Space Toys

Space Toys

We all know that when you think of space toys, Star Wars is what springs into mind. For good reason too, after 1977, Star Wars and Kenner changed the landscape of toys forever and space toys were cool. While it is always fun to look at vintage Star Wars toys there were some other fantastic space toys that were released around the same time, before and after we were all taken to a galaxy far, far away. While the number of space toys that have been released over the years is vast, here are a few that are pretty cool.

Robbie the Robot There was a huge craze of making toys out of tin. There were some very popular space and sci-fi toys that were made out of tin. One of the most notable being the robot who was based on the iconic Robbie the Robot. This is a huge holy grail piece for many retro collectors, but finding one that is authentic can be hard and also very pricy.

The Schylling Atomic Ray Gun Space guns were also very big back in the day. When the craze of space toys came about in the 60s. Toy manufacturers could get away with making all kinds of crazy gun designs and as long as they made them different colors, called them zappers, ray guns or something like that, kids ate them up. The Schylling Atomic Ray Gun is a perfect example of space guns that were popular back in the day.

BigTrak Released right at the end of the 70s the BigTrak was a toy that every kid wanted. It was sold as some kind of moon rover that could go and explore the furthest reaches of space. The BigTrak was not only a really fun programmable toy. It also inspired kids to imagine what it would be like to go and explore distant planets. When you talk about retro toys and you mention BigTrak, you better believe you will see some big smiles on people’s faces.

Star Bird One set of space toys that does not get enough love is the Star Bird range. These were awesome looking spaceships that not only have that retro sci-fi appeal. These were a ton of fun for kids to play with back in the 70s. The Star Bird was joined by such pieces as the Star Bird Space Avenger and the Star Bird Command Base. This is a really cool set of toys and one of the vintage space toys that does not get enough love.

StarCom: The US Space Force Now here is a real blast from the past, StarCom: The US Space Force. This is a line from the 80s which came out after the Star Wars craze had died down. It was supported by a fun TV show and it also has a fantastic and rather deep line of toys. These are smaller 2 inch action figures that have magnet technology inside of them. These allow the characters to stick to their shuttles, bases and so on. This make play a lot of fun and it makes these some awesome vintage toys. Despite not being what you would call a massive success this line has a lot of characters, vehicles, and playsets for you to collect.

These are just a small sample of some of the cooler and more interesting space toys that have come out over the year. One of the coolest thing about vintage space toys is that the space theme allowed toy makers to get really creative with what they made. There are some fantastic space toys out there and if you are a collector look beyond the obvious things like Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and so on and you will be amazed at the cool stuff you can fin.