The Official EOI Roman Thread (2 Viewers)

[kogu]

Batch 1, Part 4 - The Initial Launch

3 Legionnaires with pilum - sold as seperate figures.

The pilae are made from steel with a solid and robust composite material for the detailed pieces.

Hi Ken,
that is very good news, doing the pilae in steel and I bet it will be very much appreciated by all collectors. The normally used "white" metal doesn't do it for such fragile thin parts.
Very impressive photos/poses.
Looking forward to see the first painted ones.
Thanks for posting.
Konrad

 

[Nick Nasta]

The figures are awesome without color. I can only imagine how great they will look painted. Fantastic job! I hope to be able to use those in a promotional diorama someday. Take care and keep up the great work!

Nick

 

[Ken Clarke]

Damien, yes auxillary cavalry didn't have stirrups in this period of time for sure but amazingly some of them did wear spurs attached to their sandals!

Thanks for the comments Konrad; yes making a pilium from white metal, bearing in mind how thinly the shaft tapers towards the "sharp end" would just not work. Even if the pilum came packed seperately, once assembled it would become L shaped with the slighest touch. Great for throwing round corners

Nick, thanks also. For sure when we get enough of these made we would love to see some of your excellent dioramas and photographs of these. I will be in touch later on this.

 

[Alexdakar]

Will these figures have removalble spears like your Samurai collection.

 

[Ken Clarke]

Alex,

Unlike the spears from the Shogun Collection they would not necessarily have to be a separate item, as being made from steel there would be no danger of these pilae bending in transit.

However they are mainly going to be sold as single figures, and thus in smaller boxes, so I will have to evaluate the figures one by one to see if attached they fit nicely in the boxes and then decide. To glue or not to glue; that is the question!

 

[Currahee Chris]

Just kidding. I was trying to see if Chris was awake there. The Romans never had stirrups.
Regards
Damian

Yeah, I'm awake bro- just a bit behind. I actually read that the stirrup was in the top 50 technological improvements on the battlefield in the HISTORY of war. That is quite impressive.

 

[Ken Clarke]

It is strange how long the stirrup took to materialise after the invention of the saddle. I would have thought that the two inventions would have been developed almost hand in hand with only a year or so between the saddle coming out and then the stirrups being attached.

Lets face it the saddle gives a much more secure "seat" than riding bareback, as do the stirrups, and also the later gives the rider far more manouverability. We all know the Romans were very good and capable at inventing new products but I wonder why they took so long on this one. Just a thought.

 

[Canadian Samurai]

Incredible figures, Ken it's great to see your hard work pay off in spades. I am especially impressed by the swordsmen - until now I have never seen well posed Romans in this hobby defending with their scutum shield and ready to stab with their sword. It is also fantastic news that you are using steel for the pilums and packaging the figures individually!

I love the Playmobil toy Romans that Michael posted and thought I was set with those, but I think I will now have to reconsider! I came on TF, I saw these figures, and now I will need to conquer some new territory to afford my favourites!

 

[Currahee Chris]

It is strange how long the stirrup took to materialise after the invention of the saddle. I would have thought that the two inventions would have been developed almost hand in hand with only a year or so between the saddle coming out and then the stirrups being attached.

Lets face it the saddle gives a much more secure "seat" than riding bareback, as do the stirrups, and also the later gives the rider far more manouverability. We all know the Romans were very good and capable at inventing new products but I wonder why they took so long on this one. Just a thought.

Yeah, that was what I was wondering as well but the book was kind of mute on the point. From what I understand, the stirrup really revolutionized the cavalry charge as it allowed the rider more stability and thus allowed for a far more effective lance attack- I guess it helped them brace themselves which, coupled with the momentum of the rider, provided a far more penetrating attack.

 

[Currahee Chris]

Incredible figures, Ken it's great to see your hard work pay off in spades. I am especially impressed by the swordsmen - until now I have never seen well posed Romans in this hobby defending with their scutum shield and ready to stab with their sword. It is also fantastic news that you are using steel for the pilums and packaging the figures individually!

I love the Playmobil toy Romans that Michael posted and thought I was set with those, but I think I will now have to reconsider! I came on TF, I saw these figures, and now I will need to conquer some new territory to afford my favourites!

Yeah- get off your backside and get down here- My RWG is getting ready to launch- we can sack new territory and take the plunder for buying new figs!!

Ironically enough, I was in a toy store over the weekend and saw the Playmobil gladiatorial arena- VERY cool with little charioteers and stuff. Funny thing about those Playmobil kids- they always seem to face these difficult life and death situations with a rosy smile on their faces.

 

[Canadian Samurai]

Hey Chris,

Yeah, the Playmobil figures are hilarious aren't they? "We who are about to die salute you". SMILES all around>

I haven't bought the gladiator arena because of the floor space it would take up, plus as a Christian the whole concept offends me a bit (it would be like a Jewish person buying a toy gas chamber set). But it is a super cool set otherwise.

 

[maddadicus]

Incredible figures, Ken it's great to see your hard work pay off in spades. I am especially impressed by the swordsmen - until now I have never seen well posed Romans in this hobby defending with their scutum shield and ready to stab with their sword. It is also fantastic news that you are using steel for the pilums and packaging the figures individually!

I love the Playmobil toy Romans that Michael posted and thought I was set with those, but I think I will now have to reconsider! I came on TF, I saw these figures, and now I will need to conquer some new territory to afford my favourites!

CS I actually found a site ,on ebay, that makes the historically correct helmets, for Playmobil Romans...I , so far, have managed to lose 3 auctions for these pieces...The Playmobil elite keep sqeezing me out..Michael

 

[Canadian Samurai]

Thanks for the intel Michael - I've never seen those. The bidding on ebay for Playmobil can be surprisingly nasty, can't it? On ebay I've picked up a few custom Romans from Europe that were made by mixing and matching parts from different figures. It's possible to disassemble a Playmo figure yourself and switch parts but I've never had the courage to do so - you begin by pulling the head off but it requires tremendous force!

 

[Ken Clarke]

Incredible figures, Ken it's great to see your hard work pay off in spades. I am especially impressed by the swordsmen - until now I have never seen well posed Romans in this hobby defending with their scutum shield and ready to stab with their sword. It is also fantastic news that you are using steel for the pilums and packaging the figures individually!

I love the Playmobil toy Romans that Michael posted and thought I was set with those, but I think I will now have to reconsider! I came on TF, I saw these figures, and now I will need to conquer some new territory to afford my favourites!

Hi Samurai,

Thanks for the kind words. I think packaging most individually will work here as it will really allow the collector to customise a diorama of choice. These of course are only the first batch and there will other poses going forward. In fact I will be posting up images of the auxilliary troops in a few days.

It seems that Playmobil Romans are savage competition for me. I hope they don't have spies in my factories checking what I am making next

I hope you will be able to "Vici" some new territory to collect just some of these figures!

 

[Ken Clarke]

Yeah, that was what I was wondering as well but the book was kind of mute on the point. From what I understand, the stirrup really revolutionized the cavalry charge as it allowed the rider more stability and thus allowed for a far more effective lance attack- I guess it helped them brace themselves which, coupled with the momentum of the rider, provided a far more penetrating attack.

Chris,

Yes; stability combined with flexibility are extremely important in combat and as you say revolutionised mounted tactics. Also don't forget they allowed the rider to "stand up" on the horse, without doing some sort of bizare ancient circus act, thus improving his line of sight as well as enabling him to perform the dreaded down cut against his mounted opponent as portrayed so well by Achilles in the recent film Troy.

Again I ask; why did they take so long in inventing them

I must look into this matter more

 

[Canadian Samurai]

Hi Samurai,

Thanks for the kind words. I think packaging most individually will work here as it will really allow the collector to customise a diorama of choice. These of course are only the first batch and there will other poses going forward. In fact I will be posting up images of the auxilliary troops in a few days.

It seems that Playmobil Romans are savage competition for me. I hope they don't have spies in my factories checking what I am making next

I hope you will be able to "Vici" some new territory to collect just some of these figures!

Yeah, as I've discovered Pugio, Michael and myself all collect the Playmobil Romans! What can I say, every toy soldier collector is a kid at heart. Don't worry about your factories, all Playmobil is still manufactured in Europe, one of the few companies to resist the call to outsource. I must warn you: Playmobil's next line is Ancient Egypt so you and K&C will be in for stiff competition if you decide to venture there!

Now about your next samurai line... consumer spies like myself want to know!

 

[Ken Clarke]

This seems to be developing into the "Official Playmobil Thread" rather than the EOI one!

Hey Chris,

Yeah, the Playmobil figures are hilarious aren't they? "We who are about to die salute you". SMILES all around>

I haven't bought the gladiator arena because of the floor space it would take up, plus as a Christian the whole concept offends me a bit (it would be like a Jewish person buying a toy gas chamber set). But it is a super cool set otherwise.

I havent seen this set yet. Surely they haven't made lions eating smiley faced Christians with rosey cheeks What next!

It's possible to disassemble a Playmo figure yourself and switch parts but I've never had the courage to do so - you begin by pulling the head off but it requires tremendous force!

The technique I seem to remember for doing these "executions" is to soak the figure in hot water for a few minutes and then it slides off as easy as pie.

 

[Currahee Chris]

This seems to be developing into the "Official Playmobil Thread" rather than the EOI one!

Hey Ken- can't keep a good smiling toy soldier down- they are a force of their own


I havent seen this set yet. Surely they haven't made lions eating smiley faced Christians with rosey cheeks What next!

GAAAHH They don't have that but they do include a lion and some chariots- the insinuation is there to some measure.



The technique I seem to remember for doing these "executions" is to soak the figure in hot water for a few minutes and then it slides off as easy as pie.

Now that's just evil!!

 

[Currahee Chris]

Ken-

what about Senators and the like- any chance we might see them?? JG Minis has done some wonderful Roman buildings and I would love to display them but they don't quite look right without Roman citizens. Any chance we will see a Cato, Brutus, etc, etc.

 

[Ken Clarke]

Chris,

These are early days (we haven't even, as you know, got the first batch to market) so anything is possible!