The Collective: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Communicator Coming From DST In November May 13, 2010
by John Tenuto , Filed under: Feature Films (TMP-NEM),Merchandise,Replicas,TOS,Toys , trackback
In November Diamond Select Toys & Art Asylum will follow up last year’s Star Trek II Wrath of Khan phaser with a Wrath of Khan communicator role play toy. In addition, Roddenberry have a new TOS phaser rifle replica for the high end collector. More information plus pre-order links below.
DST Wrath of Khan Communicator role play toy
The Diamond Select Toys Wrath of Khan communicator, designed by Art Asylum, features flashing lights and phrases from Admiral Kirk, Spock, Khan and Uhura, as well as the authentic communicator chirp sound effects. There are three modes: Voice Clip Mode, Screaming Kirk Mode, and Hail/Call-Back function. The communicator chirps when Communicator is opened or closed. The TWOK communicator will be released in November and is available now for pre-order at Entertainment Earth for $37.99.
Diamond Select Wrath of Khan phaser
Order Star Trek The Wrath of Khan Communicator Replica from Entertainment Earth!  $37.99 |
Star Trek II was a return to the flip open style from the original Star Trek, after switching to the wrist style communicator in Star Trek The Motion Picture. The silver TWOK communicator can be seen most prominently in the genesis cave scene in Wrath of Khan.
Kirk uses his shiny new communicator in Wrath of Khan
The TWOK communicator is a companion piece to the Star Trek II phaser, released late 2009, along with the similar Motion Picture phaser (which was an EE exclusive). The TMP version is the same shape, but the sticker and sounds are different. Both are available now at EE.
Order Star Trek: The Motion Picture Phaser Replica – EE Exclusive from Entertainment Earth!  $29.99 |
Order Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Phaser from Entertainment Earth!  $27.99 |
Here is a video showing the TMP version.
Roddenberry Replicas at EE – including new TOS Phaser Rifle
Entertainment Earth has also started carrying dozens of Star Trek replicas from Roddenberry Productions, from phasers, to PADDs, to shirts and more. You can see the full line up at EE.com (CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL RODDENBERRY REPLICAS).
One of the newest Roddenberry Replicas is the orignal series Star Trek phaser rifle seen in the pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before". This item will be available in June and retails for $859.99 (available for pre-order).
Phaser rifle
Order Star Trek Original Series Phaser Rifle Prop Replica from Entertainment Earth!  $859.99 |
The rifle was also featured in a giveaway last week on G4′s Attack of the Show (which TrekMovie notified our twitter followers about). You can watch the segment to see the rifle.
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Comments
Bleh… Sorry to be negative on this, but I always HATED TWoK communicators. So… stocky & bulky. If I recall correctly (and I do, lol) they had to push a button on the back to talk. That, plus the silly box light on the botton – yeesh. The phaser was so-so. I much prefer the phaser/communicator from TSfS.
@1 – I’m of two minds about this toy.
Mind one: A new prop replica! Awesome!
Mind two: Oh, it’s that bulky TWoK communicator design. ::sigh:: Oh, well…
Yeah the design of that one is hokey beyond belief…
I always saw them as a kind of retro thing back to 50s sci-fi. They don’t fit well with the TOS era or the TOS movie era, but i still think they are cool
“Screaming Kirk function”. Mysterious…
The communicator does look bulky, but I like the look of the phaser from the video. Judging by the comparison shot of the two phasers, the ST:II version looks better, but the TMP version looks really good from the video. A video of the ST:II version would be awesome for comparison’s sake.
Of course, my favourite phaser has to be the one from ST:VI. It’s just prohibitively expensive, last I heard.
“The Cage” phaser rifle? Surely you mean “Where No Man Has Gone Before”?
@ #6:
I’m pretty sure they used that same phaser rifle in The Cage as well, when they were trying to blow the door off that elevator down to the Talosians underground habitat, but you are correct that it was in Where No Man has Gone Before as well.
I´m under the impression that in The Cage Pike´s crew only used hand lasers (not phasers yet) but I can be wrong, it has been a looooong time since I last saw it…
1) Phaser Rifle Prop is nice but not worth its price. Sorry.
2) Phaser Rifle only made its one time appearance in the episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. Did not appear in the first original Star Trek Episode “The Cage”. Yes, the Phaser Rifle did appear in some publicity shots with Mr. Shatner but that was it.
3) I am guessing that you are thinking of the Laser Cannon Prop in the original Star Trek Episode “The Cage”. In my view, it looks like a Portable Phaser Bank.
4) As for the Communicator and Phaser Props from Star Trek Deux: The Wrath Of Khan — Enough Said.
Thank you for your time.
@#7:
Not to nitpick and nitpicker , but it was a large laser canon , used to trasnmit the ship’s power .
changed it to WNMHGB
I always thought the communicator from TWOK looked like a big ice cream bar, complete with the little holes on top.
I would love to get the Phaser Rifle replica.
I would love to get that communicator
DST is known for doing variants on their models.. Just look at the Back to the Future DeLoreans. Same exact model, just painted a different way with a few new bells and whistles. Having said that, I hope they relief a special “KHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAN” version, complete with authentic spit drops and a broken and shattered microphone. I think that would sell well.
I will only by this thing if it has Khan saying: “I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her; marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet… buried alive! Buried alive…!”
And as for the Kirk scream mode, I can imagine it is something that captures and records what you say, and then it replays it as an echo with the phasing noise…… That’s my guess. So you can say “PRIIIIICELINE” and it will repeat it as such.
DST and Art Asylum rocks my world.
Another communicator to add to the collection…..
While not exactly the best one they designed for the films, it surely not the worst which were those Dick Tracey style two-way wrist radios…. not my idea of 23rd century tech.
Still they do have a certain style of thier own.
I can only imagine how many Trekkies he pissed off by saying Star Wars. All look like good replicas, though.
“What were they thinking!!!!”… when they designed that communicator! I’ve always thought it was crap from the first time I saw it.
Kudos to DST though for having the nads to reproduce it! If they’ll do this prop then there’s no limit to Trek props in the future! Silver lining, people, silver lining!
Lol the “Safety Function” on that phaser turns it into a checkout scanner.
The TWOK communicators simply had to be last-minute, what-can-we-throw-together-off-the-parts-table contraptions. Maybe someone knows the inside story better than I do, but it seems like, in the midst of getting TWOK ready to roll, someone mentioned that those Casio wrist radios they wore in TMP didn’t float too well with the fans, and the props department was tasked with coming up with something with a flip-up antenna grid on short notice. It looks like someone mated an analog multimeter to a Radio Shack project box, then tortured it on a drill drill press.
I consider myself a pretty big Trek fan, but I must admit I don’t think I’ve ever seen that communicator before, or really noticed its design in the movie. :-| Doesn’t look like I was missing out on anything though.
The STII communicators and tricorders were done by an outside prop house if I remember correctly. I think this was done to save costs. The wrist communicators and tricorders used in ST1 seemed much to “sleek” for STII. To me personally they were fine. Would that phaser rifle cost so much if DST made it?
$859.99…wtf
So……Where are the Star trek Communicator Cell Phones? and yes $800.00 is way too expensive for a phaser rifle. even if it’s hand made.
Phwwoargh, I’d go the girl handling the rifle!
$859.99. It’s only worth that much if you can actually disintegrate annoying co-workers. LOL
Oh, geesh, only 9 days late to get that rifle giveaway. KHAaaaaaaaaN!!
Yeah, I never could figure out why the communicator looked better in the 60s TV show then it did in the 80s movie. Something was very wrong there.
Star Trek Ring Tone
James T Kirk Prank Call
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k-LCPAIvH0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zDfKYsy3uQ&feature=related
hehhehe
M
i loved the twok communicators because of their silver/metal finish and the light at the bottom, and then i saw the controls which you didn’t see in the film and i wasn’t impressed at all.
I have only one thing to say about TWOK communicator. KHANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
21,
Modern Props did the TWOK stuff, but it wasn’t like they just got to do what they wanted … MP wanted to do a new phaser but was shot down, and I think the communicator is just a VietNam era item that got plated for the film, not like what anybody with a brain would have picked. It always looked like shit, making a toy of it is probably just for completists.
MP had a lot of hokey stock stuff that turned up in TWOK and KNIGHTRIDER and AIRPLANE II, but they really did a wide variety of gadgets, many of which are in the backgrounds of BLADE RUNNER.
How cool is the Star Trek Original Series Phaser Rifle?!?! I WANT ONE OF THEM!!!!!!
The TWOK communicator is one of the more forgettable props – way too bulky and retro to fit in to TOS continuity – and I’ll be passing on it…
…but the ST:TMP phaser from Entertainment Earth is absolutely beautiful. I picked one up a few months ago and the thing looks and sounds fantastic. Very nice build quality for a “toy” with a really clever lighting scheme and some cool sound effects. The front even detaches to a standalone Phaser 1 type weapon. Easily one of Art Asylum’s best pieces in my opinion.
I always felt the TWOK Communicator was a super rugged field variant. Like a ST equivalent of the Panasonic Toughbook. Ugly and bulky, with stripped down features, but able to withstand a photon grenade barrage!
Dak23, et, add me to those who dislike that communicator. Especially the light on the bottom. The last thing you need is an enemy to see if you are transmitting.
No question about it, the TWOK communicator just doesn’t fit aesthetically with Trek. But it is an interesting prop. I plan to buy one when it comes out. IF it comes out. But with Art Asylum and Diamond Select, you just never want to get your hopes up too high. But here’s hoping anyway. Keeping fingers crossed for the Reliant.
Can’t believe he said Star Wars
The reason the TOS communicators looked better is: Wah Chang.
The TWOK communicator is clunky and ugly, and I have never liked it, but now that I see the interior, it has a rugged, built to survive look similar to current military hardware that kind of makes sense. But it is still ugly. And I definitely recognized it as built from a Radio Shack project box.
>;>}
It’s a toss-up which phaser/communicator looked more like a kids’ toy… TWOK or ST09.
Seriously, the work on the TOS props was iconic. Kudos again to Wah Chang and Matt Jeffries. Maybe it could use a little tweaking for the next movie (holographic imaging or some such) but it’d be SO nice to see something close to TOS props in ST2012.
I’m completely with those of you that don’t like this design. It just looks so kitbashed, not like something a professional military would put out.
And I don’t have a spare $850 for that phaser rifle, alas.
I want the type one phaser or ‘laser’…seen on the cage and at times in the series…anyone make those yet?
that phaser rifle, in retrospect, looks like a bizarro sex toy (xd) see the look on the face on the frame on the vid embed in this article? wonder how she got it;)
Star Trek III phaser please
Ugliest communicator ever. It looks like something a fan made from stuff they found in their dads basement. What were they thinking? Spent the whole budget on the nebula battle scene?
That laser rifle is da bomb, you can probably make your own for around $25.
The pistol looks like a cheap T.V. remote.
The communicator design is hideous. Talk about a step backward from the sleek compact style of the series. But the rifle…it’s pure retro gold. I’d buy it in a heartbeat if I had the cash. I think they have a kit version for about $300 or so.
The phaser and communicator from TWOK probably have great design and effects. But I’ll wait for the Search for Spock phaser and communicator, thanks. Or the STV & VI Assault Phaser…in an affordable version!
The Wrath of Khan communicator:……..I always thought they took a step backwards on the props in the movies.
As for the phaser rifle……859.00?! Wow. Now Rodenberry Productions…make a servo and I may buy that.
I just watched The Wrath of Khan this morning for the first time in years.
I have always remembered it as a good film but i had forgotten just how good a movie it actually is. The journey for Kirk through the film really was story telling at it’s best.
Haters! :D
Ya know, I was never a huge fan of TWOK communicator either, but once you hold a perfect replica of one in your hand, I say you’ll change your minds.
Do I expect the DST version to be a “perfect” replica? No. But, based on what they did with TWOK phaser (and the TMP phaser), it’ll be damn good and well worth getting.
IMO.
#48
Yeah, I agree on the TWOK phaser. DST/AA also did a swell job with the TOS phaser, communicator and science tricorder.
They don’t intend on doing props from the TNG era though. Which is too bad. I can’t afford the high-end Data tricorder.
Its not the prettiest communicator by any stretch, but like the big, clunky, circuit filled communicators from the pilots, its unique and that makes it a fun ‘get’ for my collection. I have an empty spot for it on my TOS movie-era props shelf, right between the STTMP wrist communicator and the ST3 communicator.
Also, I neglected to say that I am delighted to find out that the TWOK communictor is actually going to get made. It had been so long since it debuted at a Toy Fair or a SDCC, I was afraid it had fallen by the wayside.
actually kirk yelled Khhaaaan into Terell’s rist communicator
Rist is our bizness.
Didn’t Chekov wear a wrist communicator in ST II as well?
Yes the WOK communicator seemed like a odd duck in the scheme of equipment. In my mind it was a piece of equipment that came with the jacket and had a longer range than a wrist or regular communicator. It also was probably the toughest of all communicators. So there you have it folks.;) Yes I recall they did also use the wrist communicators from the first film. But hey in the end it was just a film and a cool one.
Why does the ST:TMP Phaser on “overload” make a TRANSPORTER sound?
I’d take the communicator any day.
“Kirk to Spock, it’s two hours, are you ready?”
“I don’t like to lose.”
While doing some digging on wrist communicators in TWOK, I came across this video of the communicator featured in this article and thought I might share it. Not sure if they’re actual light and sound props from the film, but they seem to be. Here are the links:
http://www.hms-studios.com/movies/HMS_WOK_comms.mov
And here’s the main site’s link, which features a blurb on this communicator:
http://www.hms-studios.com/archives/stm_ost.htm
@1. DAK23
Agreed….. Never liked them… never saw how they would maybe fit in a pocket or on a belt…
Still, I’ll be buying them for my collection anyway….. :-D
#58 – “Why does the ST:TMP Phaser on “overload” make a TRANSPORTER sound?”
Probably because we never heard it on overload in any of the movies and using the overload sound from the TOS phaser would have seemed anachronistic and inconsistent with the prop’s other sound effects.
Either that or it’s the sound of the crewman beaming out right before it explodes. :)
Came across the Cage/WNMHGB prop communicator at Entertainment Earth $400!
http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=RBPRP1770BU
I think it quite odd, considering that the original made in 1964 probably cost the prop department $20 to make. At least DST makes authentic looking replicas at reasonable prices
48. Andy Patterson – May 13, 2010
The Wrath of Khan communicator:……..I always thought they took a step backwards on the props in the movies.
I think they make things bigger for the movies. Look what they did with Data’s emotion chip. It was so small on tv that they used a tweezer to handle it. On the big screen it was bigger than a Chicklet.
The TWOK communicator is not for me. Looks like technology developing backwards from the TOS level.
I URGE DST to make a TOS Phaser Rifle! :-)
I’m prepared to spend around $100 (or €100) on this item. But not $860, that’s either a super-dooper new notebook for me, or a state of the art HD TV set. And soon it should be both at once.
Also, while I agree that there MAY have been some logic behind making this horrid thing look ‘rugged’ for field use, may I point out that the original series communicators themselves looked like they were pretty tough. Sleek, compact design, ergonomic and ‘futuristic’. I think they (the designers) just grabbed what they could to give the impression of a military grade device since TWoK itself had a more militaristic feel. But alas, as I wrote before, TOS stood up to a lot of crap (Kirk rolling around for instance).
When are we gonna get some props from Star Trek III? Those designs were pretty nice.
$859.99 for the phaser rifle? At that price does it really fire a energy beam?
FYI: Nick Meyer originally wanted to use a redressed military telephone for the comms. The silver project-box version was a rush job.
Yeah it’s ugly, but it’s a part of history- and yes, canon!
I kind of like the TWoK communicator. As other have said, it looks rugged and tough. The ToS communicator is a classic, but does seem kind of weedy in comparison.
Funny to think we all wander around with mobile communicators in our pockets now. Annoying aren’t they!
And as someone above said, why have they not produced a Trek Cell phone? Or have they………?
I would LOVE the prop replca of the Phaser Rifle…but not for the price tag equaled to that of a house payment! I’ll pass.
Yeah, that communicator is a dog. But as a ridiculous completist I will probably buy it. I’m lame.
$800+ for the phaser rifle? Pass.
I really, really, really wish that AA./DST would do the TNG props. I think they would be surprised at just how many of them they would sell.
It’s amazing that the movie prop is so crude. But then, in 1982, I doubt anyone involved ever dreamed that it would be replicated as something a fan could purchase. Looks like a very accurate copy of a less than stellar prop only meant to be seen briefly. I’ll probably pass on this one as all my spare change is either going towards adding a room in the attic or towards restoring my late grandfather’s 1968 Plymouth Fury VIP.
73: … or, if you run out of ideas, you can spend all your spare change for a couple of Phaser Rifles :-)
As said a few posts above, the director had acquired WWII era comms that were going to be used. I think it was the films prop master who refused to let them do this and insisted they come up with something more fitting. He built the comms himself a couple of days before they were needed. They were just off-the-shelf project boxes with some do-dads attached.
Or something like that.
Also I think the DST comm actually looks a lot better than the real props– who’s bare metal housing really gave it that clunky, stitched together look.
I’ll wait and pick one up when they’re $20 on amazon with free shipping.
I got a soft spot for this particular communicator. I’m in.
Yes it’s true. That communicator is ugly even by mil-spec standards. Blech! Better to have used a COTS handy-talky of the day.
Now as for the phaser rifle… if it’s available in 5.56 then I want one!
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
” worst communicator – ever”
I prefer to think that this communicator was not the normal standard issue but one used for when you need to be able to communicate through a thousand miles of Moon that’s about to be over your head when you beam into it! I’m assuming the bulk was to accommodate the bad-ass battery needed to accomplish this! Homely yes….but effective!
a combination of a tougher unit for the field trip into a giant rock in space & the on the spot building resuled in a aweful desigh- why not to the slick Star Tkek III phases & communicator, or the Star Trek I wrist communicators? it truely should be the last on the list of prop related toys…
The only way they will sell this is by packaging it with the Star Trek II Phaser.
accuracy is one thing but since we never really saw yje inside panels in the film perhaps they could have designed a decent control panel for it- perhaps a special edition later?
The Phaser Rifle is also available as a kit from Roddenberry. I have the kit, but I haven’t assembled it yet. The only differences I see from the kit and the fully-built rifle is that the fully-built one has the electronic sound board (which I keep asking Roddenberry for one) and a red “glow-ring” around the tip of the rifle.
I’m already planning mods for the kit I have — full copper anodizing on the tubes of the rifle, sequential lights on the light “caps”, and a more “active” targeting system on the rear viewscreen.
Sure, the TOS communicator will always be the greatest one – but I’ve always loved the STII communicator for the classic “It’s two hours, are you ready” scene it’s mainly associated with. Priceless! :)
80: Good thinking!
The visible philips head screws don’t help the communicator
@86: “The visible philips head screws don’t help the communicator”
Al, if the phillips head wasn’t visible, how were the cadets going to change the batteries?
This incarnation of the communicator strikes me as being “rugged” for planetary use. Like camping gear or something you could take where you’d be dealing with harsh weather conditions. It does seem pretty “no-frills” compared to other versions but I don’t hate it as much as some people seem to. It almost seems a little more realistic to me looking very minimal like that. Just your basic “talk box” with some very advanced tech inside a heavy duty shell.
The TWOK communicator & phaser are on the lamer side of Trek design alright.
How is it that they seem bulky & outdated, but the TOS versions are still relatively plausible?
Who ever designed the TOS phaser was way ahead of their time.
#88
You make a good point, especially about camping and other rugged planetary uses. The TWOK communicator would have felt at home in “Star Trek V” during the camping scenes.
yeh, those TWOK phasers and communicators were pitiful. Like some many aspects of props and set designs and the big E, TOS work was so much better than the movies…
#91
Actually, I kinda like the TWOK props. I agree though they aren’t as good as the TOS props. But the phaser from “Star Trek V” was awesome as well as the phaser rifle from the TNG movies.
88: On the other hand, the TOS communicator was for field use, too, and it didn’t look rugged. I’d think that with 23rd century materials and tech, you don’t need rugged design in order to make equipment durable.
I like the TMP/TWOK Phaser its just sleep & funky! I hope they do the TSFS phaser next tho that one is truly badass
I love the TWOK communicator; I love the low-grade, rugged look of it, it makes more sense for a piece of field equipment. and I whilst I see how it could be viewed as a ‘step back’ for the hand props, I happen to think that along with the Assault Phaser it fits EXACTLY with the TOS movie look which Nick Meyer established in TWOK. If anything, the STIII communicator is the ‘step back’, why would Starfleet go back to the TOS style black with gold antenna lid after moving on from it? Nostalgia??
I will be buying one for sure, I’m also scratchbuilding a metal one to use as a bluetooth handset (hopefully, if that doesn’t pan out then I will simply use the casing to upgrade DST’s). You can get the same type of aluminium ‘project box’ for only a few dollars. The switches and mouthpiece come from the Vietnam-era AN/PRT-4 transmitter (http://www.matshelmets.se/pics/us/us-an-prt4.jpg) which is what Nick Meyer originally wanted as the communicator (with a little dressing); Modern Props were horrified at the idea and so threw together the flip-lid communicator as an alternative- thankfully, Meyer liked it.
The ‘Translock’ detail was added by Richard Coyle after he remembered an episode of TOS which alluded to the fact that the transporter locks onto the crew members’ communicators. The serial number printed on the inside of the lid is a little gag as it contain’s part of Modern Props’ address at the time the movie was made (‘MP’, Modern Props, ’1130′ was the building number)
$859.99 … “stunningly” expensive.
As cool as TWOK is as a movie (probably the best of the series) this was one of the few aspects of the film that missed it’s mark. (and the producers of ST: III TSFS knew it and got it right for their film) A pitty they didn’t pay attention to one of the core staple pieces of equipment. The phaser was merely a hand me down from the first film, redressed. (Another disapointing aspect.) The uniforms were a 1000 times better than the first movie, and must have been the main focus to get right. They just forgot about the equipment! I doubt I will be getting this prop, as it is probably one of the entire TOS movies low point. I am still on the fense with the phaser prop (but the creation of the removable phaser I is tipping the scale for me on wanting it). Looking forward to the eventual STIII phaser and communicator! (which I think are a perfect nod to the originals and excellent updates!)
I still love the twok phaser and communicator, I only hope DST will do ST3 phaser and communicator and STNG cricket phaser also a dolphin nose phaser would be nice
Looks like this beloved ‘boxey’ communicator isn’t going to be released until February of ’11. Bummer…Kinda had this earmarked as a Christmas present for my bad self.