I think the term "Grail" gets applied to a lot of items in collecting. Often times I'm not sure it's correct to do so, but I understand my view point isn't always going to be shared.
I think of a Grail as an item that I would theoretically just about do anything to own. I have a friend who is a Joe Dealer, and I've started selling at shows myself...as I've gotten into this side of the collecting world I have a hard time calling any production level piece a grail... Production Level items are about economics... supply and demand... Obtaining them is simply balancing that equation..."how much do I want this vs That"
I don't know that I could tell you exactly what my Grails are until they showed up, Because so much of the existing Preproduction material is kept in private collections, and a lot of times you have to Give some to Get some in the pre-production collecting circles. With preproduction items its not often you get to choose a specific item...if you don't take the opportunity to buy what comes up when it comes up, somebody else will, and that makes it hard to define any single Pre-Production Item as a Grail.
In all cases I think I got lucky, and Smile every time I look at this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... G_9102.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... G_9104.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... G_9103.jpg
Next to the Production Level Crystal Ball, is a casting of a 2 up Buck chest holding my Grail.
A 2-up Head for Crystal Ball. The Head is a Primed Wax Casting, It's not the original sculpt but from what I understand it may be the Tooling Master...or possibly 1 step prior.
There are Faint pencil markings along the mold dividing line of the head, I don't have the exact term on hand, but this was one step in making sure the head didn't have any overhang or undercuts that would prevent the part from releasing from the mold once it was cut into the steel.
