As a avid sci-fi fan at the age of 13, I was always looking for anything space-related on TV. One evening, scanning TV channels, I stumbled upon this white NASA-looking ship flying over the lunar surface. I thought it was the coolest ship I had ever seen. Instantly, it had my full attention and I sat back and watched the show.

Seeing the Eagle in what turned out to be the Space: 1999 Brake Away episode was love at first sight and became a lifelong obsession for the show and the tech – and especially for the Eagle. I couldn’t wait to see all the Eagle scenes. It was so different from anything I had seen before but also seemed so real, like this could happen.

I had a Mattel Eagle I got as a birthday gift (after much pestering) in 1976, and after a number of years, I loaned it to a nephew (big mistake) and was told it got broken and thrown away after I tried to get it back a number of years later. I still regret letting it out of my possession to this day.

I couldn’t find a picture of me and my Eagle from 1976 but took this current one.  My love of the show (and especially the Eagle) has never faded since that evening in 1976, and with all the fan groups and new merchandise and current interest, I feel like that 13-year-old boy seeing the Eagle fly over the lunar surface all over again!