This rare, working Type II "cobra" phaser was obtained directly from Rick Sternbach, the Senior Illustrator for Star Trek: TNG; who created this design for the 3rd season of the series to replace the Season One "dustbuster" style. The prop was likely built by the celebrated propmaker Ed Miarecki, who was contracted to make other working props such as tricorders and scanners, as well as many starship filming models for TNG during Seasons 3 through 7 inclusive. This hero phaser features a permanently sealed-in power cell that can be plugged in to recharge. Due to its age, the internal battery does not hold a significant charge; but some cascading LEDs and internal lights still function. The small white right side control button on the top of the phaser was designed to ramp up the Force Setting from 1 to 16, and progressively illuminate the 16 yellow/green/red rectangular LEDs with each press of the button. The small white control button on the left would power off the LED meter display. The long rectangular fire control button beneath the force level controls would illuminate the red firing lights in the nozzle/emittor of the unit. Some detailed photos and a video are provided below ...
