The Merchandise GuideGames
Compiled by Martin Willey
The Merchandise Guide
US No. 4609 1976
Board game for 2 to 4 players "ages 8 to 12".
You become a commander and launch your fleet of "eagles" into space. You guide your eagles through the ever changing space trying to land them on your target planet. Strategy and chance determine whether your fleet of eagles completes it mission first.
Board (32.5 x 45.5 cm) with a circular central section (24 cm diameter) which can be rotated. A painting of wispy space clouds and small planets provides the backdrop, with Year 1 photos from the series in each corner (of Koenig, Helena in spacesuit, Victor in lab, and astronauts in NDA 2). The circular section portrays the plan of a spiral galaxy, with a matrix of circles connected by lines. The "pawns" are coloured plastic stands (red, green, yellow and blue) with black and white cards depicting Eagles. A "dice" (sic) is numbered 1 to 3 in red and green.
The game is played with the coloured Eagles starting in each corner. They move their Eagles onto the central section, which at the end of each round is moved according to the direction and number of notches indicated by the die. The Eagles move between the circles until the winner has landed all his Eagles on the opposite corner.
Box (46 x 33 x 3.5 cm) features large red logo with the subtitle "A Game Adapted From The Television Series". Over this is a large photo of a rescue Eagle on the pad. Below are a series of photos (the 4 photos on the board plus a full view of NDA 2 with round building in foreground). A grey stripe down the left side features the MB logo, recommended ages and "Object: Be the first commander to land fleet on hostile planet".
The box and board photos are taken from ITC's Year 1 brochure.
A box from Martin Landau's estate was sold with the Marx Toys Bagatelle in September 2019 for $325.
Pictures below thanks to Gordon Moriguchi
In New Zealand, World Games of Auckland, New Zealand, produced a local version of the game. The branding reads "A Milton Bradley Game Manufactured by World Games Company Ltd.". They also produced a jigsaw puzzle.
UK £3.95, 1974
Board game for 3 to 5 players "suitable for older children & adults"
A circular board (48 cm diameter, fitted from 2 halves) portrays a central planet ringed by orbital barriers (asteroid barrier, magnetic field, radiation belt). One player is the 'Guardian of Meta', moving 4 spaceships (plastic cones) to prevent up to 4 'Space Squadron Commanders' moving their 4 Eagles from the periphery across the barriers (using appropriate punched out segments of card, "space weapons") to steal the energy core (4 black pegs) from the planet.
Box 50 x 28 x 3 cm; nice painting of astronauts and Eagle on lunar surface, logo.
"An absorbing game of space adventure"; "Plan and execute the greatest space adventure of all time".
The board game was also issued in Denmark. The cover art and logo were identical, but a red sticker covered the bottom right corner, with a version of the Danish title, Månebase Alpha 1999 (when shown on Denmark Radio in 1976, it was just Månebase Alpha). Instructions in Danish were printed on a separate sheet. Images thanks to Gordon Moriguchi.
Italy 1975
Box cover. Vivete anche voi le avventure di un pugno di uomini alla deriva nello spazio
; in English Experience the adventures of a handful of men adrift in space
Box contents- punch cards, Eagles and cards.
A board game, with an electronic pad, picture cards, punch cards and tiny plastic Eagle pieces. Obviously hideously complex, but the photos (mostly special effects photos from early Year 1 episodes) are impressive.
There are 24 planets around the main board. These are the planets from Year One episodes in production order. Only a few images are correct for the label; the Triton probe from Ring Around The Moon appears in four of the images (but not "Triton"), while Zenno from Missing Link is in three (not "Zenno").
The smaller game board
Moonbase Alpha has only four launch pads, as the game has only four players each with an Eagle.
The small Eagles, in red, green, blue and yellow.
The rules booklet.
Yuma aile oyunu (Yuma family games), Turkey, 1978-1979?
Subtitled "robotlar gezegeninden kacis" ("escape from the robots from the planet"), this Turkish board game has players moving from the "robotlar mezarligt" (robot cemetery) over paths across the board (the planet, with several traps such as "tutuklama merkez" - detention centre), to an Eagle and "Alfa Ussu" (base Alpha). Player pieces are cards with character artwork and red, blue, green or yellow backgrounds. The characters are Koenig and Helena, or Maya and Tony (wearing non-standard uniforms with pockets; Maya wears hot pants). There is a spinner instead of dice, and special cards for gameplay.
The box cover artwork features an Eagle, apparently based on the Mattel Eagle 1, complete with red engine bells. Another Eagle command module with engines (just like the Mattel Eagle) is beyond. Both Eagles are attacked by multi-armed robots.
Thanks to Gordon Moriguchi
The game is a repackage of Kenner's 1977 Star Wars board game "Escape from the Death Star". The robot cemetery was the Death Star trash compactor in the original. The player cards were Luke and Leia, and Han and Chewbacca. Space: 1999 arrived on Turkish television in October 1978; Star Wars didn't appear until 1979. Thanks to Craig Rohloff.
Copyright Martin Willey