Star Bird (Vehicle Toyline)

Manufactured by Milton Bradley (now under Hasbro)
Released in 1979
Via Bug Eyed Monster, Handheld Museum, Toys You Had, and Stone Foundation Entertainment
Wikipedia Entry

Ever had one of those toys that your parents got you and you thought to yourself, "What the hell is that? That's not Star Wars. It's not Star Trek. What kind of toy is this?"
After playing with it for ten minutes, you realize that it's one of the coolest toys ever.

I had one of these that was bought, sans box and most of its labeling, from a thrift store. Still worked, too!

I've discovered that there's way more to this toy than I ever thought. Wikipedia gives us this lengthy info, "The toy was constructed in three main pieces: the front inner hull which held the electronics and front lasers, the front outer hull (a thin plastic shell over the inner hull), the main body consisting of the center stalk like section and wings. A molded plastic engine piece fitted into the rear of the main body and was removable. The toy is only used in three configurations: the Star Bird which consists of all available pieces, the Star Bird Fighter which is mostly only the front hull attached to the bare engine piece, and the Star Bird Orbiter which is the main body without the front outer hull. When turned on the Star Bird mimics an engine sound. If the toy is pointed upwards the sound would be altered by a ball bearing switch to imply a doppler effect acceleration or taking-off, while a nose down orientation gives the sound of decelerating engines. A button at the rear of the cockpit activates the LEDs at the front of the toy, along with a blast noise, to simulate the firing of its lasers. The button was designed to be pressed by the thumb while the ship was held by the main body or engine piece (in "dragster" configuration). Two simple, detachable drone-like "Interceptors" are provided at the end of each wing. Star Bird also had a rotating laser turret which doubled as an escape-pod/orbiter-type ship."

 

Bug Eyed Monster tells us, "There are two main models of Starbird, the Electronic Starbird and the Star Bird Space Avenger which was also boxed as the StarBird Avenger. Depending on the model, there are diferent sticker sets. The lasers on the Avenger’s nose are set closer together, the canopy plastic is much darker. The Avenger was a second release of the Starbird and included updated electronics that could both send and receive infrared signals. The Avenger model comes with a "target" to shoot at to test your skill with the infrared lasers."

Finally, Toys You Had says, "[The Star Bird Space Intruder] came out in early 1980 and is of a totally different design (other than the front portion). Developed along with the Star Bird, the Star Bird Command Base was a huge cardboard and paper playset to dock your spaceship at.  It came with tiny plastic men and vehicles and had some neat prop pieces, but nothing terribly exciting."

Awesome toyline that I may get my hands on...one year.