D&D General E. Gary Gygax auction Nov 2023

[Parmandur]

Getting back on track....I hope the high bidders put the manuscripts in a museum. That's where they belong.

Fun note: Harrison Ford is also about Conan sized.

 

[Parmandur]

Howard himself was six feet, 180, right? About my size. I see guys in the 6'2", 220 range (usually heavier) every day. They're sizable, but not extraordinary.

I'm 6'2" 300 lbs, myself, so no being tall amd hefty isn't uncommon (and 220 pounds is hefty at 6'2"). However, Conan is operating in an ancient world where it definitely is. Point is, he is not a body builder type.

Yes, his then-rough English enunciation and diction and the script should take some of the blame. There's a definite difference to the personality as conveyed on the page vs the screen.

Writing and direction, yup. It's a good character...but it is a different t one from the stories. And I can see Gygax taking that pwraonally.

 

[Sacrosanct]

and 220 pounds is hefty at 6'2"

Really? This was me when I was at 220 lbs. (Technically I'm 6'2 and 1/2"). I considered myself to have a dad bod, but never "hefty".

 

[Parmandur]

Really? This was me when I was at 220 lbs. (Technically I'm 6'2 and 1/2"). I considered myself to have a dad bod, but never "hefty".

View attachment 328956

According to BMI, which I have sevre problems with as a system, anything over 195 at 6'2" is overweight. 220 is pushing being "obese", only missing by like 10 pounds. So, Gregory Peck was nearly obese, as arw. Brandon Routh, Gerard Butler, and Henry Cavill (all of whom match Conan's physical profile). So much for labels...but yes, 220 is statistically large st 6'2", so book-Conan is a Big Dude particularly in make believe ancient Mediterranean land, even if he is not Marvel Xomics or Arnold Schwarzenegger big.

 

[Clint_L]

BMI doesn't do a good job of distinguishing between fat and muscle, partially because some of the associated health risks also don't differentiate between fat and muscle as much as we tend to think.

 

[Mannahnin]

According to BMI, which I have sevre problems with as a system, anything over 195 at 6'2" is overweight. 220 is pushing being "obese", only missing by like 10 pounds. So, Gregory Peck was nearly obese, as arw. Brandon Routh, Gerard Butler, and Henry Cavill (all of whom match Conan's physical profile). So much for labels...but yes, 220 is statistically large st 6'2", so book-Conan is a Big Dude particularly in make believe ancient Mediterranean land, even if he is not Marvel Xomics or Arnold Schwarzenegger big.

Schwarzenegger was 6' 2", 235-260 in his youth/prime.

"Hefty" is of course a relative term. As you note, BMI seems to expect everyone to be built like a distance runner and labels just about anyone with significant muscle mass as obese. You're a big guy, but not extraordinarily big in for our culture. At ~6', 180-185 I'm still regarded as relatively skinny by many of my male peers, and women who are used to overweight men.

I agree that 6'2" 215 would be massive if Howard's assumption is indeed that the average man in his settings is 5' 6" or under, but I'm not sure that's true in his writings.

....anyhoo, I hope the auction is going well, that good funds are raised, and that some items do make it into museums. Or at the very least into collections whose owners are happy to let researchers access them.

 

[darjr]

Really? This was me when I was at 220 lbs. (Technically I'm 6'2 and 1/2"). I considered myself to have a dad bod, but never "hefty".

View attachment 328956

This was just before I tore muscles in my hip and thigh.

6’1” 295lbs

 

[Parmandur]

OK, looking into it, Gygax didn't have a big problem with Schwarzenegger other than Schwarzenegger having brown hair instead of black. He was grouchy about, inter alia:

• Thulsa Doom's cult being full of darned flower children hippies
• Conan's decision making process
• the plot logic
• the weapon props
• excessive sex and violence (basically, being an Italian movie)

 

[Scribe]

We should all aspire to look like Chris Bumstead err Conan...

 

[Mannahnin]

This was just before I tore muscles in my hip and thigh.

6’1” 295lbs
View attachment 328960

I'd be comfortable with a modest wager that you're the closest Conan-analogue among ENWorld's regular posters. Albeit I get that you're older than Conan was in his prime.

OK, looking into it, Gygax didn't have a big problem with Schwarzenegger other than Schwarzenegger having brown hair instead of black. He was grouchy about, inter alia:

• Thulsa Doom's cult being full of darned flower children hippies
• Conan's decision making process
• the plot logic
• the weapon props
• excessive sex and violence (basically, being an Italian movie)

Yup. Hair color/eye color a cliche nerd nitpick. For my money the flower children exterior of the serpent cult was topical and plausible, referencing both the Manson Family and how other cults often have a fluffy external face. One can criticize various points of the movie, especially the relatively wooden or exaggerated acting by most of the cast (Jones and von Sydow excepted!), but it's still an unreasonably beautiful B movie. With one of the greatest film scores of all time (running through my head right now).