Well, it's December 30th, and almost the end of 2021 as well as my vacation. If you live in Ontario, Canada like I do, you were just told that your kids would have to stay home for an extra two days, which given the alternative, isn't that bad. As luck would have, I'm also ready to put some words to what is likely my last photoset for this year, unless by some miracle I am left alone on New Years Eve. Presenting the Court of the Dead 1/6 Kier: First Sword of Death, powered as always by TBLeague.
So I generally don't have a desire to get Sideshow Collectibles stuff. I mean, some stuff I get may be solicited by them, but it very rarely a Sideshow product. I'm not looking to move into their statues, and their figures have generally been... kind of bad. Then along came the Court of the Dead, an IP of theirs that featured characters which very much had that Horror vibe. The license initially went to TBLeague, who have released three figures, with word on the street stating that either the license is now in possession of ThreeZero, or the license for the male characters. Either way, it's been a while since the line has seen any TBLeague action. Kier was the first figure to be released, and she's effectively an enforcer for Death. Her backstory reads effectively she was tossed out of Heaven for being imperfect and was restored to this glowing visage of health by Death. There is a variant of this figure which depicts the character if she hadn't been rejected from Heaven and instead was allowed to thrive, violent tendencies and all.
I believe she retailed for $169 USD, and is probably one of the most modestly priced 1/6 figures sold by Sideshow - really, a bargain by their standards:
- 1 X TBLeague Body (Modified S20/21)
- 1 X Kier Headsculpt
- 6 x Posing/Gripping Hands
- 4 X Feet (Flat, Arched)
- 1 X Outfit (Mask, Cape, Mantle, Shoulder Armour, Right Forearm Armour, Left Bicep Ring, Left Wrist Guard, Body Armour, Loin Cloth, Shin Armour)
- 1 X Longsword
- 1 X Flaming Skull Accessory
- 1 X Base
First off, the Base. It's... OK, I guess. There's no stand or anything to actually support the figure and the detailing is failrly basic, especially the various non rock elements. Overall, it's functional but it's no Sariah skull throne.
I also want to point out that this is the first TBLeague figure I've owned that uses the default feet the base body comes with. Yeah, it's painted a different colour, but its still the same feet. Due to their colouring (supposedly dried blood), it looks like Kier has a case of dirty Hobbit feet.
Here's Kier decked out with most of her gear, a good place to start as any. From a character design perspective, yeah this is about what I'd expect someone who is the front line muscle for Death to look like.
The mask can be removed and is held on magnets, which is a nice touch, and the cape has some light wiring for posing purposes.
The cape is also dual layered, and the inside has some sort of skeletal pattern, though admittedly it does look kind of goofy.
Behind that mask is without a doubt on of the best headsculpts that has been released with a TBLeague figure. Like with Satan, there's no generic face that was modified - this was specifically made for Kier, and I suspect that the overall product was highly directed by Sideshow staff. The shape of the face, expression, the hair, all top notch, though I really wish it wasn't sculpted. It's amazing what a different head on the same body can do.
Use some generic doll head, and it looks like some weird sexy cosplay. Slap this puppy on, and instantly you get the impression she would probably gouge your eyes out if you looked at her funny.
The flaming skull Kier comes with looks nice. Having said that, the piece is meant to be gripped at the top of the skull, palm downwards. From a posing perspective, there's only so many natural looking things you can do with a grip like that, unless you want to pose Kier bashing some punk bitch across the back of the head with it.
With regards to the body, I believe that she's built on a heavily modified S20/21 body. While I appreciate the giant breasts, artwork suggests they really ought to have used the S22/23 with its medium bust. Muscle tone is also an issue, which is really odd considering this is an athletic body. Aesthetically, it's a bigger problem with this figure more than others - the lack of musculature makes it hard to tell where the knees are when the leg isn't bent. Couple that with a lack of knee armour and just shin coverings, it visually looks like Kier got a case of Cotton Hill and had her shin surgically reattached to her upper legs. I have to wonder if this lack of musculature in the legs has to do with easy of manufacturing. Modifications to the body include the skin tone along with the dried blood effects along the forearms and shins, as well as the nubs on her back that show where she once had wings. Basically, you're gonna really want to take care of this body because there's effectively a zero percent chance of replacing it should it be damaged.
Articulation wise, you're able to get most of what the body is capable of because of, well, the lack of anything covering her. Minor obstructions include the impedance to write wrist motion due to the forearm guard and the restriction on head movement due to her sculpted hair. Otherwise, the major restriction on motion is the lack of ab crunch as her armoured top is a solid piece with no hinges and is made of inflexible material. Ankles are provided with typical range motion, due to the fact these are factory standard feet.. Usual sultry poses are highly possible.
As always, provided you can get her to balance, you can put Kier into all manner of battle pose - it's just that without the muscle tone to back it up, battle poses don't look all that impressive.
Paint wise, most of the more obvious detailed work is on weathering of the skull related parts and the head sculpt itself. More difficult to spot is the copper weathering effects on the pieces of armour. I'm kind of surprised they went with such a dull grey for the blade of the Longsword. Overall, paint work on the figure itself is very good, and the skin tone match between the face and body is excellent. Paint work on the base, however, feels like it was done by the C-Team. To summarize, it feels like the entire thing was painted by NECA or one of those average quality collector statues that come with video games.
Build Quality wise, no complaints. Detailing and finishes on the hard plastic parts are very good, and the final product is clean looking, The loin cloth is part plastic part pleather, and it seems well assembled. Hands and feet fit on their sockets appropriately and have a good degree of friction to hold poses, and the inclusion of the arched feed allows standing on the slight step that is on the base itself. The hands are all useful in one way or another. Body is the usual solid construction and finish on the silicone.
If you've been reading these overviews, you'll recognize the the TBLeague formula by now - third party chooses a body to use, then they build and manufacture the necessary bits and bobs to make it their figure. In most cases, it's outfit and head sculpt, to which we've seen varying degrees of success. But when a company goes that one step further and customizes the body, it really helps to make it their own, even if it is imperfect. I feel that is the story here with Kier and based on what I've seen, with Gethsemoni as well.
Hopefully the line hasn't died with just the release of three characters, as based on Sideshow's webpage there's quite a few visually interesting female characters that could use the TBLeague treatment.
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