1979 Patent for Milton Bradley’s Starbird Electronic Toy
Milton Bradley’s electronic Starbird spaceship toy of the seventies (posts at battlegrip.com) continues to entertain us, almost four decades after release, as this patent for the toy gives us a behind-the-scenes peek at what makes the Starbird work.
Now I am the first to admit that the technical information in this patent is way beyond me, but that doesn’t prevent me from enjoying the artwork and the simple act of discovering the patent in the first place. And it turns out that I need to find a copy of Richard Levy’s Secrets of Selling Inventions since it sounds like the Starbird makes an appearance in the book. Okay, eBay search saved. Now to wait . . .
Related articles
- 1953 Milton-Bradley Ad from Life Magazine (battlegrip.com)
- Dark Tower Judgment in 1984 (battlegrip.com)
- 1979 Big Trak Newspaper Advertisement (battlegrip.com)
As a kid, I took my StarBird Intruder apart once and the trick behind the gimmick is surprisingly simple. There’s a metal ball bearing that when the toy is tilted rolls forward or back and accordingly completes an electrical circuit to make either the “accelerating” or “decelerating” noise. No fancy motion detection needed!