The Star Trek Inspired Locker That Scored $4k For Storage Wars' Brandi Passante

From the time "Storage Wars" debuted in 2010, A&E had something very special on its hands, and that became very apparent when the second season's premiere netted 5.1 million viewers, making the premiere A&E's most-watched series telecast of all time. The show's premise follows a group of professional buyers who participate in auctions for ownership of the contents of storage lockers whose owners have been delinquent on rent. Once someone has won the auction, the auctioneer reveals the locker contents to whoever bought it.

So, it's pretty safe to say that on every episode of "Storage Wars," the cast of characters boldly go where no one has gone before — or at least where no one has gone in quite a while — when they have the winning bid on a storage locker. And when Brandi Passante found some sci-fi memorabilia in an auction she won for $230, she would have to seek out some Trekkies to evaluate what she actually found.

Despite the show taking a hiatus beginning in January of 2019 that lasted through April 2021 after allegations that parts of the show were staged — what Brandi found in the locker she purchased seemed pretty believable. She pulled out what looked to be a weird cellphone and a toy laser gun, but after closer inspection by some "Star Trek" connoisseurs, they ended up being a lot more than that.

What Brandi found out was that the cellphone-looking thing was actually a "Star Trek" Communicator prop from "Star Trek: The Original Series," complete with a signature from William Shatner. And as for the toy laser gun, that was actually a Phaser prop from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The two props together were estimated to have been worth a whopping $4,000. That will make Brandi's ability to live long and prosper a little bit easier.