TBLeague / Phicen seamless body cons and pros?

Hello

I have questions on TBLeague seamless body.
I only have a few 1/6 scale figures, and all of them are plastic bodies.  
Those plastic bodies are ok, but the articulation is not that great in my opinion.
I have 1/12 sale 1000 toys android body, and it has the best articulation, but I do not see this kind of articulation on 1/6 scale figures.

Now, those seamless body has the metal bones covered with silicon body, and it seems like the articulation is pretty good, or better than plastic bodies.
I can see that it can be hard to wear clothes specially tight one since the material is silicon.
How about the longevity?  Does it last long?  Does it get stain easily?  Do they get cracked if leave in one position such as kneeling down shooting pose long time?
What are the cons of these bodies?

Do you recommend this body over plastic bodies?
Any advice and info would be great.

Thank you.

I started with a couple of the old Phicen plastic-skeleton seamless bodies, and when they broke at the biceps, I nearly gave up on the idea. Nevertheless, once they switched to stainless steel skeletons, I checked them out and never looked back. While I still pick up the odd parted-out hard plastic open-jointed body (if the price is right), the seamless bodies have become the standard for me, on principle. A reasonably well-articulated hard plastic body is still going to do the job if fully covered up. But the moment you have to show elbows or knees or more, seamless is the way to go. And while Jiaou and Kamisoul and LDDoll (less so ADD Toys) have done a decent job with their seamless bodies, TBLeague / Phicen offers the best product in my opinion. Having a complete metal skeleton and smooth moving joints is one of the main advantages, and the relative hardiness of the TPE (it isn't silicon, despite being frequently so described) seamless "skin" (really "flesh") another.

The TBLeague / Phicen bodies are surprisingly durable, and I say this as someone who has actually "flayed" one as an experiment. That said, damage can occur, and even I have found minor holes (from air bubbles?) and splits on occasion. Your basic enemies are excessive heat, high humidity, direct sunlight exposure, and extreme posing for a long duration. Any of these conditions by itself is not going to make a difference, especially if it is only for a short time; but allowing it for a prolonged period and especially a combination of some of these conditions, would likely result in damage. In those respects, and in ease of clothing (whether finding it or putting it on), the hard-plastic bodies have an advantage. Surprisingly, in realistic articulation, the seamless bodies and especially TBLeague / Phicen tend to have the advantage.

So, long story short, they are better bodies, but they come with some limitations: harder to dress, greater care (storage, posing) needed. If you want to create a custom figure of Diana flexing her bow to shoot down some (offscreen) offender, you can, but leave it long enough, especially in less than ideal conditions, and you'll likely see some holes or splits at the flexed elbow. However, if you only left it like that for a few hours or a day or two, there would probably be no problem.

Here are some reviews and other relevant threads, some of which you have probably already seen; note that they might contain multiple relevant postings, not just the initial post, as well as links to other relevant content:

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t3013-tbleague-phicen-seamless-bodies-with-steel-skeleton-catalog-updated-continually

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t6256-six-new-ish-bodies-comparison

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t627-tbleague-super-flexible-female-seamless-bodies-s24a-s27b

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1403-clothing-tbleague-phicen-seamless-bodies-updated-part-xxx-december-2022
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t3830-jiaou-doll-male-bodies-10a-11c-12d-17a-updated-may-2023-with-tbleague-m30-m31-m32-m33-m35-comparison

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t6542-new-kamisoul-maf-extreme-seamless-body-with-jiaou-and-tbleague-comparison

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1055-phicen-tbleague-superflexible-seamless-male-body-m36-review-updated-with-part-2

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t247-tbleague-phicen-m35-updated-photo-heavy

GubernatorFan wrote:I started with a couple of the old Phicen plastic-skeleton seamless bodies, and when they broke at the biceps, I nearly gave up on the idea. Nevertheless, once they switched to stainless steel skeletons, I checked them out and never looked back. While I still pick up the odd parted-out hard plastic open-jointed body (if the price is right), the seamless bodies have become the standard for me, on principle. A reasonably well-articulated hard plastic body is still going to do the job if fully covered up. But the moment you have to show elbows or knees or more, seamless is the way to go. And while Jiaou and Kamisoul and LDDoll (less so ADD Toys) have done a decent job with their seamless bodies, TBLeague / Phicen offers the best product in my opinion. Having a complete metal skeleton and smooth moving joints is one of the main advantages, and the relative hardiness of the TPE (it isn't silicon, despite being frequently so described) seamless "skin" (really "flesh") another.

The TBLeague / Phicen bodies are surprisingly durable, and I say this as someone who has actually "flayed" one as an experiment. That said, damage can occur, and even I have found minor holes (from air bubbles?) and splits on occasion. Your basic enemies are excessive heat, high humidity, direct sunlight exposure, and extreme posing for a long duration. Any of these conditions by itself is not going to make a difference, especially if it is only for a short time; but allowing it for a prolonged period and especially a combination of some of these conditions, would likely result in damage. In those respects, and in ease of clothing (whether finding it or putting it on), the hard-plastic bodies have an advantage. Surprisingly, in realistic articulation, the seamless bodies and especially TBLeague / Phicen tend to have the advantage.

So, long story short, they are better bodies, but they come with some limitations: harder to dress, greater care (storage, posing) needed. If you want to create a custom figure of Diana flexing her bow to shoot down some (offscreen) offender, you can, but leave it long enough, especially in less than ideal conditions, and you'll likely see some holes or splits at the flexed elbow. However, if you only left it like that for a few hours or a day or two, there would probably be no problem.

Here are some reviews and other relevant threads, some of which you have probably already seen; note that they might contain multiple relevant postings, not just the initial post, as well as links to other relevant content:

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t3013-tbleague-phicen-seamless-bodies-with-steel-skeleton-catalog-updated-continually

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t6256-six-new-ish-bodies-comparison

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t627-tbleague-super-flexible-female-seamless-bodies-s24a-s27b

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1403-clothing-tbleague-phicen-seamless-bodies-updated-part-xxx-december-2022
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t3830-jiaou-doll-male-bodies-10a-11c-12d-17a-updated-may-2023-with-tbleague-m30-m31-m32-m33-m35-comparison

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t6542-new-kamisoul-maf-extreme-seamless-body-with-jiaou-and-tbleague-comparison

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1055-phicen-tbleague-superflexible-seamless-male-body-m36-review-updated-with-part-2

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t247-tbleague-phicen-m35-updated-photo-heavy

Ah, thank you so much for the reply and the links.
I will check all the links and decide whether I go with the plastic bodies or seamless ones.
I do change poses once every week, so I need to think about whether the seamless bodies are right for me.
I guess I just need to change the poses more often.  I do not have figures that exposes arms and legs so so far it's ok to have the plastic bodies.
If I am going with exposed legs and arms, I guess seamless bodies are way to go.

You're welcome, I hope they help.

For the most part I am a seamless body fan. As Gubernatorfan notes, seamless bodies are the way to go if your figure will have exposed knees, elbows, or shoulders. In particular, female figures tend to look better... obviously subjective, but to my eye at least... when seamless bodies are used.

I have quite a few seamless bodies, and for the most part I have not had any significant problems with them.

Until...




These are the knees of a male TBLeague seamless body. The body was stored wrapped in tissue in a plastic storage tub for several months in a complete "neutral" position, with arms and legs straight. When I took the figure out of the tub a few weeks back and began to dress it, I noticed the knees splitting as soon as I bent them while dressing the figure.

I found this unexpected deterioration quite discouraging, as this particular body has probably seen the least use of any of my figures. I don't know if storage conditions were not right, or if this was a figure from a "bad batch" as is occasionally described, or what.

I'm still using the figure, and it's wearing long trousers, so the knee damage isn't visible. There were also a few similar spots, although smaller, at the shoulders. The surface damage does not affect the range of motion or the ability of the figure to hold a pose.

I'd say one of the "cons" of seamless bodies is that once in a while you might get a "bad one" that is less durable than the average, and there's really no way to tell until it "goes bad."

An advantage of seamless figures, particularly the male bodies, is that they are quite heavy relative to plastic jointed bodies, which allows them to balance better than jointed figures and to hold more active poses without fully depending on stands.

I can only second what a lot of people have said. The main con for me is that the seamless bodies are expensive and do have some fragility in the joint area of the 'skin'. However, they are very great for posing for photoshoots, and for adding extra realism to exposed joint areas. The posing of the joints issue only becomes a problem if you leave them ON display like that. They have to be kept in a neutral pose when stored. So maybe not ideal for a long-term display area. But for photoshoots, many find them ideal.

What davidd says about getting a 'bad' one now and again, this seems to be a possibility. I haven't run into it yet myself, but it's good to bear in mind. What I would do is if you have a figure you want to always look in impeccable condition, to get a spare, back-up tbleague body in the same model and make, and keep it in the original tbleague box. Don't use it, just leave it 'new' and only use it if the one on the figure gets damaged somehow.

Again, that's an expensive solution if it's for every single figure, but might be ok if it's just for a few 'select' favourite figures.

skywalkersaga wrote:I can only second what a lot of people have said. The main con for me is that the seamless bodies are expensive and do have some fragility in the joint area of the 'skin'. However, they are very great for posing for photoshoots, and for adding extra realism to exposed joint areas. The posing of the joints issue only becomes a problem if you leave them ON display like that. They have to be kept in a neutral pose when stored. So maybe not ideal for a long-term display area. But for photoshoots, many find them ideal.

What davidd says about getting a 'bad' one now and again, this seems to be a possibility. I haven't run into it yet myself, but it's good to bear in mind. What I would do is if you have a figure you want to always look in impeccable condition, to get a spare, back-up tbleague body in the same model and make, and keep it in the original tbleague box. Don't use it, just leave it 'new' and only use it if the one on the figure gets damaged somehow.

Again, that's an expensive solution if it's for every single figure, but might be ok if it's just for a few 'select' favourite figures.

Thank you so much for the reply.
Exactly what I thought.
I am glad I asked here before I do anything!

davidd wrote:For the most part I am a seamless body fan. As Gubernatorfan notes, seamless bodies are the way to go if your figure will have exposed knees, elbows, or shoulders. In particular, female figures tend to look better... obviously subjective, but to my eye at least... when seamless bodies are used.

I have quite a few seamless bodies, and for the most part I have not had any significant problems with them.

Until...

These are the knees of a male TBLeague seamless body. The body was stored wrapped in tissue in a plastic storage tub for several months in a complete "neutral" position, with arms and legs straight. When I took the figure out of the tub a few weeks back and began to dress it, I noticed the knees splitting as soon as I bent them while dressing the figure.

I found this unexpected deterioration quite discouraging, as this particular body has probably seen the least use of any of my figures. I don't know if storage conditions were not right, or if this was a figure from a "bad batch" as is occasionally described, or what.

I'm still using the figure, and it's wearing long trousers, so the knee damage isn't visible. There were also a few similar spots, although smaller, at the shoulders. The surface damage does not affect the range of motion or the ability of the figure to hold a pose.

I'd say one of the "cons" of seamless bodies is that once in a while you might get a "bad one" that is less durable than the average, and there's really no way to tell until it "goes bad."

An advantage of seamless figures, particularly the male bodies, is that they are quite heavy relative to plastic jointed bodies, which allows them to balance better than jointed figures and to hold more active poses without fully depending on stands.

Thank you for the reply with the picture.
I think I will stick with plastic bodies for now since I do not have figures that exposed elbows and knees.
The plastic joints do not really bother me too much.
I was considering the seamless body because they seem to have better articulation.
I always posed my figures on my display so I will stick with plastic bodies for now.

David, that is horrible. I don't know how it could have happened if the body was in a neutral position. Maybe some sort of preexisting issue indeed. Or was it very warm and humid?

GubernatorFan wrote:David, that is horrible. I don't know how it could have happened if the body was in a neutral position. Maybe some sort of preexisting issue indeed. Or was it very warm and humid?

Davidd lives in Florida from what I remember (?), so perhaps....

skywalkersaga wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:David, that is horrible. I don't know how it could have happened if the body was in a neutral position. Maybe some sort of preexisting issue indeed. Or was it very warm and humid?

Davidd lives in Florida from what I remember (?), so perhaps....

Nope... very dry. Most of the year I live in southern Utah. The humidity is extremely low. Like single digit low much of the time. Maybe the figures simply dry out and crack.

It's possible the storage tub got shifted in to the path of direct sun for a period of time, which would have caused the interior of the tub to become extremely hot. I don't think this happened, but I suppose it could have. It happened once with some other figures, and some of their weapons actually melted.

I've had other non-Phicen dolls "melt" chemically by coming in contact with other types of plastic while in storage, but the Phicen body was carefully wrapped.

Anyway, a "moderate con" of seamless figures is that they are more sensitive to humidity and temperature variations than are hard plastic action figure bodies.

davidd wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:David, that is horrible. I don't know how it could have happened if the body was in a neutral position. Maybe some sort of preexisting issue indeed. Or was it very warm and humid?

Davidd lives in Florida from what I remember (?), so perhaps....

Nope... very dry. Most of the year I live in southern Utah. The humidity is extremely low. Like single digit low much of the time. Maybe the figures simply dry out and crack.

It's possible the storage tub got shifted in to the path of direct sun for a period of time, which would have caused the interior of  the tub to become extremely hot. I don't think this happened, but I suppose it could have. It happened once with some other figures, and some of their weapons actually melted.

I've had other non-Phicen dolls "melt" chemically by coming in contact with other types of plastic while in storage, but the Phicen body was carefully wrapped.

Anyway, a "moderate con" of seamless figures is that they are more sensitive to humidity and temperature variations than are hard plastic action figure bodies.

a


Oh sorry, I got you confused with another poster...

Hmm, yes, hot and direct sunlight for a long time would be bad, but again, you're not sure that's what happened.
One thing I know you don't want touching stretched TBLeague / Phicen TPE is MarkAll permanent marker, as discussed in the custom Maul (that's Maulrats for you, David) thread.

skywalkersaga wrote:


Oh sorry, I got you confused with another poster...

I "wintered" in Florida the past two seasons. "Snowbird" I believe is the term! So you were half correct!

GubernatorFan wrote:
One thing I know you don't want touching stretched TBLeague / Phicen TPE is MarkAll permanent marker, as discussed in the custom Maul (that's Maulrats for you, David) thread.

Ah, yes, I remember the MaulRats post!

davidd wrote:
Nope... very dry. Most of the year I live in southern Utah. The humidity is extremely low. Like single digit low much of the time. Maybe the figures simply dry out and crack.

I think that is too dry and I'm surprised that not more of your figures have suffered from this.