TBLeague/Phicen body for Iconiq Studios' Street Fighter figures (updated)

I missed it the first few times around, but I finally managed to obtain one recently. It was mostly curiosity on my part, as I realized it would be be exaggerated and based on animation. Still, it was impressive, and although I'm by no means a completist when it comes to TBLeague/Phicen bodies, I was happy to get one.

Several companies have gotten TBLeague/Phicen bodies for their products. Star Ace uses standard TBLeague/Phicen bodies, although at least for a couple of products (Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang) it seems to have secured a special, warmer brown coloring. Iconiq Studios goes the extra mile and commissions different body sculpts, which are neat additions to the line but unfortunately do not seem to be available as base bodies from TBLeague/Phicen itself -- as Kit Chen (OneSixthKit) explained, Iconiq owns the bodies. I have already reviewed (and customized) their Muhammad Ali body; the new one I finally obtained was the one from their Street Fighter V Ken (product announcement HERE). I think it is identical in shape, size, and sculpt to their Ryu (reviewed by MeMyself&I HERE), though I don't know if it is exactly the same in color; I do not own a Ryu, and even Ken I got parted out in pieces and not as a complete set. This is, therefore, not a review of the set, but a look at the body.

And it is definitely an impressive body, whether it works for one or not.



No, he's got nothing to hide (unless it be the absence of something), but I didn't want anyone getting upset. The body is massive, though, like Ryu's it is not particularly tall: by my measurement, he stands exactly 31 cm tall, just marginally taller than TBLeague's standard M35 body with a head (comparison photo farther below). But Ken weighs 808 g, which is a lot more than M35's 582 g, and it is easy to see why. The thighs and biceps are huge, as are the hands and especially feet. Even so, it is a tad delicate to balance him well, at least when not using a stand. He is so ripped and hefty, he seems to have stretchmarks (look at the midsection)!



I wish I had picked up the shorter-haired option, but that would have meant getting the other, more emotive head. The hair piece is meant to grab onto the head and attach more securely with a magnet. The magnet on mine had mysteriously disappeared, and the magnet I glued in its place was apparently not particularly strong, so the molded ponytail colluded with gravity to lift the hair up time and again. Edit: I realize the magnet was not missing, but had become unglued from the hair piece and was simply stuck to the other, recessed magnet at the top of the head. I suppose one could improvise, as the head is not exceedingly large -- which makes the body appear all the more massive -- and other options ought to be possible. Not sure this particular cowboy hat worked well. I gave him the trunks from the OneToys Fierce Beast set (product announcement HERE), which fit perfectly, as I suspected they would. On a personal note, I'm happy to "advertise" Jimmy John's, "The World's Best Sandwiches." But although it should be obvious, it might as well be said expressly: if you plan to customize or kitbash, plan for surmounting difficulties clothing this guy -- not a whole lot of the usual 1:6 scale outfits would fit him.



The "bald" head is almost usable, except for having a visible magnet at the top and the cranium being quite abbreviated. So I resigned myself to using the stock molded hair and ponytail for most shots. Perhaps I will find a better solution or "hair" the head... The ponytail has a ribbon, which hides a wire within it, allowing for dramatic motion- or wind-swept posing. The same is true for the stock belt (not shown).



I picked up only two pairs of hands, namely the fists and the closest-to-relaxed pair. As mentioned before, the hands are massive, in keeping with the original animation design. The even larger feet allow some stability in posing, although the heft of the body (combined with its metal skeleton) is still a challenge for the ankles.



As expected, the bulkier "flesh" interfered with the usually excellent TBLeague/Phicen articulation. One could get the limbs to extend pretty much as one wants them to, but holding that position is another matter: under the pull of the "flesh," they retract significantly. But one can still get a lot out of them.



For example, he can't hold a "Superhero landing pose," but he can kneel well enough without problems.



He can (almost) do the splits. Holding his arm straight up, however, is impossible -- it can reach the position, but cannot hold it.



Theoretically, TBLeague/Phicen bodies can roll themselves up into a ball. This one certainly can't stay rolled up. He could touch his toes, but only with assistance, not on his own.



I was surprised that, between the body's heft and the relative weakness of the ankle hold, he can be balanced securely enough in a walking position. Here with the regular flat feet:



But, unlike TBLeague/Phicen, Iconiq Studios gave him bent-toes feet, too, precisely for this sort of thing. They don't necessarily work much better (it still comes down to the body's heft and the ankle hold's strength/weakness), but look better:



He can also sit -- sounds basic, but it is an important test for a seamless body to pass -- with a little ingenuity. It helps to curve the back (two points of articulation in the back and waist), in addition to whatever angle closest to 90 degrees you can achieve with the thighs.



The girls love him. I suppose these are pretty much the extremes of TBLeague/Phicen physique.



And here is Ken with the next bulkiest TBLeague/Phicen standard base body, the M35, with the new Present Toys SP75 John Cena head; note the difference between the paler and yellower skintone and the standard TBLeague/Phicen "suntan" skin tone:



Here is Ken with the other body TBLeague/Phicen made for Iconiq Studios: Muhammad Ali.



Here is the intended look for Iconiq Studios' Ken. The belt and the tunic are wired. The pants have an elastic waistband, which helps, but are a pain to put on or take off.



I gave the body a slight recoloring with oil pastels -- and a slight recoloring is more difficult, it seems, than a more drastic recoloring -- in the hope of making it more compatible with a few more heads. Also gave him large but less extreme hands. Not a perfect match, but more or less workable (SooSoo Toys' Omnipotent Hero).



I also repainted this G. I. Joe head to match the recolored body. Been experimenting on it for a long time, and it finally kinda works.



And also this one, a repainted damaged Pirates of the Caribbean Will Turner head from Disney; the head is about the right size, though its neck could have been wider.



Anyway, I hope this was fun and/or informative, in keeping track of TBLeague/Phicen's expanding line up of bodies.
As always, what do you think?

Older reviews:

LDDoll 32Boy and 27M (Girl) Review

Iconiq Studios Muhammad Ali

Maha 1/6 scale modular body
 
NBA Real Masterpiece Luka Dončić 1/6 Scale Limited Edition Figure Review and more
 
ANT Flexible Female Seamless Body Review
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Cobb Vanth
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Luke Skywalker Bespin Review and Fun
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Return of the Jedi Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Assault Tank Commander
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Director Krennic
 
Homelander on a Budget (review of Toys Works' The Republican and comparisons to the others)
 
TBLeague Female Seamles Bodies S24A-S27B
 
Jiaou Doll Male Bodies
 
Kamisoul MAF Extreme Seamless Body with Jiaou and TBleague comparison
 
World Box AT030 Body
 
Six New-ish Bodies comparison
 
HH Model & Haoyu Toys Dragon Banner Bearer
 
Premier Toys PT0001 Wasteland Gladiator
 
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Figure Masters Vamp Lou
 
LDDoll Seamless Figure Body
 
John Constantine (Thunder Toys Hell Detective)
 
SooSoo Toys Frozen Man
 
SooSoo Toys Mr Butcher
 
Sideshow and Hot Toys Star Wars Scout Troopers (comparison)
 
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Mr Toys Barbarian Set B (He-Man)
 
Mr Toys Barbarian Set B (Conan the Barbarian)
 
Dragon and TBLeague Alexander the Great (comparison)
 
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JX Toys Peggy Carter
 
TBLeague 1:12 seamless male bodies
 
Hasbro Star Wars Rogue One Imperial Combat Assault Tank
 
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CC Toys Unexplored Nate (summer version)
 
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HY Toys Armchair
 
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Sideshow Jack Burton
 
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#tbleague #phicen #iconiq #ken #masters #streetfighter #seamless #male #body #articulation

Interesting review. The over-exaggerated muscles was never my thing when it came to the Street Fighter games, but the later heads you used look pretty good. I can see only one possible use for this body if it could be covered in blue fur (to make a decent comic book Beast from the X-Men).

thanks that a good comparison!
dont think i will be getting one as MAHOOSIV muscles isnt really a big thing for my characters.
his shins look HUGEEEEEE, like the most exaggerated part of the body

A useful review.
I didn't know articulation had these issues (though expected it).
The proportions are definitely stylized, but the body captures the animated look really well.

Stryker2012 wrote:Interesting review. The over-exaggerated muscles was never my thing when it came to the Street Fighter games, but the later heads you used look pretty good. I can see only one possible use for this body if it could be covered in blue fur (to make a decent comic book Beast from the X-Men).

Thank you, Mark, I appreciate it. Interesting idea. But anyone who tries this suggestion should be cautioned: many types of glue (like superglue) can melt holes in the TPE flesh. Silicon glue, on the other hand, seems to be safe and theoretically reversible (with some effort, one might be able to peel it off).

teamweapon wrote:thanks that a good comparison!
dont think i will be getting one as MAHOOSIV muscles isnt really a big thing for my characters.
his shins look HUGEEEEEE, like the most exaggerated part of the body

Thank you very much. Excellent observation. Proportionally the shins are indeed the most unrealistic. From what I recall, even the bulkiest body builders tend to have seemingly fine ankles. The size of the lower legs keeps me from trying smaller feet with this body -- apart from the issue of balance.

Visisonor wrote:A useful review.
I didn't know articulation had these issues (though expected it).
The proportions are definitely stylized, but the body captures the animated look really well.

Thank you very much. Yep, the articulation is there, but the poseability is limited by the retraction caused by the hefty "flesh." My knowledge of the Street Fighter games is limited, but I agree.

I realized I overlooked a couple of images, which I've now added to the original post above:
- Comparison of Ken with the Muhammad Ali body (also by TBLeague for Iconiq Studios)
- The intended look of Ken from the set.

That was super helpful, thank you, Ian! Nice work on the recolouring, and that G I Joe head works very well. I'm surprised how well those normal hands work, too! 

I'd be inclined to turn him into a Hulk...  

Now I like the Muhammad Ali body even more. It's gorgeous and holds up extremely well in comparisons!

Diana wrote:That was super helpful, thank you, Ian! Nice work on the recolouring, and that G I Joe head works very well. I'm surprised how well those normal hands work, too! 

I'd be inclined to turn him into a Hulk...  

Now I like the Muhammad Ali body even more. It's gorgeous and holds up extremely well in comparisons!

Thank you very much, Diana, I'm glad it was informative and always appreciate the feedback. Glad you liked the subtle (too subtle?) recoloring. I like this G. I. Joe head, and have been trying to make it look a little more realistic for a long time. Finally, this body, recolored, plus the n-th repaint, made it look like it might work. This head is, by the way, slightly larger than another version of itself, and this larger version looked out of scale on less bulky bodies, like the M35.

Believe it or not, but I was also thinking of Hulk -- but 31 cm in height is really not tall enough for that.

I love the Muhammad Ali body. Already recolored one (as you've seen elsewhere) and going to recolor a second one. Wish TBLeague/Phicen would release it as a base body, or make something similar -- since this one is probably owned by Iconiq Studios, same as the one I've reviewed here.

Cool looking figure Ian, and the upgrades look cool too! but, man that guy has huge feet

BAMComix wrote:Cool looking figure Ian, and the upgrades look cool too! but, man that guy has huge feet

Thank you very much, Dal. Yes he does! Humongous, to go with his shins. And you know what they say about big feet... Sorry, I couldn't resist the cliche -- rarely can... Get one for your bar; he can be an unruly tourist or a part-time bouncer.

GubernatorFan wrote:

BAMComix wrote:Cool looking figure Ian, and the upgrades look cool too! but, man that guy has huge feet

Thank you very much, Dal. Yes he does! Humongous, to go with his shins. And you know what they say about big feet... Sorry, I couldn't resist the cliche -- rarely can... Get one for your bar; he can be an unruly tourist or a part-time bouncer.

Indeed! expensive shoes . Seriously though, he does look awesome. I was looking at the new ryu figure over on onesixkit, he looks cool too.

BAMComix wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:

BAMComix wrote:Cool looking figure Ian, and the upgrades look cool too! but, man that guy has huge feet

Thank you very much, Dal. Yes he does! Humongous, to go with his shins. And you know what they say about big feet... Sorry, I couldn't resist the cliche -- rarely can... Get one for your bar; he can be an unruly tourist or a part-time bouncer.

Indeed! expensive shoes . Seriously though, he does look awesome. I was looking at the new ryu figure over on onesixkit, he looks cool too.

Indeed. With feet this size, you might have to make him an Ozzie and give him some sandals. LOL You made me look the new Ryu up. Love the bearded head sculpt. Looks like it might be a variant of the same body, but I like the battered look; somehow he looks more realistic.

GubernatorFan wrote:

BAMComix wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:

BAMComix wrote:Cool looking figure Ian, and the upgrades look cool too! but, man that guy has huge feet

Thank you very much, Dal. Yes he does! Humongous, to go with his shins. And you know what they say about big feet... Sorry, I couldn't resist the cliche -- rarely can... Get one for your bar; he can be an unruly tourist or a part-time bouncer.

Indeed! expensive shoes . Seriously though, he does look awesome. I was looking at the new ryu figure over on onesixkit, he looks cool too.

Indeed. With feet this size, you might have to make him an Ozzie and give him some sandals. LOL You made me look the new Ryu up. Love the bearded head sculpt. Looks like it might be a variant of the same body, but I like the battered look; somehow he looks more realistic.

I agree, he really is a great looking figure!