A big thanks to Matchbox Stalwart, Mike who tipped me off about this US ebay sale. It is - finally - photographic proof that the Copter Chase set existed although Mike in fairness has stated previously he has seen tired examples on ebay at least twice now.
This particular set sold for over £70 excluding postage. That is serious money considering its not a great example. The box content looks decidedly sparse with regard to the track but the vendor states the cars are still boxed.
Evidently, the helicopter chassis is boxed, but the bodyshell of the copter and the rotors are supplied separately. This set appears complete though, with the copter body moulded in silver (see contents photo top left).
Now, Mike at Slotzpartz contacted me too, to say he has a mint example of the Copter Chase set. He maintains the copter body is very lightweight but the armature connecting it to the powered chassis is vulnerable. Apparently, the copter could be rasied and lowered on its arm by activating the U-turn button on the handcontroller. The Helicopter and it's chassis were not able to perform U-turns.
One final highlight of this set was a drop down 'road block' barrier. This was activated by U-turning the Van or the Police car into a trackside fire hydrant. Knocking that would twitch a connecting rod and deploy the barrier. Clever stuff and thanks to both Mikes for letting us know more about this intriguing set.
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As for the winner of this item, I hope they find it complete and maybe they'll drop me a line to let me know what they think of it...
