(This news update was first emailed on April 25th, 2025 to fans who had registered an interest in finding out more about our Tricorder.)
IMPORTANT: we are making plenty of Tricorders
A very small number of Tricorders were sold on Amazon in the last two days. This didn’t go as smoothly as we’d hoped, though:
- The quantity (200 units) sold out very quickly, but then the Tricorder would occasionally appear to be back “in stock” for brief periods, causing confusion and frustration.
- During some of these brief periods, international shipping wasn’t available.
- Some people had their orders automatically cancelled by Amazon for suspected fraud – we believe this is probably why one or two units would then become “available” again.
We’re really sorry for the distress and confusion that this has caused for some of you. We want to reassure you that we are making plenty of Tricorders and we believe that you will each be able to buy one from us if you want to.
Tricorder in its shipping box
We are pausing Tricorder sales for at least a week
We’ve shipped another batch of 952 units to Amazon this week. We were hoping that they would already be showing up in the Amazon system by now, and that we’d be sending out a batch of “invitation to purchase” emails today, but that’s not the case.
To avoid a continuation of the confusing situation with the Tricorder appearing to fluctuate in and out of stock, and it only becoming available one or two at a time, we are pausing the sales to allow some time for the incoming stock to build up to a sensible level so that we can create some stability in its availability.
As I write, we are manufacturing Tricorders and airfreighting thousands of them into the UK. However, the process of loading them into stock at Amazon takes a bit of time.
Opening Tricorder sales again
Once there is sufficient stock in the Amazon UK store to create a more stable and pleasant purchasing experience, we will set the Tricorder listing to “active” once again and start emailing people again to let them know that it is available. We will aim to do this at around 4pm UK time. We will monitor that stock carefully and pause the sale of the Tricorder again when the stock is depleted, in order to allow more stock to fill the sales channel once again and prevent the listing from going in and out of stock due to order cancellations
Tricorders for sale on eBay
A small number of Tricorders have already been sold and we have heard that some are already appearing on eBay. Whilst everyone can buy their Tricorder however they wish, we strongly urge fans not to buy from third party sellers at the moment. We have plenty of stock arriving and you should wait for that to become available through our official retailers (Amazon UK, the Star Trek Shop or IGN Store).
Shipping to a non-UK address
Our decision to sell on Amazon UK was not taken lightly and was in response to the evolving tariff situation in the US. When there is sufficient stock available, fans who do not live in the UK will be able to purchase from Amazon UK and we do not know of any restriction that will prevent this for our customers outside the UK. (In case you didn’t already know, we’re based in the UK ourselves.)
The tariff situation
The US tariffs on bulk shipments of products from China have been changing rapidly over the last few months, starting with 10% announced in February and reaching 145% on April 10th. If those tariffs reduce to a more manageable level we will review the situation regarding importing the product in bulk to the US for sale domestically (such as via Amazon US) and take the appropriate action.
US tariffs on small packages to individual consumers with value under $800 USD (“de minimis” shipments) have also been in flux recently. At the moment they are scheduled to become 120% on May 2nd, or a flat fee of $100 USD, but it’s unclear which of those fees will be charged. It’s also possible that the changes due on May 2nd will be amended or postponed.
What will happen next
We will write to everyone in waves in order of their first registration with an invitation to purchase as the stock becomes available. As mentioned above, when we do send out emails at some point in the next few weeks, we will aim to send those emails out at around 4pm UK time to give everyone a chance to read them in the normal waking day, wherever they live.
LLAP
Chris
Coming next time
Captain’s Logs searchable archive
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).
After all these years of waiting we in the US will have trouble getting a tricorder. All because enough ignorant fools elected an idiot.
I don’t want to get political, but it is causing havoc with many people’s plans. For companies that develop projects both in the US and the UK and in fact anywhere in the world that then gets them manufactured in China, and has an important part of their customer base in the US this is causing significant worry. I hope it will be resolved soon as either a new permanent situation that we can adjust to or something that will pass so in either way, we can enter calmer more stable times.
Chris:
From your mouth to God’s ear. Selfishly, when the tariffs were announced, my first thought was how this would affect our tricorder. I knew that no good would come of this for you or your customers. Sadly, we need play the hand as dealt.
Best. Mike.
The tariffs are a moving target, certainly, and hard to figure out — and I’m a lawyer. But tariffs have a lot of moving parts, and on top of that the policy may shift as trade talks are ongoing. I appreciate all that. But there are people, such as myself, who are willing to pay them. My tricorder is due for delivery on 5/8, and still shows “in transit”; it would be nice if it enters the country by 12:01 AM tomorrow morning, but if it doesn’t. I did set aside the money for a tariff. Some people are willing, some aren’t, and them’s the breaks–but griping won’t solve anything.
As for me, I’m still very stoked for the greatest Trek prop replica ever produced. I plan to enjoy the ever living ^#$#^@$ out of it.
I did the math and made myself sad. The original $350 goal jumps to almost $900 with the extant tariff. Best. Mike.
Don’t be too sad yet–the tariff will be dependent on the declared customs value, which may actually be less than the retail price in some cases. The regulation on customs value is rather confusing in the case of direct retail imports like Amazon (at least it is to me). We’ll have to see what our final bill is when it comes in.
I am not sure, please keep us informed, we are as in the dark as you are and would like to act on any information that you have about the de minimis impact and how it is worked out / plays out
Thank you for your contributions to this adventure that we’re all on. I agree with you that “griping won’t solve anything.”, but only on a microscale ie. This very specific audience.
However, I contend that, as a US citizen, that ‘griping’ en masse does solve things faster than not.
Regardless, while I find myself in a similar position to yours, the added expense will certainly taint my experience while simultaneously giving a good story about our times.
Try to keep politics out of this. Trump is a brilliant businessman and is looking out for the well being of American citizens in the long term. Because many companies grew dependent on cheap Chinese labor is no reason to blame the Administration for spoiling your childish fun. The economic future of a country is worth more than a $350 toy in my humble opinion. If I get a tricorder it will be cool. It will go nice with my Wand Company Phaser and Communicator. A far cry from the old AMT “Star Trek Explorer” plastic model kit I had when I was 10. But if International trade issues interfere with that, I’m mature enough to say, “Oh well. If I can’t get one, I’m not going to throw a temper tantrum over it.”
Good day, Chris.
query: When my turn has come on your list. can I purchase it and you hold it until the tariff bs stops then ship it?
regaards
Dave G
There will be enough to go round, if you want to wait to buy it, then wait, it will all be fine
Hi Chris! Thank you for all of the hard work and your dedication to quality Starfleet equipment.
This may be a silly time to mention this, but I will anyways.
How abought a Next Generation/Voyager away kit in the future? I’m thinking TNG/Voyager era Tricorder, Phaser, Data Pad, EMS Doctor portable emitter, Voyager Neural Gel-pack lit up as a beautiful display decor lol
lovely ideas, but right now focussing each day on how to solve the current issues and reevaluating if what we are doing is right or if there is a better way of doing it. BTW, I loved Voyager and wrote a script and submitted it when they were accepting unsolicited scripts… (obvs rejected), but I still love that whole show
I know I won’t be at the top of the list, but I can wait for my email. Thank you for all your hard work and LLAP
Businesses hate uncertainty, and the tariff situation has introduced chaos into global trade. The tricorder drama is a very small slice of how the impact is being felt by consumers and businesses worldwide. I can’t imagine the stress that this is causing to TWC and so many others. I know I have many other pre-orders with other suppliers, too, and I doubt many will handle as well as TWC has done. I expect that many other wish list items will just disappear until/unless we get stability back.
Everybody calm the %@##^ down and remember your Kipling… “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same…”
I prefer:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting
V/R
Dan
excellent and very pertinent in this case too. 🙂
And for the jittery FaceBook crowd: “If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you…”
If… one of my favourite poems, and that line is one of the best. I think if everyone could read that single poem and do their best to live by it the world would be an even more amazing place.
Chris, thank you (and especially your staff) for all the hard work in making this real. While I can’t wait until I receive the invitation, I fully understand the many issues you have faced getting to this point. I will make sure that I send a picture when I finally have a tricorder in my hands.
Eric.
Okay ladies and gents, we now have some details about the US tariffs / de minimis situation. Per the Epoch Times, “Starting on May 2, the United States will begin collecting a duty of either 30 percent of the value of packages at $800 or less shipped through the international postal network or $25 per item. On June 1, that rate will increase to $50 per package.” So, the tricorder will end up costing $455. Still a bargain, I believe, for what we’ll be getting.
Here is a link to the White House fact sheet on the subject:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-closes-de-minimis-exemptions-to-combat-chinas-role-in-americas-synthetic-opioid-crisis/
That is a bit out of date now, that was from 2nd April… one month is a [very] long time in this presidency!
As I’m reading info on the tariff situation, here’s what I see for products imported from the UK.
From 5 April 2025, a 10% baseline tariff on imports from the UK, affecting most goods.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10240/#:~:text=The%20following%20tariffs%20affect%20UK%20industries%3A%201%20On,on%20imports%20from%20the%20UK%2C%20affecting%20most%20goods.
So, on the $350 tricorder, that would only be an additional $35. Not bad.
It will come down to how the US federal government defines the tricorder. Will it be classified as an import from the UK or from China? I guess we’ll soon find out, but I hope you’re right, Pete! I’m in Canada so I won’t pay tariffs – just the abysmally bad exchange rate between the Canadian dollar and the UK pound, plus 12 percent Canadian federal and provincial sales taxes. So cheer up my American friends; you’ll still be paying less for your tricorders than Canadians will, despite the tariffs…
The tricorder is made in China and is therefore Chinese-origin goods. The fact that it’s being shipped from the UK is irrelevant to determining Country of Origin. Country of Origin is the country of manufacture, unless the goods undergo a “significant transformation” in an intermediate country. Simply assembling and/or packaging them elsewhere is not enough.
Also, the Epoch Times information above is out of date; those are the postal tariffs from early April. They have been raised twice since then, and substantially. The tariff for Chinese-origin goods traveling by international post is currently 120% ad valorem or $100, at the discretion of the postal carrier.
For goods shipping by private carrier, like DHL, Maersk, FedEx, etc., the full panoply of tariffs apply and vary by the goods in question. My best estimate for the tricorder, based on its HTS code and stacking the various tariffs, is 170%. But as I said, this is only an estimate. Tariffs are highly complex with many moving parts and are difficult to calculate.
Finally, the true variable is the customs valuation of the tricorder–that is, the value declared to customs, which is the basis of the tariff calculation. Local sales tax and shipping/handling aren’t included in this, but the full retail price may not be the basis either. It’s difficult to figure out from just reading the regulation, so I really don’t know. But don’t jump to the conclusion that it’s necessarily $350 x 170%, or $350 x 120% (if shipping by international post), or indeed $350 x anything.
Addendum – it may be more like 145%. I had the wrong Section 301 tariff in there. I thought the tricorder would be on list 3 and be subject to 25%, but it turns out that the tricorder’s HTS prefix falls under List 4 and happily is 0%. This is what I meant when I said tariffs are difficult to calculate.
At this point it looks like Americans will never be able to own one unless they purchase directly from wand company, IN PERSON visiting England.
Americans already own them and more will be coming. Our US fans are very important to us and we will be looking every day for ways to get through this tariff maze and get the tricorders across to the US one way or another, right now Amazon.co.uk is still the best solution and those few returns will have most likely been when the situation was on the turn and there was once again some added confusion. It will all get straightened out.
Chris
My order has been unchanged since 04, April with Maersk. In the event the package is returned to Amazon UK by customs (like a VERY few have), is there a process to have it re-dispatched since it’s paid in full? Or is this an issue to take up with Amazon?
Thanks
jim
CORRECTION:
Unchanged since 25 April
Chris Barnardo… In other News! I am looking for to Captain’s Logs searchable archive!!! Everything I’ve seen and read, TWC is now the Standard in these Star Trek props so if you could kindly keep the products coming know you will have buyers for sure.
About the Captains Logs.
Any chance some future update could allow us to simply play through all of the 220 plus captains logs in order with one press of the button without having to cycle/select-press the button over 200 times lol? Would be nice to just sit back and listen to them through from time to time.