Remco Spotlight- Phaser Gun (1975)

Item Name: Official Star Trek Phaser Gun
Manufactured By: Remco



Remco released this puppy way back in 1975! I absolutely love the box art on this. It reminds me of the fantastic Gold Key comic covers.



The Rundown: There's been plenty of phaser replicas made over the years, ranging from something as silly as a water pistol to the high-end stuff from Master Replicas. This "Phaser Gun" made by Remco back in '75 is one of the earlier efforts and is loaded with tons of cool play features. (I would have killed to have one of these when I was a kid.)



When you first glance at the phaser, sure, it looks a bit clunky and not exactly what you'd call "screen-accurate". The body's a bit large, the handle's off, the emitter is different, there's a Star Trek logo on the side, etc. etc... But none of that mattered back then. This was a phaser that was made for play, not to sit on a shelf and be admired for it's reproduction quality.



Remco did at least make some effort to have certain elements incorporated into the sculpt to mirror the screen prop. There's a type 1 phaser sculpted into the top! While not removable, the phaser does house a secret compartment!-



Flip up the type 1 phaser, and there's a little hidden compartment for you to store stuff in! What stuff you might ask? Oh, well these 3 discs of course-



Each disk has a little cut-out depicting a different ship. There's the Enterprise, a Klingon Battle Cruiser, and a goofy little generic flying saucer.



These disks attach to the front of the phaser. Once you install the batteries (1 9 volt and 2 AA's) and press the trigger, the phaser emits a "Realistic Phaser Sound" and a light emits from the front. Depending on which disk you put on, an image of one of the ships will shine onto your wall, allowing you to blast it with your phaser! Here's a quick video to show you how it looks and sounds (sure, the image is a bit blurry, but I'll bet it looks great in a fully darkened room) :



Way back when this thing was released, it retailed for about $6. That's crazy! I can't imaging the fun I would have had with this thing as a kid (heck, I'm having fun with it right now at 31)! Remco really put forth a quality, fun product here. Makes me wish they were a bit cheaper on the secondary market so I could get a couple for my boys to play with...

-James