The gang at Factory Entertainment is back this month with the next entry in their line of Star Trek: The Next Generation prop replicas — a year after its prototype made a splash during the 2023 convention season.
They’ve tackled Sulu’s teacup, Picard’s “Inner Light” flute, the Next Gen cricket phaser and dustbuster phaser, Khan’s Wrath necklace, and a life-sized Borg Queen skull — and this summer Factory Entertainment is returning to sickbay with their version of Dr. Crusher’s medical tricorder, based upon the version of the prop seen in the later seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Check out this exclusive video shared with TrekCore ahead of today’s debut, showing the medical tricorder replica’s functionality, sound, and display:
Factory Entertainment’s Mark VII Medical Tricorder replica features a working LED screen with active animation based upon which scan mode you select, lighting and sound which activate when you open the tricorder’s lower flap, and a removeable medical hand scanner with its own lighting and sound components.
The tricorder body itself is cast in a metal alloy (and weighs a hefty 1.4lbs!), while the hand scanner is made from machined aluminum — and is held inside the upper slot using integrated magnets when not in use.
The scanner will not just be a re-issue of the hand scanner from their 2022 hypospray set, as that version was based upon the TNG Season 1 / Season 2 design which had no green lighting around the scanner’s perimeter. This one is more accurate to the later-season version which does have the flashing green lights, as well as green lighting inside the scanner slot at the top of the tricorder body.
Of note is the digital display, which can showcase one of three separate animated scan readouts (with designs based upon original tricorder display art created for The Next Generation).
The shape of the screen is a bit more square than those screen-used tricorder props, which Factory Entertainment tells us is due to the lack of commercially-available LED displays for the sizing required to be a more rectangular shape.
The red “PWR” light is also a modification from the original design: rather than a flush light behind the applied surface graphic, the replica has a slightly protruding “PWR” light which was deliberately designed in as a way to quickly activate the ‘ratchet’ sounds which accompanies the opening flap — and to avoid any potential delay in sound activation using other flap-open detection methods.
Here’s what Factory Entertainment says about their medical tricorder reference research:
The original props ranged from rudimentary non-functional resin items, with flat two-dimensional decals to suggest details, to more elaborate hero props made with vac-formed plastic shells containing a limited amount of integrated electronics. Different Mark VII Medical Tricorder props were produced at different times over several years, resulting in some variances among them.
Factory Entertainment’s Mark VII Tricorder replica has been created after careful study of various source materials, including resources in the Paramount Archives and authenticated items in private collections. It is intended to capture the best features of all the different original Mark VII Medical Tricorder props in a single blended execution. The replica includes a removable Hand Sensor.
To replicate the effects seen on-screen, our replica uses a functioning LED screen with multiple user-selected animations, rather than the static slides used on the original props. None of the original props featured any audio. Audio has been incorporated into the both the Tricorder and the Hand Sensor to simulate the audio effects heard in the show, which were added in post-production as part of the soundtrack.
The unit charges with USB power — the upper section of the tricorder (which houses the hand scanner) disconnects from the main body, and you simply plug a cable into the main body power-up. The battery in the body then powers the lighting in the upper section once reconnected. (The hand scanner is battery-powered.)
Like their other Next Gen prop replicas, the Factory Entertainment medical tricorder replica comes in its own wooden display case. But don’t fret, if you prefer to display the tricorder in its open mode out of its wooden case, sound and lighting shuts off automatically after 90 seconds so it won’t kill the battery.
The prop replica itself is now available for preorder at FactoryEnt.com for $799.99 (with an upfront $50 deposit required), and expected to ship to customers in late 2024.
For Star Trek fans headed to San Diego Comic Con this week, you can check out the nearly-final prototype tricorder at the Factory Entertainment booth (#2743), or you can also stop in and see the Factory Entertainment team at Creation Entertainment’s Star Trek: Las Vegas convention which runs August 1-4.
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