Play Arts Kai Collectors Guide v 2.0

About 7 Months ago i came up with a list of the Play Arts Kai figures that (based on my personal opinion and the collective opinion of my comrades @ pinoytoykolektors.com) newbie Play Arts Kai collectors should include in their "hit lists" and are definitely worth a look or two by would-be/aspiring collectors. After some great releases, and a share of disappointing ones, we would like to present the must-haves and for-your-consideration figures from Play Arts Kai in the past 7 months. But before that, a brief rundown of our Play Arts Kai Collectors Guide v 1.0 last October 2011.

The Essentials - the Must-Haves: Dante of DMC4, Big Boss/Naked Snake Jungle Fatigue and Sneaking Suit versions of MGS: Peacewalker, Gabranth of Dissidia FF, Ezio Auditore da Firenze of AC2.
The Niche - for Fans of the Series: Adam Jensen of Deus Ex: HR, Edward Elric of FMA, Ichigo Kurosaki of Bleach, HALO: Reach line.
Outside, Looking In - Underrated figures: Resident Evil/Biohazard 5 line. 

*Thanks a lot to bro Maykello of PTK for letting me use his awesome pics, you rule bro
** Thanks to the following for their input: andrew, ramir19, tri3dge, hikari03. 

The Essentials - "Must-Haves"

"Can't always be the Living Legend, eh Snake? Oh s#!i i've been spotted!"PHOTO BY: Maykello

Solid Snake - Metal Gear Solid - (REVIEW Here)
I've said much about him on my review already which i will no longer repeat here but think about this: Solid Snake is the "face" of the Metal Gear franchise. Not even Raiden can change that. This rendition of him is from the game that revived the interest in the line and the genre. If i'm going to have just 1 Play Arts Kai figure, Solid Snake is my hands down choice.

Play Arts & Play Arts Kai Bootlegs tell-tale signs

While waiting for a new figure to review (Play Arts Kai Kratos) i might as well create this partial list of all Play Arts (the older Final Fantasy-based line) and Play Arts Kai figures who are already bootlegged as well as the tell-tale signs that would help fellow collectors avoid being duped. Since i am no expert when it comes to the older Play Arts line (and i don't profess to be one, PA Kai perhaps) i enlisted the help of my comrades from the local Play Arts community in PTK (pinoytoykolektors) to help me out with this article.

I would like to give due credit to the following: Balthier - for the Play Arts bootleg list and the ultimate collector of Play Arts; Tri3dge - for his load of researched data and invaluable insight; Jeff1031 and Squall - for additional info. Hopefully, i can get the others involved so we can further expand this list.

Please note that this is not a complete list and we don't have data yet on the tell-tale signs of some figures, however, i will endeavor to provide updates from time to time. If this proved to be a hit then i will make this a permanent page in this blog site.  

Photo courtesy of Zelu1984 of FinalFantasyMerchandise.com

Photo courtesy of Zelu1984 of FinalFantasyMerchandise.com

LEFT - Original, RIGHT - Bootleg

Proceed to the list...

Play Arts Kai Batman - Arkham Asylum Review

Ok, let's make it simple, when you come across a Play Arts Kai Batman from Arkham Asylum...

Yes, this one indeed.

...selling at lower than SRP (i.e. 3.7- 4K), GET HIM! If you are a fan of the Arkham Asylum game, GET HIM! If you are a Batman collector, GET...oh well...i don't think i need to tell you that. There is a good reason he's selling like hot cakes right now, most shops who got their first shipment of Batman sold him out pretty quickly. Aside from being a really famous character with a large fan-base that transcends toy lines, the Play Arts Kai Batman is really good. He's not perfect, but, well...we'll get to that in time.