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The Gladiator
A duck wearing miniature bronze-look armor and a galea helmet with a red plume. Novelty duck for history and Rome fans.
Specifications
| Material | Vinyl (PVC), bronze-tone painted armor, fabric plume |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 3.7 x 3.5 x 4.1 in (helmet plume included) |
| Weight | 2.6 oz |
| Color | Yellow body, bronze armor, red plume |
| Age Grade | 3+ years |
| Origin | Designed on Vashon Island, WA · Assembled overseas |
| Care Instructions | Wipe clean armor. Spot clean plume, do not submerge. |
The Full Story
The Gladiator was designed to coincide with a major historical epic film release, in what our marketing team, at the time, considered a fairly savvy piece of pop-culture timing. Legal review of the final design took considerably longer than the design work itself, on account of an extended, cautious process to ensure the armor and helmet silhouette was generic enough to avoid any resemblance to specific film costuming, rather than any particular historical armor style.
The result is what one designer described as "gladiator by committee," an armor set drawing loosely from several centuries and regions of Roman military history mashed together into something that reads, correctly, as "gladiator-shaped" without being any one specific thing. Historians who have written in about this, and there have been a few, tend to be polite but firm about the inaccuracies. We remain, respectfully, unbothered, on the grounds that it is a rubber duck.
The red plume fabric is dyed in small batches, and the color has shifted subtly at least three times over the years as dye suppliers have changed, meaning a truly dedicated collector could, in theory, sort their Gladiator ducks by production era based on plume shade alone. We are not aware of anyone who has actually done this, but we would be delighted to hear from them if they exist.
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Customer Reviews
Armor detail is genuinely impressive, the bronze paint has real depth to it rather than looking flat. Plume adds a nice bit of height and drama.
Bought for my dad who loves ancient history, he appreciated the effort even while pointing out several inaccuracies, which felt very on brand for him.
No issues at all, happy customer.
Kept this on a windowsill and the red plume has noticeably lightened over about six months. Should probably display out of direct sun, wish that had been mentioned in the care instructions.
My partner has an actual degree in classical studies and gave this duck a solid, if slightly begrudging, seal of approval, quote 'it's obviously not accurate but it's not offensively wrong either,' which I am told is high praise coming from her.
Was hoping to see the duck's full head underneath, the helmet is molded as one piece with the body. Not a flaw exactly, just wasn't what I expected.