ALL72028

Although the Cimmerians were actually a real society in ancient times, in the world of fantasy they are most famous for producing Conan the Barbarian, seen in numerous books, films and games. The first set of these warriors in this range portrayed them in very much the guise we are used to from the Arnold Schwarzenegger films of the 1980s and others, muscle-bound and wearing relatively little in order to show off those muscles. With this set we find a lot more costume and a lot more armour. In many ways this set could be called 'winter uniform', as several have cloaks or furs, and almost all wear a helmet. The considerable amount of armour also makes these warriors seem much heavier than the first set, and the many designs of armour, especially the helmets, are excellent, with lots of spikes, horns and ridges. The clothing is a mixture of basic furs and more tailored garments, but again fits well with the look of these fighters. As with the first set, the weapons are mostly very large swords, axes and spears, with an immense mace and a very large hammer also thrown in.

Sculpting of these figures is pretty good, which is just as well as they are complex subjects with lots of impressive and unnecessarily complex features. We particularly liked the look of the axe-man in the middle row, who is less body-builder and more just fat, yet must also be very strong. As usual we have weapons mostly held to the side of the figure or directly over the middle of the head, which is never realistic but a common feature of many figures at this scale. Also common is the inefficient way some of the two-handed weapons are being held, but having said that the poses are lively and lots of them look to be in immediate contact with an opponent. Unfortunately the flash is terrible here - there is mountains of it in many places, completely filling the space between the legs of the last figure and scarring them all.