NEW PRODUCT: TBLeague PL2021-180 Imperial Guardian 1/12 Scale figure (Part 1)

Finally got around to opening one of my two Imperial Guardians. This is the "D" version. TBLeague calls it "blue" – go figure. (There is a slight blue cast to the armor.)


This is a heavily app-centuated photo. The light was not great when I snapped this pic, so I tried to salvage it by cheating with iPad apps.

The figure is okay, I guess. I mean, it's nicely detailed. It actually looks like the promo pictures. The pieces all went together with nothing breaking.

But... it cost me nearly a hundred bucks, and... it's a tiny little thing that just stands there. Sure, it looks kinda cool, but... maybe I'm really starting to get old. A hundred dollars used to be a significant amount of money. I realize that today it's not; a trip to the grocery store for "a few items" can easily punch a major hole in a C-note. I think I've mentioned before that McDonald's used to advertise "and change back from your dollar," but now it's "a twenty might not cover it."

The list price for even relatively simple 1/6 scale seamless figures now seems to start in the $180+ range, with more detailed new releases having list prices in the $300 and even $400 range. Compared to prices like that... a hundred clams still seems like kind of a lot for such a tiny little doll with plastic parts and nylon hair.

If I could get past the price, I'd be pleasantly impressed by the level of detail in this figure, and that the helmet actually fits on the head without looking ginormously out of scale.

The issue, then, is with me and my old-fashioned perceptions of value. What do I think a figure like this should cost? I dunno - forty bucks? But a playline doll in Walmart costs thirty bucks now.

I think the reality is that I'm getting too old for this hobby. I'm feeling foolish for spending a hundred dollars on a tiny doll that... I mean... what am I going to do with it?

I'm glad I didn't buy all six of them. While an "army" of Imperial Guardians would certainly look cool, I'd have a hard time seeing them as anything other than "that's over half a grand!"

Because I remember when a thousand dollars also meant something.

Is anyone else starting to feel overwhelmed by 'sticker shock' these days, or am I the only one whose income is seemingly not keeping up with the prices of things?

Personally I'm not a fan of the set(s), but your photograph, Dave, is very cool. And the pun was cute too.

GubernatorFan wrote:Personally I'm not a fan of the set(s)....

We each have our own "hang-ups" when it comes to figures, don't we? Mine is price. Yours is historical accuracy, or lack there-of, on "historical" figures. I will admit to finding the topics about armored figures and historical figures on this forum highly entertaining, and occasionally educational, as various members weigh in with critiques and opinions on the historical accuracy.

davidd wrote:
Is anyone else starting to feel overwhelmed by 'sticker shock' these days, or am I the only one whose income is seemingly not keeping up with the prices of things?

Luckily I live in the Netherlands, where all the prices were reset (halved) in 2002 with the introduction of the Euro. So I've just got to cope with 20 years of inflation

davidd wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:Personally I'm not a fan of the set(s)....

We each have our own "hang-ups" when it comes to figures, don't we?    Mine is price. Yours is historical accuracy, or lack there-of, on "historical" figures. I will admit to finding the topics about armored figures and historical figures on this forum highly entertaining, and occasionally educational, as various members weigh in with critiques and opinions on the historical accuracy.

Yes we do. Actually I'm with you on the price issue. I have scaled back on boxed sets significantly, largely in response to that (space is also a concern). As for realism, yes, that is one of my priorities, especially when it comes to things I collect. In cases like this one, I suppose I would have appreciated a modicum of more plausibility -- these are supposed to be knights, right?; the fuller armor addresses to some extent my usual problem with these products, which is that many of them are designed with an overdose of corny, over-the-top sexploitation. I appreciate the female form as much as the next guy, but so many products are just too suggestive or cringeworthy, or both -- either in general or for presentation purposes here.

It's the "eBay shipments are coming through" time of month for me again and I've got a parted out amber-haired head from the blue imperial knight figure.


A great sculpt, really. Reminds me somewhat of Leliana from Dragon Age. But that was expected.
What I did not expect, even though I should have, is the size.


Not only have I heard that TBLeague headsculpts run small, I even have a few of them (packaged with the bodies). Maybe because the SDMINI001 form SuperDuck, which is intended for TBL body, worked so well with VeryCool one, I kind of assumed TBL and VeryCool heads are interchangeable.
Well, not really:


(Though one can argue that the other heads are too large...)

It works really well on TBLeague body, however:

(Don't ask me what she is doing in the subway, in that outfit )

It's a really nice head, for that scale especially.

Visisonor wrote:

(Though one can argue that the other heads are too large...)

Got to say that if I see the three together, indeed the other heads look too large.

TravelGuide wrote:

Visisonor wrote:

(Though one can argue that the other heads are too large...)

Got to say that if I see the three together, indeed the other heads look too large.

Yep. I agree. I think this head looks fantastic on the Catch Me figure.

Some new TBLeague-sized clothes arrived so my codename: Leliana had a fitting session (also a new body but it's the same T01B as above).

This looked better on seller's photos:


And this caught my eye as an option for VeryCool body (to conceal most of the joints):

but it matches TBL perfectly.
Good thing I've got it in two colors.
Smalltalk:

(subway station would have made more sense probably but it can be an interstellar spacecraft interior before or after hibernation)

But what's the point of seamless body if most of it is covered, you might ask?

Less safe for work (but not too explicit) stuff:

NICE! I really like the similar style clothes of the 1/6 scale and have been looking for similar styles for 1/12. Nice that they are starting to plopp up! Though the jeans and the crop top don't work for me. The others are all the nicer and hopefully a sign of more to come!