12 September – A Doll A Day 2022:
![[Image: september12a.jpg]](https://www.puuikibeach.com/images/adad2022/september12a.jpg)
![[Image: september12b.jpg]](https://www.puuikibeach.com/images/adad2022/september12b.jpg)
This TBLeague figure may be headed for the ol' eBay soon. It's something I shoulda done a long time ago. In fact, I never should have purchased this fig. It's not really my style. And other than brief appearances in maybe a half-dozen photos total, the poor thing has been wrapped up in tissue paper and stored in the bottom of a box for the last three and a half years.
If I'd kept the packaging it would be worth a fair bit of money now, but I discarded the box and inserts ages ago.
It occurs to me as I'm posting here that I could try augmenting the costume, or lack of costume, with some other "steampunk" costume pieces for which I've never found a use. Unfortunately, what passes as a costume on this "fantasy western" figure is pretty much permanently attached. Attempting to unclip, unsnap, or otherwise remove the current costume would likely result in damage to the pieces.
I don't much care for the hat. It's made of felt and it attracts dust and hair and lint like a magnet.
The spurs on the boots are pretty neat. The circular pointy bits are separate pieces so they actually rotate.
Okay, so now – this is sort of a stream-of-consciousness post as I get various ideas and as I look up information online – I see that a pre-owned fig with the original box recently sold on eBay for $212.00 USD including shipping. Mint-in-Unopened-Box examples sell for around $400.00 USD. That means that I'd be lucky to get $150 at best were I to sell this one. After eBay fees and shipping costs, that's hardly worth the effort, since I'd be lucky to clear $100.00. Purchasing a body and a head sculpt without a costume now costs over $100.00. That being the case, I'd be just as well off trying to carefully remove the costume and maybe selling the parts I can salvage, and dressing the figure in something a bit more tasteful.
But only a bit more tasteful. After all, this is a tacky, prurient Phicen figure.
Too much thinking is making my head hurt. Back to the storage box for this one for now, I guess.
I wish I could generate a little bit more enthusiasm for all the silly seamless "action figures" I've accumulated. My interest has waned considerably over the past couple of months, and even more in these recent weeks as I've been feeling under the weather. I'm hoping this week I'll finally shake off the grip of die Grippe.
PS: one thing, in general, about photographs of seamless action figures that really annoys me is photographs in which the angle of the head sitting on the neck looks awkward, stiff, or unrealistic. It is an extremely common issue with photographs of TBLeague (Phicen) figures, and I see that I have made that very mistake here myself.
My "excuse" is that I'm not feeling well, I was in a hurry, and I was intent on getting the figure to stand up without dropping the hat or rifle or random bits of clothing. I literally unwrapped the figure, set it up, snapped the photo, and was done in about five minutes. But the excuses are no excuse. The head thing annoys me when others do it, and it annoys me more when I do it myself, and I should not have allowed that to happen.
What this means is, lucky you, you may get to see, or have to endure, some more photos of this Fantasy Western figure this week until I can convince myself that I can get the head-neck angle right, while not overlooking awkward elbow creasing (another problem with these figures), unfeminine foot placement, or unrealistic arching of the back and shoulders.
"Unrealistic arching of the back and shoulders" on a figure shaped like this? Like that could possibly happen! If you look through photos of this type of figure online, many of the figures are posed with absurdly raised shoulders and arched backs to over-exaggerate the already over-exaggerated curves. Again, the head placement is often an additional issue; how is it that so many action figure photographers seem to have no idea how far a human head can swivel on the neck? These are supposed to be human figures, albeit somewhat stylized, not owls! Real people do not generally twist their heads around to look backwards over their shoulders, or at least, not without also twisting the torso and shoulders. The head-at-90-plus-degree-angle thing irritates me further, in addition to my general annoyance over stiff, awkward head posing.
Obviously I'm in a generally irritable mood at the moment, so I'll stop now. Did I mention the headache?
12 September – Nice Boots...
... among Other Nice Assets, like a Nice Rifle and a Nice Pistol
This TBLeague figure may be headed for the ol' eBay soon. It's something I shoulda done a long time ago. In fact, I never should have purchased this fig. It's not really my style. And other than brief appearances in maybe a half-dozen photos total, the poor thing has been wrapped up in tissue paper and stored in the bottom of a box for the last three and a half years.
If I'd kept the packaging it would be worth a fair bit of money now, but I discarded the box and inserts ages ago.
It occurs to me as I'm posting here that I could try augmenting the costume, or lack of costume, with some other "steampunk" costume pieces for which I've never found a use. Unfortunately, what passes as a costume on this "fantasy western" figure is pretty much permanently attached. Attempting to unclip, unsnap, or otherwise remove the current costume would likely result in damage to the pieces.
I don't much care for the hat. It's made of felt and it attracts dust and hair and lint like a magnet.
The spurs on the boots are pretty neat. The circular pointy bits are separate pieces so they actually rotate.
Okay, so now – this is sort of a stream-of-consciousness post as I get various ideas and as I look up information online – I see that a pre-owned fig with the original box recently sold on eBay for $212.00 USD including shipping. Mint-in-Unopened-Box examples sell for around $400.00 USD. That means that I'd be lucky to get $150 at best were I to sell this one. After eBay fees and shipping costs, that's hardly worth the effort, since I'd be lucky to clear $100.00. Purchasing a body and a head sculpt without a costume now costs over $100.00. That being the case, I'd be just as well off trying to carefully remove the costume and maybe selling the parts I can salvage, and dressing the figure in something a bit more tasteful.
But only a bit more tasteful. After all, this is a tacky, prurient Phicen figure.
Too much thinking is making my head hurt. Back to the storage box for this one for now, I guess.
I wish I could generate a little bit more enthusiasm for all the silly seamless "action figures" I've accumulated. My interest has waned considerably over the past couple of months, and even more in these recent weeks as I've been feeling under the weather. I'm hoping this week I'll finally shake off the grip of die Grippe.
PS: one thing, in general, about photographs of seamless action figures that really annoys me is photographs in which the angle of the head sitting on the neck looks awkward, stiff, or unrealistic. It is an extremely common issue with photographs of TBLeague (Phicen) figures, and I see that I have made that very mistake here myself.
My "excuse" is that I'm not feeling well, I was in a hurry, and I was intent on getting the figure to stand up without dropping the hat or rifle or random bits of clothing. I literally unwrapped the figure, set it up, snapped the photo, and was done in about five minutes. But the excuses are no excuse. The head thing annoys me when others do it, and it annoys me more when I do it myself, and I should not have allowed that to happen.
What this means is, lucky you, you may get to see, or have to endure, some more photos of this Fantasy Western figure this week until I can convince myself that I can get the head-neck angle right, while not overlooking awkward elbow creasing (another problem with these figures), unfeminine foot placement, or unrealistic arching of the back and shoulders.
"Unrealistic arching of the back and shoulders" on a figure shaped like this? Like that could possibly happen! If you look through photos of this type of figure online, many of the figures are posed with absurdly raised shoulders and arched backs to over-exaggerate the already over-exaggerated curves. Again, the head placement is often an additional issue; how is it that so many action figure photographers seem to have no idea how far a human head can swivel on the neck? These are supposed to be human figures, albeit somewhat stylized, not owls! Real people do not generally twist their heads around to look backwards over their shoulders, or at least, not without also twisting the torso and shoulders. The head-at-90-plus-degree-angle thing irritates me further, in addition to my general annoyance over stiff, awkward head posing.
Obviously I'm in a generally irritable mood at the moment, so I'll stop now. Did I mention the headache?
They're not dolls, they're action figures!