NEW PRODUCT: TBLeague: Soldier Strange 1/6 Scale Action Figure

FreakinLobster wrote:Your photos are astonishing. Beautiful posing, composition and lighting. A true professional work. Kudos.

Now I'm sad for giving up on PO'ing it. This figure's gear is indeed very detailed. Just wished the armour on the leg was closed on the back or had some straps to hold the part and look more "believable" (I know, I know... still...). This opened part got me a wee bit bothered. As for the rest, it's pretty awesome. If I see it in stock, I may consider buying it.

Thank you for sharing your work.

Wow - thank you so much FL! And I agree with you about the leg armor - TBL seems to love to design the calf armor pieces with the open back - I think it would look so much better if they closed it off, even at just the bottom or top... Still, I really love this set. I think BBTS has her in stock at the moment if you do want to pick her up...

Ah, glad you could find your way to us. I always love seeing your beautiful photography. You really make these figures shine. And I think you’ll find the crowd here more receptive to your appreciation of TBL in general.

In fact, if you feel so inclined, a retrospective of all of your excellent TBL photos in the General section would probably garner a lot of attention. Many here are not on the Freaks board, and some rarely visit the OSW. It’s up to you, of course.

Welcome, desertdragon! I have to agree that your photography is gorgeous...absolutely beautiful composition and lighting. Thank you for sharing! : )

Thanks for sharing the beautiful photographs of the figure with us, Desertdragon, and welcome here.

FreakinLobster wrote:Just wished the armour on the leg was closed on the back or had some straps to hold the part and look more "believable" (I know, I know... still...). This opened part got me a wee bit bothered.

desertdragon wrote:And I agree with you about the leg armor - TBL seems to love to design the calf armor pieces with the open back - I think it would look so much better if they closed it off, even at just the bottom or top...

For what it is worth, whether TBLeague was thinking of this or not, the design of the classical Greek greaves was exactly like that -- they were open on the back (though probably leaving a narrower gap), and they clasped onto the lower leg due to the natural flexibility/springiness of the metal. So in a very loose sense this is potentially realistic. Of course, this is not classical Greek armor, but fantasy giant crab shell armor...

Stryker2011 wrote:Ah, glad you could find your way to us. I always love seeing your beautiful photography. You really make these figures shine. And I think you’ll find the crowd here more receptive to your appreciation of TBL in general.

In fact, if you feel so inclined, a retrospective of all of your excellent TBL photos in the General section would probably garner a lot of attention. Many here are not on the Freaks board, and some rarely visit the OSW. It’s up to you, of course.

Man, thank you so much Stryker - I'm genuinely humbled by people's comments here... I will love to post some of my TBL portfolio - I'll put something together over the next day or so... I make these photos simply because I love photography and I love these figures, and I'm just really happy you guys appreciate them

I will definitely be posting more on the forum in the future too - I think I have at least 4 TBL pieces on preorder, as well as some other stuff, so stay tuned

very nice pictures! if you tell me that was taken with a cellphone...i would have beg you to teach me!

FreakinLobster wrote:Just wished the armour on the leg was closed on the back or had some straps to hold the part and look more "believable" (I know, I know... still...). This opened part got me a wee bit bothered. As for the rest, it's pretty awesome. If I see it in stock, I may consider buying it.

Real greaves are open at the back. Some even "spring" open like these ones do. The only way to completely enclose the leg is to make the greave in two pieces and hinge them on one side.

What got me slightly bugged is that greaves have belts or straps (I don't know if this is the right word) on the back to adjust and hold them on the legs... and it's missing in this figure's piece.

But this is a tiny detail that's easily customisable, just for aesthetics.

FreakinLobster wrote:What got me slightly bugged is that greaves have belts or straps (I don't know if this is the right word) on the back to adjust and hold them on the legs... and it's missing in this figure's piece.

But this is a tiny detail that's easily customisable, just for aesthetics.

I totally agree with you my friend. I will definitely be changing that out to a wrap around lower leg armor.

FreakinLobster wrote:What got me slightly bugged is that greaves have belts or straps (I don't know if this is the right word) on the back to adjust and hold them on the legs... and it's missing in this figure's piece.

But this is a tiny detail that's easily customisable, just for aesthetics.

Actually, not quite. Classical greaves didn't require belts or straps, because they were custom sized and held in place by the springiness of the metal. Later Roman greaves (which were not used on a massive scale and were eventually abandoned) did have straps. But, yes, you can always customize that detail if you wanted to.

I've been lurking on these forums for a bit, but recent damage to my soldier strange figurine prompted me to come here seeking advice.

Does anyone know if any of the stock phicen /tbleague bodies match the one included in this boxed set?

Spots are beginning to appear all over the body (looks like the oil inside the material might be seeping out) and the stripe around the armpit area that's used to hold the shoulder armor in place has cut into the flesh, leaving quite a bad gash that I image will only get worse with time.

The thoughts that come to mind after having collected phicen fiures for almost 5 to 6 years is that they are disappointingly poor on longevity.
At the very least, if TBLeague sells stock bodies that precisely match all the boxed set bodies that they have released so far, then it wouldn't be too bad - it would then just be a matter of getting replacement bodies

Sorry for your troubles, yjong.
TBLeague/Phicen products are not flawless, although they tend to be better than the alternatives in terms of durability and functionality. Perhaps the conditions you store yours in are less than ideal (too hot? too humid? too much direct sunlight?); if handled much, the bodies need occasional repowdering to keep from getting tacky and more easily damaged. I haven't encountered spotting with these, although one of Jiaou Doll bodies did break out in blotches after cleaning it. But there are too many potential variables to guess what happened with yours.

There are others on the forum that are better at recognizing the specific bodies used in boxed sets. This is old enough that it might be (judging by the relatively defined musculature) an S22A-S23B body (the former is pale, the latter suntan). I would guess this is suntan, but can't guarantee it. The next popular option to use in boxed sets would have been S46A-S47B, but I don't think this is that.

Yes I'm pretty sure this is a s23 suntan. Phicen never really used the s22 pale version for their boxed sets. Most of their boxed sets in general seem to be suntan, for whatever reason.

Thanks for confirming, gooboo.

Thanks for sharing, GubernatorFan and gooboo. I might look into getting a S23 for the Soldier Strange.

Unfortunately I live in a hot and humid country and did not have the good sense to invest in a display case, nor have much in the way of knowledge regarding keeping my figurines in the best conditions.

So most of my figurines are sitting on my desk, in hot humid conditions and exposed to dust (although I did draw the blinds so that the room is pretty much  in perpetual darkness).

A lot of my figurines are starting to spot, and because I didn't know better back then, some of their joints have even started to split as well. e.g my Death Dealer's elbows have split because I left them in a 90 degree angle resting on his Throne. But strangely, even Red Sonja v2's elbow started splitting ever so slightly with just the tinniest bit of bend in the elbow in just a couple of years

I have probably in the vicinity of 30 or more figurines utilizing seamless bodies, so repowdering each one every so often them is going to be quite a lot of effort. Especially when the delicate costumes sometimes have to be taken off to powder those hard to reach places

That is unfortunate. Keeping them out indefinitely is nice for viewing but probably a bad idea, especially in such conditions. If there is great heat and humidity, and if conditions fluctuate too much, that will damage them -- more so than the posing or the dust. If I were you, I would experiment. Get one of the damaged bodies, whichever is least trouble to undress, and wash it with soap and water, then pat dry, and reapply protective powder. See if the spots disappear either during the wash (which you can repeat) or afterwards. In principle, you don't need really to wash and repowder the covered-up parts of the body that do not get handled directly by your hands.

The other experiment would be to get yourself a couple of new bodies. Set up one inside a closed door cupboard -- no need to be hermetically sealed, but not in direct sunlight (if the cupboard does not have transparent doors, that would take care of it, although it would naturally get in the way of you viewing it without opening). See if it gets damaged or if this is protection enough. Also place another body in a large enough plastic storage bag (I like the Hefty brand, which zips up, easier to use than Ziplock, but whatever you have available). Place the body inside it (clothed or not) with its accessories (for easy access) and one or two of those Silica packs that come with the bodies. If the bag is much bigger than the body, you can wrap the excess around it, providing extra cushioning/protection. You could view your figure that way, in a way, though you can also file it away in a drawer or box or whatever, protecting it more from temperature, humidity, and sunlight. See if that keeps it from getting damaged.

One of the big “life savers” for a climate such as yours, if you can swing it, is to get a small (one-room) air conditioner — make sure you can block out absolutely ALL sunlight, and a dehumidifier. You want the temperature to be roughly 65 (Fahrenheit) all year round in this room, and keep all of your figures in it. This will greatly increase the life span of your figures, and these bodies, in general.

Hey, yjong. I also live in a hot and humid place. My first 3 bodies got damaged due to being exposed in an opened shelf and in some poses for prolonged time, back when I also didn't know the cares we need with seamless bodies. Luckily in my case the damages restricted only to tears on either knees, elbows, armpits or crotch. I didn't have a problem with oily bodies... at least not with Phicen/TBLeague ones.

Now I do have a Genesis Mai Shiranui, the first one with red costume, and it came with a weird seamless body, not Jiaou nor TBL/Phicen... now THAT body is a mess, grossly oily and basically disintegrating, with tears everywhere, even though I kept it on neutral pose, rarely touched it AND repowdered it occasionally.

One tip that helps me regulate humidity: I always keep those small silica gel bags that come with the figures, and I leave them scattered around the closed shelves where my figures are.

Powdering them is a challenge at first, yet it is necessary for the body longevity. But you soon get used to it. With time you even develop technique to speed up the process. Regarding this topic, another suggestion I can give you, that I apply it myself, is: make a rotation schedule to powder a few figures each weekend, around 3 or 4 of them, to not get overburdened. This way you'll quickly grow the habit and it also won't take much time on the task.

GubernatorFan wrote:That is unfortunate. Keeping them out indefinitely is nice for viewing but probably a bad idea, especially in such conditions. If there is great heat and humidity, and if conditions fluctuate too much, that will damage them -- more so than the posing or the dust. If I were you, I would experiment. Get one of the damaged bodies, whichever is least trouble to undress, and wash it with soap and water, then pat dry, and reapply protective powder. See if the spots disappear either during the wash (which you can repeat) or afterwards. In principle, you don't need really to wash and repowder the covered-up parts of the body that do not get handled directly by your hands.

The other experiment would be to get yourself a couple of new bodies. Set up one inside a closed door cupboard -- no need to be hermetically sealed, but not in direct sunlight (if the cupboard does not have transparent doors, that would take care of it, although it would naturally get in the way of you viewing it without opening). See if it gets damaged or if this is protection enough. Also place another body in a large enough plastic storage bag (I like the Hefty brand, which zips up, easier to use than Ziplock, but whatever you have available). Place the body inside it (clothed or not) with its accessories (for easy access) and one or two of those Silica packs that come with the bodies. If the bag is much bigger than the body, you can wrap the excess around it, providing extra cushioning/protection. You could view your figure that way, in a way, though you can also file it away in a drawer or box or whatever, protecting it more from temperature, humidity, and sunlight. See if that keeps it from getting damaged.

Hi GubernatorFan,

Thanks for the tips.

I've actually tried what you suggested before - undress the figure, wash with mild soap, and repowder. It helps reduce the oil stains, but doesn't appear to completely remove them. In most cases, there will still be faint traces of oil stains left and they seem to be permanent.

That's a good suggestion with the cupboard, I'll have to try that out some time.

Stryker2012 wrote:One of the big “life savers” for a climate such as yours, if you can swing it, is to get a small (one-room) air conditioner — make sure you can block out absolutely ALL sunlight, and a dehumidifier. You want the temperature to be roughly 65 (Fahrenheit) all year round in this room, and keep all of your figures in it. This will greatly increase the life span of your figures, and these bodies, in general.

Would that I could. There's currently no work air-conditioning in the house I'm living in; just surviving on old-fashioned blade fans day in day out
Cost would be quite prohibitive at the moment to repair the air-conditioning in the house, also going to be quite high to leave it on 24 / 7.
But that definitely seems to be the ideal setup + a dehumidifier for where I am right now - thanks for sharing. I think it's time I make that move back to less humid regions like Australia (used to live in Melbourne).

FreakinLobster wrote:Hey, yjong. I also live in a hot and humid place. My first 3 bodies got damaged due to being exposed in an opened shelf and in some poses for prolonged time, back when I also didn't know the cares we need with seamless bodies. Luckily in my case the damages restricted only to tears on either knees, elbows, armpits or crotch. I didn't have a problem with oily bodies... at least not with Phicen/TBLeague ones.

Now I do have a Genesis Mai Shiranui, the first one with red costume, and it came with a weird seamless body, not Jiaou nor TBL/Phicen... now THAT body is a mess, grossly oily and basically disintegrating, with tears everywhere, even though I kept it on neutral pose, rarely touched it AND repowdered it occasionally.

One tip that helps me regulate humidity: I always keep those small silica gel bags that come with the figures, and I leave them scattered around the closed shelves where my figures are.

Powdering them is a challenge at first, yet it is necessary for the body longevity. But you soon get used to it. With time you even develop technique to speed up the process. Regarding this topic, another suggestion I can give you, that I apply it myself, is: make a rotation schedule to powder a few figures each weekend, around 3 or 4 of them, to not get overburdened. This way you'll quickly grow the habit and it also won't take much time on the task.

Thanks for the tip, I do keep the small gel bags as well, although I never thought to use them, especially with all my figures out in the open.

But I agree with you, getting into a "repowdering" routine seems to be the way to go towards maintaining these figures and I may even start enjoying the process. Just annoying, especially with some figures having those faux leather costumes that eventually flake and peel - another major topic, another major pain point for collectors to be sure

It's me again

I've tried to remove all accessories on the Soldier Strange, but now it seems I've hit the impossible with the chitin breastplate.

It's one molded piece and seems impossible to remove

I'm curious if anyone has attempted and successfully removed the chitin breastplate intact without damaging the body?

The only way I’ve removed those is to cut them at the seam line.

Hi Stryker, appreciate the reply.

That's a real shame.  I see they also did the same for the Knights of Fire figurines.

Really affects the longevity of the product