Play Arts Kai Cloud Strife Review - Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children

Hello everyone, Franchesca here. First things first, when Jeri approached me to do this review, I was hesitant seeing as I try to stay away from reviewing articulated figures (My initial reaction to such things can be summed up in three words: "It moves, yay!"). However, due to his persistence here we are. Do let me know if the format doesn't work for you so I can change it in the future. Now, let's begin, shall we?

Note: This is a picture-heavy blog.

Obligatory box pic to start the review.

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 Dissidia Final Fantasy Gabranth Review

It was never really part of my plan to complete the 1st "Series" of Play Arts Kai Dissidia Final Fantasy. I am quite happy to get Cloud and Squall since i have played and conquered both FF7 and FF8 and i am thoroughly familiar with both characters. I have never really played FF12 and i am not familiar with Gabranth although i must admit i find his representation pretty b@d@$$. I thought it over for quite some time, made a background check about his character and role in FF12 and Dissidia and eventually he won me over: he's just too good to pass up and that armor certainly rocks!

Play Arts Kai Dissidia Final Fantasy Cloud Strife Review

One of the most enduring characters in the Final Fantasy Universe is Cloud Strife, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children. Having multiple incarnations already in various Play Arts lines, it is small wonder that he will also be a part of the 1st wave of the Dissidia Final Fantasy line of Play Arts Kai. Mixed reactions from fans clamoring the missing figures from the previous series (i.e. Barret, Cid, etc.) momentarily disregarded, it is plain to see why Cloud is ever present on the figure frontier: He's simply that famous and any version of his figure is a sure hit for hardcore and casual FF fans alike. I myself, admittedly, belongs to the latter, having played and conquered only 4 games in the series so far (FF6 up to FF9).