Playarts: Vincent Valentine

Here we are with another throwback figure from the Final Fantasy vol. 2 line up of Playarts! This time it is none other than Vincent Valentine, everyone's favorite secret character from FFVII! Okay, not everyone's, but he definitely is one of my favorite character from Final Fantasy VII! How did he translate into a Playarts figure?

I remember seeing the advertisement for this wave and I was elated to find out we were getting a game version of Yuffie, Vincent, AND we get a Red XIII, and of course Sephiroth was from this wave as well! I have all four. Might do one of Nanaki and Yuffie too when I have time.

And of course Vincent is very conservative when we are talking about his accessories. An alternate hand and his handgun (the default gun I believe when you first recruit him in FFVII). He does come with the standard Playarts stand, which is still better than what Marvel Legends gives us (which, they give us NO stands).

Now I personally like the way Vincent looks. I have to be perfectly honest that a lot of his aesthetic inspired some of my idea of what my "OC" would look like during that era of my life. As how he translates as a Playarts figure, he looks amazing. The very 'anime' look of his hair was sculpted well, the gold gauntlets and boots have a very defined look to them, and the rest of his outfit definitely says "Vincent" all over it. The trademark cape is just flawless to how Vincent looks in the game.

The paint work is also great. The right combination of red and black is always nice; the gold looks rustic, and the black, though minimal to no variation of color still looks nice. There is shading on his hair that comes out brown--lighting effects of course. Sculpt is nice too so I can't really complain about Vincent's aesthetics.

So for some face comparison here. Definitely accurate to his game counterpart. His cloak does cover his mouth in the original game so that stayed true.

And this is his AC look.I don't have any qualms with the look since it is accurate to the movie. I do like his video game aesthetics better though.

Now when talking about his articulation, this is where he falls off the 'cool' edge. While he has more to offer than another figure from this wave, I can say that is mostly because of Vincent's character design, and even then, his costume look is one of the biggest hinderance of his range of movement. While I'm keeping in mind that he is a bit on the 'older' model of Playarts, he does have some flaws that could have been dealt with at that time he was released. The cape is his biggest flaw. Without cape articulation, there is very little dynamic poses he can do. The hair lacks as well and since it is not as pliable, it does hinder the head. It also does not help that he doesn't have any noteworthy interchangeable hands. One of the gauntlet hand might have been nice, but they left that out completely.

You are pretty much left with this kind of pose half the time. Oh, the part of his cloak that drapes on his shoulder does have some up and down motion; which means that his arm can go up to about 90 degrees. Makes for good shooting action!

Compared to his AC counterpart, he can move his arms up; AC Vincent cannot due to the 'locked' cloak; again, true to the character, but bad for figure version. Though in-game Vincent does not have the soft cape that the movie version does. Shame. Both cool looking figures though.

All in all, he is not a bad looking figure. He is limited in certain areas, but he does well in aesthetics and collection points. It was pretty nostalgic to get him out of the box and review him; then again, reviewing Sephiroth, and Rikku was pretty neat. Definitely shows how far Playarts have come! Well, Here is my 'remastered' Final Fantasy shelf! I might do another one... a FFIX character.... we'll see. Hope you like the review though!

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Playarts: Sephiroth

Another throwback review! And with Final Fantasy XV just around the corner, it's going to be a Final Fantasy few more reviews than it has been! So, jumping into a figure I have had for a few years (in box too), Sephiroth from the vol. 2 Playarts is now here for me to review. So, how does the One Winged Angel stand the test of time?

The box was hard to get a good shot with me not having a white background set up. I'm sure none of you care about the box that much so here we go. Nothing new; standard Playarts box; a box get up that carries over even with the first few Playarts Kai (which was FFXIII's line up I believe).

And I was saying something about Rikku's accessory line up being horrible? Well, this is what you get with Sephiroth: Masamune, an alternate hand (katana wielding hand) and the standard Playarts stand. Definitely try little to no thought was put into the accessories. I would think with the Final Fantasy VII game edition Sephiroth they would include the Black Materia or something; or his one wing? That would probably rack up the price by a whole lot though.

As far as the figure itself, I used to be a big fan of Sephiroth. As time went on and I realized that my chest wasn't as shiny as his, my liking for this character (aesthetics and character all together) dwindled; maybe nothing with the chest just age I guess. But he transferred over well in the Playarts department. His mold body-wise is a bit too lanky and just weird at times, but again, that is how the character was supposed to be.



His signature long silver hair is probably one of the best thing about this figure. I'll go over the articulation in a moment (or lack of) but if I was to base it off looks, sculpt, it's amazing. Definitely Sephiroth with the black jacket, the shoulder pads and everything.

His face is done quite well and it's a much more recognizable face than the Advent Children version that we got:

This version of Sephiroth was of course a realistic version, trying to mesh more realism in his hairstyle and face compared to the more anime look. I prefer the anime look for Sephiroth.

Again the sculpt of the hair is just magnificent. There is no articulation so any kind of action pose or hair blowing in the wind kind of dynamic look is out the window. Also, because it's a pretty sturdy piece of plastic, it truly hinder's Sephiroth's head movement.

For his articulation, it was really difficult to get him into poses that would just make him stand out. The long coat hinders it and I already mentioned his hair. Playarts, even in these times does offer some range of movement but because of the character design, he was really limited. A real bummer, truly. Then with his lack of accessories, Sephiroth was pretty much just a 'stand there' and look Sephiroth-like.

There are some poses he could get into that can be pretty cool looking, but he is just an awkward figure. Again his mold is just a bit on the thin frame style and when moving his arms(about the only part of him that has full range motion), some shots just look weird.

And then the lack of alternate hands just gives him little to no fun factor in the posing department.

And here he is next to his Advent children version. They look like wrestlers or a duet for a rock band. By the way, AC Sephiroth pretty much has the same articulation; difference with that guy is his coat can be unlatched to give him a little bit more range for his legs.

Below average articulation, lack of accessories, and not exactly my favorite Final Fantasy antagonist brings this guy really low in the 'like' department. Though he is an older figure so he has a little bit more leeway. He is sculpted and painted nicely so I did put him to replace the Advent children Sephiroth for display. I'll take a picture of that shelf here.

So all in all, if you are a fan of Sephiroth, this is probably a must. I don't think there is a Kai version, so this might be it. But if you are spoiled with the Kai line ups of Playarts, get ready to have some disappointment. But all you ogling fan girls, this is a good figure and you can see his chest. He looks like a Canadian cosplayer.... LOL! 

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trailer (HD) (PS4)

It's finally happening. 

Finally. I'm excited for this game. I haven't been the biggest Final Fantasy fan in a long time but this is HUGE! 

Let's……. Change the beat.

Kitty Young is the only face of Harley Quinn I know now. Disagree?

Please try.

I wish I knew who this cosplayer was because…… DAMN.

Damn.

uh yeah. Skrull or Drew, don't care! Damn!

Damn.

Magically DAMN!

Yeah. Damn.

Yeah. Damn final heaven indeed.

ending note: I fervently apologize if I am unable to give credit to some of these lovely ladies! I scouted for these images across the web and have lost the website for some of them or some of them were sent to me. I would LOVE to credit them so if you happen to come across my blog now and see your lovely self in here, please admonish me and I would hope you will give me OFFICIAL permission to use these and a link to your page! Of course the photographers who come across your work in here are more than(obviously) allowed to do the same!

Damsel of the Month:

"vmbui"

Name: Tifa Lockheart

Video Game/Series: Final Fantasy VII

Some Words: It was September 7, 1997 when Final Fantasy VII came out into the psx system. It was one of the best(arguably still is) one of the best Final Fantasy to ever have been produced. I'm not going to delve into my opinion on what is the best Final Fantasy out there is because this is about the Femme Fatale that came out of FFVII and that is Tifa. If one wants to talk about an impractical outfit in the Final Fantasy realm, there are many to choose from! Rikku, Yuna(FFX-2)... even the males have their own wardrobe discrepancy, but Tifa could for sure fill in the top five slot of that. But with this 'provocative' outfit comes the perk of being a target for damsel treatment. Who would disagree with such a lovely captive? And the fitting month for the release date some decade and odd years ago?

Final Fantasy always took pride in the 'job' class. Or at least the certain individuality of characters and their characteristics that played a factor to how effective they are in battle. Some are just a must(white mages are always a must in my opinion) while other players can make do without but FFVII kind of diluted that notion with the whole materia option. Regardless, Tifa comes to the party fisticuffs and short leather skirt and all. Suffice to say, she has played the role of Sabin and Yang from the previous popular Final Fantasy. I suppose all the more reason why those lethal hands should be restrained or what not. That and those legs must also get the treatment since she is rather skilled with kicks as well. Watch out for the Dolphins!

Karuso-Maker from deviant art.

As a prized captive, it would be behoove of the captor to really implement some heavy and durable restraints on her. For one, when/if she gets out of that she will be a juggernaut on her own right considering she was an asset in the FFVII crew's victory. The other reason is of course all for sensuality! You wouldn't want to lose one of the most badass femme fatale from the FF female roster now would you?

Loz

Then again if one is lucky enough to capture a handful of the Final Fantasy gals, letting them go or making it too easy for them to escape without some prize for the labor would be asinine. I mean... Tifa is a catch but NONE of the captives in Loz's pic from above should be taken lightly!

Wer-nomad deviantart

In the FFVII AC movie, Tifa had a sweetheart voice(japanese version); I never once thought that she would have a rather masculine tone in her voice, but she had too sweet of voice to BE the sexy brawler I picture her to be just from audible value; but a formidable gag should still be applies on her! The better she is inadequate for anything, the better. Speaking of gags, she did have a bondage treatment in the original game... came equipped with struggling options as player would 'press' combinations for her struggle endeavor... hands... legs... she needed to pick up the key to get her unlocked from her execution chair. Too bad the picture that Erickson(from deviant art) came up with on the right wasn't the 'torture' that she received. Full gag and all. That would've been fan service and nostalgia!

Blackprof(deviant art) was kind enough to draw up a story for a perfect event for Tifa's capturing. To see his full work, go on his page. More or less it REALLY does what the game didn't do and that is really pit her strength against the one thing a damsel can hardly fight against ALL THE TIME: Bondage. So with the thought that ONLY through fanfics, fanarts, and imagination that FF gals like Tifa gets their well deserved distressing moment, it is something still noteworthy to give praise to since the constructs of ink and art does(most of the time) Tifa justice. It may be scarce as my collection shows, but what I do have still elates me.

Repitle eye did a magnificent commissioned piece as well with Scarlet getting the best of her and sock gagged too! Still, not enough DiDs of Tifa out there...To the hopes of acquiring more then!!! And until that time ....

Kidetic

Let's enjoy what we have and look forward to October to mark the YEAR anniversary of this monthly Thread!!!! =)