Final Fantasy XII - Mateus the Corrupt - Master Creatures 2

To continue with my Final Fantasy Master Creatures statues I'll now show you my Mateus the Corrupt figure from Final Fantasy XII, I'm ashamed to say i don't remember anything about Final Fantasy XII and i mean to dig it out soon and play it again. I have absolutely no idea why I don't remember anything about it but I'll have to remedy that.

Anyway, my wonderful fiancé purchased this statue for me as a surprise and i think it's absolutely fantastic. I actually think it looks better than the Diabolos statue that I have already reviewed. The colours on this statue are amazing and the detail is wonderful! I actually think the detail on this statue is even better than Diabolos, but i suppose there is more going on in this statue than with the other one.

I love the way the statue is positioned and how it comes out of the base. It looks like giant ice spikes have come out of the ground below it and it's hovering above them. The staff is removable, it has a small stopper at the base of the staff to make sure that it doesn't come out of Mateus' hand, not that it moves when slotted into the hand anyway. The base of the figure is around 3" at it's widest point and the actual statue at it's widest point is around 6". Mateus stands at around 8" tall, i measured this to the tip of the staff, as you can see in the pictures below, this could be taller depending on where the staff is held. I like it held where i have it (as pictured)

Again (as with Diabolos) the statue feels fragile and i would make sure it is positioned where it won't be knocked over or anything like that. It's very lightweight is a more accurate way of putting it, i mean it probably wouldn't break at the slightest knock but i think it wouldn't take a lot to snap something off of the statue.

The packaging for Mateus is the same as the Diabolos figure apart from the picture/s on the back and the nam on the front. In case you haven't read the Diabolos review, i basically said that i very much like the packaging, it is a Matt Black, professional looking design. There's no clutter on the box and it feels sturdy. It's not flimsy and cheap looking like the ART FX Advent Children packaging. On the back of the packaging are some pictures of the statue and some of the other ones in the series Diabolos is featured too.

Overall, once again i would reccomend this to any Final Fantasy Fan or collector. It looks absolutely amazing, the colours and the detail are stunning and i especially like the detail of the bound woman. It's a great piece and I'm very glad i have it! The Staff is awesome too! I nearly forgot about it, it looks great and isn't bendy, it's a sturdy one. Anyway, as i've mentioned in other reviews, the pictures will explain everything a lot better than i ever could! Take a look!

Final Fantasy VIII - Diabolos - Master Creatures 2

After getting plenty of Characters from Final Fantasy VII, i thought it would be good to get some creatures, summons and or baddies from the Final Fantasy Series. Now from Final Fantasy VIII this has to be one of my favourite summons. I don't know why really, it's just dark and cool. Maybe partly because its a bit Dragon-like and i like Dragons.

So after having a look around for some more figures and statues, i came across the Master Creatures range of Final Fantasy statues. Now these really are statues as there are no moving parts and are purely for display purposes. It looks absolutely stunning, the detail and quality of the statue are once again phenominal, it's full of colour and looks like it cost a small fortune.

I'm not entirely sure what it's made from but it is very light and looks like it's quite fragile. It's definately made of something like a plastic or a vinyl type thing once again, but it doesn't feel like it would take much force to snap something off of it. So best put it somewhere it's not likely to get knocked or fall.

The base of the statue is 2.5" at the widest and as it comes up from the base the size of the statue gets much bigger and wider. The statue at it's widest (wing tip to wing tip) is 8" and it stands at around 6.5" at it's highest point.

I like the packaging for the Diabolos statue, it is in a Matt Black colour and looks very well put together, it doesn't look or feel flimsy and is very direct, there's no fuss or clutter on the box, the front tells you what the statue is and who it's by and on the back are some very nice pictures of the figure and some of the other figures in the series. It's a hell of a lot better than the packaging for the Advent Children Play arts and ART FX figures. It also shows my one of my other statues on the back. (Which i'll review next)

There's not anything i can think of saying about it that the pictures that follow wouldn't explain much better than i ever could. I love the detail on the statue and especially love his face and wings. It's colourful and i would definately reccomend this statue to any collector. It's a great addition to any Final Fantasy collection.

 

 

 

Final Fantasy VII - Bahamut Sin Advent Children - ARTFX - Kotobukiya

Finally after waiting a week for it to be delivered it's here!
The latest addition to my figures is the ARTFX Bahamut Sin figure from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. As i've mentioned before i don't usually go for the Advent Children figures, but as this is a monster i don't mind! I'll probably end up with he rest of the Advent children figures anyway to be honest, at some point.

This figure is absolutely fantastic, it feels like the Play Arts figures, soft vinyl. I guess it pretty much is a Play Arts figure as they are both produced by Kotobukiya. But this one is an ARTFX figure. The figure stands at about 8" it's a lot larger than the other figures i have in more obvious ways, the tail and the massive wings may have something to do with it haha. To give you a better idea of how big the figure is, i measured the base (which the figure takes up nearly all of) and it is around 8.5" wide and just under 7" front to back in an oval shape.

It's beautifully made, the detail on the figure is stunning! I sat there for quite a while yesterday just looking all around it and they really don't leave any areas undetailed. My favourite parts are the wings, it fuses amazingly between the solid grey colour into a clear orange colour at the tips, seamlessly in fact. This has to be my favourite figure, along with the Hardy Daytona & Cloud Strife. The only differences between this figure and the other ones i have reviewed so far are that it doesn't really have much articulation. It's arms move a bit and the hands turn, the legs move a little bit, but as far as i can tell, nothing else really moves. I was hoping that the wings would be movable so you could have them up or down, but i tried moving them a little bit and found they were pretty rigid, i'm not going to risk breaking anything by being too heavy handed with it, on that note, it doesn't actually feel fragile, once again because it's a soft vinyl figure, it feels very solid but at the same time has a nice soft texture.

The packaging is fairly standard, which is similar to the sephiroth advent children packaging, just glossy flimsy-ish cardboard with some pictures and lettering. Once again the back of the box shows the figure a couple of times and has pictures of the other figures in the collection. As you can tell i don't think it's anything outstanding, but what's inside the box more than makes up for the standard packaging. If the packaging looked more like the Play Arts Vol.1 packaging, it'd be fantastic!
The base for this figure slots into a couple of small holes under Bahamut's feet and keeps him very stable, to be fair he could stand up with or without the base, i just prefer to make sure he stays stood up, so i've kept the base underneath him. As you can see, the base is massive, but the figure is large too, so i guess it needs to be!

Overall this figure, as with all my other figures (with maybe exception of the Bandai set) is fantastic, very highly detailed and feels very well made. It's definately aimed at collectors and not children, just like the rest of the figures. They have taken a lot of time making sure these figures are highly accurate and detailed and i doub't they'd do that if children were going to smash them around. So definately a collector's item.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves the games, it's without one of the best ones i have at the moment. It also seems to be quite pricey, i managed to get it cheap and in perfect condition, so that's a bonus!! The only thing that's not 100% is the box, but i'd say it was more age and storage wear than mis-handling.
See if you can bag yourself one! I'd highly recommend this!

Final Fantasy VII - Cloud Strife & Hardy Daytona Play Arts Vol.1 #0

Here is the pride and joy of my collection so far, the Cloud Strife & Hardy Daytona Play Arts figure. This was purchased from Ebay like the rest of my collection but the person selling it to me was getting rid of it for his son, he said it didn't look like the box had ever been opened. It had been opened but i only know that because the seal was broken, you wouldn't have known otherwise.

This set is pretty much mint condition and is absolutely fantastic.

The set consists of exactly the same Cloud Strife figure as the Vol.1 # 1 edition, he's around 8.5" tall and comes with spare hands and his infamous Buster Sword. The figure is based on the game version of
and not the Advent children version. The figure is highly detailed and has over 22 points of articulation, which allow you to pose him in various different ways. I've chosen one of his most iconic stances for the individual cloud and another one that should be VERY familiar for the one on the Daytona. It comes with the peg for the back that i mentioned in the Vol.1 #1 edition, this makes it a lot easier to keep the sword in place when you have him holding it over his shoulder. When not using the peg, there is a small plug that you can put into the hole, this is fairly discreet and unless you're looking for it, it doesn't look out of place.

Now onto the bike, this is a work of art! The bike measures in at around 13" in length and at it's tallest point (around the handles) it's about 6" high. It is quite a weight and is very well made. The wheels feel like they are made of rubber (quite hard but soft) and they obviously do turn, they aren't fixed. There is a kickstand (i think that's what it's called haha) underneath it to keep the bike upright and stable, but i didn't really use this when displaying it with Cloud, i'll tell you why shortly.
The attention to detail and everything about this bike is absolutely fantastic! It could almost be mistaken for a real one that had been somehow miniaturized! I mentioned earlier there is a good weight behind it and it's very sturdy. It's hard for me to explain but the weight and feel of the actual bike just adds to the appeal, it's so well made you can't help but love it!
When displaying the bike, i tried to make it so that Cloud had one foot on the ground and the bike was slightly tilted, this left Cloud's other leg bent at the other side of the bike, which looks cool in my opinion, Cloud is also holding out his Buster Sword as though he's ready for some Bike Fight action.
At first i wasn't sure if Cloud would get on the bike but his legs can be pulled further apart than you first realise, once this was done i could position him nicely on top of the bike and clip one of the handlebars into his hand. My major problem was trying to get the bike to not fall over in this position, i found that putting the kickstand down a bit and putting a bit of blu tack under Cloud's foot kept the bike in place, but i'd still be careful around it due to the weight of the bike. I would just use the kickstand and keep it stable, but then I'd lose the tilt and Clouds feet would both be off of the floor.

I haven't done this in the pictures because i didn't want blu tack on the table i was taking the pictures on, but i did try and get the figure as identical to how he's normally displayed as possible.

The packaging for the set is superb as always, the Vol.1 Packaging is very well designed and looks just as nice as what's inside most of the time. Once again it is a matt black colour with the silvered Play Arts lettering on the front at the bottom. The Final Fantasy VII logo is also on the front, along with the name and number of the set. The sides are fairly standard with a small image on one side and the name of the set on the other. The back of the packaging actually shows the image of how i had him displayed (the large image) along with a few other views of and the Daytona, it also displays the other figures that are included in the Vol.1 set. Other than that it's the usual smallprint in the corner. Underneath the box is the Square-Enix shop info.

I would definately recommend this set, it is my favourite of all the figures i have shown you so far and probably will remain the favourite or one of them, for a long time to come. It wasn't too cheap (not for me) but at the same time i think i got it at a decent price. I've seen this set selling on ebay for more than £100. The detail and care that has gone into making this set so accurate and amazing is fantastic! It's going to be fun re-running some of the bike minigames and storyline section with this in my peripheral vision! Buy it if you can find it!

Here are the pictures: