Star Trek’s Coolest Gadget Made Real
Star Trek is one of the oldest and most popular sci-fi franchises, and that means there is plenty of expensive merchandise out there aimed at fans with deep pockets. Over the years, those fans have shelled out major bucks for replica phasers, uniforms, starship models, and so much more. However, this latest Star Trek prop from Factory Entertainment may take the cellular peptide cake: the company is now taking pre-orders for a full-scale medical tricorder like the kind used by Dr. Beverly Crusher, but you’ll need to fork over a cool $799 to bring this limited edition replica home.
The replica tricorder isn’t cheap: it costs $800.
As many Star Trek fans already know, Factory Entertainment has created quite a few killer replicas before tackling the tricorder. For example, the company has created replicas of Captain Picard’s flute from “Inner Light,” multiple phasers, Khan’s necklace (no replica chest to go with it, sadly), and the Borg Queen’s skull.
It’s an admittedly eclectic series of prop selections, but the high quality of each one helped establish this company as one fans can rely on for awesome replicas.
And for Star Trek fans who aren’t turned off by the idea of buying a nearly $800 prop, this medical tricorder looks like it would make the perfect centerpiece for any collection.
Of course, when it comes to recreating scenes from Star Trek, the most impressive thing about this medical tricorder is the LED screen which features a variety of animations inspired by The Next Generation.
A replica of the device as seen in The Next Generation season 3, this tricorder has been cast in a metal alloy body, meaning that it has some comfortable heft for anyone holding it. For added accuracy and play, it also comes with a machined aluminum hand-scanner, effectively making this like two props in one.
This official Star Trek prop comes with a cool wooden display case that allows fans to show off their fancy medical tricorder (at least, when they aren’t using it to diagnose what is wrong with the family’s crazy cat).
The prop also includes sound effects from the show that add an additional layer of realism. Of course, when it comes to recreating scenes from Star Trek, the most impressive thing about this medical tricorder is the LED screen which features a variety of animations inspired by The Next Generation.
While we doubt any Star Trek fans would complain about this cool feature, the animated screens on this tricorder are one of the few departures from its screen accuracy. On the show, the tricorders used by Dr. Crusher and other medical personnel simply used static slides in place of screens.
While $50 is required upfront for a pre-order, payment plans are available, which is good for those of us on more of a Picard-style “cashless future” kind of budget.
The advent of modern technology has allowed Factory Entertainment to replace those slides with actual LED screen animations that make this look more like a cutting-edge device from the 24th century, complete with modern conveniences like USB charging.
While there’s no way to tell how many Star Trek fans are likely to splurge for this tricorder prop with its $799 price point, Factory Entertainment is urging everyone to move fast because they are only making one thousand of these props and will be shipping them out by the end of the year.
While $50 is required upfront for a pre-order, payment plans are available, which is good for those of us on more of a Picard-style “cashless future” kind of budget. And for those who do have plenty of cast, well…this is arguably a small price to pay to transform your home into Dr. Crusher’s sickbay.
