The Lost Viper

Some while ago, I posted about my Mattel Battlestar Galactica fleet, bemoaning the fact that I had been unable to find the missing Viper from the standard range fleet. Well just today I am massively pleased to say that I have acquired the last ship for my small fleet. A very nicely made toy, as we might expect from Mattel, about 8 inches long and complete with a small Colonial Warrior pilot.

Underneath the hull are three unobtrusive wheels and the wings pivot upward slightly. The main range was designed to be interchangeable to a small degree, so the front fuselage detaches from the engine array. It was probably one of these models whic was responsible for the fatality in 1979 when an unfortunate child swallowed the red missile and ended up with it lodged in an airway. Consequently, all subsequent releases had the firing mechanism rendered safe, as in this model, allowing the rocket to protrude about 1 cm in lieu of actually firing.