Tricorder update #1 – 232 days – Time to tell you a little bit about our journey

(This article was first emailed on March 9th, 2021 to fans who had registered an interest in finding out more about our Tricorder.)

It’s been 232 days since we announced that we were working on a functioning Original Series Tricorder and you have been patient, but now an update is long overdue. Work progresses well on the development as we overcome the challenges of creating an exact Tricorder replica that functions properly and is a worthy companion to our Phaser and Communicator. I know that you are going to have hundreds of questions and I hope that these emails, with news and tidbits of development chitchat, will answer most (if not all) of them, as we concentrate our efforts to get this Tricorder manufactured and into your hands. 

Remember that we are a very small team and are hugely grateful for your patience, so bear that in mind if we don’t have time to answer every question. We can assure you that, as fans ourselves, we are as desperate as you to see this wonderful version of the Tricorder working for fans around the world as soon as possible. I know that we have left you hanging, but I also know that you believe (rightly so) that this is because The Wand Company will not knowingly compromise on the details that make our Tricorder something that you will love, as we leave no stone unturned in our quest to make this the best ever functional replica, which is taking a bit more of our time and concentration that we had bargained for. 

Over the coming weeks, we are now at last ready to take you on a journey through space and time as, bit by bit, we unravel the steps we have taken to bring this iconic piece to life. So wherever you call home on this pandemic-ravaged planet of ours, I hope you will be able to sit back and enjoy the story as it unfolds.

But before we get into the story, check out this screengrab of the latest CAD… offering a sneak preview (if you can unpick this image) of some of the details and functions that we will be discussing in the emails we are going to be sending you over the coming weeks. 

LLAP… and of course, stay safe.

Chris

Fans who register with us will be the first to read our news and the progress of this exciting Tricorder development and, later, where and when to purchase it. You can catch up with the story so far here on this blog, but if you haven’t already done so, why not register your interest in the Tricorder – you’ll then receive a personalised registration certificate and early access to these updates (before we publish them on our website).

63 thoughts on “Tricorder update #1 – 232 days – Time to tell you a little bit about our journey

  1. Mark Medere

    Thanks for the update! I’m am very excited about your upcoming Tricorder! I’m sure it will be a very quality piece as are your other products!

    Reply
  2. Rev. Christopher J. Kady, R.M.A.

    The quality of the work you all do is unparalleled. We await, with great anticipation, what will, no doubt be, the finest commercially produced replica of one of the most iconic pieces of television history. Go boldly, my friends! Peace and long life…

    Reply
  3. Brad Manning

    I was one of the first people to register last summer, but I did not get this message emailed to me. Does that mean I’ve been dropped from the que ? Please help. Thanks, Brad

    Reply
    1. Richard Blakesley

      Hi Brad. Don’t worry – you’re definitely still on our list, but our emails sometimes get bounced by the receiving mailserver (especially for AOL and Yahoo addresses). We re-sent the email later last week to everyone who didn’t receive it the first time – it bounced again for some people, but I just checked and saw that it was delivered OK to your mailbox. Could you check your spam/junk folder to see if it’s there? Thanks! Richard

      Reply
      1. Anthony Kelly

        I’m one of the people on AOL and have not received any emails from you guys, including when I registered last year. I reached out to Charlotte and she told me what you said above but I never found it in my my spam folder. She then said I should try registering again under another email and that finally worked. You guys need to find out why you are not compatible with our providers.

        Reply
      2. Richard Rutkowski

        I’ve also been one of the first to register. I have the Phaser and Communicator and both are great!! When my communicator wasn’t working properly, Richard had a new one sent to me asap while I returned the problematic one for analysis. The Wand Company has the best customer service I’ve seen anywhere!! I appreciate it and look forward to doing more business with them on the highly anticipated functional Tricorder!! Thanks Richard and The Wand Company!!!

        Reply
  4. Richard P

    I can’t wait to see what you guys deliver with this Tricorder! The Phaser & Communicator are amazing. Very much looking forward to this.

    Reply
  5. Terry B.

    Fantastic News! Look forward to adding this to my Star Trek Collection.
    I have both the Wand Phaser and Communicator and am in awe of the detail of both of these.
    This Tricorder is going to be Fantastic, cant’ wait.

    Reply
  6. JiminSTLouis

    Hello TWC. We’re looking forward to email update #2! Can’t wait to add the Tricorder to my TWC Collection.

    Reply
    1. Chris Barnardo Post author

      Thank you… you won’t have long to wait, email update #2 will be on its way to you this coming Monday.

      Reply
  7. James DeGazio

    Thank you for the update, I was wondering what had happened to your project. I am still interested in purchasing one when you are ready to launch so please do keep in touch.

    Reply
  8. Gwen Beale

    Thanks for the brief but great update!

    I had been hoping for this tricorder to happen for years and am really very pleased and excited that your team is working on it now. Your phaser and communicator are unquestionably the best functional Trek prop replicas anyone has made and I have no doubt you will amaze us all with the tricorder. Soon we can finally complete our landing party outfits. Keep up the fantastic work guys!

    Also- I know development is going to take some time but do you have any idea when we will be able to place our orders?

    Reply
  9. Stephen Mora

    Awesome news, I to have the communicator and phaser and I am so anxious to add to tricorder to my collection. I’m trying to be patient but any hint of an idea when this will be released. Thank you

    Reply
    1. Brian S

      The FAQ indicates “Summer 2021”. I don’t know if that’s what they meant, but that’s what’s there. 🙂

      Reply
  10. JiminSTLouis

    Email update #2 was amazing! Loved all the information about how the Hero Tricorder was 3D scanned, and the pictures of the prop were incredible. It’s survived surprisingly well all of these years.

    Reply
  11. Robert Baz Dresch

    I have been excited for this project every since you announced it!

    In the teaser video, the display shows a Discovery era Starfleet Command logo. Will this be editable/will it change to reflect the TOS aesthetic? I really hope so!

    Keep up the great work!

    Reply
    1. Chris Barnardo Post author

      Thanks for your kind words. That image was taken from a really early design concept. Following the comments and very useful feedback received regarding the use of that logo, we will not be using it for the final Tricorder. We are very carefully studying the TOS aesthetic to make sure that the final product is correct.

      Reply
      1. Robert Baz Dresch

        I knew you’d give it the same amount of attention to detail as always. I will definitely be buying one as soon as they’re available!

        I’m really regretting missing out on the phaser (I do have the mood lamp and the communicator though!) but it came out at a time when I was unemployed :/

        Thank you for replying, Live Long and Prosper!

        Reply
      1. Chris Barnardo Post author

        No, that is not on the cards right now. With the difficulties caused in the early part of the pandemic and the unexpected project complexity, the development is taking a few months longer than we expected. We want to get it right and we hope fans will understand that and bear with us. By following the blog (or signing up for our mailing list), you’ll be the first to find out when the product is going to be released, which we want to be as soon as possible.

        Reply
        1. Brian S

          We know you won’t be cutting corners. Nor do we want you to, just to get it out the door. So take as long as you NEED in order to produce what will obviously be an incredible piece of machinery/art!

          Reply
          1. MartyJ

            Agree wholeheartedly! Take your time. Thank you for finally taking on this project!

    1. Chris Barnardo Post author

      At the moment we have no plans to manufacture more Phasers, although we haven’t ruled it out for the future.

      Reply
      1. Peter Briggs

        Please, please consider a run, even if it’s limited! Some of us scream daily that we missed the first batch. The Ebay scalpers are evil.

        Reply
        1. Chris Barnardo Post author

          It’s not completely off the radar, but we have no plans at the moment, we are concentrating all our efforts on getting the tricorder finished and into production. But I understand your frustration… I would love to do another run too.

          Reply
    1. Peter Briggs

      Different company, obviously, but wouldn’t it be great if there were some artwork to mirror the old AMT Landing Party kit set?

      Reply
    1. Richard Blakesley

      Sorry for the trouble! We’re trying to improve the deliverability of our emails, but yes, the simplest thing for now is just to use a different email address. If you drop us a note at support@thewandcompany.com with your work email address, we can update our records accordingly.

      Reply
      1. Jim

        Thank you Richard, out of the blue the 2nd email showed up in my spam this evening so I’ve added it to my address book, we’ll see how it goes.

        Reply
  12. Jeff L Stringer

    Can’t wait for this! If it is only HALF as amazing as your previous TREK pieces, it will be MORE than worth it!

    Reply
  13. Waran Watkins

    Hi

    I have the phaser and communicator and love them both and I’m very much looking forward to the TOS Tricorder.

    I have registered my interest but have not received a personalised certificate, just a confirmation email with a link to my Wand Company account? Does this mean I am unfortunately at the 0bottom of the list and unlikely to be able to pre-order/purchase?

    I had no idea it was in development until recently.

    Great products though, love them all.
    Waran

    Reply
    1. Richard Blakesley

      Hi Waran. Many thanks for your support! Don’t worry – you’ll definitely be able to pre-order and buy a Tricorder. We’ve had some issues with our emails getting bounced by some addresses – we’re working on improving the deliverability of our emails but in the meantime, I’ve just sent you a copy of your registration certificate from a different system, so hopefully it’ll reach you OK this time.

      Reply
  14. Jim Pierce

    So excited that this is approaching completion! Looking forward to getting this to go with my phaser and communicator! You guys are amazing and I have really appreciated the few times we’ve talked in the past!

    Jim

    Reply
  15. JiminSTLouis

    Hello Chris and Richard. When can we expect email update #3? We can’t wait to see prototype pictures and hear about functionality.

    Thanks

    jim

    Reply
    1. Chris Barnardo Post author

      Update No. 3 is going to be emailed out on Tuesday 6th April and then posted on this blog the following Monday. This coming Monday (5th April) is a national holiday here in the UK and we decided to take the day off rather than work getting the email ready to send. It’s a monster post with quite a few interesting pictures of the CAD to look forward to. We’re really enjoying bringing everyone along on our journey. We work on so many details and while the reward is the finished thing, it is really nice to be able to share our process with fans of our work. The other day, for example, we had over an hour’s discussion about the strap… and that was after we had already designed it and had some samples made!

      Reply
      1. Brian S

        Hi Guys –

        Given the reported problems some have had in receiving these updates by email, I just wanted to confirm whether Update No. 3 went out as planned today (ie “Tuesday 6th April”). I ask because it’s is now 1 am Wed 7th April in the UK and I never received Update No. 3 by email.

        I live in the US. I use gmail. I signed up and received the initial “interest” email with no problem on April 3. But I can find no trace of Update No. 3 anywhere in my email. I have checked filters and spam and it is nowhere to be found.

        Now, if you simply haven’t sent it out yet, I completely understand! Take your time! But if you have sent it out, then I think you’ll have to add me to the growing list of those who are having problems with your email system. 🙁

        Regards

        Brian

        Reply
        1. Brian S

          Wow – you guys must have been burning the midnight oil. I just got the Update in the mail.

          Thanks!

          Reply
  16. phillip wicks

    Been waiting for this to go with my communicator and phaser / which are both excellent. Just got to wait for it to be released

    Reply
  17. Mark McClure

    I have not been receiving any of the updates, even though I registered my interest in the Tricorder last year. I just re-registered in case something went wrong.

    Reply
    1. Chris Barnardo Post author

      Hi Mark, Sorry for the trouble that you are having with receiving our newsletter. I have checks the database and it seems that you have received them, so I hope that they have just been automatically diverted to your junk or spam folder. I have emailed you separately with a screen grab that shows the exact date and time of our newsletter mail out so you can manually check those folders, as sometimes just searching doesn’t work for spam or junk folders. Do let us know how you get on.

      Reply
  18. John B

    Eagerly, but patiently waiting, to add this to my rock , phaser and communicator. I applaud you guys for excellent work ,well done !

    COMMANDER BROCK

    Reply
  19. Mark Myers

    Looking forward to adding this to my original Trek collection. Love your Phaser and Communicator.

    Reply
  20. Luke

    I am so excited for this! This will simply be amazing, the Phaser and Communicator are exceptional, detailed pieces of hardware, so you know this will be too!

    Reply
  21. CDR Graham

    Every time I receive an update I’m like a kid whose eaten too many green smarties, jumping up and down waving my hand in the air…. “I want one, I want one!”

    Reply
    1. Chris Barnardo Post author

      I’m afraid it won’t have a medical scanner out of the box. We have no plans to make one right now, but that may change in the future. We have made the lower compartment with reconfigurable dividers so that it will fit a medical scanner if the owner wants to scratch build one.

      Reply
  22. Stefan Heidemann

    After half a year of silence, and more than a year since the last update. It would be great to have a status report.

    Reply
  23. Carl Campagna

    Thank you for providing updates on progress. Good things come to those that wait. As an owner of the communicator, I can truly understand the time and effort that goes in to what you build.

    Reply

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