12-10-2010, 04:08 PM
"A Greek Drummer Boy?"
Indeed you did see that Uwe, and to bring it all full circle, that's how I first came to this particular site -- toy soldier drummers.
There is a toy company here in the US (Conte Collectibles http://www.contecostore.com/plastics.html ) that has been producing some of the very best 54mm figures in plastic to be found anywhere. The owner is a BIG fan of Kirk Douglas films, and many of his ranges are built around films (Zulu, The Warlord, The Longest Day, The Vikings, The 300 Spartans, etc.)
Conte was working on a set of Romans for a Spartacus range, and among them were legionaries in segmented armor playing drums. Of course this comes from a line in the film Spartacus when Crassus (Olivier) admonishes his young protege to leave Rome at night "... without fanfare or even a drum."
But did the Roman Army really use drums?
I did not know, but as nice as the figures looked it did not seem quite right. And thus did I begin my quest for the answer. An E-mail to the Emine Street Guard generated a response pointing me in the direction of Roman Army Talk. I entered in and have never left.
As far as the figures go -- I like the work done by East Of India, particularly their samurai, but I think the plastic figures done by Conte are even better and certainly more affordable. Now if he would only release his Romans in plastic ...
:wink:
Narukami
Indeed you did see that Uwe, and to bring it all full circle, that's how I first came to this particular site -- toy soldier drummers.
There is a toy company here in the US (Conte Collectibles http://www.contecostore.com/plastics.html ) that has been producing some of the very best 54mm figures in plastic to be found anywhere. The owner is a BIG fan of Kirk Douglas films, and many of his ranges are built around films (Zulu, The Warlord, The Longest Day, The Vikings, The 300 Spartans, etc.)
Conte was working on a set of Romans for a Spartacus range, and among them were legionaries in segmented armor playing drums. Of course this comes from a line in the film Spartacus when Crassus (Olivier) admonishes his young protege to leave Rome at night "... without fanfare or even a drum."
But did the Roman Army really use drums?
I did not know, but as nice as the figures looked it did not seem quite right. And thus did I begin my quest for the answer. An E-mail to the Emine Street Guard generated a response pointing me in the direction of Roman Army Talk. I entered in and have never left.
As far as the figures go -- I like the work done by East Of India, particularly their samurai, but I think the plastic figures done by Conte are even better and certainly more affordable. Now if he would only release his Romans in plastic ...
:wink:
Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
Burbank CA
