UPDATE 10/01/19: Two emails to the Imex Models customer service contact about exchanging the set have gone unanswered. I will call the number offered on their site but after two weeks since delivery am not hopeful the request to exchange will be honored. Which I guess is a lesson on why it's preferable to purchase from a retail outlet held accountable by customer satisfaction than hope for the best from a corporate front. I will make further note on how productive the phone call goes.
So I wanted to see what the current modern day Space Bucket set is like in its entirety and after finding NO LONGER AVAILABLE notices on pretty much all retail outlets known to carry such things turned to Imex Models for their packaging of the set under their Billy V Toys label. And it's just as expected with a couple of fun-wrecking flaws, most important of which is the absence of a playmat surface that the young space adventurer would place his figures & vehicles. The set also had some secondary issues which I'm going to act on by requesting a return for exchange: Cracked rocket housings and missing thruster nozzle pieces make the Baby Jesus in me cry.
Your typical Space Bucket set components: 1 lunar lander, 1 lunar rover, 2 US flags, one multi-part space station, forty-nine gray cast astronaut figures ... And two space shuttles, which never went anywhere near the moon, were grounded and the program discontinued after two of them exploded, killing all of their occupants. They aren't fun, and if you ask me the shuttle is an enduring cultural symbol of failure, corruption and negligence. Which may be exactly why a Chinese based toy company insists on producing them en masse to be sold in airport newspaper kiosks or grocery stores.
WHERE WAS I ... Forty nine figures sounds one shy of fifty, and with a missing thruster nozzle for the LEM I'm inclined to think my set was boxed up towards the end of a rather long day at the plant.
Otherwise nice rocket of seeming Russian or Chinese design. I like these rockets and was stoked to score a couple more ...
... But this will not do. It's one thing to buy broken rockets off e-B4y from a vendor selling off a junk drawer lot, another to have them come new from the factory direct from their domestic distributor.
Neither will a missing directional thruster nozzle, without of which the spacecraft is in jeopardy of ending up in Gimbal Lock, tumbling out of control.
Nope. Set is currently boxed up and awaiting an RMA number from Imex-Models.com. Add the return postage cost to the price of the set + shipping/tax ($33) and we're rolling up towards $45; If charged for shipping the replacement, $50+. Am hoping that a sympathetic customer service associate opts to just send out another set: We'll see.
Left: Billy V's rover with gray astronauts.
Right: Unknown vintage rover with white astronauts.
In the meantime we can at last compare a current production copy of Hing Fat's enjoyable Lunar Roving Vehicle with a "vintage" example believed to be dated to the mid 80s. And please note that I fixed the vintage rig up with an older style antenna believed to be from a 1970s produced set. Other then that and my lame attempt at color correction of my cell cam pix the two vehicles appear to be the same with no evident casting changes.
Current.
"Vintage".
One difference: The chassis of the Billy V vehicle has a warp to it, making it impossible to have all four wheels touch a flat surface. Believe me, I tried, and that's about when I decided it was appropriate to ask for an exchange. See what comes out of the pipe next time as an evaluation of quality control.
We can also compare its spacemen to those I'd previously had including another "current production" figure from the nifty Daron Worldwide Trading 20 piece "Space Exploration Set" (identified by the lump of putty on his base to tell them apart). I chose the often overlooked Lunchbox Guy, arranged here left to right in their presumed reverse order of manufacture: Billy V; Daron Worldwide; unknown white casting presumed from 80s; unknown gray casting presumed from 70s; another unknown gray casting presumed from 70s with box chest unit. All the others have a round shape where the box unit should be. Their facial characteristics of the three vintage pieces on the right are also very different then the two modern figures on the left. And the white casting is smaller than all of the others.
L to R: Billy V, Daron Worldwide, unknown white, unknown gray, unknown gray. Notice how the angle of their leaning to the right varies.
Markings on their bases, same L to R arrangement. White figure's base stamped only with the word CHINA.
Left: Billy V
Right: Daron Worldwide
Billy V's appears slimmer and has more space between his legs.
Same as above.
Left: Billy V
Center: Unknown (presumed) 1970s
Right: Daron Worldwide
Left: Billy V
Center: Unknown (presumed) 1970s
Right: Daron Worldwide
Note the tightness of detail on the face of the figure at center who also has a square chest unit.
Left: Vintage 70s
Center: Vintage 80s
Right: Vintage 70s
The same order for the sitter/pilot figures, omitting a Daron Worldwide example as their set did not come with one (nor a lunar rover for him to be sat upon, which makes sense).
Left: Billy V
Right: 80s (presumed)
Left: Billy V
Right: 70s
Left: Billy V
Right: 70s
Wish I'd though to get pix of the space station which is actually pretty cool but they are boxed up and I am eager make the swap. Expect an update on how Imex does in addressing my need for a pristine set & count on me to be fair about it no matter what the outcome.
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