Part 1: One-Off Sci Fi and Space Toys of the Late 70s and Early 80s (Star Bird, Big Trak, Rom)
In this episode of The Little Things, we take journey deep into uncharted space and take a look a the One-Off Science Fiction Toys inspired, with that distinct aesthetic, by the Star Wars phenomenon. By One-Off, we are talking about toys that were created to take advantage of this fad, but are not directly associated with a larger or more complex toy lines, television shows, or films. This is Part One of a multiple episode arc that will take a look at the most popular, widespread and interesting of these Sci Fi toys from this time period. So sit down, strap in, and don't get cocky, because this ain't like dusting crops back at home.
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As a kid I had a silver Cylon. I cracked open his helmet to see his face. Fun fact: the helmet was hollow. I learned a good lesson that day. Thanks for the great memories!
As you stared into that hollow void underneath the Cylon's helmet, you came to understand that the pursuit of materials things, such as Battlestar Galactica toys, was fruitless and just as hollow. Where you expected to find a face looking back at you, there was nothing. Or so a suspect that the moment went. Maybe not, but I am sure that I am pretty close. Well anyway, thank you fellow toy philosopher for watching!
Ohhh nooo!! 😂"Adult mama me" feels so bad for "devastated kid you". 😂 I am laughing though and I'm sorry!
@@thelittlethings3309I offer you a >snort sound
Either would work.
Either would work.
I had the ‘Starbird’ and the cardboard command base one Christmas - which was basically the best Christmas present I ever got - before or since! Thanks Mum and Dad, you gave me a wonderful childhood - rest in peace, I miss you both so much that it hurts daily
Sounds like a great Christmas to me. This stuff brings back great memories for a lot of us. Often memories of more than just the toys themselves. Thanks for your comment.
I also used to have the Starbird! That thing was awesome.
One of the best Space Ship toys ever made.
I had the Starbird intruder. I could never remember what it was called to look it up until now.
I bought one a few years back on ebay. I want to repaint it in a WW2 bomber look - silver and red. It's mostly finished painting but I haven't put it back together.
Hi Everyone. I had to take down the original video due to an inaccuracy in the information. Here it is, back up and ready to go. Sorry for any inconvenience.
I actually had a star rider ...lol
I was nine in 1977, so, yeah, I remember all of these, and had many of them. I had the Starbird, several rascal robots, the erasers, and the little plastic galaxy laser team guys. They were everywhere! Good stuff. Love the video
Great time to be a kid! Thanks for watching.
I was 9 as well, how awesome was it to grow up in the 70s & 80s? The Starbird was amazing, nothing else like it.
Battlestar Galactica didn't just take design queues from Star Wars. The original designs and effects were from John Dykstra and a team of prior Star Wars FX people. The concept art was from Ralph McQuarrie. (Also some gorgeous Frank Frazetta art work) Lawsuits were involved as Lucas seemed to feel they were dancing a little too close and using actual Star Wars preproduction design work.
No wonder they all had the same aesthetic. It was basically all the same guys. Small world when it came to Sci Fi film design and effects at that time, huh? Well, it lead to some of the best and most iconic Sci Fi ships, vehicles, bases, etc, ever produced. It seems that the truth is that they were dancing pretty close to the Star Wars design work, but that was certainly a mix of their own amazing style(s) and what was in demand. The look is absolute magic. Thanks again for the info and the comment.
@@thelittlethings3309 Remember Lucas didn’t make any money from Star Wars theatrical release. He had traded all his profits away to finish the movie. All he kept were the merchandising rights. Which had a little lag before they skyrocketed. So there was some delay going from Star Wars to what we now know today as ILM. In the meantime the effects guys had just made the worlds most amazing movie, and needed work. I think BSG did lead to a long feud between Lucas and Dykstra.
I can see where it probably did lead to a feud. Nonetheless, we got some great Sci Fi shows and memories out of it. Star Wars was certainly my favorite, but as a very young child, Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers seemed nearly as good and still bring back tons of great memories. The guys that worked on these films and shows were the greatest. Thanks again for the comment.
Dykstra used the Oscar statuette he won for Star Wars to create the starburst effects in the intro to BSG. He borrowed a laser from a university and placed the Oscar in front. The gold created interesting flare bursts. His Oscar has a melted spot on it. He also said the effects he created for the silver screen wouldn't work on tv screens so he had to start from scratch. The original BSG series special effects were made to play on cathode ray tube tvs.
@@skylx0812 The problem is it was very difficult to give the illusion of front to back motion on the tv screens of the day. So part of the challenge with BSG and later Buck Rogers was to shape the ships to be both visually distinctive from each other. To each have a unique profile. And through linited motion impart the illusion of grand sweeping movements and speed. The way the Cylon Raiders will roll and spin into an attack for example. It's a flat movement okay for tv, but tricks you into thinking its more. Originally the Buck Rogers Starfighter/Thunderfighter was designed as the Colonial Viper. But its profile and movement was to close to and indistinguishable from the Cylon Raider. So they made the Viper the more triangular shape. They reversed this in Buck Rogers 2 years later. The hero ship was the flat 2 engined ship and the enemy had the BSG Vipers profile.
That Milton Bradley Star Bird toy spaceship I got for my birthday one year was the absolute bomb! I still haven’t really seen anything comparable. It was modular and had so many variations and stand-alone components - we played out huge sci-fi story lines with that toy and the Intruder ship. When my mom came home with the Command Center base that Christmas, we were convinced we would never need another toy again! 😂💯
That Command Center Base looks great, and seems like it was perfect for cross-play with a dozen other toy lines. I would have loved it. Really was a great supplement to that small toy line. Thanks for watching!
Nice RUSH reference at the beginning of the video. I also noticed the video is 21:12 in length. Coincidence? I had several wind-up Rascal Robots/Pocket Bots in various color schemes, and also some Space Raiders erasers. Looking forward to a future episode on the Micronauts. Thanks.
There are no coincidences. It's all part of the great plan. Just not my great plan, unfortunately. Man, those Rascal Robots were everywhere! I think I saw them in every house I visited for years. Thanks for watching and the comment.
@@thelittlethings3309 Thank YOU for this video series. It was nice ti take a tip back to my childhood in the early 80s. At least We have our memories... Now, pardon me as I take a trip around Cygnus X-1...
I was born in 74. I remember a lot of these toys!
Good time to be born! I hope it brought back a lot of good memories. Thanks for watching.
I was born on Jan. 7, 1974. These toys I had and played with constantly. I grew up on the cartoons shown in this video. Thank you for the the memories.
Thank you for watching! I am glad it brought back some good memories.
@@thelittlethings3309 You are welcome.
✌😁👍
For real... My Gatchaman was "G-Force", and though I would be clicked 'Like' anyway, I will *always* leave a Like at a Thundarr reference (have that DVD set shown in the slide)!
Those Rascal Robots remind me of adorable versions of the one in Lost in Space.
They did seem to mix the older 1960s Sci Fi aesthetic with the emerging Star Wars aesthetic of the late 1970s. They were a great bridge toy in terms of looks, but they were perfectly sized for play with Kenner Star Wars. Little robot envoys from the previous Sci Fi world! Thanks for watching!
@@thelittlethings3309 They were originally modeled after Robbie The Robot from Forbidden Planet/Lost In Space. I think I got my first one before Star Wars came out, and I think it was vending machine fodder. Gum balls or weird toys, all for a quarter. I do remember digging it out of my toy box when I didn't get an R2D2 at Xmas. Somehow, I ended up with two Chewbaccas, but no R2D2 until my birthday, so this guy was playing stand-in. Fun story, I used my Star Trek playset as a Death Star playset. If you used the transporter with the 3" figures, they would move around inside and get stuck in the transporter. That was how I ended up with a headless Darth Vader. Also, cool thing about the Firebird, the back fins were actually detachable, and were supposed to be fighters. I bought two of them off a friend for like $3 because he wasn't a sci-fi person. The front section also could slide out of the main body, and you could put the huge jet engine from the back on the rear section of that front bridge, and it was its own ship. That thing just screamed versatility. Last thing, those eraser guys? I had the pink brain guy, and the first time my mom saw it, she thought it was a penis toy. "Where did you get that!? Oh, it's a robot."
This was so awesome! Being 51 now, I had pretty much about 80% of all the toys you showcased here. Starbird was definitely a favorite! Thanks for bringing us back in time...loved it!
Thanks for watching! Check out the other videos in the series if you get the chance. They may bring back some good memories too.
The rom comic book was awesome, he was always trying to put his soul back into a human body clone of his former self, and eventually would witness these clones die a few times throughout the series, in a sense relivong his own death over and over. It was different and intriguing.
The Rom comic has a surprising amount of fans to this day. It seems like more than the toy itself. It really found a bigger audience through the comic line. Thanks for the comment!
This kinda made me teary eyed. I was that kid who so wanted all the Star wars stuff and my mom and grandma struggled hard to give me something for Christmas. I got the Fischer price space shuttle, and the moon trak, and a few other things. Construx. Lego space edition with the blinky lights. Atomic Mike with smoking mouth and the go bot gun with caps. Family all over got me in on my fill of space stuff. Man, what a time to be a kid
I am glad it brought back some great memories. It really isn't about the toys (or just about the toys themselves), but all the things that was going on at the time. These things were the background music to our lives back in the day. Many of us didn't know it at the time, but our parents were doing so much to keep us blissfully unaware and time to just act like kids. Thanks for watching.
I had the Big Trak when I was a kid. I got it for Christmas in '79 thanks to my awesome grandparents. Cheers.
That's the kind of grandparents we all wanted! Quality gift givers. I hope this brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching!
@@thelittlethings3309 If it weren't for my grandparents, I wouldn't have had any Christmas gifts. They were saints. Cheers.
I got it for Christmas too. Not sure which year, but probably a few years after that (I was born in 1973). Later on I got the trailer for a birthday. I don't really know how much Big Trak was at the time, but I'm guessing it must have been expensive.
@@Bungle2010 They probably were. Christmas of '77-'79 they also paid for my mom to get me the TCR slotless race car sets. My maternal grandparents bought presents gifts for all 3 of us grandkids. Without them, Christmas wouldn't have been very great. My old man was the devil and Scrooge's love child. He never got us anything.
@@TheMichaelBeck I only knew my maternal grandmother. I don't remember getting much in the way of toys from her, mainly money iirc. She did buy me a space hopper (not for Christmas) and a Rimini t-shirt from one of her holidays though. It pretty much all came from my parents (under the guise of "Father Christmas"). I used to get a ton of presents - not all expensive toys like that, but a lot of books (comic annuals, astronomy books, and stuff like that), as well as cheaper toys. I was actually quite lucky, and probably didn't appreciate it enough at the time. They also used to fly me off on family holidays abroad every year. We weren't a rich family (we lived in a council house in inner SE London) so I've no idea how they afforded it all. I also had an aunt who used to buy me electronic games. I remember waking up early in the morning and opening practically everything, because I was eager to see what "Father Christmas" had brought me. The books would be at the end of my bed, and the rest under the Tree in the living room. Now I think it would have been nice if I'd waited until my parents were up so they could see me opening them, but it didn't occur to me at the time. I guess that's why my Mum used to keep a present or two back, and give it to me later in the day.......
Referring to Big Trak, the 70s was a decade fascinated by six wheeled vehicles. G.I. Joe had one, the Banana Splits had one, Space 1999 had one, and the list goes on and on! There are two many six-wheeled toy vehicles to name them all.
You're right. The Amphicat, the Tyrell P34, the Panther. The list goes on. I don't know if it screamed "futuristic" or "rugged" or both, but that look was certainly popular. George Lucas would revisit this type of look with an eight wheeled vehicle called the Juggernaut in Revenge of the Sith. I wondered if the vehicle was harkening back to that late 70s and early 80s look, or just trying to move some more toys (or, again, both). It had a Big Trak kind of look. Thanks for the comment.
@@thelittlethings3309 Plus shows like ARKII and Damnation Alley helped propel the genre.
And that Fisher Price Adventure People vehicle that had six wheels. I am sure that one saw a lot of play with G.I. Joe and Star Wars toys. The ARKII vehicle was particularly cool looking.
Lego released one in 1981 in the form of space set 6927 All-Terrain Vehicle. It even captured the aesthetic of sci-fi vehicles of the time.
14:46 Omg...so that's what an F-16 X-Wing looks like. Early 80s were such a mash up of classic and modern sci-fi...love it!
Definitely. Like that Fisher Price Alpha Probe Shuttle. The positive and hopeful future seemed so close in the early 80s. It felt like it was happening all around us in many ways. Thanks for watching.
A friend of mine had Big Trak. It was so cool!!
It really was. Definitely a product of its time, though. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching!
Big Trak rocked. Until that is the day we had a ' bring your favourite toy to school ' day and some kid in my class started pushing it around the floor as fast as he could. That was that fucked. I bought another knock off version a few years ago and still have that, but it hardly half the power of the original, it can hardly move itself across carpet. They just don't make things like they used to.
The Space Raiders eraser figures & vehicles were available at McDonald's, but were not in Happy Meals. The McDonald's Happy Meal had not yet been launched at that time. Instead, through a cross promotion with Captain Kangaroo, the toys were available free of charge, no purchase necessary. All a child had to do to get one was to go to the front counter and politely ask for one. One of the highlights of my week while the promotion as going on was when my Mom would take my little brother and I to McDonald's to get that week's free toy.
WHAT? I have never heard of that. That is wild! It is hard to conceptualize of a time when the Happy Meal did not exist. The things you take for granted. And free toys in conjunction with ol' Cap'n Roo. Captain James Tiberius Kangaroo really earned that promotion to Admiral, but he was never comfortable out of the Captain's chair. Thanks for the info! Great stuff!
These all hit that sweet spot, 3rd grade in '78, after school cartoons (Battle of the Planets!) & commercials, endless wishes for awesome toys... The 70s had this almost Flash Gordon vibe to it, being 'tech', but such a clunkier version of what we have now... It's own Golden Age, of a sort... Although I wonder if out there is an alternate universe where Mego picked up the license for Star Wars & gave the figures the Micronauts treatment, instead of Kenner's Adventure People 5POA 😅
A Mego Star Wars would have resulted in a very different world. It's hard to say if their take on it would have been better, but it certainly would have been nice to see more articulation in those figures. Kenner was really innovative though, and I think it really delivered a quality, and fun, product in the end. So many great memories. Thanks for watching.
❤😂🎉😢😮😅❤😂🎉😢😮😅❤😂🎉😢😮😅@@thelittlethings3309
StarBird & Big Trek! Wow!! I held onto these for years, into my 20's, before they got away from me!😢 My trains ,rockets, and Star Wars action figures!🤷🏾♂️ Who thought they would be worth thousands today?.....and my Evil Knievel "wheelie popping" stunt cycle!
Evel Knievel was everywhere back then! So many wounded children and busted up BMX bikes. Oh, the humanity! A Saturday afternoon, a couple of cinder blocks, a wood board, and some talk of Evel Knievel would inevitably lead to a scene harkening back to the wounded across a Civil War battlefield. I swore I heard, somewhere in the distance, a trumpet gently playing Taps. Thanks for watching!
There was an Australian variant of the Star Bird! It had the Japanese design but had silver colour not white and red. I still have mine packed away. A truly magnificent toy! Why the pitch sound feature isn’t a common part of toys ever since is a question I’ve always had. Its such a great and fun element.
Is that the one with plastic missiles? If so, i have the original and that one.
I didn't know there was an Australian variant. The Japanese version looks really great. I don't know if I like it better, but it still looks really good. The Australian version sounds even better! Thank you for mentioning this!
@@speedhump231 yep, plastic missiles.
i remember fisher-price space toys and i used to play with them with my star wars toys growing up on base just before i got really hook up on the 3.75 gi joe... man i miss my younger years wish that we can go back in time and relive those great years again...
I agree. I like looking at the old toy offerings because they bring back so many great memories. I hope this video did that for you. Thanks for watching!
Man...thank you so much for this video. I had so many of these toys as a kid and wanted many of the ones I never managed to get! That Buck Rogers line is a real holy grail, especially the star fighter. There really was an overall esthetic going on at the time that was obviously inspired by Star Wars, but as you said, seemed more about making toys that would supplement them rather than rip them off.
You bet! All of those toys played so well together. When I was a kid, I had Luke and Han in all kinds of different vehicles and playsets. If it was spacey, it was pretty much all good. And I loved the look of the Buck Rogers Star Fighter. It always looked a lot like the Star Wars Snow Speeder to me, which was one of my favorites. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment!
Ohhh yes 😅
My daycare had the shuttle. If my memory doesn't fail me, the cockpit slid bad so you could seat your pilot and the little pod could be fit in the cargo section if you wanted. It was used in all our action figure play sessions
That's correct. There was also a rail on the top of the ship (when the bay doors were closed) that the pod could be slid onto to the attach the pod to the top of the toy (as seen in the pictures). It did a lot of things! It was one of my favorite sci fi toys and I used it with a lot of different toy lines. Great toy!
i always thought the rascal robots were meant to look like the robot from Lost in Space. At least as a kid back then that's what it appeared to me.
Yeah, I definitely can see that. Like that Zeroids/STAR Team robot. It still fit in well with the Star Wars toys, though. Thanks for the comment!
It's a mixture of that and Robbie The Robot, both of which were designed by the same guy.
This video brought back so many memories for this kid born in 1970. Thanks for the nostalgic trip down memory lane.
That's exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks for watching!
The Starbird was an awesome toy! I loved it!
Yes it was. Innovative and really before its time. One of the first laser tag type toys and it was produced years before those types were widely offered and available. Also, the pitch detection type features wouldn't be common until much later toys. Thanks for the comment!
@@thelittlethings3309 No problem! Thanks for the videos.
Great vid my dude! The "Star Bird" was also one of my favorites outside the Star Wars line! Still looks pretty killer even now!
Was a great looking ship. Looked a bit like a Y-Wing, but maybe better. I really liked it too. Thanks for watching!
I knew about the Star Bird, so thought I knew everything. I have just learned that I did not know everything. I am triumphantly sad. 😒
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing (about the Star Bird)." - Socrates (or what he probably was really thinking when he said that)
@@thelittlethings3309 😂😂😂😂😂
The memories of some of these toys were buried in mind and suddenly awakened by watching this video.
That's the greatest thing. It's really why I did these videos. I was surprised about all of the memories that seeing these things brought back to me and wanted to share it. I hope it brought back all kinds of great memories. Thanks for watching.
LEGO Space from 1978 is certainly also inspired by Star Wars, with its arrow-shaped gray spaceships that resemble the Star Destroyers.
I certainly can see that. Gots ta get some of that sweet Star Wars cheese. I don't blame them, and I have a lot of great memories of the toys due to it. Thanks for the comment!
Absolutely loved collecting the Lego Space sets! BTW they currently sell a throwback Lego Space set right now of one of the mid to large space ships that came out back then. Best $100 ever spent for that nostalgia!
@@darkspectre1 I also had the LEGO Galaxy Explorer and a few other small sets as a child around 1979. Last year, of course, I bought one of the new Galaxy Explorers (10497), no, two of them! A spaceship with an airlock! And the old white and red spacemen! Very carefully and imaginatively constructed, great fun to build!
The Starbird had a metal ball in a transparent plastic chamber inside. The chamber had small metal rods that the ball would touch. This is how it sensed its position as the ball would move slightly around. The band Tuxedomoon had a song called Love / No Hope that they recorded in 79. In about the middle section you can hear the sound of a Starbird, it's engine changing pitch and the lasers firing. I remember hearing the song long after I had mine and thought, " that's a Starbird!"
That's great! Thanks for the bit of knowledge!
I was lucky enough to have grown up during this magical time.
Great times and great toys! Thanks for watching.
What a magical time it was for sci fi toys. Star Wars, battlestar galactica, buck rogers….starbiird was pure heaven for hours and hours. That and the command base filled many hours Thank you for posting this. Love it!! I’m eyeing Starbirds on eBay but afraid I will lock myself away for hours in my home office, getting absolutely nothing accomplished
Ha! I know the feeling! I hope this brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching!
Wow, as soon as I saw the Starbird in the video, I almost got choked up. That was my favorite of the toys I had as a kid. I was 8 in '77, and had several of these toys. The ones I didn't have, many of my friends did. Excellent vid.
Starbird was one of the best! The design of the thing was just spot on for the times and it brings back so many great memories. Thanks for watching!
Oh hell. I had one of those Galaxy Laser Team spaceships back in the 80's and had no idea where it came from. I'm amazed they're still being sold today.
That was beautiful man. I thought I was the only one that loved toys at 60. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
Gotta say, that was a pretty cool review of my childhood Christmas list!
Glad you liked it. I hope it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching.
@@thelittlethings3309 the catalog pictures are killer. Funny how they all seemed so expensive back then. I still have the starship one that looks like the space shuttle.
Starbird was the coolest present I didn't know existed. I, of course wanted only the coolest, most popular branded stuff, not knockoffs. I had an Eagle, multiple Star Wars ships, Battlestar Galactica ships, i didnt need no knockoffs. Didn't matter, Starbird was the best thing ever.
Those knock-offs made for some of the best supplemental toys for those bigger, more popular brands. Whether it was Sci Fi toys or Sword and Sorcery types. I have heard several people say that and then find that the knock-offs were actually really pretty cool when they got older. Hey, better late than never. We can still enjoy the style, design and imagination as adults! Thanks for watching.
I bought several of the Sci-Fi toys of the 1980s, The 1st, and 2nd Generation Star Bird toys. And the 1st Generation Big Trak! I truly LOVED the Big Trak, I actually PLAYED with my Big Trak! Today, I occasionally go on ebay, desperately searching for a Big Trak, or TWO! (And the companion Big Trak 'Transport'!)😂😅❤❤❤
I hope you get that Big Trak back and deliver a ton of apples (like in the commercial) with the transport trailer addition. It was a great toy! Good luck!
Ive wanted a Big Trak & Transport since they came out but i couldn't remember what it was called, until your video. Thank you.
You're welcome! They were really neat toys with a great look. Thanks for watching!
One thing I learned from Star Wars toys was you can never have too many stormtroopers. Awesome video. Shogun warriors and micronauts were som of my favorites also.
I agree. I was always lacking in Storm Troopers. They should have sold them in 5 packs. I really liked Shogun Warriors and probably should have discussed them in some manner too, but they didn't directly connect. A topic for a future video. Check out the other two parts of the series if you get a chance. Thanks for watching!
I came to see space toys from the planet Nostalgia and was rewarded with a Rush quote from the planet Awesome. This video made my day.
Message from space was awesome
Holy 💩 😮. I've been searching for decades on info on that electronic space toy, Sir galaly talking robot 😊😊😊😊. We had super Vogel starbird & intruder, and I had a bigtrak 😢
Starbird was sweet!! It reminded me of the Space Ghost Phantom Cruiser.
You are right, it really does favor it! Especially the second version of the Phantom Cruiser. Great comment. Thanks!
Oh H*LL yeah! Good call!
The StarBird was one of my favorites too.
I had a Rascal Robot! When you wound him up he had sparks that went off in his glass dome.
I have never heard of one like that. I remember wind up monsters, such as Godzilla or the Creature from the Black Lagoon with sparks, but not the Rascal Robots. Sounds cool. I think I am going to look that one up. Thanks for the comment!
oh my goodness...nostalgia overload! thanks for making and posting!
I hope it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching.
Loved Starbird/ Avenger & ROM😁👍
Great toys with great memories attached. Thanks for watching.
I had several of these toys, including the Starrider, Bigtrak, and Starbird. Wow. What a blast from the past. I remember one time spinning so much in my Starrider that I had to roll off onto the floor and lay there for a few minutes, hoping I didn't throw up. I don't know what happened to it. 😢 I wish I still had some of the toys from my childhood. My little brother inherited the ones that survived and who knows where they are now. Thanks for the fun video!!
You had the Star Rider! Lucky. I hate you. Just kidding, but it must have been great. I really wanted one. Sounds like you fell into the old Sit and Spin toy trap. The old vomitron. Anyway, thanks for watching thanks for the comment!
I didn't expect to have owned so many of these.
But you did, and now you have all those great memories and stories. And the jealousy of others. I hope you kept some of them. I wish I had kept more. Thanks for watching!
I had a couple of those plastic ships seen right before the Space Raiders. I got them out of gumball machines at the local Safeway. There were also other ships not pictured here. One looked like the X-Wing but flattened out.
I had a bunch of them. I got them from several different places. I thought they were really fun "pocket" toys and their designs looked like video game box art (like the old Atari stuff) to me. Thanks for watching.
Fantastic video! Thank you so much for making it and sharing it.
Thank you for watching!
This is the Disneyland space mountain aesthetic
I think that is basically correct. Space Mountain was a little earlier and took some of that pre-Star Wars, Matt Mason and World's Fair Futurama aesthetic, but also, I believe, works as a bridge to the later EPCOT aesthetic, which seems to be VERY Star Wars (or maybe just McQuarrie and Dykstra) inspired. Space Mountain (and its aesthetic) probably influenced the Star Wars stuff, but also almost certainly influenced toys like the Adventure People Sci Fi stuff. I love that style and miss it. There was nothing like being a young kid and walking around Tommorrowland and the Original EPCOT Futureworld. It felt like you were walking around Bespin or Star Fleet Academy. Thanks for the comment.
The chief and foremost of the 70's toys will always be Matt Mason. But pretty OK documentary anyhow ❤😂
Thanks 😑. Look, I loves me some Matt Mason too. I got some from garage sales when I was little and used them in my Star Wars exploits. I didn't even learn about what they really were until way later. Now, I am fascinated with the Matt Mason toys and the whole aesthetic..in fact...I think I need a video dedicated to Commander Mason too! Thanks!
@@thelittlethings3309 you've got to find a video on pooptube ' Mel Birkrank the originator of the ' outer space men's. The godfather of the action figure. Fantastic dude. Biggest Disney collection in the world. A super genuine genius 😜😁
Thank you for the trip down memory lane!
I hope it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching!
Had many of these, long-forgotten. Thank you for wonderful trip back in time to a much happier time & place. Blessings, Peace and love to all!
You said it! Simpler times. I hope it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching.
Oh man, I forgot all about those Space Raiders erasers! I had several of those.
Great video. I'm glad I was child of this era and have many of these toys.
There were some great toys produced at this time that really sparked the imagination. Thanks for watching and I hope it brought back some great memories.
Thanks for this vid. This was so full of nostalgia. Really enjoyed it.
Glad it brought back some good memories. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for posting the video. These bring back a lot of good memories and put names to some of the ones I had.
I am glad it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching!
I too owned the Starbird Avenger. It was my absolute favorite toy as a kid. The sounds it made, depending on the pitch of the vehicle was amazing to me. I have thought often of that toy over the years, never being able to remember what it was called. Thank you for refreshing my memory. I got it for Christmas but the other toy I wanted but never got was the Big Tracks. I remember going to Sears and drooling over it. Being able to program the course it would drive, it was so captivating. I asked for it for Christmas like 2 years in a row but never got it. Still upset about that to this day.
A life without a Big Trak is only a half-life. You will never be whole. Just Kidding!! I think the Big Trak was a mixed bag anyway. Sure, it looked great and was a huge amount of fun to have and you could...uh...nevermind. At least you had a Starbird, and that was probably the superior toy anyway. You know, I used to do the same thing with that Dark Tower game back in the day and never got it. I think life owes me a Dark Tower game! I blame you for making me feel this way 😉. Thanks for watching!
Well done on that "Message From Space" connection. I've never heard of the movie, but had the blue one stuck in my arm from a wrist rocket. Kinda stuck. Left a mark. It hurt. MOM!!!
Major Matt Mason figurines and vehicles!
I like those too. I had some toys from that line that I got from Garage Sales, and I did not know about the toy line they came from until a lot later. I played with them with my other Sci Fi toys. They were a little earlier than the time period I was looking into for this series of vids, but I think I need to discuss Matt Mason in more detail later on. They have a great aesthetic that fits that 1960s Sci Fi aesthetic so perfectly (like the Futurama at the World's Fair). I love that stuff too. Thanks for watching.
What a video!!!! Thank you so much. I had a large version of the Laser Team jet, with a hinged cockpit. Wish I could find it again. So many great memories as a kid. NO CELL PHONE!!!!!
It is really difficult to find that large(r) Laser Team Ship with the hinged cockpit. I had one too. It looked like an F-16 that they just doubled the wings. It is really hard to find a lot of those knock-off and supplemental toys, that were on the cheaper end, today. Even just pictures. I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for making this, really took me back and cheered me up!
That's great! I hope it brought back some great memories. Check out the rest of the series if you get time. Thank you for watching.
The amount of space shows and toys of the early 80's was a treat. I had the Starbird toy. I remember freaking out when I first saw it and wanted it so badly. I always reminded me of Star Wars as it even had a bird logo which I thought was the rebel aliance logo.
The Adventure People Alpha Interceptor. Check out Part 3 of the series to see that one. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for the reply, I only just saw you did a part 3, whoopsie. So cool to see some of the old toys again.@@thelittlethings3309
Thanks for watching these!
the BIG TRAK i wanted so bad as a lil kid... but never got one... then Transformers came out and i was addicted to that for life
Yup. Transformers came in and changed everything. The entire Sci Fi toy landscape changed after that, but those early Sci Fi toys (like the Big Trak) will always be some of the best. I love that aesthetic. Thanks for watching!
Thanks so much for this trip down memory road!!! I had about half the toys you showed off here and it blew my mind when you showed the little happy meal erasers... had totally forgot about those until you showed them onscreen. I also had that playset and used it until it fell apart. Great video!
I hope it brought back some great memories. Check out the other videos in the series if you get a chance. Thanks for watching!
Great throwback! I loved how you had to "Program" the big track in order for it to move around. I thought it was really complicated when I was 7. I did notice that the music you played at the end of the video while showing Space Invaders was actually the Theme from Galaga. :)
Awesome retrospective, love it!!
Thanks. I hope it brought back some great memories.
One of my favorite toys as a kid was this cheap blue gray space fighter that could sit two star wars figures in the bulb shaped cockpit. it looks alot like the Star Bird but was just cheap plastic.
I have a memory of a cheap spaceship from my childhood like that too. It had a laser gun mounted to the top on a ball swivel. It was super cheap, but I loved it. I can't find a picture of that thing anywhere, or I definitely would have included it. I'll just keep looking, and maybe, if I find it, I will create an addendum video. Thanks for the comment and for watching!
Lovely video. I have all the Star Birds in my loft, still. Great memories.
I am glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching!
Ark 2, Jason of Star Command, Buck Rodgers, Battlestar Galactica, Quartermass, and those made for TV Sci-Fi movies helped with this toy craze.
Absolutely. I am going to cover some of those in a new video. Stay tuned! There are some there that I have never heard of, like Quartermass. I am going to go check that out right now. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment!
I had a Star Rider (I was born in 77 for reference). It was my favorite thing, I got years worth of play out of it up until I could no longer fit in it. This is the first time I've ever seen it referenced in a video. I also had the Viper from BSG and the fighter from Buck Rodgers. Surprisingly the only Star Wars figure I ever had was the droid that blew its motivator. My favorite toy of all time though pictured but not mentioned was the Fisher Price 368 ship. The center would swivel like a turret gun and would detach and it had this cool little plastic umbilical cord piece that would slot into a hole on the ship and on the back of the figure for a space walk. Those were the things played with most until Transformers arrived.
All that stuff but very little Star Wars!? My mind boggles. Nonetheless, you still had some great toys, though. I discuss the Fisher Price vehicle in a little more detail in Part 3 of this series. Check that out if you get the chance. Those Fisher Price Sci Fi toys were some of the best from that time. Thanks for watching.
@@thelittlethings3309 Yeah I don't know why either. I didn't actually watch Star Wars till my parents got a VCR and it was the first tape they got, and I don't know how old I was. Until then it was cartoons and reruns of Star Trek, Buck and BSG. I also loved The Black Hole and loved VINCENT. Then I got into He-Man and Transformers. When I was a little older I built the Star Wars MPC models, but never got into the toys.
Thanks 😊, this brought back a lot of memories. I interacted with many of these toys. It was a much simpler time first many of us and these toys coupled with an active imagination could bring hours of fun
I totally agree with that. Sometimes I still think about the adventures I dreamed up when I was young with these toys. Great times. Thanks for watching.
I had a bunch of these. Amazing video. Forgot about so many of these!
I hope it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching!
Great narration with background music. I dig it!
Thank you! Check out some of the other vids in the series if you get a chance. I just want to spread some of that nostalgia and bring back some great memories!
Had Starbird and Big Trak with the transport, loved them both.
Two great toys. I hope it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching!
Some of these things'd be good as scenery for warhammer 40k battles.
For the Imperium! I thought the same thing when I was looking at the Star Fortress. Maybe an Eldar or Necron ruin. Someone has had to have used it. Nice observation!
Actually, the "white plastic space ship revolution" started with Mattel's "Eagle 1" from the show Space:1999 in 1976.
True, but I believe it was Star Wars that really popularized it. But, you are right, and I should have mentioned Space 1999. I might need to create an addendum for this one eventually. Thanks for the comment.
Wow, I forgot all about those erasers at the end... Definitely cracked open a memory...
That's exactly what I was wanting to do. I hope it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching!
This was brilliant!!
Thanks! I hope it brought back some great memories. Check out the rest of the series if you get a chance.
This was great. Thank you
I hope it brought back some great memories. Thanks for watching!
I just discovered your channel and, good gravy, it’s great! Pretty much everything is right in my wheelhouse.
Well, come on in pardner! Kick back and enjoy! Thanks for watching.
I still have my Starbird and the box it came in. I love that toy.
Wow, you still have the box too! That is pretty rare. I loved the box art and it really enhances the toy. I kept mine in its box for years (not mint, just stored in the box) but eventually lost it during a move. Same with several other toys, including the Millennium Falcon, the AT ST and Jabba. I kept as many of the boxes as I could when I was a kid. Thanks for watching!
Great video, that brought a lot of good memories 😊
Thanks for watching! If you get a chance, check out the rest of the series.
I sure will
I got ROM for Christmas as a kid, never had anything like it before, it was amazing and played well with my Action Man Space Patrol! So gutted it got lost over time whilst in storage.
ROM was a pretty weird and unique toy, even by today's standards. Since it was basically a stand-alone, it often matriculated in when playing with other toy lines of the time. Still, it was a neat action figure with a lot of great gimmicks. Thanks for watching!
Rascal Robots were one of my faves. if they fell over they'd thrash their limbs about and then you could wind them up again
You are walking through a desert and you come across a Rascal Robot that has fallen over and it can't get up. It lays there baking and thrashing it's limbs helplessly. Why will you not help it, Alex. Are you a REPLICANT!?!?! Sorry, just a quick Blade Runner moment. They were great little toys, and all over the place back then. Thanks for the comment.
I still have my complete Fisher Price Shuttle. It's just really weird that out of the most of what I had it's probably one of the oldest items I personally own. I wish I had this white laser gun with clear plastic diamond tip tat I used as my blaster, it had a dial that made a bunch of sounds. Just a great sci-fi light and sound blaster.
I love those old Sci Fi blasters and laser gun toys. I need to do something with those. There were so many different ones offered during that time period and everyone owned at least one type. So many were created in that white plastic with blinky lights aesthetic of the time. Great memories!
Awesome video series! I was the perfect age during this time for ALL the SW related toys and shows. I think that people forget just how impactful SW was to the culture in the late 70's and early 80's. It was a glorious time for pre-teens. Sadly, SW now is just another IP lumped into the Disney feed-trough. Still, how many other brands are still kicking after almost 50 years!
Star Wars and all that went with it. I can't think about Star Wars without thinking about all the other Sci Fi toys and brands that came out around the same time. Toys like the Adventure People Sci Fi are closely linked in my mind. I hope Star Wars can find its heart again. It was always about the "fun". Thanks for the comment.
@@thelittlethings3309 Exactly. I think I meant the SW INSPIRED material. I loved Battlestar '78, Buck Rogers, etc... that whole era is just flooded with classics (i.e. Alien, CE3K, Superman), I love them all! It really shaped who I am today. We were also hugely into Atari at that time, as well as all the games in the arcades. Magical times.
Definitely. I remember even liking those Atari Force and Sword Quest comics that came with the games occasionally. And the arcades felt like a way to live out those movies and shows, even if they were technologically primitive by today's standards. At least they got us out around people 😄.
Talk about a trip down MEMORY LANE!!!!! I wonder what some of these would be worth in unopened mint condition original packaging? Great video.
Probably a lot. There are a lot of people who want to feel that great old toy in their hands again or just regain that feeling of owning it, all because of the memories associated with it and the time period they were playing with it. I think I am going to have to make do with pics though. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment!
I had a Big Trak, which I think was difficult for my parents (I mean Santa Claus) to afford... I was delighted, for about 45 minutes, before figuring out how limited it was, and it was loud enough that my folks didn't want it near them at all. Other than chasing my cat, (who just ran down the stairs) it was a great toy that I never warmed up to...
Oh Geez did this video bring back quite a few memories. I forgot about all those toys I had back then. My brother and I spent many hours playing with the Interplanetary Star Fortress. You got yourself a new subscriber!
Awesome! Welcome aboard! I gladly welcome anyone who had a Star Fortress Playset. You are are rare breed, my friend. Now why didn't you invite me over to play 😁? I always wanted one of those Star Fortresses. I didn't understand that they were cardboard from the pics in the catalog. I think that would have been frustrating, but I still would have loved it. Thanks for watching and for the comment!
@@thelittlethings3309 Yes, the carboard did not last long, so we used our Lego for replacements.
Brilliant! I remember using Legos to create robots and vehicles to play with my Star Wars figs. It was a great supplemental too. Good stuff!
I had the Star Bird original, a set of Star Patrol figures, a handful of those eraser figures, and that shuttle toy at 3:55 (dont recall what it was called) Great walk down memory lane. Id honestly forgotten about most of these, being only 5 yrs old by the time 1980 rolled around. Good stuff 🤜🤛
I think that was the Alpha Star from Fisher Price. I really want to talk about those guys too. I am glad it brought back some memories. Sometimes it is surprising how these little "back ground" toys can bring back some vivid memories. Thanks for the comment.
Alpha Probe. The Alpha Star was a wheeled vehicle. My mistake. We now return you to your regular scheduled programming. Thanks!
BigTrak had programmable logic.
That bad boy could deliver your dad apples...according to the TV commercials. A great toy!
From 11:24 on, the wind up robot on the blister card woke up some long dormant childhood memories, I could practically smell the grocery store toy isle I saw those in, I also had those space figures (complete with the 4 winged F-16) and a bunch of those plastic ships and erasers, I remember we had to a "student store" in second grade and you could buy those eraser space ships for 0.25 a piece, I'd have quiet little space battles holding them just under my desk while the teacher was talking sometimes.
That's great stuff! Thanks for the comment. That is exactly why I wanted to create these videos. I wanted to share that feeling I got when I looked at many of these toys and trinkets, and suddenly old, long forgotten memories from some deep recess of my mind came flooding back to me. I am glad it worked for you. Thanks for watching!
I came across this vid... I was like I remember these ... I am now a subscriber to your vids... great video.
Thanks for subscribing! I hope you like some of the other videos too.
No mention of the Micronauts?? i remember playing with lots of these, and i can confirm that the Rascal Robots worked spectacularly with the Star Wars figures at the time.
I had the Fisher Price Alpha Probe (top right in that collage). Great toy, got it Xmas ‘81. Played with it for a month, then abandoned it. It later became a shuttle in my extended Star Wars toy universe.
It got heavy play with my Star Wars figures too. An bounty hunter ship or just another space ship for Han, Luke and Leia when the Falcon got to cumbersome to swing around the back yard. Thanks for watching.