10 Origins Of Star Trek Props You Won't Believe

The production crews behind the various Star Trek films and TV shows have created some of the most iconic and recognizable props in history. From the tricorder, to the phaser, to the ship models, these designs are firmly ingrained in pop culture. They clearly made an effort to develop an aesthetic for the show.

However, many less important props were not so deliberately designed, and instead crafted together using whatever the staff had available at the time. Old toys, leftover props from other productions, common household items, and other seemingly useless things were painted, redecorated, and used to fill up the scenes with detail and make the world more believable.

This list will be going over ten of the weirdest origins of Star Trek props across all of the shows and movies. Some of the props were creative, some were just lazy, and a few props were actually repurposed from other franchises.

Many props from Star Trek were made using whatever the crew had on hand. One of the most creative examples of an object being repurposed is Quark's Ferengi pistol from the Deep Space Nine episode, The Magnificent Ferengi.

The weapon was created by cutting up and rearranging parts of a 1984 Invid Shock Trooper action figure from the Robotech series. The figure's shoulder-cannon was used to make the weapons barrel and it's leg was turned into the handle. After a new paint job, the repurposed action figure made for a very unique looking weapon for Quark, one that matched the unorthodox style of the Ferengi.

The prop would eventually even appear in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode, Acquisition. Evidently, Quark was using a very old weapon model, as this was over 200 years before Deep Space Nine.

One has to appreciate the creativity of Deep Space Nine's prop department for turning a robot action figure into a weapon that fits the Ferengi aesthetic so well.