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tar Trek fans have had no shortage of merchandise to choose from since the late 1960s. Art Asylum, one of the most promising licensors of the Star Trek properties, producers of various detailed action figures from the series Enterprise, as well as an excellent Enterprise NX-01 starship and a replica of the phase weapon and communicator used on the new series, has now produced one of the most desirable items in the Star Trek universe—the original series phaser. The phaser is a beam weapon devised for the series and is seen in action in many of the original 78 episodes.
In day-to-day, less risky missions, crew members of the starship Enterprise carried a small hand weapon designated Phaser I. This is a small unit somewhat smaller than the standard-issue communicator, and is capable of unleashing an energy beam that can range from stunning its target to killing it to completely disintegrating it.
In other, more military missions, a larger pistol-like weapon is used (to increase range and power). This pistol, designated Phaser II, is of ingenious design, as it is more of a housing and amplifier for the smaller Phaser I, which connects to the larger pistol unit.
This replica's features are many. The small, removable hand unit (Phaser I) is, like the original design, the power source for the pistol. Two rotary dials on the unit are functional. The smaller dial, on the left, raises a targeting scanner, which also raises the targeting array. The second is a numbered rotary dial with five settings. One setting is off. The other four settings ramp the power level of the phase weapon up from stun through disintegrate. Each stage is accompanied by an accurate sound from the original series that clearly shows the increasing intensity of power, and a brilliant red LED that pulses differently for each setting. The bottom of the unit has a small trigger button. The unit is powered by three small watch batteries.
This small unit connects solidly to the full-scale replica Phaser II. This combined unit has several further features, including a pistol-like trigger, a red phase beam which emits from the barrel, a rotating cowl over the barrel that varies the intensity of the beam, a rotary switch that turns off the visual beam, a peg to pull to release the Phaser I unit and, best of all, a rotary dial at the rear which, when turned, triggers the overload mode, a rarely-seen feature of Phaser II that acts as a high-powered grenade. This comes complete with audio of the energy buildup and subsequent explosion.
Design quality meets feature overload
After a lot of research on the Star Trek phaser, it remains difficult to determine the level of accuracy of this Art Asylum replica. Much of this confusion comes perhaps from the publication of the Star Trek Technical Manual in 1975, which features detailed blueprints of the Phaser I and Phaser II weapons. One particular point of confusion is the different purposes given the silver grid and bar on the top of Phaser I. The actors on the original series seemed to agree with the Technical Manual in thinking it was a trigger. Art Asylum calls it a targeting array and sight. Another is the presence of a power indicator light that should reside between the two rotary dials on Phaser I, which is conspicuously absent in Art Asylum's model.
If photographs of actual props from the series are any indication, the Technical Manual is inaccurate in many ways, and the likelihood is that many replicas created since follow that plan and not original series props. Art Asylum's version seem far more accurate, but again, there is some confusion, so it's difficult to say for sure.
Art Asylum's new version is so packed with features that they all seem completely unnecessary when people would willingly pay far more for a completely inoperative replica of such detail. However, considering that this is an apparently accurate model that is fully functional, and includes a removable and fully functional Phaser I, fans should be overjoyed.
One misleading feature, however, is the trigger of Phaser I, which resides at the bottom as a small rubber button, rather than the larger silver array on top, which is what Star Trek crewmembers appear to press in the series. The way this unit is held, that should be the logical function of the silver grid and small protruding bar, but apparently not. Still, to push the trigger, the thumb must depress the silver grid, so this may indeed be accurate.
Like the original weapon's concept, the Phaser II handle unit is completely useless without Phaser I. Underneath Phaser I are two tiny metal plates that connect to two metal rods on the Phaser II unit, which transfers power from Phaser I to the larger light beam at the front of Phaser II. The trigger on Phaser II actually performs the simple function of pushing a rod into the trigger at the bottom of Phaser I. Quite a clever design. Also, the overload rotary dial pushes a rod into a small, recessed second button on Phaser I, which triggers the overload.
In short, with its excellent depiction of this highly recognizable science-fiction weapon, packed full of fun electronic features, this is the toy Star Trek fans have been waiting for for decades.
Other models of the Star Trek Phaser may be available, and the various differences in design may be incorporated, but I have never before seen such a perfect merge of design quality with feature overload! — Sean
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