NEW PRODUCT: HENGTOYS: 1/6 Persian Empire Series-Elephant Soldiers & Elephant Captains & War Elephants (# PE-001 / 2/3)

GubernatorFan wrote:Sorry, I missed this post before. You make very good points. Yes, Pier 1 Imports or similar stores might have some elephant statues that would work in a pinch, although the style and size would narrow down the potential selection considerably. It is believed Hannibal would have used (primarily) African forest elephants which are a now extinct subspecies, and considerably shorter in stature than the African elephants that still exist. The Persians would have used Indian elephants, and some of those might have been used even by Hannibal, because of the tradition of their use from India to the Mediterranean (including Pyrros of Epirus, who invaded Italy with them in the 280s BC). These would be bigger than the African forest elephants but smaller than the existing African elephants. So maybe the product really is something that was once intended to be Hannibal's elephants (or based on information or imagery related to those). On the other hand, could you imagine if Asmus tried to recreate the "Oliphaunts" from Lord of the Rings?

Moonbase Alpha Male wrote:Very useful and interesting info on Hannibal's elephants, thanks. On the option of using East Indian decor items for 1/6 elephants, whether the dynamic statues or more static elephant coffee tables, you are right that neither would be optimal.  But I am speaking from a very multicultural city (Toronto) so our East Indian goods go deeper than a Pier-1 Imports level (who have gone out of business anyway) but rather a lot of quirky one-off shops, and I've seen a couple of elephants that would have almost worked.  No room for me to collect them but I wish I had at least taken pictures.  Speaking of no room to keep things, wow you're right how amazing Asmus Oliphaunts would be.  In comparison to something we were talking about in the other thread, FIVETOYS: 1/6 guard tower, 1/6th Oliphaunts start to seem more feasible.

GubernatorFan wrote:I didn't realize they had shut down. Or that there are more realistic looking elephant decorative options. A statue (effectively) of the right size would be a hefty thing no matter the material (unless it is rubber or Styrofoam). On the other hand, Hasbro's new larger AT-AT and THIS glorious thing (which I regrettably left behind in the great move) are testimony that things of about the right size can be made, and can even be articulated. Oliphaunts are feasible; just not very likely...

GubernatorFan wrote:LOL that would be one big elephant indeed!

agentghost wrote:so how large would a realistic 1/6 war elephant be?

GubernatorFan wrote:

agentghost wrote:so how large would a realistic 1/6 war elephant be?

In sixth scale, the average Asian war elephant would be about 46 cm tall at the shoulder.

shazzdan wrote:

Valiarde wrote:I like the second figure as a base for Saladin. Interested to use as a base figure. Nice

Saladin lived around 300 years before most of this equipment was being used. Saladin was a Kurd, and the Kurds were predominantly heavy cavalry at the time. He would have had a lance and straight sword, and worn long-sleeved mail or a kazaghand (cloth-covered mail) with mail leggings, and forearm and shin guards. No bow, no curved sword, and no char-ayna plate armour. You could use the above helmet and forearm bracers but that is about it. The only real difference between Kurdish equipment and Crusader equipment were round shields and conical helmets.

There is an anecdote where Saladin was saved from an assassin's garotte because he slept with a mail collar on his neck but it was small and light enough to be concealed under his clothing so the above mail collar is probably too substantial to be appropriate for Saladin.