Where are all the Conte fans? (1 Viewer)

[modwalls]

As a new member, I am quite surprised Conte does not have a larger fan base. These GI's have to be the best plastic solders ever produced. Not to forget there many other eras. I guess it is a whats at the moment hobby. When I got into this hobby in 99, it was the incredible detail of the British 24th's and Zulus that hooked me. Not being a metal collector, I do agree K&C do better paint jobs. As far as playsets go, Conte is second to none. If your a good painter, you can turn these Conte figures into little works of art. The many converters out there, give untold amounts of poses to choose from. I know Conte has a bad rep for not being quick enough, but they never seem to disappoint the loyal fans. I for one love the wait and the excitement of seeing the new figures before purchasing. Come on Conte fans, stand up and be counted. Hobby On Mike.

 

[gk5717]

Mike, you know I,m a Conte plastic fan, but plastic figures just don,t draw interest on this board.
I like the defenseman you got from the Blues, how is the guy we got?
Gary

 

[Shiloh]

I to collect Conte plastic and metals. Civil war era is what I am loyal to not company. I agree about the plastics you can really bulk up your display inexpensively if you are willing to paint. I like the sculpting but some of the painting is off in my opinion. I have tried getting a Conte thread going on the other forum but it has not taken off yet. If I were to start another era it would be Conte's new plastic GI's and flesh it out with some select metel Britains and Conte. Maybe if I win the lottery I can collect them to.

 

[kilted vampire]

Conte is long on promise and short on delivery. It is a dead horse really
They like to muck up the figures and call it realistic. Sometimes I think they do it to cover flaws in their work The Pirates were kind of nice but no Pirate ship.

 

[The Lt.]

Guys a picture is worth a thousand words.......The Lt.

 

[Wraith]

You can scratch me up as another Conte fan, primaril WWII plastic and metal and Zulu plastic. I think the plastic is second to none. The metal paint jobs have always been a bit hit and miss with some unusual variations on camo jobs (which seem to be at odds with what all other sources tell us).

I like the Ortiz sculpting, especially some of the faces, but I think they've mucked them up with the paint jobs. To much black - more subtle shading / washes would be appreciated.

I've just started dabbling in the 'Dutko' style of conversions (slice n' solder) for the earlier Canadian plastic figures and this works very well.

I think Gary is right. This is primarily a painted metal forum, but also, for long periods of time, there ain't a great deal to discuss. Releases are sporadic, and when stuff is released, it is the plastic that gets discussed. Conte is also the only main player who doesn't play on this forum. K&C, Honour Bound, NMA, Patriot, Britains, ONWTC, they all regularly chip in, whereas there is an ominous silence from the Conte corner...

Simon

 

[REVWARBUFF]

I think Gary is right. This is primarily a painted metal forum, but also, for long periods of time, there ain't a great deal to discuss. Releases are sporadic, and when stuff is released, it is the plastic that gets discussed. Conte is also the only main player who doesn't play on this forum. K&C, Honour Bound, NMA, Patriot, Britains, ONWTC, they all regularly chip in, whereas there is an ominous silence from the Conte corner...

Simon

I agree here with Simon and with what KV said about Conte being long on promise and short on delivery. I have 3-4 sets of Conte's rev war stuff (metal) and like them a lot as they go well my Britians figures. I just wish Conte would start coming out with some new releases for all their lines like the other companies do. Their long periods of silence keeps one guessing if the company is still alive or not. I believe the interest would be there if Conte participated on the forum and were more consistent with their releases for all their lines.

Revwarbuff

 

[damian]

Conte is pretty innovative though. Look at that Viking longboat. Pretty good I thought and all teh Civil War stuff. Even their Rorkes Drift was fairly unique. They are underated.

 

[modwalls]

Well I'm glad I asked, I learned alot in the quick. I did figure this is mainly a metal figure fourm. I to will admit, I find the K&C the premere in the metals. If I won a lottery, I to would invest in them. The converting and painting are the hobby to me. In reading many threads, I find most like the FOV over 21st. Again I agree there also. I am disappointed that Richard Conte is not a member. He would be constantly bombarded with the same questions over and over. But then again, he could put alot of the complaints to rest, by answering a few questions. To Gary about the trade, both teams are in the same boat. Mara is a tough defenseman, and Boyes is having an off year. The Bruins in Ruins, and St. Louis still singing the Blues. The Bruins still have a remote chance, well see. Hobby On Mike.

 

[fishead19690]

I love the conte plastic figures I think the new plastics figures that he has been coming out with lately are the best plastic figures ever made, now if they only made some napoleonics!!!
I,d be in heaven if he came out with 27 poses of napoleonics like he did with his G.I.,s but why the hell did he come out with 27 poses of g.i.,s without any new germans??? wouldn,t it have made more sense to have split it up half and half with some germans to go with them???
I love the poses and the way they are made the same way as the metal figures being all glued together from seperate pieces and not all done in one pour of the mold like most plastic figures it makes for some great converting of the figures, even the firing poses are great for conversions because they don,t have that blocking under the arms like most plastic figures.

I wish K&C would do there metal figures in plastic like this.

I,m not crazy about conte painted metal figure either, the sculpting is great but the painting takes away from this. If they had better painting I think they would be a munch bigger player in the metal market because the sculpting is there just ruined by bad painting.

I really wish he would come out with some napoleonic figures in plastic I would convert a ton of them. I know he likes his war movies and does a lot of sets around the great classic movies. Somebody get this guy a copy of one of the greatest war movie of all time, WATERLOO and then maybe we would see some napoleonic sets!!! He had some napoleonic sets listed as future projects on his site for a couple of years now but its not looking like they,ll ever see the light of day. He had a keith rocco hougomont set planed and another both from rocco paintings and I really hoped to see them but its not looking good on those.

 

[The Lt.]

You'll find by visiting as well as joining the Hobby Bunker Forum that Mr. Conte will respond to your questions concerning his products. Let's give the man credit for what he's done for the hobby. Back in 99 before he came on the scene they were no way near the product lines that are available to us today both in metal and plastic. His overall metal line is as well done as K&C and as stated no one does plastics like Conte.So let's get back to playing and sending along photos and creating indivual Battle Thread featuring your collections and creative works of art for all of us to enjoy......The Lt.

 

[binder001]

Just like so many things in life - it's not "black" or "white" but many shades of gray! Conte certainly has a reputation for early promises and late deliveries, HOWEVER what you get is certainly a nice product. I certainly enjoy the GIs (like FISH, I enjoy cutting them up - had a few pictures on this forum for a while). The poses in the recent GI sculpts are second only to K&C for looking like soldiers in action. The Conte painted metal GIs aren't nearly as nice as K&C, but they don't cost near as much. That leaves some of us more free to modify or repaint the figures, metal or plastic. I can't afford Conte's other lines, but I certainly would like to be able to delve into the Alamo and/or Civil War stuff.

So anyway, there are some Conte followers on this board, just not as many as the K&C or Britains crowds.

Gary

 

[ExRanger]

As someone pointed out the long periods of silence does not help.Nor does the fact that one has to wait years for the rerelease of some of their playsets. Almost 3 years for some. That in it self gets frustrating and one
tends to lost interest and move on.You call and are always told it's on back
order.After awhile that gets old.Where's their Arnhem set that was that
talked about?

 

[OzDigger]

Can someone provide an outline of the Conte range? I've looked at their website but I'm still not sure what figures are metal and what are plastic and which ones are pre-painted. Their Playsets are a bit toylike for my taste, but I wouldn't mind one of those churches.

 

[Wraith]

Can someone provide an outline of the Conte range? I've looked at their website but I'm still not sure what figures are metal and what are plastic and which ones are pre-painted. Their Playsets are a bit toylike for my taste, but I wouldn't mind one of those churches.

Oz,

With the WWII line up, there are the first 7 playsets, 3 of which have been re-released over the past few months (inluding sets 6 and 7 - the church and priory sets - and these are fantastic).

To the best of my knowledge, they have not released painted plastic.
There are 16 poses (in 2 sets each) for British and American Airbourne, along with 28 poses of German / Waffen SS (spead amongst 4 sets). These are all in the 'Canadian' rubbery plastic.
Then there are the 27 poses for the new GIs in a harder plastic.

The firat series of painted metal WWII figures are, in the main, the same figures as the plastic. There are a few poses that don't appear in plastic (8, I think, of the SS and a few of the American Airbourne).

There are a few figures that appeared in the playsets only, such as the US Para hanging from the church, and a couple of metal sets that were painted in the same colour as the plastic troops, as well as the limited edtion SS sniper which was a special for buying sets 6 and 7 together.

The more recent releases (with the exception of the 27 GIs) are all painted metal and include US Airbourne, SS and some of the GIs (the Ortiz sculpted ones). I believe there was an agreement with the moulding for the Ken Osen sculpted GIs, that Conte would release them as plastic, while ONWTC would release them as painted metal (these are also available in unpainted kit form from Valient Miniatures).

The latest release of the BOSS set (Omaha set 3) are all painted metal, with like the majority of more recent releases, a small terrain base included. There hasn't been any indication as to whether these will be released as plastic as well.

There was some talk on their site a while back that they would be releasing the 27 GIs as a painted plastic option, but this seems to have fallen by the wayside.

With the other ranges, I think (?) that it was only some of the ACW figures that were painted plastic and sold in blister packs of 8 figures (also available as unpainted plastic and painted metal sets. I think some of the Viking 'rowers' available with or for the ship were painted resin.
But in the main, with these as exceptions, if it's painted then it should be metal.

Clear as mud innit.

Simon

 

[OzDigger]

Thanks heaps for that info Simon, I'm sure I'm not the only member with limited Conte experience. The only Conte stuff I have seen downunder is the odd box of unpainted plastic figs which look ok.

I'd like to get the Church and Priory some time as it would fit in with my existing figs and models. Does it have to be assembled and painted? And how much does it cost?

 

[Wraith]

On the Conte website, they're still advertsing that they've got limited stock of both the church playset and the priory playset, both priced at around the $300 mark. They've each got a load of the plastic figures and some accessories.

They're factory painted and come in 4 or 5 sections each due to the size (which just push fit together).

George (Warrior) managed to track down just the buildings for me, but I'm not sure if he could track down more. He said they were getting thinner on the ground.

I'm very pleased with mine. And it is HUUUUGE!

Simon

 

[modwalls]

Well I guess everybody is right based on their own experiences with the company. I can only speak for myself, I have only good things to say about RC. and the products. When you look at his line of products, nobody releases such a wide range in such a short period of time. I am not a metal collector, I enjoy the plastics for the converting and sheer enjoyment. This is a Hobby, it is suppose to be fun. I can't afford the Conte playsets, but I enjoy looking at them. I like building my own buildings and walls. I guess if your into the hobby for nothing but a value thing, thats your right. I got into this for the stress relief it gives me. Doing conversions and building things, takes away the every day problems we all face. I am glad there are alot of Conte fans, that means most likely his products will be around a long time. Have a great day every one Mike.

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I've been collecting Conte ACW since the beginning (no plastics). I have to agree that the painting has been hit and miss, and post "Ken O" the sculpts have been fair except for a few pieces. Now that Britain's has their act together and K&C will be producing ACW I will probably not be buying many Conte sets unless they come out with some really spectacular new figures.

 

[damian]

Some of those ACW sets were pretty dam good. All those early Troianai stes and teh Eyeball to eyeball sets as well as teh Rolling Thunder. Action and excitement.

I thought the painting was good. Teh painted palstcis really allow you to expand a diorama at low cost and are indistinguishable from afar