New Star Trek Beyond phaser, and other Anovos replica updates

High-end costume and prop makers Anovos have revealed details of their forthcoming replica of the new phaser from Star Trek Beyond. The Type 1B is a variant of the familiar nuTrek hand-phaser design, which maintains the basic lines of the previous design, while tweaking it to make it quite distinct; perhaps most notably in the new wide phaser emitter.

Anovos are releasing this in kit form, which features a metal body with resin, ABS, and PVC plastic details. Like any model kit, trimming, glueing, and painting will be required to bring the phaser the life. There is also the option to buy the kit with an extra servo kit, which will enable the phaser nozzle to electronically flip between stun and kill modes. As Anovos told StarTrek.com the idea is the make the replica an "interactive" project, rather than just a thing you buy and stick on a shelf:

What makes our Star Trek prop replicas unique is the degree of interactivity that we will implement in each high-end kit and assembled replica. For this phaser, the builder will have the satisfaction of constructing their own metal and resin kit with or without electronics, depending on the builder's choice and skill level. Once assembled, the electronics-enabled version allows the user to alternate between "stun" or "kill" settings by depressing a button and executing a sequence of servo driven movements that will flip the phaser head into the desired position without needing to reset. That is just one example of many more features we are considering as ANOVOS moves into the collectible arena with products designed to compel fans to "interact" with their investment, rather than let it collect dust.

Anovos are expecting the kit to start shpping in November. Continue below for more images of this, and other new prop and costume replicas from Anovos:

Anovos have previously announced several other phaser and other prop replicas, details of their releases have yet to be revealed. Meanwhile they are also busy at work on new costume replicas from Star Trek Beyond, including tunics, dresses, and jackets - As we've seen from the trailers, there is no shortage of new uniform pieces to choose from!

Their first Star Trek Beyond replica is already available, and indeed has been for a while: Shortly after the design was revealed last year, the new Starfleet insignia patch popped up on Anovos' website.

If you prefer the classic insignias, you're in luck, as Anovos have those available to order too. All four divisions are available, and expected to arrive in July.

Finally, if you're feeling really old-school, Anovos also have a rather curious replica of a replica on the way. Inspired by the first licensed uniform replicas from the 1970s, Anovos have produced the retro shirt, available in the three usual division colours, plus command green. They are due to arrive in September.

Anovos also noted the details of these shirts in another StarTrek.com article:

Of course, both shirts are representations of William Ware Theiss’ iconic Star Trek tunic design, and the retro shirts actually take a bit from both TOS and TAS. For instance, the retro shirt has raglan set sleeves, where the uniforms in TAS had square set sleeves more like a standard t-shirt. The collar is also a lot more like TOS in its shape and construction than the exaggerated collars seen in the animated uniforms. What the retro shirts really take from the cartoon is their color pallet. The richer colors used by Donmoor in the ‘70s were the result of looking to TAS for inspiration and realizing that they were already producing fabric in those shades for their clothes.  

The retro shirt is much simpler in its construction than TOS tunic it’s based on, so we had to shift gears from making a very structured costume with a zipper and hooks and eyes, to figuring out how to take a 40-year-old play shirt and translate that into a modern adult garment without losing the original’s charm. It became an interesting balancing act to get it right. For instance, the insignia patch on the shirt... The original Donmoor shirt had what at that time was the most authentic insignia patch anyone had ever seen. It used crinkly gold leatherette and thick black embroidery, and looked just like it came right off the Enterprise. It was made slightly smaller, and we know now that it’s not precisely what William Shatner wore on the set, but in 1975 and 1976 it was awesome and made the shirt feel “real.” Anovos makes insignia just like what was worn on the sets in 1967. It would have been easy to simply grab insignia patches that we already make to finish the retro shirt – but it wouldn’t have been right. So we worked hard to perfectly recreate the 1975 and 1976 insignia patches, and then we pushed it bit further. Back then, Donmoor only made the Command division patch with the star - which meant that even if you had Spock’s blue Sciences shirt or Scotty’s Operations red shirt you were stuck with the same insignia. We designed new Sciences and Operations division insignia that look as though they were made alongside the 70’s Command patch to correct that oversight once and for all.