AA/ DST Spotlight- Phaser Star Trek II : The Wrath Of Khan

Item Name: Phaser (Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan)
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



Diamond Select Toys released this phaser in the "universal" Star Trek packaging. Here's the back of the box featuring some of DST's other products-



The Rundown: Man, I love the AA/ DST Trek Tek stuff. I've been pretty satisfied with just about everything they've done, excluding the problems I had with my Medical Tricorder. This TWOK style phaser continues the trend, and may just be my favorite Trek Tek item ever.



The sculpt is great and looks very much like the movie prop. All the little details are here, from the "hologram" piping on the side to the smaller panels on the Type 1. Very nice!



Speaking of the Type 1, although it's never seen doing this in the movie, it is detachable from the Type 2! The feature works differently than the TOS phaser; instead of being attached with a simple post mechanism, DST used the same sort of magnetic featured they developed for the Enterprise D. It works incredibly well, and seems really secure when it's in place. The magnet is very strong too and actually feels like it pulls the Type 1 towards it.



The Type 1 is what actually houses all the electronic features. It's pretty lightweight since it just runs on 3 little watch batteries. Looks great, and can fit in your pocket for those sneaky away missions!



When the Type 1 is attached to the Type 2 body, the electronic features are activated by pressing the large round power button...and this thing is LOADED with features-



The phaser is covered in lights. The power button lights up, the panel lights up, and the emitter area lights up. When the phaser is powered up, the lights will blink showing it is activated. You can then shift the phaser into it's 5 different setting, with the light shifting between panels and the emitter beam changing in intensity.

The 4 different settings are as follows:

"Safety"
"Low Stun/ Heat"
"Stun"
"Kill"
"Disintegrate"

There's also a sound effect that plays when your Type 1 attaches to the Type 2 body. And perhaps the coolest feature of all: Press down both the Type 1 trigger and setting selector for about 5 seconds and the phaser enters "Overload" mode. Once "Overload" mode is initiated, press down on the trigger and the phaser will begin to overload, culminating in an explosion!

Here's a quick video showing off the effects:




This phaser ROCKS. I really didn't expect to like it as much as I do, but this thing is just awesome. It's hitting stores now, and I seriously can't recommend it enough. It looks and feels like a prop, and the electronic features are some of DST's finest work to date. Go pick this puppy up!

-James