NEXT GENERATION PHASER
As a Star Trek fan, I was very happy that the company Playmates Toys landed the license for the franchise in the 1990s. Maybe not so much for the action figures, which I didn’t collect (nothing was going to replace the Mego versions in my heart), but for all the spacecraft and equipment!
Star Trek: The Next Generation was in the middle of its initial run when Playmates started releasing its toys in 1992. The Type-2 phaser pictured above was one of the equipment items from the series, along with a communicator and tricorder, that made it to toy store shelves.
All three were “functional.” The phaser has two “intensity setting” buttons, which produce different phaser sound effects when you press the silver trigger button. The red beam emitter also lights up when you “fire” the phaser.
I was very happy to discover that, despite being stored away for more than 20 years, this phaser still works!!!! That’s one well-made toy!
Now I just have to dig out the communicator and tricorder to complete the set.