Go
Tell The Spartans, Stranger Passing By
That Here Obedient To Their Words We Lie.
Go
Tell The Collectors That The Defence of the West Is About To Begin......
The Legend of
Leonidas & the 300 Lives On!
At last we are
able to announce the release of a massive new range of figures based upon the
epic struggles between the mighty Persian Empire and the small City States of
Greece. As the largest army known to man prepares to invade the cradle of
democracy, we are there...bringing you the intensity of this life & death
struggle.
The very
future of the western world and the existence of Democracy is at stake!
The Spartans and Ancient Greece in general has long been one of my favorite
historical periods and I am extremely pleased to finally be able to be
addressing this all-important period and its events in miniature.
Since I was a small child I have been fascinated with the tales of the legendary
Gods, Heroes & Warriors of Greece & Rome. My entire life I have waited for
'some toy manufacturer' to produce this fascinating period with great sculpts at
affordable prices......In time we hope to expand our attention to cover
Alexander and later struggles.......but that's for another year.......right now
we must devote all attention to rallying all of Greece and all Collectors to
'join us at the Pass" as we prepare to make the ultimate sacrifice so that the
West might live.....
When starting Conte Collectibles, Thermopylae was one of the top priorities for
me.....why the wait you ask?? Simply , there are 2 reasons: (1) most importantly
I needed to find a sculptor who could 'translate' my designs into living,
breathing professional killing machines...& (2) some time was wasted awaiting
licensing from 20th Century Fox for one of my favorites "The 300 Spartans". As
to the sculpting, Mr. Ortiz has quite simply grown into perhaps the foremost toy
soldier sculptor in the world.....one look at the sculpted musculature and faces
(in those rare cases when it can be seen) on these warriors (or his new Bloody
Omaha! WW2 sets) and you can see we are dealing with something unique,
something which most sculptors would not have even attempted in this scale. As
to the film, after years of waiting we sadly learned that Fox wasn't even sure
if they actually owned the rights to the movie(!).....so we did it 'on our own'
coming up with our own designs, look & coloring.
While only the 'first wave' of Spartans are shown thus far, the second 'wave'
will contain Hydarnes & his dreaded Immortals as well as Leonidas and our very
special 'hand -to-hand" sets. The third 'wave' will feature some character
figures, supporting auxiliaries, and other Greeks who just as surely as the
Spartans 'gave their all' defending the "Hot Gates" yet sadly have been
forgotten by many......as the legend of the Spartans predominated
With regard to the 'costuming' of figures, alot of choice had to be
made.....'popular culture' expectations of Leonidas' stalwarts and the
Immortals has largely been shaped by film and illustrations from 'reference '
books...often based upon conjecture or repeated theories (whether or not they
are historical fact). The fact is, no one knows for certain what the Greeks and
Persians were wearing......the best we have are some brief descriptions by
Herodotus......
We've based our 'look' upon the factual evidence which does exist, giving a
'nod' towards Hollywood on occasion .....while attempting to make these 2
combatants appear foreboding and dangerous--after all, killing was their
business and the future of the world depended upon every slash & thrust in the
front ranks. Our early sets display the Spartans as uniformly attired even
though it is quite possible that an assortment of helmets, breastplates and
shields might have been on the field those hot August days . Likewise, our
Immortals have been pictured as more armored and darker than many of the
reference books like to show. (Most of these books, and for that matter other
toy soldier companies who have copied these hypothetical illustrations seem to
have based their 'look' largely upon some stone carvings from palace walls at
Persepolis which may or may not display Immortals as they looked whilst on
ceremonial duty 'at the palace' ....and as we know, 'ceremonial dress' often
bore little relation to what was actually worn in the field. Further, we have
adopted the view that our Immortals would have looked ominous rather than
effeminate or colorful (as many others elect to display them). Hence our
conclusion not to garb these Persian death-dealers in purples and gold
fabrics....(Xenophon in his writings actually refers to a color dubbed
'night-shade' which was a mixture of black with red and white--apparently
resulting in a dark brown appearance(???)) Red was also a very common
color.....yet all toy manufacturers seem to rush to the purple/yellow
hues....perhaps in an effort to make the figures more 'colorful' or 'eastern' in
look..?? or perhaps they are just 'copying' one another??)
As some additional evidence exists with regard to purple hues in the Persian
Army during the wars with Alexander(1 and 1/2 centuries after Thermopylae)
we'll wait til we address those periods before we dip our paint brushes into
such colors. As to the 'armored' nature of our Immortals , Herodotus clearly
refers to something approaching fish scales and we'd like to assume that the
persians learned something about the heavily armored nature of the Greek Hoplite
when they were defeated at Marathon ten years before our story begins.....
With the Spartans we had to decide whether to leave capes on or off and decided
for this 'round' to leave them 'capeless' (with the exception of the officers)
as it is reported that these would be removed for battle. With the helms we
opted for the "Corinthian' look rather than using a 'transverse crest'.....look
for some interesting variations to appear in the future.....as I personally like
'the look' of the transverse crests & capes....
I hope you will find that the 'wait was worth it' ...alot of thought has gone
into this range and we have tried to give the desperate subject matter the
realism which it merits...
I know that when I have a phalanx set up on my table I am transported back to
480 BC, and preparing to 'fight in the shade'........
So buckle your sword belts as we prepare to commence upon this journey
together...and remember that Themistocles is readying the fleet and preparing
for the battle for mainland Greece. We must buy him precious time...even if it
is to be with our lives and /or our charge cards and hard-earned cash!
The Sets:
We are
proud to announce set names/numbers for our first twelve(12) Ancient Greek sets.
Introductory Prices for the first shipment are shown below in
green.
We will begin begin taking preorders immediately.
Set
AG001 is currently in stock; the rest of the army is expected to start arriving
mid to late September.
(One of
these sets/ poses is only available via membership in our Collectors
Club. Details for the 06/07 year are forthcoming ....other CCC figures will
include, a Crusader, 2 Cowboys, an ACW pose, a Medieval pose and a WW2 pose and
a few other surprises.)
These
Spartan sets contain great sculpts( a real understatement) and extremely nice
painting. You should recall our original 3 figure set of Ancient Greeks
(beautifully sculpted by Ken Osen ) released as Set #CCC17
a while back sold extremely well & we had to reorder several times. Next to
these 12 new sets of Ortiz sculpts, the sculpts in
CCC17,
as nice and popular as they remain, pale and fade in comparison.... in
sculpting these new Hoplites Mr. Ortiz has beautifully translated my
poses/design into amazing 3 dimensional form and in the process set a new
standard in affordable and collectible "Ancients'. The animation and
musculature in particular command one's attention.....
These
figures will cost a bit more than our usual figure due to the amounts of extra
"fine pewter" being used in the large bases, helmets and shields . Compared to
a $100 "Russian" figure, we think our new offerings will be a extremely
attractive alternative for collectors . Even better, these are American
designed & sculpted. .....(5 to 6 of these beauties for the price of 1
Russian??). As always, we are highly conscious of giving good value to all of
our loyal collectors.( In this regard please compare the prices of our Spartans
against Greeks being sold by other manufacturers ; ) Also, always remember that
our figures are made from 'fine pewter' and not from various cheaper 'white
metal' alternatives unfortunately used by some manufacturers.
.
Thermopylae and
the Defence of the West will at last receive its due.
Pictures of all sets
in the 'first wave'
have just been
posted to our website. The first shipment is expected mid to late September--the
rest of the army will mobilize after the sacred Carnean festivals have been
concluded.
As
always, we will begin filling orders in the order received.
--CCC26: "Spartan
Officer( w/Spear) $$ See Club Details being sent separately. ONLY
available through Conte Collector Club Membership.
--AG001:
Sparta Triumphant! ( Spartan With Shield) $33.00
$30.00
--AG002: "Then
We Shall Fight In The Shade!"(4 Spartans wounded/defending)
$99.95
$89.95
--AG003: Spartan Officer" (single figure with cape)$35.00
$30.00
--AG004: "Phalanx !! (6 Spartan figures--2 each of 3 poses)
$129.95$$119.95
--AG005: "Here We Stand, Here We Stay!!" Shield Wall Set 1" (4 Spartan
figures- 2 each of 2 poses)$99.95
$89.95
--AG006: "Glory, Honor & Fame"$75.00
$69.95
(3 Spartans attacking with sword)
--AG007: "By The Power of Zeus" (single figure with chain)$36.00
$30.00
--AG008: "Fury Unleashed" (3 Spartans charging with spear)
$75.00
$69.95
--AG009: "Killing Machine" (3 Spartans fighting)$75.00
$69.95
--AG010: "Come & Take Them!" (3 churning/fighting first Rankers)$75.00
$69.95
--AG011: "Spearchucker"
(single Spartan)$35.00
$30.00
Special: Those ordering ALL eleven (11 )sets AG001 through AG011 will receive
Set AG004 absolutely FREE (with up to a $129.95 retail price tag) as our thank
you for ordering early !!!!
If you've already
purchased AG001 from US, please let us know...the special will still apply to
you!!
Thanks
as always!
Hail Leonidas & the 300!!
RC
PS Plastic
collectors take heart; 23 Thermopylae poses are already at the factory and into
the mold-making process...