Sega Toys Homestar Flux (Satin Black) Home Planetarium Star Projector

I’ve researched planetarium projectors for a while and finally splurged and bought a Homestar Flux for myself. I was so excited when I finally received it yesterday, I immediately opened it and tested it out in my dark bathroom. I was impressed! The projector comes with an instruction booklet that explains everything perfectly. The Homestar Flux comes with a couple of different features; there’s a rotating option that allows the disc (that you place inside) to spin either clockwise or counterclockwise and a shooting star option (that’s pretty much static aside from the left to right movement of the star every 30 seconds). The projector also has a timer feature; you can set it to automatically turn off after 15, 30, or 60 minutes. If you do not set the timer, the device will power off after 3 hours. The Homestar Flux comes with a power cord and a wall adapter and does not use batteries.

The Homestar Flux comes with two discs — 1) the Northern Hemisphere stars and 2) constellations. It also comes with a poster of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere that you can hang up on your wall. SEGA claims that there are about 30 compatible discs for the Flux, though I have yet to see the full selection available here on Amazon (and yes, discs that the Homestar Original/Classic use are also compatible with the Flux). Sivesco/SEGA does have some on here to purchase. The pictures I included are of the following 3 discs (which were purchased separately and cost 25 dollars each):

Nebulae:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GTR7QMB/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_4FEhFbZ9F4JCK

Disappearing Continent:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GTR96LM/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_pEEhFbXA4CG9Z

Immersive Paranal World:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GTS5ZF5/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_IEEhFbMN7DMSR

***NOTE: The pictures I took were inside my bedroom that has 8-10 feet vaulted ceilings. The projection pretty much covered the entire ceiling of my 11 by 14 feet room! I was impressed!

You may be wondering why I docked a star off. I did so for a couple of reasons:

1) The price. I was not a fan of having to shell out more than 200 dollars to purchase this but I suppose that’s what you get if you’re looking for something of quality. I wish the separate discs didn’t cost 25 dollars either but oh well.
2) The colors. When looking at the pictures I took of the nebulae for example, you might notice the colors appear to be a little dull. I wish they were more vibrant (and brighter too).

Now I don’t normally write reviews but I felt compelled to write one for this awesome little device. The Homestar Flux is a worthwhile purchase for any astronomy lover or anyone who wants to add some ambiance to their room. If you have money to spend, I’ve read that Miller Engineering’s Dark Sky Planterium is a worthy competitor. You can find it here for $561: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0862HZ9Z5/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_MEEhFbN3YG698.

You might also be comparing this to BlissLights Sky Lite (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L8R5PK6/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_0QEhFbCJ2J4GS). Don’t. If you want something that’s realistic-looking, the Homestar Flux is THE choice to go with. If you want something that’s geared more toward kids, rooms with LED lights, or something that’s more budget-friendly, then the Sky Lite may be a better fit for you.

Being someone who is fascinated by the stars and grew up watching science fiction alot, I always wanted my own Planetarium and never dreamed one could be mine. I saw this and was heavily skeptical… I am pleasantly in awe of what i now own.

This is the BEST home planetarium on the market, the flux is compatable with all other sega Homestar discs. The design is straight out of Star Wars, it is sharp, and matte finish is nice touch. I watched videos comparing the quality of build and the bulbs brightness, the flux is the new gen homestar that outclasses itself. The competitions home planetariums are far inferrior spec wise and with the available products of backwards compatibility, it is only planatarium worth getting. Sega is such an underrated company and has won my heart (with this and their videogame system Genesis Classic that is completely hackable using Project Lunar to add more games, they are on a winning streak a mile wide)

Back to the review! The brightness still isnt anything that can show up on a white ceiling during even low lighting, but if you wait until dark it becomes as bright as real stars, if not more and blew my high expectations away.

There was alotta fear when I bought in being afraid of negative reviews being right. Reviewers said: The discs were cheap, bad image quality, wont focus etc… This DOES focus on even low ceilings, I use on a textured ceiling and though you have ALOT of focal adjustment to dial it in, once you do, image is very crisp and the rotation is nice and slow giving realistic immersive experience. I believe other reviewers didnt take effort of properly experimenting with focal ring dial.

The shooting star is a joke, it looks nice but stays in same location so can spoil the mood so I dont turn it on. That is where my major hit of minus 1 star comes from, clearly false advertising including wording of “random” with it. This criticism is the only accurate thing I’ve found from negative reviewers.

I bought a bunch of discs seperately because system only comes with 2, people may expect the images to have some multi wheels within wheels of rotation and 3d effects, but it is a suspended single photo only, despite that it still manages to provide alot of depth and appears some stars are back further then others when rotating so it isnt disappointing.

The included disks though aren’t doing the hardware justice and they’re identical and black and white (one has stars in North America as seen from naked eye, other has astrology lines drawn over same field and is eyesore) and I highly recommend imvesting in these, as they’re so good and amazing in color, I hardly ever even use the others…

1. Jabbah and Associates. Its a colorful nebulae, oranges, greens and blues, looks like a picture from Guardians of the Galaxy in best way possible.
2. Disappearing Continent. A mostly blue and black beauty with translucent stark webbing throughout. Unlike the others this takes up whole field with hardly any regular starfield visable.
3. Immersive Paranal World. A striped celestial formation that is illuminated in a really pretty way. The normal starfield with this dividing it, it’s really appealing composition.

The box it comes in is flat out amazing, it’s great for storing it and looks so presentable I keep my homestar atop it when not in use.

The cord is plenty long, the adjustability is above and beyond, you can aim it anywhere, even wall mount it. I put mine in center of room and multi focus on wall and ceiling above my bed with little difficulty. The focusing dial feels a little loose but doesnt automatically fall out of focus in use and offers a extreme amount of zooming in and out to match your ceiling in focus.

Loading the discs is a bit intense, the drawer comes out loose, I recomend placing it down on clean surface, acting with intent in good lighting prior to being sleepy and carefully handling discs with these two considerations…

A. You dont want to scratch them, they’re hd images from NASA suspended in acrylic, i wish it was in glass so I could polish without fear, but for 25 dollars a pop, they make a great value for image quality alone, but they appear like the surface is fragile so handle with care (and put in text side down for best clarity)

B. Keep them dust free, because lemme tell you, you see a single damn speck of lint or dust, it shows up starkly as a blacked out spot and rotates with image. When you do clean them, I blow on them first to knock dust off then use a eyeglass cloth gently to do the job.

The sleep timers I dont even need but are nice, when i wake up its always automatically off already and has never turned off when I am awake to see.

Luckily they come with great cases reminescent of cassette tape cases design (technically more like the Jazz floppies, if you remember those i am impressed!). The included borders are just junk and interfere with coloring as well as they’re all light blue so I disrecomend using them, luckily you dont pay for them, so just consider them bonus cases for your real discs should you ever break one.

In summation, highly recomended this, I had hopes and expectations with such a pricey investment as a nerd who has Aspergers and needs a routine because I have allota trouble sleeping at night that this would incorporate well into my self soothing and it delivered. I now utilyze every night, I recomend a white noise machine, gentle fan, oil diffuser, gentle mood music (I use Star Trek 1st movie soundtrack on shuffle and low) and a weighted blanket (that is 10% bodyweight) to feel incredible and have amazingly achievable and pleasant sleep.

I am including pictures of every angle, and videos of each disc

This is amazing and worth the money. I’ve bought the Bliss, the Smithsonian and they all left us wanting. The customer service was AMAZING as there were a few feedback saying otherwise, but obviously there are people who don’t want to take responsibility for their own mistakes. My daughter and I love watching the night sky on her ceiling. It’s crystal clear and rotating and we love catching the random shooting star. This is exactly what I wanted. I just wish I hadn’t hesitated and bought it earlier and didn’t mess with “trying to save money with lesser models”. Beautiful! 10/10