Star Trek the Original Series Black Handle Phaser
Star Trek the Original Series Black Handle Phaser
Get ready to “stun” all your Trekkie friends? From the original 1960s Star Trek series comes this accurate black-handled Phaser weapon. This is the classic pistol grip design, complete with light-up action and authentic sounds from the TV series, perfect for any landing party. Requires three “AA” batteries, included.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Nice Phaser
This is a nice Phaser. The sounds are cool and it looks like the real deal. Its plastic so its not that durable but if you want a better quality phaser you are gonna have to shell out alot of money for the replica metal ones, so if your like me and don’t wanna spend hundreds of dollars on a toy this is the phaser for you.
2 Stars Mine was defective
I recently ordered one of these when the price dipped right before Christmas. I already had one of the white-handled phasers offered by Art Asylum a few years ago. Since the Diamond Select toys were the heir apparent, I expected the same level of quality.
I already owned the DS Orig. Series Tricorder and a Wrath of Khan Phaser. I loved them both. The black-handled OS phaser I received was defective, however, and the Phaser I unit would fall off at inconvenient intervals (just about any time the phaser was picked up and handled). I returned it and received a replacement. On this one, the Phaser I sat crooked, and the sound effects worked only intermittently. The overload effect didn’t work at all. I returned it also. I am waiting for another price drop to try my luck again. Maybe I got the only defective ones that ever left the production facility at Utopia Planitia. We’ll see.
4 Stars Excellent,… but not without it’s problems.
Like a lot of Trek fans I grew up watching the original series and wanting a phaser of my very own. Over the years there have been many available props from varying sources, with very mixed results. I myself am a prop fanatic, and while The DST Phaser is very nice, it’s far from perfect. It not only has aesthetic inaccuracies, but flaws in it’s design that do effect it’s functionality.
When I first received mine I was amazed at how light it was. Every other phaser prop I’ve held has always had a solid construction with a bit of heft to them, usually due to the batteries in the handle, giving them a realistic feel. This thing feels cheap in your hands, lightweight but top heavy and overall fragile… When shaken ever so slightly, the loose buttons and knobs make it sound like a baby rattle. When I pulled the trigger, the sound was low and dull, with the flashing red nozzle getting on my nerves. The locking mechanism for the Phaser I doesn’t really lock it into place. So it can be easily pulled off with a slight bit of pressure.
I really had a hard time taking this item seriously at fist, and after hearing the glowing praise for it, was a bit underwhelmed.
Those were my fist impressions of the phaser, which changed after some time playing with it. I came to terms that this isn’t the studio prop recreation I’ve always hoped for, and is in fact - A TOY. Eventually I did find a few things by going back and reading the instructions… The setting dial on my P1, which I thought was static, actually did turn. But mine was stuck in place. Pushing it really hard snapped it into the next positions, which eventually revealed the classic phaser sound everyone knows. Why the packaged phasers aren’t set to this one by default puzzles me, but the dial now turns much more easily. Secondly, I was always too afraid to touch the knob on the back of the phaser II housing. Just looking at it, you can see the spindly peg that holds it in place, rather loosely I might add… It looks like a weak point that I’m sure will break with enough play, but does work to give us that nice overload sound.
This made me much more comfortable with it’s TOY status… for the price, it’s really nice. No other toy has ever come even close to this in terms of quality for cost, and I’m sure that we won’t ever see anything this nice again.
But I was looking for more than a cheap feeling, but nice looking toy, and so, as I’ve done with almost everything I’ve ever owned… I started taking it apart.
First off, there is one defect that is completely the fault of the manufacturers. It should have been caught and fixed, but due to someone being asleep at the wheel, made it through to production. The battery compartment on the Phaser I has been molded in a way, that makes it impossible to completely close it, while there are batteries inside. Three squares molded on the inside of the cover, keep it from being screwed in all the way. As such, the phaser I does not sit in the cradle of the Phaser II properly. This is why the locking mechanism doesn’t work. I was able to repair this by grinding down the inside of the cover to remove the excess plastic. It now sits flush with the Phaser II, eliminating the gap, and firmly locking into place. It is now impossible (beyond breaking it) to remove the P1 without pushing the release pin forward.
This is something I should not have had to do, and will not be easily fixable for a lot of people.
So, after having fixed the battery compartment, my major gripe is all the loose parts. After being dubbed “trekkies first rattle” by me and my friends, I went about isolating all of the major culprits of this. the loose deflector grid and dial, the P2 setting knob, release pin, the side knob and bezel ring which control the light. All of these things rattle rather obnoxiously in your hand.
The setting knob on the back of the phaser has two problems… it’s loose, and has a weak pin. This could have been solved with a ridge around the pin that would keep it from moving back and forth. I created my own by cutting off one of the rings from the twist tie holders that originally held it inside the box. After splitting it in two and sanding it down a bit, it slid the 2 disc sections into place, a drop of glue, and now the knob has the support needed to keep it from snapping off, and the friction to keep it from rattling.
Similar efforts can be used on the other rattling parts of the P2… A bit of extra plastic to increase the friction prevents it from rattling around.
The P1 needs to be opened and have the hinges on the dial and deflector grid tightened to prevent them from rattling. I did this with a tiny bit of electrical tape around the pegs.
After doing this, it greatly altered my feel toward the piece. It’s feels solid now, less cheap and prone to breakage. It still doesn’t fix several of the aesthetic issues, but stops it from feeling like a toy, and more of a licensed prop.
3 Stars Great Halloween prop
Used it with a Halloween costume, and had lot’s of fun.
It is not very durable, but works great for a cool prop.
5 Stars I was “stunned” by the phaser
What can I say. If it loks like a phaser and sounds like a phaser then it must be a phaser. I love this toy. It makes all the different sounds a phaser makes.It lights up.It even remove phaser 1 from the main body to have a smaller pocket sized phaser(perfect for shooting the boss,teacher,pastor or,or anyone else that anoys you. The coolest thing is the self distruct feature.My wife and have hours of fun playing hot potato and blowing each other up.Get one today and let the carnage begin
Filed under: World of Warcraft Action Figure Reviews