For the 1981 animated series:
- Fanon: Blackstar being a Native American, due to his Ambiguously Brown skin and originally planned to be non-white.
- Serial Numbers Filed Off:
- Katana's ship may not have drawn a second look back when Blackstar first aired. But now, those same viewers may notice that her ship is almost identical to the Core Fighter from Mobile Suit Gundam. Albeit with a different paint job.
- And Sumaro
, the giant guardian of the City of the Ancients, is pretty much a crystal blue Raideen.
- Spiritual Successor: Filmation's previous series Flash Gordon was clearly an influence on Blackstar (a Fish out of Water Planetary Romance about an Earthman leading a rebellion against a tyrant), and Blackstar in turn was clearly an influence on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983) (a Walking Shirtless Scene hero with a magic sword on a planet where magic and technology co-exist).
- According to The Toys That Made Us, He-Man was basically a re-skinned Blackstar, because Mattel basically promised a cartoon based on He-Man to Toys R Us to get them to carry the toys — out of nowhere. Filmation used the Blackstar template directly for He-Man to quickly mock up two He-Man pilot specials on short notice.
