The Arrival

"It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed."

My Spartans arrived last night, thanks to the sharp eye of some nameless postal service worker somewhere. Thank you anonymous post-person. Actually, I think it was UPS. So thanks mr. ups dude.

I doubt I can add anything to the reviews that have been circulating around the Inter-webby about the new Conte Spartans. Most reviews I have read have been gushing, glowing, and usually announcing a revolution in plastic toy soldiers.

They ain't too far off.

I won't bore you with a long summation of my feelings on these little red wonders, only that I have already found myself attempting the twist the arm of some other poor toy soldier that wasn't meant to twist. The poseability of these figures has opened new doors for the hobby. Let's see... I bought 70 figures in 21 different poses, but on my table are 70 differently posed Spartans. You can't beat it with a stick.

The only thing missing are the Persians. I imagine we have quite a wait in front of us. My hope was that we would see Spartans and Persians available together in a series of playsets that would include some terrain pieces. I guess that wasn't meant to be. But OTSN is coming, and you never know what will show up.

Hey, you think other companies will try to create similar figures? And would it work for other eras? Is Conte pricing itself into oblivion at $24 a card? Or is $24 the price we are going to have to get used to? Do you think this hobby will still be around in 100 years? How about 50 years? 25 years? I guess as long as we all keep kickin', we'll find out in due time.

Pictures of spartans coming later tonight.