One
of my favorite toy-lines of the 1970s and early 1980s is the “Star Bird” from
Milton Bradley.
I’ve
featured the Star Bird Avenger and Command Base here on the blog before, but
today I wanted to remember the final toy in this “franchise:” The Star Bird
Intruder.
The
box terms this menacing ship “the
electronic space raider” featuring “exciting
engine sounds, firing photon beams, battle sounds and a special target.”
Equipped
with new “exciting electronics,” this toy features a pistol grip for dogfights
with the Avenger but which takes away from the compact design and reality of
the design a little. One really awesome
element, however, is the “skull” cockpit decal which suggests that the space
raider is actually a pirate ship.
I
also never liked the fact that this “villain” ship in the line features the same
nose component of the Star Bird. I would
have preferred something entirely different or alien.
But,
when I was a kid and played with this toy, the “pretend” story-line involved the
fact that the bad guy “space raiders” had cannibalized a derelict Star Bird and
re-purposed it. I wish I still had my
Intruder today, but I only have a few pieces, the nose cone sans the outer
shell, and a piece of one of the engine casings that came off.
Still,
I love these Star Birds toys, and as a reader suggested not long ago, someone
should come along and turn these toys into a great space movie. The design of the Avenger and the Command
Base still hold up, and even the old Intruder could make a cameo appearance.
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