Review: Star Trek Keychain: Original Series Communicator

Posted by Lindsay

Guess What!  More Star Trek Stuff!

I know you're excited, but stay with me.

There's a selection of Star Trek things that blink and make noise floating around Toys'R'Us these days.  

The prop toys from last year's movie aren't nice enough to pick up in my opinion, even though they're getting cheap.  I do like the assortment of original series stuff, though, and when they were discounted a bit, I picked up this one.

The doodad you see at right is technically a keychain, but really, it's an excuse to put out a small fun toy which makes noise.

It's produced by Basic Fun, Inc. and they also have an assortment of keychain-size ships.

Appearance and Construction: 5/10

For a small plastic replica of a prop from a television show, this isn't bad.  The base of it is very thick to accommodate the battery and speaker.  But if I wanted a real replica, I'd have ponied up a little more cash. 

I do wish that they had split the difference and at least made the gold cover larger in proportion with the base.  The whole thing measures almost 2 inches by 3 inches and is slightly over an inch thick.

The open panel looks decent, with a strong clean design.  The large central pattern is a sticker, but it looks okay on mine.

Packaging and Accessories: ---

The only thing to note about the package is that the rounded edges mean that it cannot stand on a shelf if you were to keep it in the package, although I can't imagine why you would to that.  You can access the buttons through the packaging and check the play feature.

This is an accessory, so not much more to say here.

Play and Display: +1

This is the fun part.  When you flip the cover up, it appropriately makes the “opening communicator” noise, although I think the sound clip is a smidge long.

Then there are two buttons, which control eight more sound clips, mostly dialogue quotes.  The buttons only work once the cover is fully open, closing it stops any sound or lights.

I would rather have more of the quotes be things that might be said into a communicator, but the sound quality is actually pretty good, and most of the classic catch-phrases are represented.

Each button cycles through its four sounds, but resets to the top when the cover is opened.  Every sound also triggers a sequence of the three lights. 

Left Button
Bones: He's dead, Jim.
Kirk: Set your phasers on stun, we're going to beam directly into the capital city, alert status.
Bones: I'm a doctor, not a mechanic.
Spock: That, sir, is illogical.

Right Button
Phaser Blast
Kirk: Kirk to Enterprise, Enterprise... Enterprise, come in, Kirk to Enterprise.
Spock: Fascinating
Spock: Live Long and Prosper

Price Tag and Final Analysis: 6/10

I paid around 5 dollars for this, marked down only a bit.  Online I'm seeing places selling it for 10.  It's not worth 10.  5 and a bit, though, seems fair to me.  It's a cute piece, and while I wouldn't put keys on it and carry it around, it makes me smile to add it to the collection.

You're still here?  Well, I don't have anything clever today.  Try again.