Apologies for not bothering to read all the previous posts.
These are from the 2002 Asian Games.
You have to try to think like an Asian Entrepeneur which is not easy if you dont mix wit them or understand how they think. Its some guy, usually make nuts and bolts, wanting to make a quid in a few weeks at a specific time. He goes out and looks at what sells. He sees similar objects. He makes what he can to copy them, he doesnt look at design, he cant remember what was on them, he just knows he can sell somthing similar using his machinery. He asks the guys in the factory about sports. Some say F1, some Olympics, Some say volleyball, some say boxing, basketball etc. So the guy now uses his in house machinery to knock out sets of nuts with simple crude designs computer aided. Thats why some are good, like the volleyball one and the olympic rings, computer can read those designs well coz they came from a pro source, they come out fine. The car and basketballer are poor because the puter was fed a poor design, such as a scanned image or one from a game. Me mate what says knows about these things says they are mainly punched from a die not laser cut. They even look like the cheap nuts, even down to the paint wear, that you see on cheap garden furniture from SK.
Gong gi stones? If thats what you want to call them well yes they are. I can tell you where they were made and how and when and why, but I cant put them in anything other than the wooden box I saw them in.
Seriously, I dont understand how no one in here knows anyone in SK, youve got 40,000 troops who would be able to give the photo to a local trader and get you an original set to put yall out of your misery. Surely someone knows something, I can use the vast resources of the mick network if you like, but do you really want me to spoil this?
How did they get where they got to? Pretty simple, they fell out of a bag and moved over time. How did they really get there? Id say they were given to some kid by a parent who was on active service in SK who bought em at the last minute to get rid of change. I couldnt see em costing any more than a dollar or two for the set.
The whole thing is much like the cigarette lighters you see made from the same machinery that made 7.62mm ammo for the ole USSR. Same rough product, just refined to suit the market.
Now, lemme look at this Alaska problem. EDIT cant search, can you post a link.
I do like the renewed intrest in these, but please read through the thread to at least see what all has been covered, and research done. It will be one of you new to this thread who will solve it one day. Keep em coming!
