A spectacular piece of Star Trek history, the TOS phaser rifle prop wielded by William Shatner in his first performance as Captain James T. Kirk during the 2nd Star Trek pilot entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (original airdate: Sep. 22, 1966) will be auctioned by Julien's Auctions as part of their Hollywood Legends 2013 sale to be held on April 5th, 2013 at Beverly Hills, California. The phaser rifle is accompanied by excellent provenance in the form of several Desilu interoffice communication memo copies from Gene Roddenberry to his colleagues concerning the weapon, an original signed letter from Roddenberry on Desilu letterhead to toy manufacturer Reuben Klamer who designed and created the phaser rifle in exchange for potential licensing rights, as well as a final design drawing for the prop that is signed by Roddenberry to indicate approval. This historic weapon measures approx. 34" x 14" x 4.5" and was created with an impressive level of detail; featuring a main three cylinder "turret tube" unit which rotates about its central axis, a spring-loaded trigger, a sliding switch to adjust the weapons force setting, a rotating black shoulder butt and a telescoping antenna mounted on top. The complete Julien's Auctions lot description is provided below along with many detailed photos of this exciting prop. Several episode screenshots from "Where No Man Has Gone Before" featuring this weapon are presented after the modern day images. The pre-auction bid estimate for the lot is $50,000 - $70,000.
Those interested in participating in this entertainment memorabilia sale may register to bid live online on the Julien's website at: http://www.juliensauctions.com/auctions/index.html
