TOS Communicator in a collection

This item is reported to be in a well known collectors collection and reported to be original from the show. However I can't find any info on herocomm about this exact prop from Alpha-Kappa? any info on it? original from the show? repro? only photo I've found

 

Here is a comparison of your picture (James Comisar's collection) with then "Kappa" version from the HeroComm site:



It's difficult to tell if they are the same communicator or not. I guess someone could do a close analysis of the antenna grill to see if the holes match but the bottom of the grill in the Kappa version looks slightly offset, while the "collector's" version doesn't. Another thing, the Kappa version's microphone grill mesh looks to have smaller holes than the collector's version. I don't think they are the same unless some rework was done to the original, which is a possibility.

Also, there were reports of a guy creating fake "original" communicators that look old and beat up and supposedly sold them for a lot of money.

Bottom line, there's no way to tell if it's legit or not from just a picture.

Here's the link to the HeroComm site:

http://herocomm.com/BeginHere/MasterTrackingList.htm

 

That is a known fake. It is a Mark English forgery.

The "Kappa" had just a printed moire' pattern; not a two-piece as shown on the forgery. Many of the Mark English forgery's are overly aged and this is a perfect example. Of course no one wants to believe that they were duped; and most owners of these fakes refuse to accept that they are not original. There is so much information available now that it is extremely hard to pass off a fake as an original. This was not the case 10 or more years ago when many of these fakes changed hands and were auctioned off at reputable auction houses.

 

And a link to the forgeries...

http://www.herocomm.com/Details/SpotAForgery.htm

 

It kinda of looks like silver paint has worn away in places to reveal tan resin in places rather than the proper metal pieces (to my understanding) used in their construction.

 

Look at how the grill has been severely corroded to simulate age. Yuck. I wouldn't want one in such crappy condition even if it were an original artifact.

 

Actually what you are seeing there is the glue on top of the aluminum mid-plate. This is another sign of a ME comm; glue sloppily spread all over the finished parts (which was done intentionally to make you think it was quickly made for TV).