Collectible of the Week Update: Interplanetary Star Fortress (Sears; 1979)

Back
on November 30, 2011, I wrote here about one of my favorite StarWars knock-off toys, the fantastic “Interplanetary Star Fortress”
manufactured and sold exclusively by Sears, and made to fit Kenner Star
Wars figures, as well as Mego’s The Black Hole and Buck
Rogers figures of the 1970s.   The playset is a quasi-cylindrical
carrying-case that folds out to become an expansive asteroid surface and
landing pad.




My
own version of this disco-decade toy was missing several critical features,
including a shuttle pod and plastic gun turret that could stand atop the
cylinder.  My version was also missing
the carrying strap and the box.




Well,
via the wonders of E-Bay, I finally got my hands on a mint-in-box Sears Star
Fortress that features all the elements I had been missing.  I only had a few of the base installations
previously, but this version came with the “solar reactor building,” “headquarters,”
“personnel quarters,” “1 particle accelerator tank” and “1 hydrogen storage
tank.” 




Joel
and I actually got to fold the light cardboard "buildings" into shape, and connect
them together with tabs, which was fun.




This
knock-off is a much more interesting toy with the missing shuttle pod and
turret intact, as well as the previously missing base structures.  The shuttle pad actually has a door that
opens, and snaps shut, and is fully decorated inside with high-tech (for the
1970s) imagery and detail.




Yesterday,
Joel and I used the newly up-fitted Interplanetary Star Fortress to stage a
battle between Ben Tennyson and Ghost Freak (plus minions BenWolf and BenMummy). 
Not exactly the scenario I would have imagined at that age, but still a
hell of a lot of fun.