From this picture, which I am told it is the Jetpod being assembled on site in the days before the crash, it would appear to bear only a passing resembalance to the cartoons. It was also significantly bigger than than the artists impression.
Its design and finish would imply that a significant amount of $$$ had been spent on it.
As for Malaysian press reports, they are slightly less reliable than most of the information found on Pprune.
............................how do I insert the picture here without posting it to another website first ??????????????????????????