History Sets 2016

[Rosebud]

Sorry for the interruption. I normally just lurk to check some of the reviews and Tahra's are great. 

And there's the.... I suppose those are meant to be grapes.
(compared to sylvanian  )

The purple/blue grapes/eggplant is ... interesting. Nice part to have for no reason except ohhh pretty color.

I think those are actually supposed to be dates, palm dates, you know, the fruit. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark has a great reference to them.      And very much related to the Romans/Egyptian theme.

Pictures of Dates:
https://www.google.com/search?q=datte&biw=1366&bih=677&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLQz9U3yDVIT1biArHKkowtyyu1BP1KS4oySzLz84IzU1LLEyuLAQnBBcwrAAAA&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwih4Ib0mtvPAhXBpYMKHTRgB0kQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=dates

Although I agree that grapes (green and purple) are sorely missing from the playmobil range too. 

Anyway, thank for the reviews, and now I'm seriously considering StJohn's idea to combine my old galley with the new one.   

[Tiermann]

Interesting possibility, dates makes sense.
Nice to see you Erendira!

[Macruran]

I am always on the lookout for Ancient civilians and the new Egyptian theme has some great ones! Looking forward to them.

Has anyone translated the hieroglyphics on the pyramid?

[Justindo]

Great pics and reviews, Tahra!  Thank you! 

I'm thrilled that Playmobil has decided to re-launch their Ancient History Theme, as the Vikings and Romans are what got me back into Playmobil as an adult.

I agree that the Romans, save the add on family, Caesar's nice new cuirass printing, and the historically accurate ballista, are a tremendous disappointment, although I'm still glad to see Romans again, even if in the same form.  Unfortunately, nothing is really new here except the scutum and its design is inferior to the original.  I would have really liked to have seen Playmobil change or add to the Roman's color scheme with some green auxiliary soldiers and/or some black or blue Praetorians, all with matching new shield printing.  Even better, Playmobil could have given us some Greek and Spartan Hoplites with a new helmet and shield design.  The Roman chariot is particularly disappointing, as Playmobil could have given us a different color, namely white, so we would have had the four original Roman racing colors.  The Egyptian chariot is not as impressive as the original, but it looks more appropriate for a non-pharaoh, so it will be good for building a chariot corps.

The Egyptians definitely fare much better, looking more ornate than the originals, although I personally prefer the simpler originals for army building.  I don't think I'll be creating another Egyptian army with these new ones, but I will pick up at least one of each type of klicky and I will replace all my older cowhide shields with this new scarab beetle one.  The Egyptian family, well, camel soldier, pharaoh's treasure, 3 soldier pack, and Caesar and Cleopatra sets are all especially nice.  The pyramid looks like it pales in comparison from the original, but I'll probably buy one of each set in the theme. 

As is often the case with Playmobil, I'm happy they are releasing these sets but on many of them I think they could have done a better job.

[tahra]

(apologies for the delay.. still catching up!)

I agree that the Romans, save the add on family, Caesar's nice new cuirass printing, and the historically accurate ballista, are a tremendous disappointment, although I'm still glad to see Romans again, even if in the same form.  Unfortunately, nothing is really new here except the scutum and its design is inferior to the original.  I would have really liked to have seen Playmobil change or add to the Roman's color scheme with some green auxiliary soldiers and/or some black or blue Praetorians, all with matching new shield printing.  Even better, Playmobil could have given us some Greek and Spartan Hoplites with a new helmet and shield design. 

Well.. looking at it from our situation, yes. However, if you don't have any romans, they should be red, you know?  Of course, that doesn't explain all of them being twins. I hate that. I think it's lazy and silly. At least.

I think that there should be a set with different ones, even if some were the same (they are, after all, perfect - hairs excepted!).

The Roman chariot is particularly disappointing, as Playmobil could have given us a different color, namely white, so we would have had the four original Roman racing colors. 

That is true.

The Egyptians definitely fare much better, looking more ornate than the originals, although I personally prefer the simpler originals for army building.  I don't think I'll be creating another Egyptian army with these new ones, but I will pick up at least one of each type of klicky and I will replace all my older cowhide shields with this new scarab beetle one. 

Agree.. Basically cause I DO have an egyptian army already.. But I like the idea of replacing those shields.

Just want a bunch of camel things to make the camelry (I do have the camels too).

The Egyptian family, well, camel soldier, pharaoh's treasure, 3 soldier pack, and Caesar and Cleopatra sets are all especially nice.  The pyramid looks like it pales in comparison from the original, but I'll probably buy one of each set in the theme. 

Yeah, it's much smaller and half a pyramid... Though it is pretty and all.

As is often the case with Playmobil, I'm happy they are releasing these sets but on many of them I think they could have done a better job.

That is SOOOO true.

[Wesley Myers]

I am glad Playmobil has brought historical sets back and finally taken the time to put Egyptian and Romans together with Julius Caesar.

However, the figure with the lorica segmentata is a couple of centuries out of place.

All the Roman soldiers should have the chain mail and they should also have sputum that are rounded.

Not to mention a totally different helmet.

Like this:



Whereas figures with armour and shields like this are from a couple of centuries later:




As for the Egyptians of this period, they are Ptolomeic (Greek Successor) as when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt (as with all countries he conquered) he put one of his generals in place as the ruler.  In this case Ptolemy Soter.  Here is a bust of him:



As for Cleopatra (really Cleopatra VII) she really looked like this (a bust of her from the Altes Museum in Berlin):



She also had red hair, by the way.

As the Egyptian army was Greek Successor they would have been armoured as Greek hoplites.  (They had been under Greek rule for 250 years by the time Cleopatra VII came to the throne.)

Romans vs Egyptians at this period would have looked more like this:



History should be historical.

[StJohn]

Thanks Wesley for the exposé and pictures!

PM Egyptians is strongly based on New Kingdom iconography, and of course cannot do without a(n Old Kingdom) pyramid.

You're right that Cleopatra was by descent a Macedonian, but her dynasty and state / military had taken in a healthy dose of native Egyptian elements over the centuries of their Egyptian rule. With no more overseas territories to control or recruit from, Cleopatra's army presumably turned out more Egyptian than Greek, ethnically speaking. Whether this had implications for equipment and battle tactics, I don't know.

For a concise and up-to-date discussion of the Ptolemaic army, I recommend Christelle Fischer-Bovet.

Best wishes
StJohn

[Macruran]

Wesley I agree it would have been great if the new Roman theme had been Caesarean/late Republican style troops, and the new Egyptians Ptolemaics. Would have clearly distinguished the line. However this new series is a lot of retreading and fan service, so they are matching it to the previous (brilliantly executed) theme (hence all the lorica segmentata) as well as making it even more Hollywoodlike (i.e. matching pop culture conceptions, instead of being historically accurate). I think hoping that PM will give us the accurate historical themes we want is a forlorn hope.

The new Greek gods are AMAZING though!

[Birdie]

Fabulous reviews, thanks a ton I love that gold dog statue and sarcophagus 

Sorry for the interruption. I normally just lurk to check some of the reviews and Tahra's are great. 

I think those are actually supposed to be dates, palm dates, you know, the fruit. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark has a great reference to them.      And very much related to the Romans/Egyptian theme.

Oh I thought they were prunes!

[Lindama]

Thanks for the reviews.

I am absolutely bursting with hope that they will eventually release sets such as a villa, temple and more civilians. It would be amazing.