Originally previewed back in July, Factory Entertainment today officially announced their plans to bring fans a full-scale replica of Captain Picard’s Ressikan flute, from the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Inner Light” — and we’ve got one of their prototypes to show you exactly what they’re working on as part of today’s Star Trek Day celebration!
Our friends over at Factory Entertainment launched preorders for the upcoming prop replica today, expected for fulfillment in middle of next year, and they sent us one of their manufacturing prototypes to check out exactly how they’re approaching this iconic Star Trek instrument, one which holds deep meaning for the captain of the Enterprise-D.
This still-in-progress build — recreating Picard’s flute seen in “The Inner Light,” “Lessons,” and more — is milled from a solid brass alloy, and measures more than 10″ in length — and it’s certainly got a real heft to it from the metal fabrication. That said, the finish and color of the final product will differ slightly from this prototype, as the final look of the flute is still being tweaked.
It also features a wound cord tassel (here secured to the flute prototype with just a touch of glue), and silver foil discs around the six finger positions on the bottom half of the flute. The flute itself comes packaged in a foam-lined, solid resin display box, designed to replicate the case seen on-screen… which itself holds another secret function.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmPVPOp65nw
Like the original prop, the flute doesn’t actually play — but the display case features a subtle button on its right side, which when pressed, activates internal audio functionality to play the famous melody from the original episode (composed by Jay Chattaway) which Picard learned during his life as Kamin on the planet Kataan.
Here’s the official product description from Factory Entertainment:
Factory Entertainment’s replica has been copied directly from surviving resources in the CBS archives to ensure accuracy. It is milled from solid brass alloy and hand-painted to suggest a vintage finish, and is completed with a wound cord tassel decoration. The storage box is cast from polyresin and lined with EPS foam.
The flute appeared in several episodes and, as is normal for productions, some small modifications where made to it over the course of time. This replica has been designed to capture them all in single blended execution. The Factory Entertainment development team understood that the melody we hear is intrinsically linked to the prop and as such we wanted to include it in some way, but this represented significant technical and licensing challenges.
Our solution was a concealed audio feature in the storage box that, when activated, plays digital audio taken directly from the original soundtrack of the episode.
Dimensions:
– Flute 10½ x ¾ x ¾ “(264 x 20 x 20mm)
– Display Box 12½ x 3½ x 3¼”(315 x 90 x 80mm)This replica is a numbered limited edition and includes a Certificate of Authenticity booklet and will require two AAA batteries (not included).
While it’s still undergoing final development and is expected to head into production in early 2021, Factory Entertainment has debuted the Ressikan flute replica for preorder today, which will help them determine just how many builds of the final product will be produced — they tell us they estimate that less than 2,000 will be made, so if it’s something you really want to get your hands on, you may want to lock in your reservation.
The company has the Ressikan flute up for preorder now for a Star Trek Day price of $249, but after October 7, the cost will jump to $274 for those who don’t place an order in the first month.
So, tell us: do you plan to preserve a piece of the Kataan civilization in your own collection? Let us know what you think about this replica and the announced product in the comments below!
Special thanks to Factory Entertainment for sharing their prototype with us for this special preview!