Milton Bradley electronic "Star Bird" review

A blast from my past

How many toys do you still recall from your childhood with an enduring surge of pleasure?  I have a few, and Milton Bradley’s Star Bird is one of the biggest nostalgic stars in my galactic pantheon.  Released in 1979, just two years after the explosion of Star Wars onto the world pop culture stage, The Star Bird clearly drew much inspiration from this budding franchise, in particular the notion of getting mom & dad to open their wallets to quell the clamoring of their shrieking spawn for the latest and greatest science fiction toy to hit the shelves!

The Star Bird was designed by Bing McCoy (what an awesome real name for a toy designer!) who also created another hallowed favorite of mine, Rom the Space Knight.

There are several homages to two of the most enduring popular sci-fi franchises.  The shape of the cockpit seems a brother to the Y-Wing from "Star Wars."

The rest of the ship bears a strong resemblance to the classic Star Trek D7 Klingon battle cruiser with the neck and body rotated 180 degrees.

There is also the rear turret, which is so artoo-ish I hear beeps and bloops in my head whenever I see it!

Despite these familiar styles from familiar spaces, the Star Bird still manages to look unique.

Toy electronics were at their inception, but the Star Bird has some snazzy features.  After inserting a 9V battery, you can create a steady engine hum once you turn on the circuit.  Then, depending on whether the ship is pointed up or down, a ball bearing switch makes the engine hum rise or drop.

Here's a great vintage commercial!

 A large button behind the cockpit causes the LED’s in the front of the nose flash.  Loud  laser sounds also erupt from underneath the cockpit out of a speaker that’s two inches in diameter!  Rudimentary features by today’s standards, but back then they were the bee’s knees!

Aside from the electronic lights & sounds, the Star Bird also has some really nice modular play features.  The two dark gray Interceptors on the wing tips can be removed and the turret ball doubles as an escape pod.  The best part is that the cockpit and engine can be removed and coupled together to form the Star Bird Fighter.  If you remove the front hull, then you have the Star Bird Power Orbiter.  I love how back then just a sticker could suggest that there was an interior!

The sticker on mine has dried out and fallen off, so I'm using this picture from an Ebay auction.

There were three other toys that followed which I hope to some day obtain.

 First there was the Star Bird Avenger, which initially appears to be the Star Bird with a different set of stickers.  They are pretty cool, and I love the new cockpit decal that is clearly a tribute to the Firebird logo that graced the hood of many a Pontiac Trans Am!

The surprise hiding inside the Avenger was infrared electronics!  Far out!  You could actually shoot a target and score a hit.  If your neighbor had an Avenger, you could have battles and a direct hit would actually cause your opponent’s engine to fail!  Way rad!

In addition to pitching Avengers against each other, you could also take on the Star Bird Intruder.  This smaller ship is basically the Star Bird cockpit with a small rear wing assembly and a pistol grip underneath.  This pistol grip activated the electronics, which were also infrared!

Good guys and bad guys duking it out!  Fazoom!  Like the Avenger, the Intruder also came with a reflective target to let you practice your aiming skills.

The final toy is not another ship, but a Command Base!   Wicked!  It’s also wickedly difficult to find complete and in good condition.  I would also be concerned about whether all the laminated paper would keep its shape or start to curl up at the edges.

Regardless, the Command Base has a lot of features, the most interesting being actual human figures that finally establish the scale of the ships.  If you plan to purchase one, better start saving your money now.  Childhood nostalgia doesn’t come cheap!