Playmates Star Trek XI Phaser

[punkdude908]

My review of the Playmates Star Trek XI Electronic Phaser. By far, the coolest feature of this toy is the rotating barrel action. It only goes one way, from stun to kill. It has to be rotated manually from kill to stun. There is an activation dial on top, which when put to the "on" position, lights up a yellow LED and makes a cool power up noise. There is no noise for power down, the yellow LED just shuts off. The real on/off switch is on the bottom of the phaser, right where the top of your thumb would rest when you're holding it. The size is a little scaled down from the actual movie prop, but it looks almost the same. There are separate sound effects for stun and kill, but they don't really sound like the sound effects from the movie. The stun barrel lights up blue, and the kill barrel lights up red. The barrels aren't identical in color to the movie prop, but hey, its a toy meant for kids. The rotating barrel mechanism feels a little delicate, but I haven't had a problem with it so far. I just wouldn't be too rough with it. The release button for the rotating barrel is on the left side when you're holding it, easily accessible when you're holding the phaser in your right hand. Not the case if you're holding it in your left hand. Trigger button is just that, a button, not like a real trigger. I kind of like it that way. The left side is littered with screw holes and such. The only real complaint is that out of the box, the thing is just too shiny. Too much chrome paint. I painted and weathered mine to make it more like the movie prop (see the thread I made for it in the Props section- pics included!). Again, under $20 after tax, still a great deal. I plan on getting another one to modify soon.

www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3316036