of the weapon's color palette - the same way these colors are NOT part of the Starfleet color palette.
Put simply, TWC goes on and on about how it is trying to get every tiny detail correct - from the patterning on the case, to the texture of the metal screen in the hood, to the logos used on the screen, etc. Heck, for things that they HAD to do but we would hardly ever see - like the reinforcing patterns inside the tricorder frame - they took the hexagonal shapes that we see used BY Starfleet and used them for that functional design. But they didn't do that here. This color palette is NOT used by Starfleet in TOS - not even close - any more than the Discovery logo was used in TOS.
These colors jump the shark in a *big* way.
Now, you are certainly free to NOT to care if they don't use the right logos or colors from TOS. Many of their customers wouldn't even *notice* such things. But *intentionally* choosing things they KNOW are not from TOS *definitely* removes TWC's work from the category they WISH the tricorder to be in.
And I, for one, am *indeed* BUMMED by that fact - especially after all the work they put into things being SO accurate in OTHER areas. IF these are indeed the colors TWC are using, then this feels like an unforced error on their part - a *big* one.
And, if AnubisGuard is right, it's one we will NOT be *able* to correct.
Apology accepted. Heat of the moment. I understand.
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blspro, I do agree with you that the more muted colors look better and more TOS-y. I also like the correlation with the ubiquitous switch banks around the ship. I feel like the colors and contents are conceptual at this point. Like, I feel like "orientation" should maybe be in with the "log", or like that. Have you thought about pointing out your observations to Chris? Maybe suggesting that switch-progression color sequence?
AnubisGuard
Master Member
I do agree pastel versions of the colors they have would be better, I just don't see the desirability of four different shades of white/gray.
Something like this.
Something like this.
JiminSTLouis
Sr Member
Brian
I‘m not being argumentative, I really want to know. Where in TOS does it establish the disks are removable? Is there a specific episode? Because in MIRI we see Leonard Nimoy running his finger up and down the disks as though they were dials.
I guess I’m among the rare few in the “I don’t care” category about the colors. Having them removable and functional is a bonus as far as I’m concerned.
In this regard, I am referencing the source material that TWC directed everyone towards early on, and which they are using as a source of 'canon' information:
On that page, they identify the function of the silver things in the center section of the tricorder. And they identify how they were manufactured "actually an aluminum tube with lathed grooves, except for the end one on the right". This one they indicate was likely "removable" - as Wah's original design for the Tricorder depicted. Of course, they are quick to point out that it was not removed while on screen in any given episode of TOS.
Heck, I'm not even sure where in TOS it was identified that the silver 'things' are data discs. Yet every source I read - including Memory Alpha - identifies them as such.
Do you know where that idea came from? Besides the original design concept and the lathing of the prop, perhaps wherever *that* idea came from is where the idea of its removability was established as 'canon'? I know the old TOS StarFleet Technical Manual identified them as "Removable Play/Record Discs". So the idea has certainly been in existence as part of the ST lore decades.
The fact that all except one of the silver 'things' was not built to be removed is probably why Nimoy ran his finger up and down those 'things'. He was always good at giving the audience something to look at, rather than just showing the back of the tricorder to screen, like most of the rest of the actors.
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I'll dig this afternoon...
JiminSTLouis
Sr Member
Thanks for the detailed response! I’m not really sure how canon works. If it’s never shown on screen, is it canon? Even the source material directed to by TWC says the last disk was “probably“ removable but never seen on screen or in any photographs. And Memory Alpha and the ST Tech manuals are fan fiction.
Regardless... I accept the fact that they were originally imagined as removable. It’s too bad none of the filmed scripts called for their use.
Good discussion!
I have to disagree about your comment regarding Memory Alpha. It isn't "fan fiction". It is a compilation of what has been seen and said on-screen. That it has been put together *by* fans doesn't change this fact. As such, it is a very good site for Star Trek reference.
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JiminSTLouis
Sr Member
By fan fiction I meant it was written by fans and not a source of information by the actual production team. There are no checks and balances to the information in there. Anybody can write anything.
That anyone can provide information does not mean that anything can be written. There *are* "checks and balances" - which is why it is not filled with Star Wars information.
As Wikipedia identifies: "Several aspects of Memory Alpha set it apart from other reference works, such as its method of citing sources. All information must be cited from a valid source (see Canon section below)"
Wah's original sketch (shown in Wand update blog #3) implies the disks could be inserted into a reader slot in the hood. The finished prop was revised with no provision for that. The thought is that the right most disk was loose in Hero #1, but was held jammed in place by the "selector switch" as it kept falling out. Nothing was ever shown on screen as far as how these disks functioned or what their faces looked like. Most replicas machine that piece from a cylinder of aluminum.
Attachments
AnubisGuard
Master Member
Nope. Reference books, behind-the-scenes info, unused prop/set/costume features and the like are not canon. We never saw the disks removed in an episode, so we have no idea what their in-universe function was. More importantly, because they were never used on screen, any future Trek production is free to assign whatever use to those disks they want, and then that would be canon.
asalaw
Master Member
Well in that case, I vote that the disks are a slot machine.
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I just want them seated and uniform looking and no serious gaps. I want it to look right is all. I’d rather it be one piece that did nothing if this ends up looking off in any way.
I'm mostly concerned with how they look when they're in the tricorder too. I'll enjoy playing with the it, but it won't be a part of my EDC or anything, no matter what functions it has. It has to look good on a shelf though!
That *would* explain why Spock was manually manipulating them as Jim mentioned. He was trying cheat and make it 7's across the board!Well in that case, I vote that the disks are a slot machine.
Who knew a Vulcan could have a gambling problem.
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