Sculpting - ***
Triad started out with some pretty Barbie-esque sculpts, but over the last year or so they've greatly improved. We're not talking Enterbay or Hot Toys (or DiD) quality here yet, but Helga certainly is much prettier and detailed than that old standby, Barbs.

She has a very Scandinavian look, at least to me, but then I suspect that's a bit of a stereotype. The strong jaw, long nose, and high cheekbones all say Viking chick to me.

She has rooted hair, which I think works well with this long of hair. If they had sculpted the hair, it would have been far too heavy. They've also done an excellent job with the rooting, and there's none showing at the part or hairline. The hair is very thick, and a gorgeous bleached blond, if you like that kind of thing. Me likee. It does tend to get pretty wild though, with lots of stray hairs sticking every which way, but it's fairly fine and a little Static Guard will fix that right up.

There are two sets of hands, and they are sculpted for a variety of poses. One set is a relaxed open pose, while the other set is designed to hold the weapon and shield. They are made from a softer material, so that you should be able to get the sword and shield inside the fists pretty easily.

She stands just under 12", making her a perfect fit with other male sixth scale figures from Sideshow or Hot Toys.

Paint - ***
There's not a ton of paint work here, but what's here is a very high quality. The eyelashes, eyebrows and eyes themselves are clean, sharp and well defined. They are more realistic than what we've seen with some past Triad work, and the subtle highlights work great. The eyes lack doll dots (thankfully), but have a high glosss finish that gives them natural catch lights.

In fact, these would have gotten another half star in this category, except for one annoyance. They went with a thin black line through the center of the lips to add some shadowing, but even in person it was a bit too obvious against the pale lip color.

Articulation - ***
This is the Alpha female body with 'large breastplate'. That would fall under the category of 'understatement'. Helga's name might sound like a Czechoslovakian shot putter, but the only thing this lady has in common with that image is she can surely kick your ass. And you'd come back for more.

The body isn't just busty - she's curvy in all the right places. The articulated arms might turn off some collectors, but I'm not one to dislike the joints.

The body has all the articulation you'd expect in a current sixth scale figure, including an excellent ball jointed neck. The body can take realistic, flowing poses, and includes magnets in the feet. This allows her to take funky poses on the Bullet Time stand or any other metal surface.

I ended up with two issues that held her back a bit. One is the loose ankles, which caused more trouble with keeping poses than I like. I love that the feet can sit flat on the ground in even deep stances, but the looseness made the ankles more of a liability.

The other issue was even more problematic. The wrist pegs are very, very short, making the articulation there almost useless. Barely moving the hand resulted in the peg popping out of the forearm.

Accessories - ***
Helga comes with a sword, scabbard, helmet and shield. The shield can be held in either hand, as can the sword. The sword also fits nicely in the scabbard, which itself fits in a leather loop on the belt.

The shield looks great, and is a good size to protect the booby...er, body. The sword's hilt is very nice, but the blade is a bit too dark. 

The helm looks great, but it's designed to just sit on the forehead, held in place only by the somewhat tight fit. It doesn't work particularly well, and as you can tell from the photos, I found it too annoying to keep in place long term.

Outfit - ***1/2
The big winner here is the outfit, especially the boots. 

The tunic covers her top bits, with a zipper in back. If the straps are a little loose on her shoulders, make sure the zipper is fully up - I found that it would work its way down, and then the straps end up flopping around

Under this tunic is a soft skirt, and a thong made from the same material. On both arms are leather gauntlets, held in place with lacing.

There are also two belts - a leather one with the sword loop, and a smaller decorative version.

But the eye catching couture is the boots These have 'fur' tops, lacing down the front, and soft leather sides. The soft leather does bunch up a little at the ankles, but pulling them up tight at the knees helps relieve that, and the material is supple enough to allow the feet to pose flat on the floor in any stance.

Fun Factor - ***
I'm not sure this is a figure I'd give a 10 year old boy, but for the adult collector, she's excellent for posing on the shelf. With good articulation, a great outfit, and excellent accessories, she'll compliment any display, and you'll be able to change up her look regularly.

Value - **1/2
This figure is a better value than something like the recent horror figures from Amok, and companies like DiD are charging even more for their non-licensed military figures. Still, I can see where some folks will balk at the price, unless they are looking for a hot Viking chick to compliment their other historical figures.

Things to Watch Out For -
I didn't have any issues - everything is very sturdy, and breakage is quite unlikely.

Overall - ***
I'll be pairing up Helga on my shelf with characters like Ignite's Bowman or Dragon's Atilla. While she has a bit more of the 'pornstar on a Viking ship' look, I think she'll still fit in pretty well.

The outfit and accessories also have plenty of kitbashing potential, something that all Triad figures excel at. You can mix and match, and those boots alone have a tremendous amount of potential.

We all know that the licensed sixth scale market has really improved in quality and style over the last couple years. With the work that Triad is doing, as well as the work Dragons in Dreams is also doing (I'll be reviewing a couple of their figures as well very soon), the unlicensed market is getting just as good

Score Recap:
Packaging - **1/2
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy -
Online options include these site sponsors:

- you can pick her up directly from Triad for $80.

- Big Bad Toy Store has her in stock for $77.

- or you can peruse ebay, watching for a deal.

Related Links -
Reviews of other Triad products include 

- Taki, Josh Randall, Lola, Agent Indigo, and the Otaku female body.

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