Captain's Phaser Mk.2A: Costume Test (March 2014)

This is a costume test photo of me wearing part of my cosplay as Captain Hikaru Sulu from "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."  In particular, I'm wearing Hello Cosplay's version of the Senior Officer's Bomber Jacket uniform variant seen in the 3rd, 4th and 5th movies.  Although George Takei never actually wore this uniform as Captain Hikaru Sulu of the U.S.S. Excelsior (NCC-2000), there does exist a famous Photoshopped picture of him in it - George's head was placed over William Shatner's body, as the photo was originally of Captain Kirk sitting in the Captain's Chair of the U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) in "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier."

That being said, although there is good explanation for the uniform I'm wearing, and although my hairstyle in this cosplay photo test is a real breakthrough compared to any previous shots due to my newfound ability to hold my hair in Sulu's trademark side-part hairstyle by using Bed Head Manipulator sculpting putty, the prop I'm holding is still something of an "anachronism."  This prop shouldn't have been used by Captain Sulu.  It comes from the Alternate Reality, not the Prime Reality.  It dates to 2259 AD, not 2297 AD, and it was a unique piece built specifically for use by Captain James T. Kirk.  It's the Mk.2A or "Stumpy" version of the Captain's Phaser from the April 2013 "Star Trek" video game, built by Triple Fiction Productions.

I'm holding it because my friend currently doesn't have the opportunity to test his new props out, while I'm able to test mine.  The three new Captain's Phasers are so different from the Mark 1 version that my Kirk-cosplaying friend used last year that the only way to really get a good sense of what one looks like in-hand - especially the sheer scale of the massive weapon - was to take and display a photo of it being held, and that's exactly what this is meant to be.  Compared to other Phasers, such as my compact "Copperhead Special" variant of the ST:V/VI Assault Phaser pistol, this prop is enormous.  It must be utterly terrifying to be on the business end of Kirk's special Phaser pistol.

Because of its "Revolver"-like way of mounting its four rotating energy capacitors, and because of its enormous size and above-average firepower, I've taken to nicknaming the ST:09 Captain's Phaser the "Dirty Harry" of Phaser pistols - it's like the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum of Phasers.  "Do you feel lucky, you Klingon bastards?"