Bring back the Conte ships (1 Viewer)

[NZGary]

These were some of my favourite models- and great value at the time.

 

[damian]

Great stuff
Conte seems to be a thing of the past
Hopefully they will return but who knows.

 

[Jack]

The Viking ship was before my time in the hobby but I hear of it spoken in hushed tones as something approaching miraculous in terms of value for money.

 

[larso]

Yep, the Viking ship is the one thing I really wished I'd got. I was single then too - I wouldn't have needed to be sneaky about it!

 

[The Military Workshop]

Yep, the Viking ship is the one thing I really wished I'd got. I was single then too - I wouldn't have needed to be sneaky about it!

Would sell well now due to the TV series but would be far more expensive than Conte did them for. I remember thinking his Roman galley was a bargain considering how many crew it came with.

 

[jazzeum]

I saw one in Rick Wang's office and it was quite cool, even though that period of history doesn't interest me.

As Damian said, they are a thing of the past. They didn't even show up in Chicago this year. Can't recall if they were there in 2013, probably not.

 

[marco55]

Like I said before he has terrific products,is still always thinking about new figures.If he doesn't want to run the company in it's day to day operations he should hire someone to do it for him.His innovations to the hobby are too important to just fade away.It's a real loss to the hobby.
Mark

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

Gettysburg Miniature Soldiers had the Roman ship when i was there in October.

 

[joesgis]

These were some of my favourite models- and great value at the time.

Gary,
Fantastic ships and great pics! The Roman boat is a stunner. I love the Crusader ship approaching the Saracen stronghold. I feel lucky to have the Viking ship. Whenever I show people my war room they always are drawn to the Viking boat more than anything else.
Thanks!

Joe

 

[BHogan]

Wow these are impressive! Just out of curiosity, how much did these retail for?
Cheers,
Brendan

 

[Charlie Brown]

Like I said before he has terrific products,is still always thinking about new figures.If he doesn't want to run the company in it's day to day operations he should hire someone to do it for him.His innovations to the hobby are too important to just fade away.It's a real loss to the hobby.
Mark

That's where it all went wrong for the Company some years back. Since then Conte Collectibles has been operating in cottage industry mode . Hardly surprising given the TS market changed since then.

 

[marco55]

The first Roman war galley sold for $750 but also had 56 figures with it.The second one had only 8 figures (the 48 below deck were not included)I think this went for $600 but I'm not sure.
Mark

 

[BHogan]

The first Roman war galley sold for $750 but also had 56 figures with it.The second one had only 8 figures (the 48 below deck were not included)I think this went for $600 but I'm not sure.
Mark

That is a bargain. Thanks for the reply.
Cheers,
Brendan

 

[NZGary]

I was lucky enough to have just got into toy soldier collecting when Conte was at its height selling out of Las Vegas. Towards the end I ordered the Viking play set which was the boat plus plastic unpainted crew for around $300. Exchange rates were good with the UK and came in with postage at under 200 pounds (sorry no pound sign on NZ keyboards!). What I actually got was the original Conte ship with all the painted figures plus the unpainted ones and because apparently I was such a good customer a couple of painted metal Viking sets!

More recently I did get the North West Frontier Scots but have had to commission Afgan tribesmen as these never came out. I missed out on some of the early Conte playsets - the buildings were great and really good value. Those days are sadly long gone.

 

[gk5717]

I still think Contes Norman church & Priory were the best buildings ever made.
As you look back on this in the early 90,s $225 - $250 for a playset was considered quite expensive. I,m talking plastic collectors. Now in retrospect they were pure bargains.
My opinion on Conte and his plastic was he over estimated the market for that type of product. Die hards like myserlf jumped at it but others said not now maybe tomorrow due to the expense, in the meantime RC ran out of cash.
Gary

 

[Sahara]

Missed out on the Roman galley. I always keep an eye open for one on the market but i haven't seen one in a long time.

 

[The Military Workshop]

The first Roman war galley sold for $750 but also had 56 figures with it.The second one had only 8 figures (the 48 below deck were not included)I think this went for $600 but I'm not sure.
Mark

Mark,
If I remember right the second version with 8 figures was announced but never released (3 years ago ?).
Brett

 

[marco55]

You are probably right Brett.Did anyone ever see the picture of the pirate ship he was gonna make,it would've been awesome.
Mark

 

[nysoldiers]

I have the original Viking Ship for sale with all metal figures and the shields.
Very reasonable price if interested. Contact me via PM.

 

[tdubel]

Quick flying conte actually made 4 ships total:

1. Viking ship 1 was actually wooden!
2. Viking ship 2 was resin
3. Roman
4. Cog

I have all 4 they are awesome. I really wanted the pirate ship, the prototype was unreal. I had to settle for the barzso which is spectacular in its own right.
Tom