At Flashbak: Milton Bradley's Star Bird Toys of the 1970s

This week at Flashbak, I remembered Milton Bradley’s line of Star Bird toys from the late seventies.

Here’s a snippet and the url (http://flashbak.com/fastest-ship-galaxy-remembering-milton-bradleys-star-bird-1978-58502/ )

“One of the great toy lines of the immediate post-Star Wars era comes from Milton Bradley.  Sold under the umbrella name of Star Bird starting in 1978, these space age toys are much-prized collectibles, especially today.

The Milton Bradley Star Bird (later released as the Star Bird: Avenger) was described on the box as a “space transport” featuring electronic engine sounds, firing “photon beams” and “battle sounds.”

The ship was truly state-of-the-art for the time, because if you owned two Star Birds they could electronically duel with one other.

Or as the box put it: "Fire your photon beams and hit the alien spaceship. Hear distress signals and sputtering engine sounds!"

The Star Bird -- like Gerry Anderson’s Starcruiser 1, which I recently covered -- was actually several starships housed as one. Mounted on the dorsal side of the ship was an "escape pod" and cannon, in case of battle damage.

Also, perched on each wing of the large star bird stood a small one-man "interceptor fighter.”

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.

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."

The second toy in the line was the Star Bird Command Base. This was a huge “action control center” for the Electronic Star Bird. 

As the back of the box describes it: “The command base is a fabulous, fun accessory for more great excitement with your Star Bird.  Assemble the strikingly detailed fiber board and action plastic parts.  When you’re done, you have a specially equipped elevator base and control tower.”

Features of the base include:

“Anti-invasion laser guns: Set the turret bases into the corners of the tower cap. Mount the anti-invasion laser guns into any two of the bases and you can rotate them to return enemy fire.”

“Real working crane and hoist: Fit the working crane and hoist into any one of the four turret bases.  Pick-up the transport vehicle and swing it into the maintenance tunnel.”

“Transport vehicle: “You’ll have lots of fun with the transport vehicle.  It has four rolling wheels and a special carrier unit designed to hold the laser guns, Star Bird’s escape pod, its power thruster engine, or interceptors.”

“Interceptor landings deck: Star Bird’s interceptors sweep onto the Control Tower’s special landing deck.  Rush them over to the main landing platform on the transport vehicle using the multi-purpose carrier.”

Please continue reading at Flashbak.

All I Want for Christmas Countdown #10: Star Bird (Milton Bradley; 1980)

Collectible of the Week: Star Bird: Intruder (Milton Bradley)

One of my favorite toy-lines of the 1970s and early 1980s is the “Star Bird” from Milton Bradley. 

 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.

Collectible of the Week: Star Bird Command Base (Milton Bradley)

One of the greatest of all Star Wars knock-off toy lines came from Milton Bradley in the late 1970s.  The Electronic Star Bird (Milton Bradley) came first, and later the The Star Bird Avenger and The Star Bird Intruder.  

The designs for these plastic, interactive starships were fantastic, and the vessels could even come apart and re-form in new combinations, not entirely unlike the Micronaut Hornetroid or the Mattel Eagle One that I covered here last week.

My (now-deceased) grandfather drove me all over New Jersey in 1979 in an effort to find a Star Bird.  We finally found both at Willowbrook Mall in what I believe was a Radio Shack.  He purchased the ship for me at a price of thirty dollars, and then took me to lunch at Roy Rogers.  It was a day I’ll never forget, and which means a lot to me, especially now.

From the same Milton Bradley set comes the Star Bird Command Base, a huge “action control center” for the Electronic Star Bird. 

As the back of the box describes it: “The command base is a fabulous, fun accessory for more great excitement with your Star Bird.  Assemble the strikingly detailed fiber board and action plastic parts.  When you’re done, you have a specially equipped elevator base and control tower.”

Features of the base include:

“Anti-invasion laser guns: Set the turret bases into the corners of the tower cap. Mount the anti-invasion laser guns into any two of the bases and you can rotate them to return enemy fire.”

“Real working crane and hoist: Fit the working crane and hoist into any one of the four turret bases.  Pick-up the transport vehicle and swing it into the maintenance tunnel.”

“Transport vehicle: “You’ll have lots of fun with the transport vehicle.  It has four rolling wheels and a special carrier unit designed to hold the laser guns, Star Bird’s escape pod, its power thruster engine, or interceptors.”

“Interceptor landing deck: Star Bird’s interceptors sweep onto the Control Tower’s special landing deck.  Rush them over to the main landing platform on the transport vehicle using the multi-purpose carrier.”

Requiring assembly, the Star Bird Command Base is absolutely huge at a height of over 25”.  I had one of these for the longest time, but then in a fit of over-generosity gave mine away to a friend’s child in 1997.  I’ve regretted being so nice ever since. What was I thinking?

Just kidding!

I recently got my hands on the very Command Base you see pictured in this post, and Joel and I assembled it together. 

Collectible of the Week: Star Bird Avenger (Milton Bradley)

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 owned two Star Birds they could electronically duel with one 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, at least for the disco decade. In the event you didn't have two ships, the Star Bird also 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 as 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 stood 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.")

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."

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 section, 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.

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 perhaps 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.  Isn't make-believe great?

Collectible of the Week: Star Bird Intruder (Milton Bradley; 1980)

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.

Collectible of the Week: Star Bird Command Base (Milton Bradley; 1978)

One of the greatest of all Star Wars knock-off toy lines came from Milton Bradley in the late 1970s.  The Electronic Star Bird (Milton Bradley) came first, and later the The Star Bird Avenger and The Star Bird Intruder.  The designs for these plastic, interactive starships were fantastic, and the vessels could even come apart and re-form in new combinations, not entirely unlike the Micronaut Hornetroid or the Mattel Eagle One that I covered here last week.

My (now-deceased) grandfather drove me all over New Jersey in 1979 in an effort to find a Star Bird.  We finally found both at Willowbrook Mall in what I believe was a Radio Shack.  He purchased the ship for me at a price of thirty dollars, and then took me to lunch at Roy Rogers.  It was a day I’ll never forget, and which means a lot to me, especially now.

From the same Milton Bradley set comes the Star Bird Command Base, a huge “action control center” for the Electronic Star Bird. 

As the back of the box describes it: “The command base is a fabulous, fun accessory for more great excitement with your Star Bird.  Assemble the strikingly detailed fiber board and action plastic parts.  When you’re done, you have a specially equipped elevator base and control tower.”

Features of the base include:

“Anti-invasion laser guns: Set the turret bases into the corners of the tower cap. Mount the anti-invasion laser guns into any two of the bases and you can rotate them to return enemy fire.”

“Real working crane and hoist: Fit the working crane and hoist into any one of the four turret bases.  Pick-up the transport vehicle and swing it into the maintenance tunnel.”

“Transport vehicle: “You’ll have lots of fun with the transport vehicle.  It has four rolling wheels and a special carrier unit designed to hold the laser guns, Star Bird’s escape pod, its power thruster engine, or interceptors.”

“Interceptor landing deck: Star Bird’s interceptors sweep onto the Control Tower’s special landing deck.  Rush them over to the main landing platform on the transport vehicle using the multi-purpose carrier.”

Requiring assembly, the Star Bird Command Base is absolutely huge at a height of over 25”.  I had one of these for the longest time, but then in a fit of over-generosity gave mine away to a friend’s child in 1997.  I’ve regretted being so nice ever since. What was I thinking?

Just kidding!

I recently got my hands on the very Command Base you see pictured in this post, and Joel and I assembled it together last week.  He promptly manned the control tower with Zama, Horta, Dard, Brack and other rubber Diener “robots” from the same era.  All the orange, plastic astronauts that actually go with the set, however, have been termed “Under Men” by Joel and can only work under the base, not on the actual tower.  Don’t ask me why.

From the Archive: Star Bird Avenger (Milton Bradley; 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 owned two Star Birds they could electronically duel with one 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, at least for the disco decade. In the event you didn't have two ships, the Star Bird also 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 as 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 stood 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.")

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."

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 section, 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.

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 perhaps 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.  Isn't make-believe great?