Friday, October 26, 2007

RETRO TOY FLASHBACK # 68: Star Bird (Milton Bradley; 1978-1980)


I've posted about my favorite toys from childhood here, including my Mattel Eagle One over sized spaceship (from the series Space:1999), and today I want to spotlight yet another favorite from the bygone days of the post-Star Wars craze (1978-1980). The spaceship you are gazing at is the Milton Bradley Star Bird, or in this case, the second incarnation of the cruiser, the Star Bird Avenger. Featuring "new exciting electronics" this nicely-designed "space transport" features "exciting engine sounds, firing photon beams, battle sounds, and special target!"

The Star Bird (sans the specification "Avenger") was first released by Milton Bradley in 1978, shortly after Star Wars took the world by storm, and my next door neighbor and best friend from West Milford, David, was the first kid in Glen Ridge (and particularly on Clinton Road...) to have one. The ship was truly state of the art for the time, because if you had two Star Birds they could electronically duel with each other. Or as the box put it: "Fire your photon beams and hit the alien spaceship. Hear distress signals and sputtering engine sounds!" In other words, the Star Birds were relatively interactive (for the disco decade). In the event you didn't have two ships, the Star Bird also came was sold with an "alien target." The box noted: "Attack the special target with the flashing photon beams and Avenger signals your victory!"

The other interesting aspect of the Star Bird was that it was actually several starships housed in one. For instance, mounted on the dorsal rear of the ship was an "escape pod" and cannon, in case of battle damage. Per the box: "Rotating gun turret - rear gun turret doubles as an escape pod. Just release the retainer and go whirling through space."

Also, perched on each magnificent wing of the large star bird was a small one-man "interceptor" fighter" that could be removed for snub-nosed combat. On the Star Bird, the interceptors were molded in gray. On the re-vamped, Avenger, they were jet black. The box described the interceptors like this: "Detachable Interceptors - Interceptors fit onto the wing tips. Deploy them for battle action."

Finally, the Star Bird itself could be disassembled to create a smaller fighter by detaching the engine and the cockpit section, and then re-assembling them together without the main hull. ("Removable fighter: detach the front section and add the power thruster engine. You still command photon fire and engine power.") As a kid, this idea seemed extremely cool (kind of like saucer separation on the starship Enterprise). An added bonus: the cockpit housing could be removed in this mode too and you'd get a third fighter, the so-called "power orbiter." "For the fastest craft in the galaxy," read the description, "release the orbiter from the front hull. Even this stream-lined orbiter controls full power over photon beams and engines."

Released at the same time as the first incarnation of Star Bird was the "Command Base," where your craft could dock for repairs and re-supply. This two story heavy-cardboard construct stood over a foot tall when assembled, and featured defensive cannons on the roof as well as a functioning orange winch. The command base even came with several repair crew plastic figures. It was described thusly: "It's a great action packed accessory that you assemble from sturdy fiber board and plastic parts. The base serves as a center of operations for Star Bird, Avenger, or Intruder. Your crew staffs the Control Tower with its fully rotating gun turrets, workable crane, maintenance tunnel, and special interceptor landing deck."

Finally, in 1980 came along the "enemy," the Star Bird Intruder, a compact alien craft molded entirely in black. "A menacing spaceship invades the galaxy - a sleek black craft with amazing electronics. Hear powerful engines roar as it races through space. Control photon lights and sounds as you fire at the special target included with the intruder. You can duel other intruders or Avengers and hear the blazing photon beams scoring a hit and the realistic response of faltering engines."


The primary difference between the Star Bird and the upgraded "Avenger" is the decals that came with the ship. Avenger could be emblazoned with a giant bird of prey on its cockpit, which was very cool. It was also labeled "Avenger" on both sides of the forward section. Apparently, there was a third version of the ship as well, one called Star Bird Space Avenger. I never actually saw that variant.

For Christmas 1980, my parents bought me the Intruder (which - alas - I no longer have...), but I still didn't have the Star Bird, which vexed my young self to no end. Then, I spent a day visiting with my grandfather (who passed in 2003), and we scoured most of New Jersey trying to find an Avenger one for me. We went to KB Toys, Toys R Us, and other stores across Jersey, only - at the last minute - to find a Star Bird Avenger at a small kiosk in Willowbrook Mall. It was perched high on a shelf, surrounded by other expensive electronic toys, and I remember my heart skipping a beat when I saw the ship. Success!! My grandfather dropped thirty bucks for the toy, and so I was finally ready for space combat! I played that Avenger out, and what remains of that ship is mostly spare parts these days. So I had to pick one up on E-Bay...

I don't know if it is simply nostalgia, but I've always loved the design of the Star Bird. It isn't overly imitative of Star Wars, but rather a very sleek, very unique craft. The Intruder - though much-harder to find these days, is not quite in the same league, since it is really a variant of the Star Bird design. Even my ten year old mind wondered how the "menacing alien" from another "galaxy" had managed to design a ship nearly identical to the heroic Avenger. But that only added to the imagination and make-believe. I remember "pretending" to be commander of the Star Bird, and going on a secret mission behind enemy lines to find out how the aliens behind the Intruder had stolen the superior design of my spacecraft. Of course, as I learned, we had a mole aboard. And I had to deploy Rom the Space Knight to kill him. Isn't make-believe great?

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:51 AM

    Man, you're killing me with these toy flashbacks, because I've had (and still have, actually) every single one of them! Makes me want to go get them out of storage and pretend I'm 9 again!

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  2. Hey Jason!

    Yeah, I've been on a big toy kick the last few weeks. I've got an office decked out with these items and they occasionally distract me when I'm trying to meet a deadline or write my novel.

    So I figured, if I can't beat the toys, I'll write retro toy flashbacks about 'em!

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  3. Anonymous10:36 AM

    This thing rocks, and It's one my list of toys to hunt down. Josh - CollectionDX

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  4. Anonymous9:02 PM

    I had the first incarnation of the Star Bird back in 1978 or 1979. I lost it somehow. I recently bought a complete original kit again on ebay. I had to, I loved this toy as a kid and had to have it in my vintage toy collection again. What can I say, I'm still 10 years old a hart when it comes to my vintage toys..

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  5. Anonymous6:17 AM

    Great toy, one of my top 5 from when I was a kid. I just bought a Starbird NIB from eBay... and found two others, another original used Starbird and a used intruder, so I bought those as well so my kids and I can all play with them as I did when I was 10.

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  6. Kevin Shropshire1:17 AM

    I still have my original Star Bird. I even wrote to Milton Bradley, sent them money for replacement parts when I was 12. I didn't know how much to send, but they sent me some interceptors. I have the white Avenger and Interceptor too. This is one of my favorite toys ever. The design still blows me away. I even started a comic book based on the ship and it's adventures. It had a crew of aliens and a cute, smart-alec'd robot too. Primitive to be sure, but that's how much that ship fired my imagination. - Kevin in Texas

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  7. Anonymous1:39 AM

    I always wanted it, but never got it. Not that I was deprived of toys as a child, but somehow this one never landed in my collection, even though I thought it was cool. I still want one to this day, and think it is a great design!

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  8. Your blog's posts are very awesome, i enjoyed the posts of your Blog while reading,Thanks for sharing such a wonderful blog..

    ship spare parts

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  9. Where can i buy star bird?

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  10. Com on Hasbro, bring this toy line back! You did it for G.I. JOE, The Transformers, and My Little Pony, you can do it for this one! I want to see a TV show and new toys!

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  11. I've just had a brand new (old stock!) never opened Star Bird arrive from an Ebayer in Spain today. The box is perfect and never opened. I don't know where it's been for over 35 years but I am going to open it up and post in YouTube in the next few days. I had mine on Christmas morning 1979 when I was 8 years old!

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  12. I had the starbird, the starbird intruder, and the base when I was a kid. And for some reason I went dumpster diving as a kid when visiting my cousin where I found the fully intact and complete starbird avenger. I loved the toys as a kid but my dog got a hold of the intruder's landing gear and chewed the interceptor mounts of the starbird. I also had the similarly based Star Trek Enterprise which my dog also chewed up. That wasn't a good day.

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  13. It definitely sparked my imagination as I have written a fully trilogy novel series on it. Check it out. Starbird: Oneida's Fury and Starbird: Calypso's Run. I still have my complete model, minus the turret cannons that only recently fell off and was lost. She pack a powerful punch!!

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