Need advice on female seamed bodies

The recent heatwave has destroyed a big chunk of my seamless collection. As such I'm looking to seal and store away my surviving figures and replace them with BJD, or semi soft bodies. At least until I move somewhere less furnace/hell-like, in the future.

Sadly I know zero about BJD (Seamed), beyond the ones that have come with some of my verycool etc. (Which all broke at the ankles pretty quickly)

I need advice on good, but preferably cheap BJD/semi soft bodies, that follow the same/similar skin tone rules as TBL, and if they can have a similar physique to the S22/23 line, then all the better!
I've looked around online, and found a few things, but I'd prefer to hear people's personal experience on quality, poseability, price, etc.

Thanks folks.

EDIT: By BJD, I mean any visibly jointed bodies, like worldbox, verycool, etc. BJD is just what I've always called those type of bodies. Sorry for any confusion.

Have you considered trying out some of the upcoming WorldBox female bodies? They aren't BJDs, but still action figures. However, they aren't seamless and seem to have fairly nice/realistic body sculpts. Worth looking into at least?

Edit: these are the ones I'm referring to:

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t5692-worldbox-girls-body-jointed-female-figure-at201-202?highlight=worldbox+body



P.S. Sorry to hear your seamless bodies were destroyed. I'm curious, how were they all destroyed? I mean, how can you tell?

skywalkersaga wrote:

P.S. Sorry to hear your seamless bodies were destroyed. I'm curious, how were they all destroyed? I mean, how can you tell?

Thanks. Yeah I was looking at them. They look nice. However I was hoping for something tried and tested, rather than pre order. Also cheap is a bonus, as I will need maybe 7 or 8 of them.

My flat/apartment is new, so the insulation is amazing. This means winter is great. Summer however, can be unbearable! It also got VERY dry on the 40c + days (48c in the flat on one occasion).
I had dusted my figures and altered a few just before the heatwave hit, and they were all fine then.

My daughter very kindly alerted me to the issue. My figs (about 17 strong, in seamless) stand on my work station, just dotted around between monitors on various shelves. My 2 year old, thanks to mobile phones, thinks everything is touch screen. She climbed on the desk to try and choose a youtube video. One figure fell and caused a domino rally of destruction.
As I was picking them up, I noticed my imperial guardian had split badly in the crotch (from the buttocks to the front of the leg on one side). She's also split at the armpit, visible through the dress.
So I decided to check the rest. Much to my horror, most of them had some kind of splitting, or cracking. In some cases right to the skeleton at the elbows and armpits. One almost lost a whole forearm, just from a very slight bent elbow pose!
Several of them had cracking so severe, it was visible through clothing.

I've glued them with gorilla for now, but it's not ideal, and it will open up if I try to change clothing or repose.
A few have survived unscathed, so I want to box them up, until we move house in a year or so, and use hard bodies temporarily. The damaged ones can just stay on display.

I always knew they weren't a forever thing, given the soft materials, but I had hoped they'd last more than a few years! I've had no seamless issues until this bloody heatwave!

I tested some jointed bodies once but never translated the thread
(And I would also have to censor those dangerous parts)

http://forum.action-figure-district.de/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=2760

Overall I think Very Cool might be the best choice for jointed, and that 'Haoxyiantoys' worked ok too.

Links might have expired by now.

On page 2 Illusion shows the Poptoys Xing body.

Thank you for explaining in more detail, Ghost. I wonder if the effect was worse because they were left open to the air? I keep my bodies in boxes or in cupboards, so I'm hoping mine have made it through the heat (which, I agree, here in the UK it was unbearable).


Regarding your alternative options, I am not sure why you are going for BJDs, which in my experience are generally quite expensive? Also, the scales do not always align exactly with 1/6 action figures. I guess it depends on which BJDs you are talking about, but if you are wanting some cheaper, I think you'd be better off just going for non-seamless (visible-jointed) action figure bodies.

I can recommend the PopToys female bodies as at least being fairly sturdy. They won't be exactly the same shape as Tbleague's, but they are decent for what they are.

skywalkersaga wrote:Thank you for explaining in more detail, Ghost. I wonder if the effect was worse because they were left open to the air? I keep my bodies in boxes or in cupboards, so I'm hoping mine have made it through the heat (which, I agree, here in the UK it was unbearable).


Regarding your alternative options, I am not sure why you are going for BJDs, which in my experience are generally quite expensive? Also, the scales do not always align exactly with 1/6 action figures. I guess it depends on which BJDs you are talking about, but if you are wanting some cheaper, I think you'd be better off just going for non-seamless (visible-jointed) action figure bodies.

I can recommend the PopToys female bodies as at least being fairly sturdy. They won't be exactly the same shape as Tbleague's, but they are decent for what they are.

Thanks. I'll have a google of PopToys and see what the options are.
Yeah, my bad. By BJD, I meant jointed bodies. I've always called jointed bodies "ball joint dolls", just an old habit. I had an ex that collected really extravagant (expensive!!) BJD's years back, and it stuck since then.
What I'm looking for, is the sort of thing you're talking about.

I think you might be right about the air. I might have to invest in a small display cabinet. I think the very dry air probably leeched a lot of the moisture out of the TPE.

Ovy wrote:I tested some jointed bodies once but never translated the thread
(And I would also have to censor those dangerous parts)

http://forum.action-figure-district.de/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=2760

Overall I think Very Cool might be the best choice for jointed, and that 'Haoxyiantoys' worked ok too.

Links might have expired by now.

On page 2 Illusion shows the Poptoys Xing body.

Thanks Ovy. Google to the rescue with translate, so that's no problem.
Thanks for the link. I'll take a proper look later, when I have more time, but looks like lots of helpful stuff there. Much appreciated.

Ghost that is pretty horrible, but I guess the temperature and environment were too much. If they can be packed neatly enough, I would assemble the TBLeague bodies in one place in the coolest part of the house, at least temporarily. Or even rig together some sort of styrofoam box that might act as temperature insulation.

Ovy, that was fun, especially when they ganged up on the TBLeague, which was not made of hard plastic, nor low budget.

GubernatorFan wrote:Ghost that is pretty horrible, but I guess the temperature and environment were too much. If they can be packed neatly enough, I would assemble the TBLeague bodies in one place in the coolest part of the house, at least temporarily.  Or even rig together some sort of styrofoam box that might act as temperature insulation.

Ovy, that was fun, especially when they ganged up on the TBLeague, which was not made of hard plastic, nor low budget.

Thanks. Yeah, I'll definitely be finding a shaded, cool cupboard to stash them away in. We are looking to move in the near future anyway, so it won't be for long. Your insulated box is an interesting idea. I'll look into that.

Yeah, it's the dryness most of all I think.
Also though, I think it must be down to the figures themselves too. Some are definitely weaker than others, so maybe it's a silicone batch issue too.

I have one S23 in particular, that I damaged by accident. It was wearing a fantasy kitbash, with a sort of loin cloth. I stupidly displayed it over a fan on top of my PC case, which had obviously Marilyn Monroe'd hot air up her skirt, causing drying out and a crack in the groin.
I swapped it to a much more clothed figure, and given it was already broken, I posed it sitting, with its legs bent, arms bent, body hunched over, with its feet dangling over a shelf. Every limb bent at least 45 degrees.
Given I knew it was damaged, I hadn't bothered to check that one, but last night I did. Stripped it bare, to find...not a scratch! Plenty of dents, and a bit of staining, but not one tear/crack (Besides the initial one). Based on my neutrally posed figures being damaged, that one should have been in bits!

Some must be more inherently vulnerable than others. I did notice my pale bodies have suffered the worst of it. So perhaps pigment or lack of, effects the elasticity or moisture levels?

It's such a shame I damaged that S23, as it was obviously from a really good batch of silicone!

Hmm... strange that drying would do that. They ship these with little silica packs in the boxes to keep them dry, and generally we have been told to be concerned about wetness and humidity, although I imagine both extremes are bad. Was the S23B damage also sustained when it was hot? Or was the air coming out of the fan significantly warmer than otherwise? The material is TPE, by the way, not silicon, despite early advertisement on TBLeague's part.

If you do go for an attempt at creating a temperature-insulated box, I'd recommend putting each figure in a sealable plastic bag of appropriate size (I prefer Hefty, which has a sort of zipper), together with a silica pack or two, plus its accessories, if you like to keep them together. You can label the bag, in case you might forget which body is which. That's what I do, although I haven't gone as far as constructing a temperature-insulated box. Bagged figures are easier and space-economical to store, you can just pile them up together. Of course, that does not solve the issue of figures you leave out displayed, or repairing those that have been damaged.

There's also the possibility that some of the damage was incurred via either a) the bodies being kept in the same poses for too long while on display, and/or b) the actual fall itself. If the bodies were hot/warm when they tipped over and hit the floor, maybe this could have made them more susceptible to sort of cracking/bursting somehow?

skywalkersaga wrote:There's also the possibility that some of the damage was incurred via either a) the bodies being kept in the same poses for too long while on display, and/or b) the actual fall itself. If the bodies were hot/warm when they tipped over and hit the floor, maybe this could have made them more susceptible to sort of cracking/bursting somehow?

One figure fell into a cluster on the desk, and only that one fell a foot or so. The rest just toppled over on the desk. Also most of the damaged bodies weren't involved in the fall at all. I just checked them once I noticed the damaged guardian fig.

All but one of my seamless figures are displayed in pretty boring poses. Arms down, legs only slightly apart. Purely because I know materials like this have a tendency to split under constant stretching. So it shouldn't have been pose related.
I think it just got too hot, and too dry, for too long, added to the fact they aren't in a display box or cabinet. So the dry air was just constantly wicking away the TPE's moisture. Being in the vicinity of a warm PC probably didn't help either.
The edges of the cracks almost have a harder feeling to them, where the moisture is gone.

Lesson learned. They need a display case, and/or a cooler, more temperate home!

GubernatorFan wrote:Hmm... strange that drying would do that. They ship these with little silica packs in the boxes to keep them dry, and generally we have been told to be concerned about wetness and humidity, although I imagine both extremes are bad.  Was the S23B damage also sustained when it was hot?  Or was the air coming out of the fan significantly warmer than otherwise?  The material is TPE, by the way, not silicon, despite early advertisement on TBLeague's part.

If you do go for an attempt at creating a temperature-insulated box, I'd recommend putting each figure in a sealable plastic bag of appropriate size (I prefer Hefty, which has a sort of zipper), together with a silica pack or two, plus its accessories, if you like to keep them together.  You can label the bag, in case you might forget which body is which.  That's what I do, although I haven't gone as far as constructing a temperature-insulated box.  Bagged figures are easier and space-economical to store, you can just pile them up together.    Of course, that does not solve the issue of figures you leave out displayed, or repairing those that have been damaged.  

My building has a WhatsApp group. Kind of a homeowners association by text. I'm not on it, but a friend in the building told me it has been rife with complaints from residents about the intense heat. Some have contacted their MP and threatened legal action against the construction company.
It all stems from the building having a communal heating system, which is always pumping hot water around the building, so it's always available on tap. It's good for the environment (apperently?), but if the pipes aren't properly insulated, heat bleeds into the building, essentially like having radiators on 24/7, 365. It definitely seems our pipes are poorly (if at all) insulated. The hallways make you feel dizzy and unwell.

So when I say it's hot and dry, I'm not exaggerating! This place is nuts!
Word of advice, if you want to buy a new build property with communal heating, visit it in the summer, to see how hot it gets. We bought in November!
The upside I guess, is this winter should be warm, so the crazy fuel prices shouldn't be too bad for us. Silver linings.

The initial damage to the otherwise invincible figure came from a PC fan blowing hot air straight up. My PC is very powerful, because it's used for high end graphics packages (and games). When it's under load, it pumps out some serious heat. 12 hours of hot air a day, for weeks, would dry anything out I guess. So I'm not surprised it cracked. I was stupid to stand it there.
Never expected ambient hot temps to do so much harm to seamless though. Live and learn!

We actually just got a bunch of ziplock freezer bags from IKEA. Looks like some of them are getting "borrowed" for the figure collection.

I see. Sounds like what happened at my parents' condominium, which has radial heating (through the floor). Something broke with their thermostat, keeping the flat very warm (some parts more than others), until even the neighbors complained. Eventually they called a professional and he fixed it. But luckily that was simpler than insulating pipes throughout the structure.

Yes, Ziplocks should work (ironically they are not the ones with the zipper... or are they?).

GubernatorFan wrote:

Yes, Ziplocks should work (ironically they are not the ones with the zipper... or are they?).

I could be wrong, but I think ziploc is/was a brand, and they started out as the bags that you had to squeeze together to seal (that often didn't work very well), but now, like cellotape, it's kinda become a catchall name for any resealable plastic bag. These IKEA ones have the zips for sure. Handy little things.
I wonder how much money that tiny little invention was worth?

It's also worth investing in those 'Really Useful Boxes' (that's what they are called on Amazon at least, lol). I have a bunch of them and I keep all my ongoing /unfinished 1/6 projects in them. I generally use one box per figure. Not as nice as a display case but it keeps them sealed at least.

skywalkersaga wrote:It's also worth investing in those 'Really Useful Boxes' (that's what they are called on Amazon at least, lol). I have a bunch of them and I keep all my ongoing /unfinished 1/6 projects in them. I generally use one box per figure. Not as nice as a display case but it keeps them sealed at least.

Haha, great name for a box. Straight to the point.
Looks like a good selection of sizes too. Thanks.