Doing a little digging on these forums, I found a thread from 2007 about Star bicycles:
Star Brand Bike Question
Originally Posted by
2wheelbuzz
Yes, the Star brand was sold by a Minneapolis distributor in the 70's, I think he still owns the Alternative "Alt" Bike and Board shop in Minneapolis. They were actually manufactured by Miyata and pretty much identical to the Miyata line at the time. I purchased a Star P2 from Rydjor Bike in Austin, MN in about 1973. It was pretty nice, second only to th P1, it had a double butted cr-mo frame and had Shimano Crane derailers which became Dura Ace. There was also a P3, not quite as nice. Cheesy decals as I recall but mine was a kind of pearl white. I rode it a lot, did my first cenury ride on it.
If what he's saying is correct, it could be a decent bike despite the lack of name recognition. Like rando_couche pointed out, the forged dropouts and cotterless cranks are a sign that the bike's not bottom of the barrel. Are there any decals that might indicate what kind of tubing the frame is made of? A serial number might help confirm or disprove the possible Miyata pedigree.