my new wife got me the same thing for Christmas '06 when we'd been going out for only a few months... it was the exact same thing I wanted for Christmas in 1974 but it was so popular that I had to get a raincheck and didn't get it until May of '75... 5 months to an 8 year old may as well have been five years... my wife didn't get it at the time but now that I have turned her spare room into a batcave with an Evel shrine she understands my Evel obsession... the one thing I had forgotten about the stunt cycle was how bloody LOUD the engergizer gets before take-off... that toy actually got rated on some website as the number one toy that adults wish they could play with again...
I actually got to meet Evel on my first day in Florida and shake his hand and personally thank him for giving me a red blooded American hero to look up to as a kid... he said "you're welcome" and autographed a helmet "To Lou, Happy Landings, Evel Knievel"... I didn't realize it until recently but I think the reason I fell head over heels for the Scrambler was that it kinda looks like his old jump bikes...
i've got a respectable collection of memorabilia in my Evel shrine but there's a guy here in Florida that was friends with Evel and has the coolest superfan site on the web and a collection that is truly amazing and a veritable Evel museum... he's got both a replica XR-750 jump bike and a replica SKY CYCLE!!! any Evel fan should definitely check out his site...
http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/track/5573/
