Simply billed as "defense vehicle", the Star Defender was simply the most intricate and spectacular, not to mention fairly rare, Micronaut ship released. Put out in 1979 as large boxed item, with a much wider distribution by Grand Toys in Montreal for the Canadian market, Star Defender was based on the Microman Surveyor 3. Although it went through some major changes, the main body parts remained the same.

 
A 3-section lower rolling body was basically identical to the Star Searchers, containing a front section with 2 snap on wheels and the "hidden compartment", a middle connecting section which had 2 side seats, and a rear section that contained 4 snap on black wheels. The back platform had a small knob, which spun the turntable that contained 5 large holes. The first body section had a gray steering capsule with green canopy, and a 5mm plug to fit a gray nosecone into. On either side of the capsule could fit the 2 yellow extending arms, which were fitted with chrome grappling claws. A small black wheel with holder was included and could be placed under the first body section. The gray elevator tower with flip open green canopy was controlled by a small red knob on the back, which moved a small seat inside up and down. The tower fit onto the middle connecting section, and had 2 computer consoles that could be placed on either side of the lower towers body.
 
 
 
The rear section came 2 ways, in the limited US release (due to the demise of Mego near its release, and to save money on production) it contained 4 snap on wheels. In the larger Canadian release, the rear section was motorized and took 2 AA batteries.
  
The battery compartment was located underneath and had a neutral and forward switch. On the back of the rear body was a small red on-off switch. In the forward position, the rear wheels would spin and propel the vehicle along, and I believe the neutral position was meant to spin the turntable as shown in the commercial.
 
In the 5 holes on the turntable stood 2-chrome antenna, and 2 yellow crane attachments, which held the Solarion units. These Solarions were pretty much identical to the singular vehicle release save for the gray/white color scheme. The vehicles each came equipped with 1 red front sled leg, 2 red runners with red crosspiece, gray fin with 2 red wings and green canopy. Onto the sides of the tower fit 2 large spring loaded missile launchers, that were activated when the large yellow fin was pulled back. The missiles resembled the ones that came with the Battle Cruiser, except for the yellow shaft and the odd nipple shape on the end of the rubber ball. Lastly, the top of the tower held a Taurion unit, similar to the singular vehicle release, save for the gray/white color scheme. It came with a white seat that fit inside the cockpit, 2 gray wings and green canopy, and a black wheel with gray holder that fit underneath.
  
A truly impressive toy, this ship could hold 5 figures at once, and could be assembled many different ways. The Mego commercial marketed this as a great learning toy, to help shape creative minds. Star Defender came packaged with a sticker and instruction sheet. An identical version was also released by Mego in the Buck Rogers line as the Star Searcher. Unfortunately, Mego chose not to release the second ship in this Microman set, the Microman Surveyor 2.