G is for Gorgeous Grail Garnered in Great Gewgaw Gala

It's funny, but since I picked this up (at Sandwon), I've seen about ten on evilBay, all boxed, all with the handle-bars in their little bag, so it would seem someone has found a carton of ex-shop stock, and either broken it up at [hammer] auction, or divvied it out among a few dealer mates, and they are trying to off-load them at the same time . . . Well, either that, or it was once (mid-1970's?) as common as muck!

 

Box.

 

Our old friend Lik Be with their daft monster hugging an LB marque! 

 

And, it may well be that the latter scenario is the truer, as there is often one or two on evilBay, always silly money (I didn't pay anything near what the current ones are up for, mild water-damage to box), and I have vague memories of seeing them in newsagents when I was still quite young, and being raised to believe all Hong Kong production was poor, cheap, naff and 'no good', so I've always hankered after one, and it's nice to tick-off a proper grail item.

 

Somewhere between a 1960's racer (shades of motorcycle & sidecar combinations, in the fairing), and the Fireball XL5 Jetmobiles (other sit-astride future transports were available!), for now I'm leaving the handle-bars in situe, but at some point I may get them out for a better shot or two. There are colour-reversed versions out there . . . New grail?

 

Loosely related to their other space figures, but the suit on this 100mm-odd figure, is more motorcycle-leathers than anything USAF/NASA-issued, however the double air-tanks and pistol holster are similar to features on the other eight sculpts! Plug-in, moving arms provide help with dynamism, but odd moulding has resulted in hollow legs/feet.

 

And I nearly wrote 'simplified' moulding there, but looking at it; at the angles required to remove the product from the mould; and the 3-way-split join-lines, it may have been anything but simplified, and in fact quite a technically advanced 3-part tool, with 2-phase moving parts, in each moulding-cycle?

 

Vroom, vroom! Although, the artwork shows multiple rocket exhausts, so more of a xchkkkkkrrrrrrrrrrrrr! And is that a standard Honda seat, or a Kwaka!