Saturday 25 September 2010

Static Tricorders

Well, you might be able to tell by now, but I love hand held props. And no other prop epitomises Star Trek more IMO, other than the tricorder. They first made an appearance in TOS, and remained. I mentioned earlier that when I was young I received a playmates phaser. Well, I also got the playmates TNG tricorder as well. I love tricorders, and want to show you my examples.

Now, the first one up is this one.




Now, as per my title, these are regarded as 'Static' or 'Dummy' props, as they don't function in any way. The door doesn't flip open, no buttons works etc, it just looks like a tricorder. These were mainly used either by background actors when detail wasn't important, or, when a stunt was taking place and the producers couldn't afford a hero version to be broken. 

This came from Screenused.com, and here is their description

"This prop is made of vacuformed plastic with no moving parts. The tricorder is detailed with several stickers that simulate buttons. The small scanner is permanently attached in place. This is an iconic prop from the show."

I believe I have found where this was used, or one very similar to it. In the episode TNG: A fistfull of Datas, there is a scene in Engineering when Data picks up a tricorder and spins it in mid-air before catching it, and placing it down like a cowboy would do with his gun. Here is a screen cap from that.



And here is a comparison shot


My other static tricorder is a medical example, and is pictured next.


And here they are together, note, I no longer own the 3rd one as I sold thisd a while ago.



Again, this does not move in anyway, and would have been used for Set/Character dressing, or when I actor was performing a stunt. Like my science example, it comes complete with the small hand scanner which doesn't separate from the tricorder itself. It is decorated with decals to simulate buttons. I believe in total, there were approx 20 static tricorders made for the show, with far less hero examples.

In a future blog, I am going to dedicate one to my hero example, so stay tuned and keep checking back.

Thursday 23 September 2010

Plasma/Spatial Charge

Well, time for some bombs!!!!

I bought this piece from a certain J B Stevens. He has, in my opinion, one of the best Trek Collections in the world, and can be found here http://startrekpropcollector.com/ A number of my pieces came from him, and I owe him a lot!!!

This piece also came with a COA from IAW, and can be seen in various episodes such as ;

(VOY: "Relativity")
(VOY: "Night")
(VOY: "Dark Frontier")
 (VOY: "Think Tank)
(TNG : High Ground)

Here is a link to all things Plasma charge http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Plasma_charge

I think there are three of these doing the rounds, I won this one, and one came up at the recent PIH auction.

Here is a pic of my charge. It fully lights up my means of a switch on top, with lights on the side and a blinking light on top. Its made of very strong material and is quite substantial.







And here it is being used in the TNG Episode: The high ground.






Tuesday 21 September 2010

Phasers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everybody loves phasers, who doesn't!!!!!

Throughout the Trek Universe, there has been many different types of phasers, from Crickets, Boomerangs, Dolphins etc etc.

Well, I am the owner of two phasers.

The first is this one,





It is a rubber phaser complete with holster. As you can see from the pics, there is some cracking, and it is missing the phaser emitter tip. I have been told that this is common as the actors would slam the phaser back into the holder, thus breaking off the tip. Considering its age, its still very sturdy and keeps it shape almost like a resin example. Again, this originally came from a private collector via IAW, and I got this for a good price.

Next up, and a recent addition to my collection, is the Cricket phaser. I won this at a recent PIH auction and LOVE this prop. It fully lights up (HERO version), not only at the tip but also on the power bar as well. Here are some pictures of it.




Being used in the TNG Episode 'The Game'



And, I have also shot a video for you all, as pics really don't do this piece justice!!!


It works by sliding down the cover to turn on a small micro switch, and then replacing the cover. Once replaced, when this is pressed, it operates the red light at the end as you can see from the video! Sound effects were added by production after filming!!!!

 From what I can gather, the two sold at PIH are the only two verified cricket phasers around. They were most commonly used in Early TNG episodes, and also some VOY episodes. I feel very privileged to own this, and owe this to several people for helping me out!!!

Monday 20 September 2010

Red Engineering Case

Well, I purchased this from a Private collector, who in turn got it from IAW. Its actually an old cassette tape carrier, with the Star Fleet emblem attached. Here is a pic



For many months, I had no idea where this was used, Then one night, I was watching the episode "The Minds Eye", in which Geordi is kidnapped by the Romulans, brainwashed and ordered to kill a Klingon. And there it was, being used by Geordi to carry some Isolinear chips when he was trying to cover his tracks.


If that wasn't good enough, I was then made aware of other appearances throughout TNG, by Star Trek God, Jorg, over at the Star Trek Prop Forum (See links). I owe him a lot for digging these out for me!!!










So, what turned out to be an unknown prop, turned out to be a great prop used in several episodes. I lucked out on this prop, got it for a great price, and will remain in my collection for some time to come.

Sunday 19 September 2010

Isolinear Chip

Throughout the Star Trek Universe, these were used everywhere. From Engineering to the Captains Ready Room. They came in all different sizes and colours and were mainly used for set dressing, but also as part of the story line.

Here is my example of one.




Came originally from IAW, and verified genuine from the one and only, Penny Juday, Art Department Coordinator via email!!!! She was able to offer me great insight into the production of these props, and also the certain 'tells' applicable to genuine articles. This one is silk moulded on both sides, one side is Gold, the other Silver.

Here is a pic of the same style being used on board the Enterprise-E in First Contact in the left hand corner.

StarFleet Communicators

I have always had a great interest in the communicators used throughout the TNG Series. I remember getting a playmates toy version of the TNG style badge when I was younger. Now though, I am a proud owner of three badges used in the show.

Up first, is the classic comm, the silver arrow on the gold background. I have included a picture.



My second badge was actually in the episodes 'Future Imperfect' and 'Yesterdays Enterprise'. It was worn by Marina Sirtis who played Diana Troi. I have included some pictures for reference. You will note that one of the bands have broken off while in storage, and the colours of the bands depict a rank of 'Lieutenant Commander' It also has 'Troi' written on some tape attached to the back of the badge.



My last badge is in the Style seen in Star Trek: Generations, and also throughout Voyager. It is marked X2 on the back. I believe this was used in Nemesis, but cant confirm it. I came to this conclusion based on a Charity Auction a couple of years ago. At the time there were 4? badges for sale, with the same code format being used. It was stated from the seller of the items that they came from Star Trek: Nemesis. I believe the 'X' Denotes 10, as in the Roman numeral, and 10 being the 10th movie IE Nemesis. As I said, I cant confirm this, but makes sense in my mind!



Welcome

Well, I plan to follow many other collectors out there, and share in my passion of collecting Screenused Star Trek props. Most of my items come from the series TNG, with one or two thrown in from VOY.

All are genuine props either from IAW (Its a Wrap), PIH (Profiles in History) or well Known private collections.

I hope you enjoy these props, and if you have any questions, just email me.

Regards