Video Game Toys

Bring Arts – Final Fantasy VII – Barret Wallace

And Barret completes the last of the 4 core heroes. Though now that I think about it, Aerith kind of doesn’t count does she? It’s complicated, she is kind of core to the plot but also she uh… Isn’t around as much… For spoilery plot reasons from a 25 year old game.

How about we go with Barret rounds out the core 3 heroes of Cloud, Tifa and Barret.

Barret is an interesting character in the game, he is a well meaning tough guy who leads the tiny rebellion group known as Avalanche. Not too smart though, he tends to solve things with violence. Tifa tends to be the brains of that outfit. Gameplay wise, I never care for him much. If I remember, he wasn’t great at magic in game and his weapon seemed kind of weak. Plus ranged fighters are boring in combat because they just sort of, step forward and shoot then step back. You only got 3 heroes in your party and one of them had to be Cloud, so of the what, 7 choices, I didn’t use Barret a lot once he wasn’t the only option.

It probably didn’t help that he was a big goofy bulky dude.

The figure is also appropriately big. He stands head and shoulders above Cloud, the next tallest of the four Final Fantasy VII Bring Arts figures I have. His proportions feel a little off though. Like maybe he should be wider or just a bit shorter. His legs seems really long. Part of this may stem from that, I believe, the primary influence for these classic design figures is the key art, not such the in game models.

Being a bigger figure though means he gets extra screwed on accessories.

And when I say extra screwed, I mean EXTRA extra screwed. His only alternate part is an open hand, and it’s not even for his gun arm side. Its not a big deal because Barret only has one hand, but it would have been kind of a nice extra. And I think the Remake Play Arts version has hands for both arms, but don’t quote me on that. Actually it may be guns for both arms.

As for the EXTRA extra screwed, I could not even get the extra hand to work. I tried, believe me, I tried, and maybe mine is a fluke, but I absolutely could not get the spare hand to attach to the peg. It also feels like it’s maybe, 25% too large anyway. If I could get it attached maybe it would look better, but as it is, it looks comically huge.

Also, I have found that the hips issue that Squall had has returned. It’s not “shake it and it falls off” but the hip joint pops off way way too easily when trying to pose him.

Which, and I know I am a bit of a broken record on this, is really sad given how much these Bring Arts run compared to similar Figma or Figuarts figures. If you are pushing a “premium priced” figure Square, make sure it’s “Premium Price Quality.”

Like this entire line, Barret certainly looks nice visually, but around the edges, there is a lot to be desired.

Horizon Zero Dawn Aloy

Aug 7th, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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This line of Playstation based figures kind of felt like it came out of nowhere a month or so ago for pre order. Most of them look pretty cool but I don’t really play most of the games and have no real attachments to most of the characters. I do however really like Aloy’s look and was at the time, playing Horizon Zero Dawn on the PC. She seemed like a good choice to try out the line.

I was a little worried before receiving the figure itself. The actual company making these is Spin Master, which makes more, young kids toys and some Tech Deck skateboards. Basically, they don’t really make a ton of action figures. They could be annoyingly brittle like NECA or have awful likenesses like a lot of non figure making companies end up. On the other hand, Jada toys is mostly known for their die-cast cars, but has been absolutely killing it with their video game themed lines.

Aloy here ended up being really really nice. The articulation is all well done and not too hindered by things like her skirt and shoulder pieces. She even has layers of articulation in her hair so you can make it look neutral or dynamic. The sculpt looks really nice all around, and the paint application is really good all around, especially with all of her multi-colored bits like the stripes on her clothing and elaborate weapon dressing.

If I had any issues, it’s that in places things feel almost a little too rubbery. This is more an issue with keeping her accessories attached. There is a little peg on her back for the spear or bow, but it has trouble staying attached. The same goes for her little arrow quiver that hangs on her side. Also, her feet are a little small which can make balancing her a little tricky.

She has plenty of accessories, which is also why she costs more than most of the line. I believe she is technically a “deluxe” style price point. She includes her bow and spear, the bow is super nice with a nice string for posing the barrow knocked. She also has one loose arrow for posing. She has several sets of hand options and an assortment of face plates with different expressions and face paint looks.

She is roughly 1/12th scale as well, so she will fit in nicely with other 1/12th scale lines and figures.

All in all, I am really impressed with the figure, and I kind of wish I had more interest in more of the line. I may have to pick up Kratos or something to get a second look at the line.

Bring Arts – Final Fantasy VII – Aerith Gainsborough

Jul 31st, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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I just want to put out front here, Aerith, is not my favorite Final Fantasy VII character. In fact, she is probably on the bottom, by quite a bit. Like, I have a few favorites (Yuffie, Cait Sith, Cid) and everyone else is a bit below that in a plane, and then there is Aerith.

But considering I plan to get everyone else from this line, it would be lame to leave out Aerith. Especially because, though I dislike her, she is, very much, central to the plot. I mean, aside from Cloud and Sephiroth, you could remove almost any other character from the plot and offload their plot elements to someone else or just remove them. Except for Aerith. Because her name sounds like Earth and she is a mako manifestation of the planet’s spirit or whatever.

I mostly just find her boring. This isn’t an Aerith thing, it’s an “RPG Healer type” thing.

The figure is at least nice. The articulation in the legs is hindered slightly less than I expected given the long rubber skirt. The skirt is flexible enough and the slit down one side really help. She can actually sort of do a kneeling pose. And this need isn’t for some weird dirty reason, she literally kneels and prays in the game, it’s part of her deal, she lives in an abandoned church even.

It probably would have been too much to ask for a cloth skirt, and probably would have looked out of place anyway. It’s kind of an eternal problem for action figures in general.

Of the three of these I have so far, Aerith makes out the best for accessories. She has a weapon like Cloud, and an extra face like Tifa, and more alternate hands than both. Maybe they were trying to make up for her limited hip articulation. I do have one issue with her accessories though, the face/hair front on mine tends to fall off. It’s not super loose, but it’s loose enough to be annoying.

She also has articulation on her pony tail, which I had wished Tifa had, so that’s also a plus. Honestly, despite that I am not a fan of the character, she is probably the best figure of the three I have, aside from the limitations that come from a plastic/rubber skirt piece.

BringArts – Final Fantasy VII – Tifa Lockhart

Jul 17th, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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I probably don’t really need to reiterate my overall criticisms of this line from my Cloud write-up. I will add that, I was inspired to start this line when I saw Wave 2 had Yuffie, who is my favorite character from the game. But this Tifa looked super great and was part of what pushed me to go ahead and get the rest of them.

That and Cid and Cait Sith both look great, and kind of round out my top 3 of this game.

Tifa was harder to find though. Since I was starting with the announcement of the second set, the first group was basically sold out everywhere. I was able to piece together Cloud, Barret, Aeris, and even Sephiroth between BBTS and Amazon. But Tifa was nowhere. I think at this point she is actually more available for a second run, but I ended up getting her from USA Gundam Store, a place I had not ordered from but reports were it was alright.

Overall, she does actually feel nicer than Cloud. Her joints are hidden better overall for one. She has a second face plate for another, though she has less alternate hands and no weapon. The weapon part is understandable, she fights with kicks and punches.

The figure’s balance is a bit weaker than Cloud but probably partly because being a brawler, I have been trying to put her into more exaggerated poses. She does come with a stand at least, to help hold her up.

My only real complaint is the hair. It has a sort of, permenant side swoosh going on. It feels like they could have put some sort of hidden rotation joint in there to let it pose swooshing the other way, or just straight down. Feels like something Bandai or Max Factory would have done, and kind of touches on the complaints I had about in my Cloud write up about the poor bang for your buck value on this line.

Overall though, she is a super nice figure.

BringArts – Final Fantasy VII – Cloud Strife

Jul 10th, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy VII were once a pretty big part of my interest many years ago. I probably would not be Ramen Junkie online if not for alt.games.final-fantasy on Usenet. FFVII is probably the most popular game in the series, and while I prefer FFX, a lot of people consider it to be the best.

With the recent remakes, and all the spin off games and movies, the original character designs felt like they were kind of pushed to the side. I don’t really pay much attention to any of Square’s various “Arts” lines either I did not even realize these were being made until I got an email about the second “wave” with Yuffie, Cid, Vincent and Cait Sith. Fortunately, I was able to put in orders for the first group that I had missed.

I am going to put this out though up front. I missed the existence of these because I don’t follow BringArts because they are way overpriced. I have made an exception on these figures because I really like this game and these designs, but they are all overpriced. And I buy plenty of pricey “premium” figures. For the amount of accessories and the size, you get less than a Figma or S.H. Figuarts for 50% more in price.

Also, since this is the first of these, I wanted to mention Square’s lines a bit. They have several lines, all called “Arts”, two of which are figures. Originally it was PlayArts, these were around 7-8″ tall, larger than a standard 1/12th figure. Then it was PlayArts Kai (PAK) which were even larger figures with a bit of dramatic style to them. More recently they started doing BringArts, which are closer to Figma/Figuarts and 1/12th scale. I don’t have a ton of interest in the huge PAK figures, but these Bring Arts figures were neat and a better size.

So, enough history what about the figure itself?

Overall, Cloud looks really nice. These are modeled more on the original art than the goofy PS1 era 3D models. The sculpt is nice and crisp and the colors are really good.

The main issue on Cloud are some of the joints, specifically in the legs. In a static pose everything is fine, but the knees are extremely ugly when bent. It’s a huge single joint with no attempt to hide it in the sculpt. There are plenty of figures of characters with baggy pants that are able to mask the joints from other companies.

Otherwise pose-ability is alright. He is fairly easy to balance and his joints are stuff enough to hold a pose, which is especially important with his arms, since his sword is quite large.

The bigger issue for the articulation is the hips have a tendency to pop off. It’s not as loose and annoying as I have had with some MAFEX figures, but it’s there. It affects both hips, but on mine it’s worse on (Cloud’s) right hip.

He also only has one facial expression, which, granted, is pretty consistent for Cloud “…..” Strife. He has 4 extra hands (2 alternate sets) and his Buster Sword, to round out his accessories.

Another sword option would have been a nice extra to a have, though the Buster Sword is quite iconic and would likely be the only thing anyone used anyway. Maybe some sort of slashing effect piece or something would have been a good accessory to pad things out a bit.

A lot of this is not really bad, except it feels bad when paired with the premium premium pricing Square charges for these figures. I could forgive all of this a lot more easily on. Figure that was half or even just three quarters the price. For a $100+ figure, it’s kind of unacceptable how lazy it feels.

I also probably should mention, I think originally these had some sort of NFT nonsense attached to them, but I believe I saw somewhere those were removed for some reissues. There may have been something in the box but I have no care or interest in that.

All in all, Cloud isn’t a bad figure, he just, costs too much.