Milton Bradley Star Bird Original Prototype (Milton Bradley, 1978)....

Description

Milton Bradley Star Bird Original Prototype (Milton Bradley, 1978). In the late 1970s, Milton Bradley leapt from the analog age into the cosmos of electronic imagination. At the helm of that transformation was Star Bird - the company's most ambitious fusion of microchip and make-believe, a toy that brought flight, sound, and light together in ways children had never seen. Designed under the creative vision of Bing McCoy (whose portfolio included Electronic Battleship and ROM the Spaceknight), Star Bird embodied Milton Bradley's belief that play could be cinematic, interactive, and deeply immersive. When the ship roared to life, its Doppler-shifting hum and pulsing laser flashes captured the same spacefaring wonder that dominated theaters and toy aisles in 1978. Offered here is the original hand-built Star Bird prototype, a remarkable artifact from the dawn of electronic play. Constructed from foam and plastic and hand-painted in metallic silver, this early engineering model predates the final production version in key ways, other than just these paint and material differences. Most notably, it has a solid front assembly that lacks the battery door later added for consumer convenience. Power installation required the ship to be partially disassembled, a design limitation soon corrected before the toy's retail debut. The prototype remains functional as last tested, though no guarantee of continued operation can be made. Visible surface cracks, adhesive aging, and several repaired fractures testify to its working life within Milton Bradley's development process. Every contour of this ship-its nose cone, turret, and body seams-bears the tactile marks of preproduction craftsmanship rather than mass production.
Provenance is impeccable. This prototype originates from the personal collection of Elmore C. Knutson, Southwest Manager for Milton Bradley's Game Division. Included with the piece are Knutson's original business card and three glossy 8x10 promotional photographs from his Milton Bradley tenure, lending vital firsthand context to its history. Together they offer a rare window into the corporate and creative culture that launched MB Electronics' defining era. This is more than a prototype; it's the launch pad of an idea that redefined what a toy could be. To hold it is to witness Milton Bradley's imagination in its rawest form-vision made tangible before it took flight. Artifacts of this importance seldom emerge from private hands, and fewer still retain this level of provenance and originality. For anyone who remembers the glow, the hum, and the future promised by that white-and-red starship, this is the origin point of that memory. This prototype originates from the personal collection of Elmore C. Knutson, Southwest Manager for Milton Bradley’s Game Division.

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