What Happened to Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper?

Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper was a die-cast toy spaceship released in 1978 by Mattel as part of the licensed merchandise for the hit science fiction television series *Battlestar Galactica*. The show, which premiered in September 1978, was ABC's answer to *Star Wars* and became an instant pop culture phenomenon, driving strong demand for related toys.

The Colonial Viper toy was a detailed replica of the starfighter spacecraft piloted by the show's heroes. Like many action toys of the era, it featured spring-loaded projectiles—small red plastic missiles that could be loaded into the ship and launched by pressing a button. This "firing action" was a popular feature in 1970s toys, from Star Wars vehicles to G.I. Joe weapons.

In December 1978, tragedy struck when a 4-year-old boy in California choked to death on one of the Viper's red plastic missiles. The child had put the small projectile in his mouth, and it became lodged in his throat, blocking his airway. Despite emergency efforts, the boy died from asphyxiation.

The incident sent shockwaves through the toy industry and regulatory agencies. Mattel immediately recalled the Colonial Viper and similar toys with small projectile parts. The death prompted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to take aggressive action on projectile toys, which had been a growing concern throughout the 1970s.

The tragedy led directly to landmark regulatory changes. The CPSC mandated that all toys with projectiles or small detachable parts must carry prominent warning labels about choking hazards for children under three years old. Manufacturers were also required to design projectiles with minimum size standards and use softer materials. The "WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD" labels that appear on virtually every toy package today trace their origin to this incident.

Mattel never relaunched the Colonial Viper toy with firing missiles. When Battlestar Galactica toys returned to market in later decades (including the 2004 series reboot), projectile features were either eliminated or redesigned with much larger, softer foam darts that couldn't fit in a child's mouth.

The Colonial Viper incident became a defining moment in toy safety history, cited in regulatory discussions for decades afterward. It demonstrated that even toys from reputable manufacturers based on popular entertainment franchises could pose lethal hazards if design features weren't carefully evaluated for child safety. The original 1978 Colonial Viper remains one of the most notorious recalled toys in American history, and surviving examples with intact missiles have become dark collectibles in toy history circles.