Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Electronic Starfleet Communicator

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Star Trek is back and even stronger in 2009. When it comes to toys - usually the best ones are in the hundreds of dollars and you hate to touch because of their price - however - Playmates is doing it right!
This COMMUNICATOR has Detail but it was the most dissappointing of the new toys. Not because of its quality of production or detail ,but because of the sounds. It is based on the new Star Trek film.
The COMMUNICATOR is realistic looking with the familar flip top and nice graphic in the middle of a bulb. It has a light and sound effects of "activation" when flipping it open. (With an On-Off Switch to save batteries when not in use.)
The sounds of it opening are very cool, however the two other activation buttons only do one thing each. One has a phrase from Kirk and the other a Phrase from Spock.
I would have preferred one button to alternate between 4 or 5 phrases from the film and the other for sound effects like tuning a frequency, alert sounds, transmission signal..etc.
Durability: I can see really younger kids might "over-flip" the Flip TOp to hard. But if you use it as if it were real - no problem.
Educational Value; Not really - but it's great for playing like you are part of the Enterprise!
I'm sure the cast and crew of the new movie had fun with the real props, but Playmates allows us to have our own fun too!
And at their price - you can't go wrong! Very well made.
"Hailing Frequencies Open, Captian."
4-21-09

Let's start off.. I'm a long-time Star Trek fan. I was born in the same year that Star Trek came out (1966) and I was told by my parents that, even before I could speak, I was totally enthralled watching that show on our first-generation color TV. As time went on, I grew to love the show itself. And as the years have gone by, I've maintained my love of that original series. I say this as a bit of disclaimer... you know where my biases are. That said, I'll try to be factual, rather than emotional, as I write this.

First off... a review of the toy itself. This isn't a bad replica of the prop from the film, but it's very "bare-bones." Yes, we barely saw the device in the film, which is probably a GOOD thing... you can pretend that a more reasonable design was used. Because of the limited use of the device in the film, there was very little "first-hand" exposure to the prop, and thus Playmates had very little raw material to work from.

That said... this toy is extremely "bare bones." It lights up, and it speaks TWO PHRASES (neither of which is chosen to permit any "roleplaying" suitability). The two phrases are "panicked Spock demanding to be beamed up NOW!" and "Kirk falling without a 'chute." While both are "exciting" moments from the film (quotes intended... I personally wasn't excited by either), neither is suitable for roleplaying use. A kid playing with these needs to be able to pretend he's doing something NEW, not just replaying two fairly cheesy sequences from this movie. It should have more basic phrases. They COULD have actually brought in the actors to records a line or two, or just used "sound-alike" voice actors for that matter. "Kirk to Enterprise"... "Beam me up"... "Enterprise here"... "what is your status"... and so forth. Things that a kid can pretend have a bearing on whatever he's imagining he's doing.

That said... leave the buttons out and it's not a BAD toy, just a very cheap one. I'm sure that Playmates chose to limit their losses on these (a good call, since they've been selling for pennies on clearance shelves!).

The worse aspect of this isn't Playmates' fault, but rather then design itself. Yes, there was room for some minimal "updating" for the devices from the 1960s designs, but the guy who designed the original, Wah Chang, did a MASTERFUL job, overall. Take one of the classic "TOS" ("The original series") communicators in your hand - it's comfortable to hold. Flip it open... it's ergonomically sound.

Now, take this one. The cover OVERLAPS the body. You can't hold it and "flip open" the top, because your hand overlaps the flip-cover. Once open, the corners press into areas of your hand.

Wah Chang designed a device, in the 1960s, which FIT THE HUMAN HAND. The shape of the "flip cover" was designed so that the fingertips, when held, would clear the cover. There were no sharp, or even "sharpish" corners which fit into the hand... it was smooth and comfortable to hold. There was a small circular display, three lights, two buttons, and a microphone/speaker grill.

It WORKED. With minimal tweaks, the design would work well today.

This device, by contrast, is uncomfortable and less useable, overall. It's a poor redesign.

If you really like the new movie, and want to "recreate" scenes from it, you're better off doing so with the classic props. They're just better designs.

The production design team for the new film missed the IMPORTANT bits of the original work, and instead focused only on the surface elements. They didn't think about practicality (as Matt Jefferies and Wah Chang did so well). This is why the new designs, even if "kewler," have not been embraced.

A good designer would have taken the classic designs and updated them ONLY in the ways that they needed updating. Fix problems, don't toss out the parts that work. ESPECIALLY if you replace those parts with new elements which don't work.

That's what the art team for ST'09 did. That's why this isn't a good design. But it's still the best-realized of the redesigns for ST'09... the rest of the designs (set, prop, or ship) were far worse, as far as I'm concerned. This one, while awkward, is at least PLAUSIBLE.

Purchased this for myself. Yes, I'm a Trekkie. Nice item. Has working buttons and flashing lights along with two recorded messages from Kirk & Spock (the "new" ones).

My biggest problem is that the 'chirp' when you open it is very lame. I was expecting it to sound more like the real thing.

I HAVE STATED BEFORE IF YOU TREK YOU MUST HAVE ONE OF EVERTHING THIS IS A TOY AND IS LIMITED TO FEW FUNCTIONS BUT IF YOU COLLECT TREK I SAY FOR THE PRICE ITS NICE GET YOURSELF ONE

This was inexpensive so I purchased it as a stocking stuffer for my 8 year old son, now I knew before purchasing it that it did not do much but it did even less than expected. Says what one phrase I believe, my son was not interested. However it looks like a phone and the one year old likes it, lol. Even though it was cheap I would not purchase this again.

This is the new "old" Star Fleet communicator that Kirk and Spock carried in Star Trek XI. It makes the opening-up chirp and it has some phrases that it "speaks". Made of a durable plastic. The holster for it is practically useless, though. Just stuff it into your pants' pocket. A must for every Trekker in uniform.

I bought this for a costume and found that I was better off not wasting money on this. It only has 2 sounds and they are very cheesy. I would not recommend nor buy this again.

A collector's item for my self. Arrived unopened and in it's original packaging - never to be opened. I may purchase an extra one later just to open and play with.

When I heard that they were going to reboot Star Trek, and take it back to the beginning, I was looking forward to see them "update" the equipment, which was very well designed for a sixties TV show. Well, I am not happy with the total re design. The only similarity is the flip top. The rest has no resemblence to the original communicator. I know it's 2009, but as I said, the equipment from the classic series was ahead of it's time. At the beginning of the movie, when Kirk's mother is about to birth James T. Kirk, she is speaking into a communicator that resembles the old TV series prop. Why was it good there, and not in the rest of the film? I do collect this stuff, so I had to get it. But I am not too happy with the redesign on any of the props...those reviews are at the respective items. The effects are nice, and it is durable, so if you collect this kind of stuff, you will enjoy it.