The Explorer Stars are similar to Pokémon from the franchise of the same name. Both are caught by objects, are used for anything, and some of them usually repeat their names (like Baseball Star, Woo-Hoo Star, and Disco Star).
The trait of repeating their names is also used by the Teletubbies and the Tiddlytubbies from their namesake show and Yoshis from Super Mario.
Unlike Pokémon, which can be caught by throwing a Pokéball at them, Explorer Stars can be caught by hand.
They can also be stored in the Star Pocket, similar to how Pokémon can be stored in Pokéballs.
Just like with Swiper and the Fiesta Trio, in some episodes from Season 3, such as ¡Por Favor! and To the South Pole, they somehow get to wherever Dora and Boots are going.
In Dora's Big Birthday Adventure, the Explorer Stars did not go to Dora's birthday party itself. However, if they did appear in the party, it would most likely be every single explorer star that appeared throughout the series, including the ordinary colored stars.
They are most likely removed and are retired in Season 5 onwards because the star-catching could cause time constraints.
Being sentient stars, they are similar to the Starbuddies from the Care Bears franchise. The only difference is that they are capable of speech, while the Starbuddies only communicate through squeaks and chirps.
