Author Topic: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation  (Read 10136 times)

Offline Macruran

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Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« on: May 16, 2021, 05:10:51 »
ΩΕΛϹΟΜΕ ΤΟ ΘΙΣ ΤΟΠΙϹ!

Ι ὁπε υου ενηου ιτ!

It occurred to me we need more discussion of the fantastic Greek Gods series! So here is a thread for reviewing and discussing them! I will take a look at each god one at a time. IMPORTANT: this thread is also open for other people to review and discuss the sets! Please join in!

Note that this is only for the gods, we will do the other Greek mythology sets separately!

"We like things in little." - G. Stein  
 :roman:

Offline drbatesy

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2021, 23:06:08 »
They are a great series and have, I believe, a lot of potential to integrate into any existing Playmobil play. Their caprice can generate a lot of plot points! I'm reminded of the 1963 film, Jason and the Argonauts, where you really get to see the Olympians manipulating human affairs, and that line in Lear, "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport."

Steve.

Offline Macruran

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2021, 23:17:38 »
One fun aspect of the theme is that it is in fact TWO themes. All you have to do is rename the gods and they function perfectly well as ROMAN gods. Zeus is Jupiter, Hera is Juno, etc. Two themes for the price of one!  :roman:
"We like things in little." - G. Stein  
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Offline Hadoque

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2021, 02:27:25 »
Nothing divine and rather off-topic, but without your picture I might have forgotten where the inspiration for 18th-century men´s wigs came from.

Resistance is futile, you will be boarded!

Offline drbatesy

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2021, 11:52:37 »
I've managed to avoid buying the Greek gods - so far - but I would love to see the muses. I'd get my wallet out for Clio!  :lol:

Offline Macruran

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2021, 18:44:06 »
So you're thinking "Okay, where's the content?" Here comes some! Of course we have to start with Zeus!



I have to say, they knocked it out of the park. If I had been asked to imagine a Playmobil Zeus, this is pretty much what I would have come up with. White clothing with gold trim, white beard, lightning, staff, eagle. Really can't go wrong!



The Roman cape is done in a rich wine colour, new to this set, which suits the Z-man and the Greek theme overall - "wine dark sea" and all that. Matches his little seat too.



If I were to nitpick I'd say that I'm pretty sure the bald eagle is not native to the eastern Mediterranean. Would it have killed them to make the eagle all brown? They've done it before: 30 66 4780 - Eagle, wings folded. I think I'm going to replace it.

With the Olympus Palace set you actually get a SECOND Zeus, in a blue outfit.



Wreath is the duller gold. Lightning is translucent orangey-pink. No neck detailing, and the hem detailing is different from the white Zeus's. I like to think of this guy as Zeus in his winter blues, and the other one as him in his summer whites. Alternatively, Zeus can literally be in two places at once! Winter lightning is probably a different colour, hence his unusually hued thunderbolts!



They issued the Blue Zeus with an identical wine-coloured cape as the Summer Zeus has. I feel this was a misstep. The blue and the wine clash to my eye. A missed opportunity to do the Roman cape in white, which is a serious need! I've chosen to give him a black cape instead. Red might work too, I haven't settled yet.

Anyway that is our first god, and what a great figure he is!



Bonus: here is a version of Zeus by the blog Mad On Playmobil. Pretty similar in concept, but note they got the eagle right!



Next up: Hera!
« Last Edit: May 24, 2021, 08:31:45 by Macruran »
"We like things in little." - G. Stein  
 :roman:

Offline tahra

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2021, 19:51:31 »
Great review :D

Offline StJohn

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2021, 23:44:58 »
Nice! Thank you, Macruran. You're right that a Roman cape in white is a desideratum.

Your Mount Olympus is looking really good! I much admire the fine sticker application skills on display there. :cloud9: I haven't opened mine yet, probably because I dread to discharge that job.

Offline Macruran

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2021, 07:34:03 »
Your Mount Olympus is looking really good! I much admire the fine sticker application skills on display there. :cloud9: I haven't opened mine yet, probably because I dread to discharge that job.

I kept putting it off for exactly that reason! I finally mustered (and ketchup) the courage to do it and concentrated very hard as I was applying the stickers. Also I have found that a pair of fine point tweezers comes in very handy!

By the way I discovered while researching Greek gods that the sort of square S pattern on Zeus, the palace, and so many other Greek things is called a "meander" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meander_(art:sherlock:
"We like things in little." - G. Stein  
 :roman:

Offline PMatt

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Re: Ye Gods! An Olympian Appreciation
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2021, 08:04:10 »
Nice review – looking forward to the next installments!  :)