TBLEAGUE S39: THE NEW CURVY LADY
I've been looking forward to this new body since it was announced, and decided to order one from Ebay as soon as they became available.
In addition to the two normal skin tone variants- pale (S38) and "suntan" (S39)- TBL seems to be offering more of their accessory bodies with optional heads. The version I bought is S39 with the optional head. They also seem to be including some minimal form of swimsuit. S39 includes the orange bikini in these photos.
I'm not going to bother putting her through the usual contortion tests- by now we pretty much can assume
TBL bodies are just about the most articulated bodies on the market.
Let's have a look at the new lady:
As I'll show a little bit more later, this body is an all new sculpt. When I entered this hobby about 20 years ago as of this writing, a body sculpt like this would not have been considered. I'm really glad to see how the hobby has progressed, and gives us so many more options today. I love her overall form, and I especially like that TBL has finally sculpted breasts that show at least a bit of the effects of gravity! The new bust sculpt really adds a lot to the realism of this body.
At the risk of nit-picking, I'm really glad they included a bikini. My gripe is why didn't they give her a top that fits better? Maybe they chose this design to highlight the new bust sculpt. The bikini is made of stretchy fabric, and I may have been able to get it to fit a bit better but I didn't want to risk putting indentations in her skin.
I also have to admit that tying off scale bikini straps is not one of my skills (but I'm more than happy to assist in the rigging of full scale ones).
Here's a closer view of the TBL sculpt:
I really like this sculpt. I don't know if they've used it with any other figures, but it's the first I've seen of it. Lovely details in her lips, her eyes and eyebrows. This is also one of the few heads with this type of hair style that works well right out of the package. Normally the curls are too large or they stick out at odd angles. TBL got them right here.
As you can see, she also is anatomically "correct" (a really strange way of saying she has female anatomy). It's more along the lines of S21/S22 and S28/S29, rather than the very detailed S22A/S23B:
As you can see, she also is anatomically "correct" (a really strange way of saying she has female anatomy). It's more along the lines of S21/S22 and S28/S29, rather than the very detailed S22A/S23B:
As long as we're considering details, I have to say that I really like the way they did her knees. Remember when action figure knees looked ugly? This another part of the overall body that's new:
There's a good reason she seems a bit hesitant to go outside: we were having 105 deg. F (40.5 C) days. Not only that, but the air was foul with smoke and ash from the extensive wildfires in our region. I just had to try posing her outside, even for a few quick photos.
One of the benefits of the larger feet is the figure is a lot more stable in standing poses, and this is very useful outdoors. They also allow for much better (though not quite completely realistic) walking poses. She can also stand with her legs in more natural positions rather than merely straight up "balanced". She also has a pair of high heel feet. I didn't have time to apply heat to change feet. Time to get back indoors!
I did a bit of an indoor shoot the next morning. I really enjoy photographing TBL figures (since the very first one, actually- see the Tiger Brothers shoot), and this one is no exception. Her nice contours and sculpting really come alive in the light.
I did a bit of an indoor shoot the next morning. I really enjoy photographing TBL figures (since the very first one, actually- see the Tiger Brothers shoot), and this one is no exception. Her nice contours and sculpting really come alive in the light.
One of the things I would like to clear up is a claim that S38/S39 are simply S28/S29 with larger breasts. This is completely inaccurate. Here's S29 for comparison:
S29 looks like she towers over S39, but a lot of the height difference is due to S29 wearing heels. The more significant difference I would like to show here is that the torsos are different. S29 is actually a bit leaner and longer (which contributes to the height difference here). Also notice not only is the navel different, the sculpting around it is different as well. Another difference is S39 has thicker thighs.
You might notice S29 is wearing a patriotic top. It's her way of reminding people to vote.
To summarize, I'm really happy with this new body. I love S29 (she will be a character in the saga), and S39 continues this trend. I'm glad to see we have the option of spending about $10 more for a figure with a head, which I think is a bargain for a nice sculpt these days. I'm looking forward to more photo shoots with her, and adding her to the characters in the saga!
