The Merchandise GuideCommlocks and Stun Guns
Compiled by Martin Willey
The Merchandise Guide
UK August-September 2021. £149.99 (was August, December 2020, Feb-March 2021, May 2021, July 2021)
Announced in January 2020, this seems to be an updated version of the 2007 Iconic Replicas set, with added electronic lights and sounds. At end February 2020, the release date was brought forward from end-2020 to July 2021. Shipping delays pushed this back to August, with many not arriving until October.
Co-incidentally, Round 2 released their commlock and stun gun model kit at the same time.
The series used the spelling "comlock" and "commlock" on screen (see continuity guide); the more canonical version is the two "m" version, used in scripts and studio documents.
The commlock screen shows "Red Alert" and the Alpha card, and plays sound samples from the series (in rotation; there is no way to trigger a specific door/call sound effect). The stun gun flashes lights with sounds effects. The recommended price is the same as the non-electronic original from 13 years before.
The packaging uses Sixteen 12's new asymmetric right trapezium box design, 30cm x 32cm (high side)/26cm x 7cm with white background and blue lettering.
There is a backing card showing an Alpha corridor. The models are encased in the traditional Sixteen 12 layers of clear plastic.
The instruction leaflet is 21cm x 14cm, with a 2020 license date. Further details on the batteries are on the base of the box.
There are two transparent plastic stands, 7cm x 12cm, which hold the commlock well and the stun gun moderately well.
Compare to an actual prop and the working screen prop. This model is based closely on the working prop and the 1977 Technical Notebook blueprints of that prop.
The Sixteen 12 commlock is 20cm long, 5cm wide, 4cm deep. It is a bit larger than the original props, and the grey colour is a little too light.
The studio props had Letraset under the owner photo (actually the copyright notice: "Letraset products are protected..."), but like the last set and the Technical Notebook we have the text "Command Centre". This is nicer for a display prop, although the spelling is not authentic (the series used the American "Center" in all signage) and the year one photo doesn't match the year 2 designation. For some reason these is a thick black line around the id.
On the keypad, only buttons 1,2 and 9 are clickable. A couple of the buttons are dark and dull (the red one on the front, the green one on the right side).
The black panel on the lower front has a transparent plastic cover and tidier text than the original rough versions. It is an exact copy of the Propmaker commlock from 2009, even including part of the original maker's name ("RCor", Roland Cormier).
Pressing button 1 shows the "Red Alert" screen and dialogue samples (with bleeps and alarm sounds). Pressing button 2 shows the "comlock" pattern (as seen in Immunity Syndrome) and sound effects (bleeps). The two screen images are blurry with a distinct halo. The sound is muffled and distorted.
This is the Sixteen 12 commlock alongside an actual prop that was used by Martin Landau. Apart from the working prop, all commlocks actually had stickers instead of buttons (notoriously these sometimes moved out of place). It's fair that a display model will use actual raised buttons like the working prop instead of stickers. The size and colour don't match, but the missing red button on the front stands out. The back hook is a little low, making the commlock hang the wrong height on the belt.
The stun gun is 11cm long, 13cm tall, 2cm wide. It includes the kill/stun slider seen in Space Warp (most props did not include the slider).
With the slider showing kill, the top and bottom nozzles light up in blue. With the slider showing stun, the middle two nozzles light up in yellow. Both actions are accompanied by muffled sound effects (usually two effects per press, for some reason).
The studio props were of two types, the "hero" wooden props and relatively crude vacuum formed props. Also compare to the Propmaker stun gun.
The biggest problem with this stun gun is the chrome colour, perhaps inspired by the silver Remco stun gun. It should be grey like the commlock. Overall the detailing and finish are nice, but the colour is disappointing.
More subtle flaws include the transparent plastic buttons on the handle, which look a little dull and would be more accurate with solid colour. They are also too square, and should be rectangular. The front nozzles are not quite right, and don't have the colours of the original.
The battery compartment is in the handle. The front nozzles should be (top to bottom) red, yellow, green, blue.
In April 2021, the company sold 4 pre-production models with example packaging (before release of the final model). Images thanks to Gordon Moriguchi.
Copyright Martin Willey.