Friday, August 9, 2013

Master Replicas Luke Return of The Jedi / ROTJ Saber

This is a pristine condition Luke Skywalker lightsaber as seen in Return of the Jedi. It's from the now defunct Master Replicas.

Due to the manner in which I acquired this piece, it does not include any paperwork or plaque. I believe the slip case for the presentation box was also not included. This saber exists outside of the regular sized production run and also the artists proofs. I'm not sure how many were made in grand total, but this is one extra :D

It's a beautiful saber, in great condition.

V The Series Pistol by WonderSquid

The very talented RPF member who goes by the name WonderSquid made this piece. He not only mastered it from scratch using screen grabs and online reference materials, but he also painted this particular piece.

I found a picture online of what MIGHT be a screen used piece, but without any context, it's hard to say. This was taken from this thread on the RPF.

For details on the development and evolution of this replica, please visit this great thread on the RPF.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

JJ Abrams Star Trek "Kelvin" Phaser Kit.

This is a resin kit of the hand phaser as seen briefly in the opening scenes of the first JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. I actually really liked the movie, and thought it was a lot of fun.

There, I said it.

This kit was made from scratch by an incredibly talented RPF member, who offered a few copies of his kit. It's an extremely nice kit, very symmetrical, and looks very accurate to reference pictures. I'm always impressed by this kind of mechanical craftsmanship, and this kit leaves nothing to be desired.

Well, except to build it up, of course.

One of the props from the movie made it to auction, and some great pictures were released of it. What the pictures really reveal is just what a fantastic job the RPF member did of replicating it.

Check out this blog post for a few more really nice shots of the phaser.

JLong Star Trek TOS Phaser Kit w Metal Upgrades

A few years ago, a company named Masterpiece Models took it upon themselves to offer high quality resin kits of some really iconic Star Trek props. They not only offered the Original Series phaser you see below, but also some cool stuff from later shows. If I recall correctly, they also offered the giant phaser rifle from Voyager, and one of the phaser rifle designs from TNG/DS9.

This particular kit is the hand phaser from TOS, mastered by John Long. He goes by the name JLong online, by the way. John has been building and offering some really great Trek kits over the years, and each iteration shows marked improvements over the last. I cannot say for sure where this kit fits into the evolutions of his offerings, but I do know it's highly sought after, and very accurate.

Included with it are metal upgrade parts. I have a machined aluminum nozzle, a dilithium chamber cover by PhasersOnStun, and I think the wheel from the back is an upgraded part too. The mesh was also not standard with the original kit offering, IIRC.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Master Replicas Han Solo Blaster - A New Hope Version.

Here's a super nice piece that was at one time the cornerstone of my collection. As a kid, I was fascinated by two things: Luke's lighstaber, and Han's blaster. Master Replicas was good enough to make really fantastic products out of both of them. This was one of the very early offerings from the company. If I recall correctly, it uses a Denix Mauser as a base. Because I acquired this piece outside of the regular production run, it did not come with a plaque, paperwork or display case. It does include the foam lined presentation box, and is in perfect, as-new condition.