10 Origins Of Star Wars Props You Won't Believe
2. Qui-Gon Jinn’s Communicator Was A Women’s Disposable Razor
The Phantom Menace was George Lucas' return to glory, and it was also the first time Star Wars crept into the modern era. It had been nearly 20 years since Return of the Jedi, which meant the prop designers and set dressers had much cooler toys at their disposal.
You'd think that, right? Well, as it happens, when the world was getting into smartphones and tablets, folks like Qui-Gon Jinn were busy using disposable razors to communicate. His oddly-shaped yet somehow futuristic-looking comms device was actually the Sensor Excel from Gillette for Women (with a paint job).
While it's a slight improvement over the bit of plumbing used in A New Hope, communicator technology in a galaxy far, far away doesn't seem to have kept up with modern trends. The razor was used as a base for a resin cast. This was modified beyond a silver paint job and includes a few attachments to give it a sci-fi look.
Three solder lugs were added to the hand-grip while another was placed at the top. The device's two antennae are two Matrix pins that were once the female side of Cannon plugs used for digital flight controls in modern aircraft.