Well, that didn't take long. I went to a local store and they had one last Big Chap for sale. It was on display, had been for about three weeks, and I had a long, good look at it.
The teeth are indeed pretty bad, thankfully you need to get close to see the shabbyness of the paintjob. There are no paint chips or other anomalies that I can spot and no visible scratches or specks under the dome. The only blemishes are at the rear of the dome, two white dots (mini scratches?) that can only be seen from the back.
It's no. 49/2000 and its now mine! it being an open box item, plus the blemishes, I managed to haggle a good price out of the store owner.
The return home was nerve-wracking, reading all these stories of these busts being damaged during transfer, I drove as slowly as I could and tried to avoid potholes etc. Thankfully it arrived in one piece!
Photos from the store, last one shows the blemishes at the back (there were also specks of dust and insert foam pieces on it but a microfiber cloth took care of that!
P.S. Yes they'd stuck a price sticker on the dome...
Thankfully it left no residue. All in all, I'm very happy with this purchase. Now to start saving for the Warrior...