AURON

 I am not sure for wich one i feel more nostalgic; Final Fantasy X or the original Play Arts line. After Square launched theyr own town line - Play Arts - with action figures of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, shortly after they follow with the entire cast of FF VII and 3 characters of the later games; VIII to XII, it was a time when Square was an actuall fan from Final Fantasy too.

Ironically, i felt no interest in the characters they release: Squall, Rinoa and Selphie from VIII for example but there was a single exception: X. They released Tidus and Yuna, characters that dotn interest me at all, but instead of chose Rikku as the third character they chose Auron, the one i consider my favorite character from the game and looking back, is one of the best if not the best, from the entire serires.

Auron comes in the same scale as the rest of the figures, being taller than Cloud and Tifa but a little bit shorter than Sephiroth and Vincent, wich is perfect for me. He can stand on his own perfectly tough he comes with the same bases the other characters have: a flat looking ovall with an arm to hold him in the waist, tough unlike the FF VII familly, his base is white.

Auron is articulated on the head, shoulder, elbow, wrist, waist, legs, knes and ankles. This articulations......are extremelly delicate. I dont know why they arent as stronger as the FF VII ones, but they seems pretty fragile. The worst ones are the elbow and the knes and i saw lots of pictures of videos of Auron disjointing like a puzzle in the very moment you take him out of his box.

The head have a ball joint and is very loose as well as his wrist, tough his shoulder have a pretty hard to move ball joint....but his elbow, legs and knes have a cut jount soo they can only move in one direction, and that limit A LOT his poseability. Gladlly, the only thing that get in its way aside of the style of the joints is the neck piece since his antire kimono is made with soft plastic, he can move his legs all he wants with no problem.

I have no complaign about sculpt tough, he is perfect on every detail, from his waist piece to the beads on his side and shoulder pad, every part ogf his design is perfectly sculpted and that includes his face, smaller than the statue but still his mouth, nose shape and look on his eyes are pretty damn fine. The glasses are made of soft plastic but they dont look cheap or oversized for the scale and they dont even get in the way, this is probablly the most impresive part of the sculpt. 

The paint is just as good as the sculpt tough his head and kimono are cast into skin and red plastic soo they dont need too much paint. The red tone and beads on his side are soo vibrant and beautifull looking as well as his blue eye. The only part that need a little bit more effort are the white on his hair, they are soo soft they are difficult to see.

Aside of his base the other accesory he have is his giant sword. Theres not much to say about it since botht the scult and metalic paint are perfect as well as the yellow and green handle. The sword fit perfectly on his gloved hand but i feel like the wrist articulation is too delicate and i fear to broke it with the weigth of the sword.

His other accesoryes consist on a down sleeve of his kimono and his free arm. Thats rigth, this two can change the figure a lot since they give him a figthing stance and adds a lot of poseability as well. You can remove the left side of his kimono (hand included) with pegs that fit on his torso and put the down sleeve in the same holes AND the extra arm on his empty shoulder and he is ready to figth.

Sounds easy....but OH MY GOOOODDD this procees is incrediblly difficult since the parts are made with hard plastic!!! Remove the kimono part is extremelly difficult and once the extra arm is ready, remove it from the shoulder and dont broke the peg (or his opposite arm...or legs...of sake bottle) isquiete a challengue!!

The sculpt and paint on the extra sleeve and arm are fenomenal and the arm add 4 extra articulations: shoulders, biceps, elbows and wrist, much much better than his rigth arm movement. The muscles are nicelly shaped as well as his pectoral, quiet sexy too.

The fragile articulations as well as the difficult arm exchange are factor that push away this figure from perfection, but besides those issues, this guy looks extremelly good even standing still. Part of it is thanks to a magnificent character design from Tetsuya Nomura and part by Square great toy crafting, wich was extremelly good even in its begginings.

Years later Square would update the serires with Play Arts Kai, but only for Tidus and Yuna leaving Auron out wich make this figure much more important since is the only action figure of the character. Now i just have to wonder if this figure is the best Auron or the Kotobukiya statue?

ZACK FAIR

 

One of the many selling points of the PSP was how much many companies like SquareEnix supported it releasing many big budget games on the system and one of them was Crisis Core, the long awaited prequel of Final Fantasy VII. I got pretty good memories of it and is one of the games i want to play again, but aside of that, Play Arts also take care of the game.

Sadly, the action figure serires consisted on Zack, Cloud and Aerith and ignores completelly Angeal and Genesis, wich was totally shocking considering theres lots of Cloud and Aerith figures already, soo i only got Zack Fair, not only was the only relevant figure, but i always liked him much more than Cloud.

Zack is taller than Cloud and Tifa but shorter than Vincent and Sephiroth and can stand perfectly but he comes with the standar black base from the old Play Arts days. He is articulated on the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, legs, half legs, knes, ankles and half of his feet bit he also have articulations on his shoulder pads, soo they can move around along side his arms. All of his articulations works really good and are strong enough, tough his legs articulations are kind of ugly looking and a little limited since they only move up and down.

Sculpt is good on hir hair and have enough detail on his face, like his scar. The shoulder pads have a nice metalic texture on them and his vest and front velts are really good looking. The flow of his pants are also good looking and help him to not look too stiff.

Paint is good too, on his face basically the big blue eyes, rest of the paint comes for the details like bucklets, the brown straps and boots, and of course, his earring, no detail was spared in here. Rest of the figure comes cast on the basic color tough i have to say, i dont like his skin color. Looks kinda...yellow to me while the other figures have a more normal tone.

He comes with a holding extra hand as well as, of course, his huge sword that later would be Cloud´s  main weapon. The sculpt and different colors of the metal are really nice and Zack can actually use his muscles and hold the sword himself, unlike weak and scrawny Cloud.

He also have a small bolt that can be put on a hle on his back to hold the huge sword, this way he can carry it on his back. Pretty handy for the display and works perfect, i wish Clod was smart enough to use this system.

many years later Square upgraded him with a Play Arts Kai, with ball joints, a bigger scale and better details, pretty close looking to the CG Zack from Crisis Core, tough this character is extremelly simple looking, soo i wasnt very excited to get this upgrade.

I actually felt very nostalgic about this particular line. Sadlly i didnt buy any other characters from the other games...i trully regret not getting Auron. I am feeling really nostalgic too about the older games but i wont go back in time for now, since my FF X figures needs some repairs before appeare in this blog.

CLOUD STRIFE

 

The second coming of Final Fantasy VII not ony came with movies and prequels and secuel videogames and lots of merchadise, but with action figures as well, Square´s own figures line, Play Arts, that lasted for almost 15 years. The first full serires of figures came with Tifa, Vincent and Sephiroth and didnt add the protagonist, Cloud, until serires 2. I wonder why?

Cloud is really small and thin...same size as Tifa soo both Vincent and Sephiroth towers him and despite this, Cloud have a lot of troubles standing by himself...his ankles articulations are pretty lose, but the Play Arts standar base was not only good looking, but functional as well.

Cloud is articulated on the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, legs, knes, ankles and half feet, all cut joints except the shoulders and legs soo they can move only in one direction. All articulations works well but somehow, the....weird piece of clothes that Cloud have tied to his torso as well as the black sleve blocks compeltelly his arm and legs articulations. Its pretty anoying....and is actually pretty weird how he dress.

The scult is good, with a very femenine face (really?) and a pretty nice yanr texture on his vest as well as the lion crest on his shoulder. The cloth thingy on his torso is made with soft plastic but still is soo heavy and anoying and his free shoulder looks soo weird.....deffinetly my favorite part is his head, specially his hair since it looks like a chocobo butt from behind.

The paint is at minimum again, with color only on the buckles, zipper and face, this gives him a pretty soft and nice look and the face painting is perfectly deffined and crisp, specially on his eyes. I love those electric blue eyes.

He dosnt have too many accesoryes tough, just one extra gloved hand to hold his sword and his giant sword. The hand looks a lot like the basic one i see no difference, and the sword have a pretty cool industrial design and metalic paint but is soo heavy, he cant hold him for too long, i mean with those thin and scrawny arms....

He was released in a special edition that included is Fenrir bike wich was pretty cool and years later he was upgraded with a much better looking Play Arts Kai that included a big ammount of swords and of course, a huge fenrir too, with an astonishing price of course.

Out of the entire line, i think this guy is the least i like...somehow he looks weaker than Tifa and is much more limited than her as well. The second serires also included Yuffie, Reno and Kadaj. I always wanted Kadaj but i stoped getting them after this Cloud.

SEPHIROTH

 

With the second coming of Final Fantasy VII at the begining of the century, SquareEnix started to pay attention at theyr toy department with the release of the Advent Children action figures and that was just the begining since they would release action figures of every Final Fantasy game in the line. But they started with Tifa, Vincent and...not Cloud but Sephiroth.

I guess Sephiroth is endeed more important than Cloud? This figure is the tallest of the serires, he is huge (tough still smaller than the Kai Snow Villiers) and gladlly, he can stand perfectly tough he comes with the same standar base from the serires.

Sephiroth is articulated on the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs, knes, ankles and his shoulder pads are also articulated soo he canhave total freedom of movement on his arms. All articulations work great, and even his neck is strong enough to keep the pose despite his heavy hair. All working good with its limitations of course, the cut joints just let movement in one direction.

Sculpt is really good, with his face looking really androgynous but still different to Vincent. His jacket is made with soft plastic but my favorite sculpt is on his hair. Is a solid piece of plastic but flows behind his back nicelly and looks good on all poses.

Paint is almost no existant again, with most of the paint covering his grey hair, face and white on the end of his sleves. His skin tone is as pale as Vincent but his lips are soft pink and his big eyes green, almost with a feline expression.

He is the best equiped from the serires since he have two extra pairs of hands, to hold his weapon and open palms. As weird as this is, the diverity of hands gesture helps a lot to gives him a lot of personality, and out of the entire serires, he looks the best on almost any pose, with his long jacket, hands gesture and long flowing hair, this is a guy that looks like he is on a poster of cover of a game no matter wath pose you use.

His other accesory is of course hiss word, Masamune. Extremelly simplistic katan, its size is HUGE, almost bigger than Sephitoh himself

He was upgraded years ago with a Play Arts Kai and unlike Vincent, i really dig the Kai version since it comes with a giant articulated wing. Its a shame i didnt get him but this one version is not too bad, i think he is the best looking figire along Vincent and i have pretty fond memories of more inicent times with this figure.

VINCENT VALENTINE

 

Final Fantasy had some crazy times at the begining of this century when they release theyr movie based on FF VII. I remember everyone were watching it and enjoying it to the fullest soo it was no susprise Square released themselves action figures of the movie, starting with Tifa and later with Vincent Valentine.

Vincent is much taller than Tifa and have much more troubles standing thanks to his pointy shoes. Is tricky to find his point of balance tough he comes with a pretty standar and funcional black base that holds him from the waist, much better than the bases of the future Kai serires.

He is articulated on the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs, knes, ankles and half feet...or better yet, the pointy golden part of his shoe. Not only he is less articulated than Tifa, but he is much more restricted as well!! His legs have cut articulations, no ball joint, soo he can only move his legs up and down like old 80s toys limiting his legs movement an awfull lot.

Lastly, his red...clothe thingy blocks completelly any shoulder movement limiting his poses even more. Its a shame how well articulated is this guy and yet how static he is. 

The sculpt is really good, his face is androgynous and cold and my favorite part is his golden gauntlet and how many details have those fingers and my other favorite bit is his red cape. Its made with soft plastic and while the shoulders section is anoying, the back side flows soo nicelly to the point it looks like is actually moving and can be moved around for some really good dramatic effects.

The paint, just like with Tifa, is at minimum with most parts cast on color plastic, the paint is limited to his golden claw, his face and the silver bucklets. Again, the paint on his eyes and purple and livid lips is perfect and atchs the sculpt perfectly, even if the features are well hidden by his hair and red clothe thingy (his head shuld be tilt down all the time to hide his mouth, no exception).

Just like Tifa, he have very little accesoryes but an extra hand to hodl his weapon, and the weapon it self: Cerberus. This weapon have a pretty impresive sculpt with a real chain in the end with the Dirge of Cerberus logo on it. Pretty impresive stuff for back then standars.

Mane years later they upgraded him with a Play Arts Kai that was bigger, more detailed and more articulated but also comes with a big articulated plastic cape. The cape was cool looking but i dunno....it looked stiff and heavy, for some reason i like much more the look in the figure, with a more lighter cape that flows like a feather.

TIFA LOCKHART

Long time before Play Arts Kai existed there was something else: Play Arts (with no KAI), the deluxe action figure serires from Square entirelly focused on Final Fantays and Kingdom Hearts. They figures were smaller than Kai, had weaker articulations and details and was cheaper too, tough back at the begining of the century they were pretty impresive toys.

I totally miss the first fogures based on Final Fnatasy X-2 but i fall for the Advent Children movie figures. The movie was awesome and pretty much the best videogame based movie and still is one of the best soo i was pretty excited for toys of it. Oddly enough the first figure wasnt Cloud but it was Tifa Lockhart.

Tifa is pretty small, the smallest of the serires soo she is a little bit smaller than the standar McFarlane/Neca action figure but not by much. She can stand perfectly on her own tough the figure cames with a generic black oval base with a rood and a clamp to hold the figures from the back. MUCH better than the first Play Arts Kai bases.

She is articulated on the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, waist, legs, knes, anles and half of her feets. All this articulations are cut joints except the elbows and legs, soo they just rotate to one direction. Pretty basic to the ball joints from the later Kai serires, this articulations make a little bit harder give her a natural pose than dosnt looks like a robot, but it can be done. Actually she is pretty fn to pose around given her martial arts skills.

Skulpt is good, there is enough detail on her costume and her hair is pretty simplistic, my favorite parts are of course, her face and her shoes, those big black snickers are pretty good looking. To the oposite side, i hate the big ribbons on the sides of her legs and the black....thing...wathever it is, that cover her back side. Is made with soft plastic but is the heavyer part of the figures and is very anoying for her legs movement.

Paint is almost no-existant. She is entirelly cast on skin color and black plastic with only pain on the white details of her shoes, shirt and face. This gives her skin a pretty consistent anime look. Also the pain on her face is soo beautifull, her soft pink lips, her big brown eyes, they are both perfectly painted to match the perfect sculpt.

She is lacking on accesoryes tough since she only have a pair of extra hands, fist with gloves when she is on battle mode and thats it....nothing more, wich was kind of the standar back then.

A decade later, they would upgrade her with a Play Arts Kai version wich was bigger, better articulated, and came with more hands and an extra head with flowing hair, it was really spectacular but i didnt upgrade her i am not sure why. I think it is because i have very good memories of this figure as basic as it is.