FFVII Game Edition Volume I
When I was a teenager, I (like so many others) was totally entranced by the video game Final Fantasy VII. Back then (in 97) I would have done almost anything get high-quality action figures of the characters from that game. Well, here we are a decade later and Square-Enix’ action figure enterprise Play Arts has delivered exactly that - highly detailed, superarticulated, game-accurate FFVII action figures. W00t!
The first series (or, Volume in Play Arts’ case) includes Cloud Strife, Aeris Gainsborough, and Tifa Lockheart. These figures are all roughly 8″ tall (so they’re pretty big) and each features roughly 22-25 points of articulation. They retail for about 20-25 bucks, which is pretty standard for a Japanese import fig. If you get these guys in hand, that 20 bucks will feel like a steal though. These are some very very nice figures.
CLOUD STRIFE
It’s tough for me to give an honest review to these figs. I have such a fondness for the game and a sentimental attachment to these characters that it would be impossible for me not to love them. I’ll do my best to just give the deets, though!
Sculpt & Detail - The sculpts on these figures are gorgeous. They’re anime figs, essentially, so the flesh pieces and faces are very smooth and plain, as they should be. Where these figures pop - Cloud in particular - is in the intricacies of the folds of his clothes and the ribs of his sweater and the little piping and straps and divots and screw pegs and all those crazy doo-dads he has on his costume. Of particular note is the detailing in the boots and feet. There is a zipper line that runs down the front of his boot and across the disk of the joint in the ankle. That’s right, they sculpted a zipper into the actual disk of the ankle joint, and painted it 360 degrees all the way around. So no matter how far you have his ankle tilted forward or back, that zipper line shows clean. Incredible!
Articulation - Like I said, Cloud has about 25 POAs, and he really gets the most out of each of them. Take a look at the pic of him kneeling. That single knee joint get about a 130 degree range of motion. It folds waaaay back against his leg. The elbows are the same way. For a single joint, these are engineered better than anything else I’ve seen. The side to side ankle tilt is nicely engineered too. The sole of the shoe and the toe are a separate piece that fits into the heel and ankle. So the whole foot pivots sideways, keeping the tread of the boot flat on the ground. Really nicely done!
Paint - It’s tough to see through in the pics, but these guys have some wicked paint detail. Cloud’s feet and gloves have a lot of brushing and shading going on to really make them look “realistic”. It’s such a clever blend of the very anime look to his flesh and then the uber-detail on his clothes. And there is no slop or bleed anywhere. Everything is crisp and tight and… well… perfect!
Accessories - No shortage here. Most notably is Cloud’s huge sword. It is very nicely sculpted with little “battle damaged” rust spots that are given a nice grungy wash and the handle is pretty intricate with its fine grooves and riveted hilt. He comes with a peg that fits in his back that allows him to hang the sword there. Cloud also gets three swappable hands - a pair of fists and a third hand with a tighter grip for ’single wielding’ his sword. Nice touch there! Each of these figs also comes with an adjustable display base that can raise or lower to hold them in aerial poses on standard ‘flat on their feet’ positions.
Value - I dropped 23 bucks for Cloud and I have no qualms with that whatsoever. From his form to his function to his detail to his accessories, you get plenty for your money with these guys. This is one very nice action figure.
TIFA LOCKHEART
I was always kinda ‘meh’ about Tifa as a character in the game but this figure has changed my impression!
Sculpt & Detail - Yeah, like Cloud, Tifa is a gorgeous little piece of art! I’m gonna try not to go on and on about her exquisitely sculpted (if not preposterously proportioned) boobs, so that’s all we’ll say about that. I will say though that her hair is a highlight. Her pony tail actually has an articulation point. Ha! The way they made the ends a light brown color gives the edges of the hair almost a translucent look which is very natural. Her skirt is a very soft rubber and it moves well with her ball hips as you swing them. Her boots and gloves are also really detailed and feature nice paint jobs.
Articulation - I didn’t do a full breakdown with Cloud, so I’ll do it here. Tifa has a ball jointed neck, ball shoulders, bicep cuts, single elbows, swivel wrists, a ball jointed waist, ball hips, single knees, ankle pivot, ankle twist, and side to side foot action. The only thing she lacks that others have is thigh cuts. While I’m normally a function over form kind of guy, I don’t miss that POA here because it really would have broken up the aesthetic of her long smooth legs. Heh. Play Arts countered this though by giving her true ball hips that swing around pretty well under her skirt, allowing for some range of motion that replicates what you would have gotten out of a thigh cut. Genius!
Paint - Tifa is showing a lot of skin, so she doesn’t have too much going on in the paint department. Where she does have paint detail though - in the boots and gloves and belt - everything is well detailed and nicely shaded.
Accessories - Tifa lacks the big weapon accessory that Cloud and Aeris get, but she does have the swappable hands (a pair of “slap hands” to go along with her pair of fists) and the standard display base.
Value - You get a little less with Tifa than you got with Cloud, but in my opinion she’s still very much worth the 20 bucks you would pay for her.
AERIS (AERITH) GAINSBOROUGH
Alright. I’m one of the “Aeris” people. That “Aerith” stuff never made sense to me. The ’s’ sound is way sexier than ‘th’. I spit on “Aerith”!
Now that that’s out of the way, let me say that Aeris is probably in my top three favorite fictional characters of all time, sandwiched right between Batman and Larry the dermatologist from Closer. So, owning this figure is like some kind of lifetime achievement for me.
Sculpt & Detail - If I were ever to have a legitimate, romantic, emotional attachment to an action figure, it would be to this one. Aeris is a freakin’ masterpiece. I really wish that everyone could own one of these just so they could look at the braids of her hair and the buttons on her dress and the pattern on the soles of her boots and just melt with sheer jaw-dropping action figure admiration. From the hem of her skirt, to the little thread seams in her jacket, to the twists and folds of the ribbon tied in her hair, she is FABULOUS! (cue Sex & the City theme song and fade into amusement park montage of me riding in gondola with… Oh, sorry. Got carried away there…)
Articulation - Aeris gets everything Cloud gets - so that would be the same breakdown as Tifa, plus thigh cuts. What’s neat is that she has no actual torso. Beneath her dress below the breast line is just an armature that connects into the pelvis piece with a ball joint. Her dress is very flexible rubber, and that interior articulation allows you to cock her around at the waist pretty nicely (”cock her around at the waist”? that wasn’t intentional. must have been Freudian). Anyways, it adds a lot to her poseability.
Paint - Just like Cloud and Tifa, where there’s detail and shading to be done, it’s done perfectly. Her boots and hair are big highlights, as are the shades brought out by a reddish wash put over her pink dress and ribbons. Her eyes too, are amazing. I didn’t mention the eyes on the others but if you look closely you’ll be able to see two different shades of green in her iris, the black of her pupil, a white dot for reflection, a pinkish white surrounding all that, and then two different shades of brown lining her lashes and the rim of her eyes. It’s crazy!
Accessories - Aeries gets her trademark staff, complete with little green accents and a nice burned metallic looking paint finish, as well as a pair of swappable “prayer” hands. And she gets the standard display base too.
Value - 20 bucks? Are you kidding me? I’d have mortgaged my house for her!
GROUP SHOTS
These actually came out in January but somehow I missed it. (Where was the email, Play Arts?!). So I’m late to the game. Volume 2 is just around the corner, and it will be bringing us Sephiroth, Yuffie, Vincent, and Red XIII w/ Cait Sith pack in. I already have the set on preorder, so expect to see those reviewed here soon!
Tags: FFVII, final fantasy, play arts
I forgot to mention in the review how nice the packages are for these figs. And they’re designed so that you can easily take the figure out and then put it back in again. as an opener, i usually just trash packages once i open a fig, but these are the first figs i’ve bought that i’m keeping all the packaging for. if i could afford, i’d buy a separate set for MOC.
I got a request for a scale shot next to a marvel legends fig. These would be WAY bigger than your Marvel Legends. The only other line I have in a similar scale is GI Joe Sigma 6.
These do look great — and I’ve had my eye on that Tifa figure for a while (mainly for pervvvvy reasons related to her bust) — but gah, the price! You’re right about $20-25 being standard pricing for an import figure, but I generally don’t consider anything that shows up in FYE to be a true import. (Imports must be ordered online or found in anime specialty shops.) I’d probably be willing to overlook their faux import status if I felt a special connection to the characters (I paid as much for those Okage: Shadow King figurines and they’re not even articulated!), but I never could get into FF7 and its relentless random attacks.
Still, I’m looking forward to seeing your reviews of the others! Given how I feel about tomboyish girls and badass villains in trench coats, I could be moved to pick up Yuffie or Sephiroth despite the hefty price tag.