Halloween may be behind us, but since October was a dicey month, I plan on peppering November with more spooky stuff. I’m not sure if today’s review totally fits that category, but we will be plunging into the Depths of Hell, and that’s pretty scary! It’s crazy to think that I only reviewed one TBLeague figure so far this year, and only one the previous year. I have a bunch of these waiting their turn in the spotlight and some have been waiting for a long while. Currently, I’m starting to pack some things up in anticipation of moving to another State early next year and that means I’d like to give more of these ladies some love before they get sealed away in boxes for three or four months. And today is Sariah’s turn! A lot of TBLeague’s recent figures have been original designs, but Sariah hails from ARH Comics, Undying Queen series. This is not my first figure from this comic, as Arkhalla, Queen of the Vampires was an early Phicen purchase for me back in the day. Cruel and merciless, Sariah is not only The Goddess of War, but also the commander of Hell’s armies in The Lands Below. Let’s check her out!

TBLeague hasn’t changed their packaging much over the years, and that’s a good thing because they do a nice job with it. The heavy-duty box has a tri-fold cover that secures to the sides with magnets and has some gorgeous shots of the figure on the front and side panels. Inside, the figure is nestled in a foam tray with the head detached and the accessories spread out around her. These figures also give off a strong fragrance of tea when you first open them, which I always thought was pretty cool. Like many TBLeague figures, Sariah does require some of her armor to be attached, which can sometimes be a chore, but in this case it wasn’t too bad.

Here she is all set up, and I have to say this is the type of outfit design that really compliments the Phicen seamless body the best, as it shows a fair bit of skin. Her skimpy armor consists of a plastic breast plate, painted red with a gold border, upswept breast cups and a rather jagged cut window to show off her belly button. Below that is a red furry diaper-thong and a black belt with bronze ornamental medallions. She has tall, high-heeled boots, again red with gold accents, which end in skulls for knee guards. Her arms are adorned with red and gold bracers on her forearms, bronze bicep bands, and skulls for shoulder armor. The ensemble is finished off with a red and gold gorget to protect her throat, and a red and gold cape. The cape is crafted from some pretty nice material and has an elaborate decorative pattern. It’s narrow and not at all cumbersome, but I do wish they had given the edges some wires to allow it to be posed. Wired capes are fairly common in more recent TBLeague releases, but it’s not really something they were doing back in the day.

Both the design and execution of the armor is fantastic. The crimson and gold deco pops nicely and while it is mostly plastic, the use of fur and cloth adds that bit of needed variety. The boots are split with the usual ball joints in the ankles to help with those action stances, and the bracers help conceal the wrist joints, so other than the seam around the neck, all the rest of the steel skeleton’s articulation points are locked inside that silicone body. I know some people remain skeptical about the durability of these bodies, but I’ve had Sariah here on display for years. There haven’t been any problems, and she’s one that I love to take off the shelf and play around with now and then. I will, however, point out that this costume is prone to a wardrobe malfunction in the form of frequent nip slips, but since they aren’t painted, it’s not always obvious when it happens!

The portrait includes a really cool headpiece, which is not so much a helmet as it is a sort of a tiara with horns and cheek guards. This piece is made of a slightly flexible plastic, which simply fits onto the head and hugs the sides to remain in place. The red and gold deco matches the rest of the armor and the giant demonic horns make quite an intimidating statement.

Of course, the headpiece is removable, but I’m likely to always display it on the figure, as I’m not a big fan of the way they handled her hairline, with part of it painted onto the head and leading into the rooted hair. It’s not a great look and also not a technique that they’ve used for a while. Otherwise, the portrait is beautiful with very pretty features and a rosy complexion in the cheeks. There’s a spark of life in those eyes and the lips are perfectly painted with a red glossy finish. The hair is swept back where it cascades down her back and includes a partial ponytail as well and the style compliments the headpiece very well.

In terms of accessories, Sariah isn’t over burdened with extras, but she does have the essentials: Mainly her sword and shield and a couple of pairs of hands. The sword is a rather unique design with the hilt keeping the red and gold deco going and featuring a demon skull in the center of the short down-turned crossguard. The blade is painted bright silver and has a double edged and has a cut-out channel in the middle. Sometimes you get diecast blades with these figures, but in this case it’s plastic. The shield is circular with a larger version of the demon skull from the sword as its central boss. There’s a segmented almost spiral pattern with two circlets of studs. I love this design and the super sharp sculpt. The reverse side has a grab bar and an elastic strap for her arm, which is super easy to work with.

While accessories may be light, Sariah makes up for it with her throne and base. Sometimes, TBLeague likes to get freaky by bundling in these big diorama style display bases, and I sure do love it when they do! As is often the case, it’s packaged in a styrofoam brick in the shipping box, rather than in the actual figure box itself. The vaguely throne-shaped pile of skulls is absolutely gorgeous in a grizzly sort of way with a thin sculpted cushion for Sariah’s shapely, rotund caboose to sit on. I really dig the back of the throne, which has three skulls still wearing some rather unusual helmets. Very cool!

The throne is also removable from the base and you can use it as a dais to display the figure standing, but there is no support rod to keep her upright. Still, she can stand really well and I have had her displayed on it for long stretches without her toppling.

Even if you aren’t a fan or familiar with the comic, Sariah fits in perfectly with TBLeague’s original design releases as just a beautiful fantasy warrior woman in a set of bitchin demon armor. The seamless body is as impressive as ever and the sculpt and paint on her costume seals the deal perfectly. The only nitpick I have is that I wish she came with a scabbard so she could wear her sword on her belt. But even if the accessory assortment seems light, the elaborate base and throne more than make up for it by adding a ton of value to the package. Indeed, at $169 when I bought her, this still seems like an amazing deal when a lot of bare bones Sixth-Scale figures were selling for more.