General TBLeague 1/12 Discussion

GeeWillikers wrote:Well, I've now got my first 1/12 figure, the TBL Vampirella, which is lovely all round. It seems so small and delicate after handling 1/6 figures though that I'm currently afraid of breaking something, but I'm sure that will pass.    But the lack of elbow rotation is going to quickly become a real pain, I can already tell.

The sculpt seemed a little undersized at first, until I realised that it's the boots that are making her legs seem reallllllllly long and are throwing my perception off a little as a result. The expression is unusual - a slightly sad and reflective looking Vampi, which is actually a nice change from the previous haughty/imperious 1/6 versions and the just plain weird SHCC 'winking' and Munro sculpts. Alongside the neutral SHCC sculpt, I think this one is my favourite and is more in character (I would love the even more character-accurate 1/6 Gonzalez sculpt if only that sideways glance wasn't so limiting).

I also found it odd that given how skimpy it is, the costume isn't 'glued on' like with some other 1/12 figures, and there have been wardrobe malfunctions aplenty already.

All-in, though, well worth the money. Now all I have to do is start engineering a 1/12 environment for her and her future friends and enemies to exist in.

Sariah is on the way already (I bagged the last one remaining at GianToy by the looks of it), and two Imperial Knights are on pre-order.

Oohhhh... Welcome... I think we are going to see some fun things coming from your camp... I have a Sariah too, and wardrobe malfunctions seem to be common there too. I don't really want the outfits glued, as that would limit possibilities. Although, just having another body to put the head on will cover that thought...

Anyway, I am in the process of getting a Vampi too. Missed out on the Purgi unfortunately. Still looking every day on the old fleabay... Nothing, except a very expensive ($600+) 1/6 version. No thanks... I want the 1/12... But welcome to the 1/12 world. It is starting to take off for me too.

I was perusing eBay and saw an Arhian COH head at a reasonable price. All that time, effort, and money trying to find a decent head for Pirate Arhian, and the answer was right under my nose the whole time. She wore both outfits in a 24 hour span in the comic. Why wouldn’t she have the same hair and face as COH Arhian?



I’m been kind of missing the 1/12 lately. Time for some Imperial Guardians!

Xavion2004 wrote:I’m been kind of missing the 1/12 lately.  Time for some Imperial Guardians!

AGREED! And even though I never warmed up to her... she looks great. Of course. But maybe a real cloth would look better than that plastic thing...

I find these 1/12 figures very frustrating compared to their 1/6 counterparts. I just want to clarify first that these are very nice figures, no doubt about it, I just hope that Tbleague makes some minor but immensely significant improvements to them.

Bicep swivel/elbow rotation - Why, TBLeague? Just...why? It's pretty outrageous they took it out and the most important change they can make in future bodies.

Tops and belts/waist flaps - They don't sit on the figures right. Arhian CoH, Skarah, Sariah, Captain Sparta, probably Tariah, the darn things just don't fit compared to the 1/6 versions. They look off and they don't stay up/on. I don't know if the fix is a differently shaped body or larger/stiffer clothing but something needs to be done because you so much as look at the figures and the waist clothing flies up and the chest clothing falls down LOL. The Imperial Guardian, at least, won't suffer from this problem.

Head sculpts - I think they're improving here ever so slightly, but in general the heads don't have a lot of detail and the hair is so much worse than the 1/6 figures. They also make some odd choices in coloring and expression, Red Sonja's head and hair being a prime example. Sariah's head is more Red Sonja than the actual Red Sonja figure (it looks good swapped btw), and the Sariah head is wrong for the Sariah character and strangely different in aesthetic and coloring from the 1/6 offering. Also two of the base bodies come with unpainted heads, something I've never come across from this company before, and most of the official pictures show the heads painted. It's silly.

I enjoy the 1/12 figures, I have them all except for Tariah and the re-color of Sparta, I just wish they were truly the miniaturized versions of the 1/6 figures they seemed at first glance, rather than the compromised figures we currently get.

All that sounds fair, but I don't think it is very surprising, given downsizing to twelfth-scale.

So what are some compatible head sculpts for the guys?  Any tips or tricks from various lines you guys have found?  I've made some pretty good outfit mods for these figures like He-Man, Conan, pro wrestler looks, Kobra Kai karate gi esque suits from Articulated Icons, I'm very close to making a good Harabusa ninja etc.

Heads, though, they keep failing.  The revelations Masterverse He-Man, which has a hilariously small head for the stock body it comes with, actually fits well on the bigger TBL 1/12.  The skin tone is so far off, however, it's unusuable.  Mafex Thor fits in terms of proportion, but it would probably require taking it apart and juryrigging the connector socket.  That's okay, though, that's the kind of thing I'm looking for.

Any figure lines, or certain figures from a line, that you know look right on the TBL 1/12 male bodies?  The female ones are (slightly) easier to find with some figuarts and 1/12 verycool working after some X-Acto surgery.

I recently also looked into 1/12 Tbleague figures and got the Arhian head huntress. I was disappointed with the head sculpt and the limited movement of the arms/hands. Most annoying for me, however, I found it very difficult to take reasonable shots of 1/12 figures, because one hardly gets the required depth of field out of common lenses. Here is a recent shot, in which I tried to maximize sharpness by reducing the aperture to F22. How do you take pics of your figures? Are there any tricks? I know that I should really use a tripod for 1/12 shots, but I am not eager to loose my flexibility in quickly taking pics from different angles.

CJ3A3075 by Randam Hajile, auf Flickr

Kallor8 wrote:So what are some compatible head sculpts for the guys?  Any tips or tricks from various lines you guys have found?  I've made some pretty good outfit mods for these figures like He-Man, Conan, pro wrestler looks, Kobra Kai karate gi esque suits from Articulated Icons, I'm very close to making a good Harabusa ninja etc.

Heads, though, they keep failing.  The revelations Masterverse He-Man, which has a hilariously small head for the stock body it comes with, actually fits well on the bigger TBL 1/12.  The skin tone is so far off, however, it's unusuable.  Mafex Thor fits in terms of proportion, but it would probably require taking it apart and juryrigging the connector socket.  That's okay, though, that's the kind of thing I'm looking for.

Any figure lines, or certain figures from a line, that you know look right on the TBL 1/12 male bodies?  The female ones are (slightly) easier to find with some figuarts and 1/12 verycool working after some X-Acto surgery.

For some ideas (admittedly not many), check out these threads;

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t2098-tbleague-phicen-112-seamless-male-bodies-review-updated

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t3080-toy-center-clothing-sets-for-seamless-tbleague-112-male-bodies

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t2595-tbleague-phicen-t03b-112-seamless-female-body-and-friends

Randam Hajile wrote:I recently also looked into 1/12 Tbleague figures and got the Arhian head huntress. I was disappointed with the head sculpt and the limited movement of the arms/hands. Most annoying for me, however, I found it very difficult to take reasonable shots of 1/12 figures, because one hardly gets the required depth of field out of common lenses. Here is a recent shot, in which I tried to maximize sharpness by reducing the aperture to F22. How do you take pics of your figures? Are there any tricks? I know that I should really use a tripod for 1/12 shots, but I am not eager to loose my flexibility in quickly taking pics from different angles.

I don't know about tricks, but your photo turned out beautifully.

andam Hajile wrote:I recently also looked into 1/12 Tbleague figures and got the Arhian head huntress. I was disappointed with the head sculpt and the limited movement of the arms/hands. Most annoying for me, however, I found it very difficult to take reasonable shots of 1/12 figures, because one hardly gets the required depth of field out of common lenses. Here is a recent shot, in which I tried to maximize sharpness by reducing the aperture to F22. How do you take pics of your figures? Are there any tricks? I know that I should really use a tripod for 1/12 shots, but I am not eager to loose my flexibility in quickly taking pics from different angles.
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I usually just use my iPhone 8+, which I find to perform better with 1/12 than with 1/6, due to the missing macro feature (which they've only just introduced with the 13).

But I would definitely use a tripod. I have a small one, that I place on a little table for the right height. Because it is so small I can still leave it attached to the camera and move it around if I so choose.

Thanks for the feedback! I think I will start working with my tripod and a remote control.  

Checking in on this thread after a while, glad to see the 1/12 is still going strong for some. I sometimes wish I could get into that scale since certain things are so much easier in it --- such as collecting horses, and also finding in-scale accessories and dioramas, due to the prevlance of 1/12 scale dollhouses. There also seems to be quite a market for custom 1/12 tbleague clothing on Etsy -- probably because all the dollhouse people bought a bunch of 1/12 tbleague figures and bodies and now need to dress them. It's great to see it thriving, though I get frustrated when I see a nice outfit and wish they had it in 1/6.

But alas, my meagre 1/12 collection remains Star Wars figures-only, and therefore limited to the toy-line Black Series plastic fare. I often think that if there had been a proper collector's line of Mezco-style SW figures at the time I first got into collecting, I might not have ventured into 1/6. Too late to turn back now, though.

I’m making a conscious effort to transition back to primarily being a 1/12 collector. For me, 1/12 is nice and steady, regardless of what line or style of figure I’m collecting. 1/6 has been a lot of highs and lows, and everything is just so expensive, whether you’re buying complete figures or individual parts. I’m not going to get out of 1/6 entirely, but my goal is to limit myself to somewhere between 4 and 6 purchases a year as opposed to 2 or 3 a month which is where I was at the height of my 1/6 mania.

You're absolutely right that 1/6 requires 'pacing oneself' and being fairly patient about putting together figures. The high costs plus the fact that there's often a long wait for releases also means it's not ideal if you prefer a steady flow of collectibles.

skywalkersaga wrote:You're absolutely right that 1/6 requires 'pacing oneself' and being fairly patient about putting together figures.

That’s actually what I’ve been doing the last two months…patiently (by my standards anyway) gathering pieces for two 1/6 figures I’m working on. It allows me to continue shopping and having something coming in the mail to look forward to, but now it’s $15 here and $30 there as opposed to big purchases. By the time I’m done, I’ll have spent the same as I would have on two complete figures, maybe even more due to some trial and error, but it’s been a nice way to slow myself down.

Hey guys, do we have any rumors on what the next 1/12 might be? Do we still think they'll do Spartan Commander or another base body?

I haven’t heard of anything. I would Nader how the Imperial Guarfians did? I did see a 1/12 Cleopatra when someone posted pictures from a trade show last year, but I’m not sure if TBL is actually going to release her or not.

Interesting that you should bring this up, as I have been wondering about the overall state of 1/12 recently. For a number of months it was looking like the popularity of 1/12 figures might be on track to eclipse that of 1/6, even among members here on this forum. But it's been quite a number of weeks since I've seen any mention of 1/12 on the forum. Was 1/12 a fad, a passing fancy? Or has there been a temporary lull in interest as releases have slowed, possible as a result of supply chain issues?

All of the 1/12 Imperial Guardian versions (A thru F) are still available at BigBadToyStore. A and B are sold out at Giantoy, but the others are still available. They did not sell out as quickly as I had expected them to.

I do not see many pre-orders for 1/12 figures offered through BBTS or Giantoy at the moment.

davidd wrote:Interesting that you should bring this up, as I have been wondering about the overall state of 1/12 recently. For a number of months it was looking like the popularity of 1/12 figures might be on track to eclipse that of 1/6, even among members here on this forum. But it's been quite a number of weeks since I've seen any mention of 1/12 on the forum. Was 1/12 a fad, a passing fancy? Or has there been a temporary lull in interest as releases have slowed, possible as a result of supply chain issues?

All of the 1/12 Imperial Guardian versions (A thru F) are still available at BigBadToyStore. A and B are sold out at Giantoy, but the others are still available. They did not sell out as quickly as I had expected them to.

I do not see many pre-orders for 1/12 figures offered through BBTS or Giantoy at the moment.

I've had a roller coaster of a ride with the seamless 1/12s but I actually think that the Imperial Guardian was a *strong* positive release for TBLeague in terms of addressing the quality issues plaguing the line. I'm talking about for me, personally, here since I don't have my finger on the 1/12 pulse to gauge popularity overall, but I hope they aren't abandoning the space right as they start getting it right.

Aside from TBL, I still see other things being offered in 1/12 (mainly military), but it does seem to be slowing down. My gripe with this scale is the limited quality doesn’t justify the expense. When a 1/12 figure with a fraction of the detail and quality is almost as expensive as a 1/6th from just a few years ago… yeah, I’m not interested.

I am still committed to the 1/12 scale more so than 1/6 for the cost and space factors.
But I'm grateful for the break in release announcements. I've seen some, but none for my collection.

I am awaiting my 1/12 pre orders of
Tifa
Wukong
Neo
Trinity
Mezco Crow

I also felt like the Imperial Guardians were an overall success, despite it not being sold out yet. They are just gorgeous. And I am still expecting that the Spartan Army Commanders will be released in 1/12, though I'm hoping it won't be too soon!
And maybe they'll go for some of the more armoured figures, since they seem to be on a roll there...

I seem to have much better experiences with 1/12 in general. Bear in mind that I’m much more of a collector than a creator. I just want to take my figure out of the packaging, do whatever assembling is required, put it in some poses, and be done. Not done in terms of enjoying the figure, but done in terms of not spending any additional money on the figure for a more attractive head, a better body, upgrading or replacing broken accessories, etc.

Of course the problem is that 1/12 offers such a limited selection that it’s hard not to buy 1/6 as well. If every release was offered in both 1/6 and 1/12, I doubt I’d own any 1/6 figures at all.

I have still been following and getting 1/12 figures. The latest is this one:



She is based on a TBLeague, but is a LYNXPULSE SE001 Seance Era Action Figure. I believe she is still available from Giantoy.

She looks great! I was a little tempted by her, but decided not to get myself into anime figure collecting as well. It wasn't that long ago that I put my Sailor Moon figure collection away to make room for the realistic 1/6 collection. ^^