Toys and Models from Videogames and Anime!

If there's one thing I like almost as much as TransFormers and model robots in general, it's Action Figures based on videogames. Actually, just about any decent merchandise based on videogames will do, though I somehow doubt I'll end up modelling my various retro videogame T-Shirts in this section. Stranger things have happened, though.

For the moment, cast your eyes over my fabby collection of action figures, models and statues taken from a vast array of videogames, neatly listed in alphabetical order and wonder - as I sometimes do - what on Earth possessed me to buy such crap.

Final Fantasy I didn't really intend to get the Final Fantasy VII models, they just kind of crept up on me while I was in a toyshop. The main three characters from the PlayStation game, with a few more of lesser importance. If some of the other characters are available (Red XIII in particular), I might collect more... I still haven't go the FF8 models... whenever I saw them, I couldn't be bothered to get them, or I was heading somewhere else... I couldn't resist the FF9 Plush toys, though... The tenth game in the series has some pretty darned good figures, but I haven't seen them in any shops so far.
	FF7 Barret Wallace Big bloke who talks like Mr. T, and has a Gatling gun grafted onto one arm. The problem with this model, as with most of them, is that Barret is almost completely static - only his arms and head move. There's an interesting feature to this one, in that you can detach the Gatling, but there are no alternative weapons available to the model. Shame.
	FF7 Tifa Lockheart Cute little brunette with a skirt not much larger than her belt. Only her arms and head move, and she comes with a little square of plastic into which you insert one of her feet to make her stand properly. She comes with no weapons of her own, and can't even hold anything.
	FF7 Aerith Gainsborough She dies!!! Argh! Utterly cute and lovely 'mystery girl' character. Again, only her head and arms are articulated, and she's really only meant to stand in the position shown in all the FF7 promotional artwork.
	FF7 Cloud Strife I still think his name should have been translated as Claud, but he's got cool hair anyway. Good sword, too. This one is the most articulated of all the figures - his head moves and his arms have joints at the shoulder and elbow. The would allow for some really dramatic posing, if it weren't for the fact that he's so liable to overbalance.
	FF7 Chocobo Like a huge chick, but they can be ridden like horses. Assuming you can tame one... This is an incredibly basic model. It doesn't do anything except stand, and you can't sit any of the other characters on its back.
	FF7 Frog/Toad Don't ask, I don't know. It kind of reminds me of those cheap crappy little models you used to get in Christmas crackers and the like. I wish that, rather than including a Chocobo and this thing, they'd seen fit to put Red XIII instead.
	FF9 Garnet Plush Very cute, but - facially - looks nothing like the character from the game. The 'costume' is excellent, but is actually part of the doll, rather than extra clothing on top... For some strange reason the legs are sewn together. Perhaps the makers were expecting all sorts of pervs to take 'compromising' pictures of Garnet and Zidane, and then post them on the internet..?
	FF9 Zidane Plush This one actually looks kind of almost like Zidane from the game, only he's a bit too blonde, surely. The extra bits, the belts, scabbard, etc. really add to this toy. And I never realised Zidane had a tail. (note: this little guy may be the basis for a real "HEXdidn't Pocket", if one is ever made. It's not quite the shape I'm after, but I'm sure the pattern could be altered.)
	FF9 Vivi Plush How can a Black Mage possibly be so cute? He's kind of like a Jawa from Star Wars, but wearing a Munchkin costume. It's interesting to note that, while Garnet and Zidane carry a label from the manufacturer Banpresto, Vivi only has a label declaring his videogame origin. This mean's they're not part of a set. Strange, considering that, originally, I thought I was getting a set of all three (the supplier in question only sold Vivi as part of a set)... He's very cool, though, and as well-made as the other two. Additionally, I have a second Vivi doll at work, sitting on my Mac. He does a reasonable job of absorbing Evil - and thereby protecting the machine from crashes - until I try to attach a new, better monitor. It seems that QuarkXPress 5 is also far too evil for him... but he'll adjust. My only fear is that, once he's absorbed enough Evil, surely he will be able to upset the natural balance of the universe? Nah... he's only a little fella ;)

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Metal Gear Solid Action Figures First of all, these McFarlane Toys figures are only quite loosely 'Action' figures - some of them have completely fixed legs. Also on the downside, they don't look much like their videogame counterparts. Another sore point is that a couple have to be 'posed' to stand up straight, and one (of mine, at least) has legs of unequal lengths no matter how you try to stand him. On the upside, the mould quality and painting is superb, as you would expect from the people that created Spawn, and the extra pieces (weapons, etc.) are cool. When I bought my first six, I was told that Solid Snake and Sniper Wolf had sold out almost instantly. Snake doesn't look much like the game character, but he's OK. Sniper Wolf looks quite like her promo sketches and comes with a huge wolf, which probably explains why she sold so well... Why no Decoy Octopus (with disguise kit)? Why none of Solid Snake's radio contacts? Set 2 didn't seem to contain any of the missing characters... the only ones I saw were 'cloaked' Snake and Ninja.
	Solid Snake Retired FoxHound bloke, sent in to stop his ex-comrades before they launch a nuke on the free-world. Doesn't look a whole lot like the in-game character, but comes with a nice selection of ordinance. Neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips and knees are articulated, and he carries a handgun (with silencer/sight - like Liquid Snake), machine gun (like Liquid Snake and Meryl), a visor, a gas mask (or is it his diving gear?), a bomb and a backwards rocket launcher (it fires out of the back, instead if the front).
	Liquid Snake The lead bad guy, the man with the same (according to the game!) codename as the hero. Bare-chested, proudly displaying his dog-tags, with a nice selection of weaponry and a handy base-stand. And a rubbery jacket. Oo-er. Neck won't move because of his long hair, elbows and wrists rotate, ususal leg joints...
	Meryl Silverburgh Yes indeed, she who puts the Fox into FoxHound. Looks absolutely nothing like Meryl in the game, almost a Metal Gear Barbie. Carries a knife and a handgun, both of which have handy pouches for storage, a machine gun and a grappling hook(!?). Neck, shoulders, upper arms, wrists (below the glove-line, oddly enough) and waist are articulated, legs are solid.
	Ninja This one has a huge number of joints, some of them quite odd - Neck (fully masked head can be replaced with an unmasked head), shoulders, upper arm, wrists, mid-torso, hips, knees (usual bending knee and a rotating joint just above) and ankles. The right arm can hold a longsword (which plugs into his leg!) or be replaced with a gun-arm. The legs are of different lengths and the feet are at odd angles, so he has to be posed to stand up properly.
	Psycho Mantis Rather than following the Ninja's 'replacement head' system, McFarlane gave this guy a proper mask. Neck, shoulders, wrists and hips are articulated and the legs on mine are of different lengths so he can't stand. Comes with a 'Roman'-style bust, a vase and a blue-red blobby thing (don't ask me what it's meant to be). A couple of his straps are separate pieces glued on, giving this one a bit more 3D-ness than some of the others.
	Revolver Ocelot This guy comes with a couple of revolvers (no!?) and a torture table. Hmm. Nicely detailed like the others, with similar flaws. Neck won't move because of long hair, shoulders, elbows and wrists move, but the legs are solid. Similar rubber jacket to Liquid Snake
	Sniper Wolf Looks kind of like 'Metal Gear Solid, featuring Jennifer Aniston as Sniper Wolf', buy it's OK. The head moves more than most of the long-haired models, but other than that, it's just the upper body that's articulated. Just like the promo artwork, her jacket's open, showing off her chest. Comes with her sniper rifle (natch) and a bloody great wolf.
	Vulcan Raven You can really tell that the Spawn people did this one. Huge muscles, teeth bared, odd joints. Neck, waist, both shoulders, wrists and hips move. Only one elbow moves, and that only seems to move to make it easier to put the ammo pack's strap over his shoulder, and to fit the gun into his hands. The ammo belt is actually the wrong way round - if you plug it into the gun as the 'instruction sheet' suggests, the bullets face into the gun, and if you plug them in the 'right' way, the belt is all twisted up. Hmmm.

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Resident Evil If you don't know what Resident Evil is, where have you been? This game has been giving me nightmares since the very first time I played it... then played the sequel... then saw the film... These mildly cool toys are based on characters and monsters from Capcom's first highly acclaimed Survival Horror game. While they're nothing truly special, they're quite imaginative in some cases. Some of the ideas (Tyrant's pumping heart, the 'Aim-and-Fire' action with Jill and Chris) are very good, but don't work so well in plastic. Thanks to a branch of Babbages in a Miami shopping mall, I've got the full set, minus the zombie pack. That was available, but I didn't really want it...
	Chris Redfield One of the S.T.A.R.S. operatives from the original RE game. Not perfect, but there's more to this model that Jill - he comes with a revolver, a knife and a rocket launcher that looks like a flame thrower. Plenty of joints, but the shape of the legs means he has to pose to stand up. The 'Aim-and-Fire' action can be quite good, if he's posed well... The character design is a bit bland, as if it was trying to be anime-style, but with the others being so detailed, this is rather a disappointment.
	Cerberus "My dog's got no nose..." "How does he smell?" "Terrible! Did I mention he's Undead, and infested with maggots?" My dog's got no bottom jaw, making him slightly less menacing than he should be. Also due to a bit of dodgy moulding, the exploding body won't stay together. Damn.
	Jill Valentine One of the S.T.A.R.S. operatives from the original RE game. Not a great model, and the 'Aim-and-Fire' action switch doesn't work, but she's fun... Comes with a flame thrower which looks like a rocket launcher. Like Chris, the character design is a little bland, but she has a couple of extra joints, and doesn't require posing to stand. Why are her legs splayed so much though?
	Spinner This one's pretty cute: the thorax contains a spring-loaded spider-baby-launcher thing. Push down on the head and the back end explodes, launching baby spiders hanging onto strands of web! Yuck! Quite a detailed model, but a lot of the detail is painted in.
	Hunter Big, Green monster thing. Slightly weak action, caused by pulling one arm back, and letting it slice forward. Fun. This model, and in fact most of the monsters, are very detailed, and most of it is moulding rather than paint. There's something odd about the legs, though, as it's sometimes difficult to get this fella to stand up properly. If it weren't for the weak action, this might be the best of the bunch.
	Chimera Hit the chest and the head flies off. Or it would if it were spring loaded. as it is, it may flop off or it may just pop up a little... doesn't move much, but looks right. Again, excellent mould detail, but it leans forward too far to stand properly. The arms are the only moving parts, and they only rotate around the shoulder.
	Tyrant Huge, with a rather 'nice' heart-pumping action. Groovy, but not the best thing ever. Very good mould detail, and the painting isn't half bad. This model has a good range of movement, and will stand quite easily. The larger, mutated arm has a very loose joint, though, and the liquid in the 'heart' tends to sink down and won't pump back up properly.

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Steamboy Capsule Figures Steamboy is one of my favourite anime of all time - voice actors like Patrick Stewart and Alfred Molina appear in the English dub, the animation is of an amazing quality, the story is fun and exciting... and it features Robert Stevenson as one of the main characters! On the downside, it is incredibly derivitive of Star Wars in many ways, though that tends not to get in the way as much as it might. These capsule figures were purchased as an almost full set - I'm missing the Steamcycle - at one of the many conventions I've attended. Considering how small they are, they are of exceptional quality in terms of molded detail and paintwork, but some of them are a little fragile.
	Steamboy with Jetpack After one of the steam-powered flying machines crashes nearby, Steamboy quickly modifies it into this neat little jetpack with which he flies around London trying to stop his father's Steam Castle. This is a very well molded figure with excellent paintwork, particularly on the "jets of steam"-effect base.
	Miss Scarlet The precocious young daughter of the head of the O'Hara Foundation, which funded Steamboy's father and grandfather's efforts to improve steam power. the model includes her parasol and her long-suffering doggy. Both the mold detail and the paintwork on this one are very basic and, in many places, distinctly sub-par. The face doesn't quite capture the look of utter disdain, and the dog looks more angry than fearful and abused.
	Steam Powered Flightpack This would be quite a clever piece of engineering if it actually worked but, even with very light wings, the steam mechanisms, let alone the pilot's armour would weigh far too much for it to ever do anything but plummet gracefully toward the ground. The O'Hara foundation debuted a while fleet of these at the technology fair. This is easily one of the most intricately detailed models, and has an excellent paint job for something so small.
	The Steam Engine Driven by two cronies from the O'Hara Foundation while in pursuit of Steamboy on his steamcycle, this is quite a behemoth. It runs on road or tracks (though I suspect the single rear wheel would make running on tracks VERY uncomfortable), and seems to have small mechanical arms. This is an incredibly detailed model, and came with two 'O'Hara Foundation' stickers for the sides. The two cronies are entirely separate pieces, and the roof of the rear section doesn't like to stay put, so it would be easy to lose pieces of this one. An excellent paint job, though!
	Steam Trooper By the time these guys are introduced, it's impossible not to think of Star Wars' Stormtroopers, because so many other parallels have come up in the story. They're armed in a variety of ways, but this one sems to have either a massive shotgun or a small grenade launcher. Another fantastically detailed model - just look at the chainmail underneath the plate armour - with a decent metallic paint job.

1-up Versions
Vampire Saviour Capsule Figures There are several sets of these, and I may end up getting more... For the moment, these are the two versions of one set, loosely speaking Player 1 and Player 2 versions. They all seem to be to different scales, as far as the characters in the game go, but I may be wrong. Considering their size - and the fact that they're all made of soft PVC - they're very good quality, and some have clever optional extras...
	Bulletta The cute costume on this one belies the tough mercenary she is. Quite a simple model, on the whole, but with loads of extras - her hood can be up or down, she can have this 'sweet face' or the 'crazy face' (see 2-up version, below), her open hand can be carrying this knife or a microphone(!?), and a spare arm is holding an Uzi. The only problem with these extras is that they are incredibly easy to lose. I managed to vacuum up one set while cleaning one day, and despite all the pieces being stored in the bag, they all came out in the hoover's dustbag.
	Red Bunny-Girl Lilith This is from one of her special moves, where her opponent ends up on stage. Not sure of the relevance of the sign, as I've never successfully pulled off the move. For some reason, neither version of this fitted together properly. I took a knife to the hip pegs in particular, as fitting them became quite painful. Despite its simplicity, it has quite an impressive paint job, particularly the slightly iridescent tights!
	Felicia Another one with assembley problems - this time with both arms and legs. Going by the way this is put together, it almost seemed as if it was originally intended to have different faces available, like Bulletta... No such luck on the final model, though - even the 2-up version has the same face
	Lord Raptor (Female) The result of one of Dmitri's special moves, Lord Raptor has gone all girly... And it's amazing how cute an undead punk rocker can look! Her red hair stands out dramatically against her pale blue skin, and the guitar she's holding is huge - surely far too large for her to play? Despite the simplicity, this is another model with a very impressive paint job - all the buckles are silver, even the tiny spikes on her collar have had a lick of paint.
	Bondage Queen Morrigan Easily one of the best costumes Morrigan has ever had, but still retaining shades of the original. Completely assymetrical in design, she's wearing one thigh-length boot and one ankle length. The whip and the expression on her face tell you everything you need to know: This lady is trouble.
	Q. Bee The knife and fork refer to one of her victory poses, and her stand is very clever - her stinger sticks into the top of a fragment of her hive, so the model has barely any weight on the foot that touches the ground. While the paint job on this is just as good as the others (and better than some - I particularly like the way the wings were done), the eyes have been done completely wrong - the character's 'eyes' aren't really her eyes at all - the large purple domes on her forehead are her true compound eyes.
2-up Versions
	Bulletta - Little Black Riding Hood Exactly the same model as the red version, with all the same extras... This one is displaying some of the alternate parts.
	Black Bunny-Girl Lilith Exactly the same as the red version, though this one was easier to put together and stands slightly better. The different paint job gives her a black leotard, black shoes, and a large red cross on her signboard.
	Black Felicia I'm pretty sure that the videogame version of this one actually makes Felicia into a brown-skinned, pink-haired, black-furred version of the usual, so I'm not sure why this one is so obviously caucasian. There appears to be a small number of very slight mold differences on this one, but it may just be warped PVC...
	Living Lord Raptor (Female) Well, obviously, if Dmitri was going to turn someone female so he could drink their blood, he'd want to make sure their blood was actually flowing, wouldn't he? Exactly the same model as the 1-up version, but with pink skin and black clothing... the guitar is identical.
	Bondage Queen Morrigan (Alternate) At first glance, the only difference in this one seems to be the eyepatch... but the hair is also slightly different in the way it falls, the small wings on her head and the larger ones on her back seem to be in a different position (though both could be due to warped PVC). There are other versions of this model - at least one in white, possibly white version of both.
	Black Q.Bee Exactly the same as the 1-up version, but wearing a black costume, this Q. Bee has grey hair and grey compound eyes... and exactly the same problem with her 'human eyes' that aren't supposed to look human!

X-Men vs. Street Fighter OK, I know that this is definitely the ultimate cash-in, and a lot of them don't actually move a whole lot, but they're pretty cute, and how else are PlayStation owners going to see the game at it's best? Thanks to the branch of Babbages in a mall in Miami, I've got Rogue (and Zangief) and Cammy (and Gambit) now... Just got to find the other set now (Ryu/Magneto and Ken/Bison (or Vega))
	Apocalypse Strangely one of the smaller toys. He's got arms which can be popped off and replaced with the drill from the game and a claw thing which isn't from the game. Little pipes connect them to his back, which is quite neat. The permanent sneer is crap though.
	Chun-Li What happened to her thighs? Other than that 'minor' flaw, not a bad little model, with articulated ankles! Don't know about the rest of the world, but this is almost unheard of in the average UK toy.
	Dhalsim A pretty good model, with baggy fabric shorts, and the trademark skull necklace and huge bangles. Can't do a Lotus Position, but you can't have everything...
	Juggernaut The 'Juggernaut Punch' is a bit poo, and only the hips and knees are articulated, but I suppose it's not too bad. Too small, though.
	Rogue My absolute favourite X-Man. Not bad figure, and the toy's good too. Her rubbery jacket isn't removeable, and her head doesn't turn that much, but this one's fairly well articulated.
	Zangief Looking at this figure, you'll be instantly reminded of Juggernaut. Even the 'Backbreaker' is similar to the 'Juggernaut Punch', just in reverse. The cape's quite good, but doesn't fit too well.
	Cammy My figure has a very shoddy bit of paintwork for a hat. Other than that, it's pretty good. I think the hips could have been handled better, though.
	Gambit The Ragin' Cajun, allegedly. Extremely broad shouldered, and my one's card throwing action doesn't work very well, but a pretty good figure overall.

Zelda 64 OK, so there I was, in Computer Exchange in Harrow. I look around in the glass 'shelf' area above the cash desk, and there I beheld yet another collector's pack: three characters from Zelda 64: Ocarina of Time. They're all quite good - fairly detailed models, with some very nice paintwork. The only problem is they don't move a whole lot. About the same amount of movement as the FF7 models, I suppose, but they could have been better. As I said at the time, though, if I'm going to start collecting this sort of thing, I might as well collect these. And the paintwork is nice, after all...
	Link (teenage) Dressed like a cross between the Seven Dwarves and Robin Hood, the teenage Link has a clip-on shield and a slightly bendy sword. His head moves only slightly and only in one direction (the sheath for his sword blocks movement in the other direction). Other than that, his shoulders are articulated and his legs can rotate (!?)
	Zelda Only the shoulders and waist are articulated on this one. She doesn't even have legs! Rather cute, all the same.
	Ganondorf Head, shoulders and hips are articulated. No weapons or other additional pieces. This one can't even hold Link's things...

Videogame Babe Statues While there's no real connection between the characters or the games represented here, the fact is they're all female, all wearing very interesting costumes and, frankly, they're about as sexy as videogame characters can get. They tend to be made of either PVC or vinyl, so they end up flopping somewhat in hot weather...
	Ino A musician from the Guilty Gear games, Ino appears to be dressed in a sort of sexy-witch style. Red PVC abounds, with little gold rings holding it all together. Her hat, rather cleverly, looks like a cartoon skeleton (or perhaps Oogie-Boogie from A Nightmare Before Christmas), and seems to be raising one eyebrow... Since this is very much Anime-style, there's not a huge amount of detail on the figure, but it certainly has a lot of character! The statue comes with a very plain, circular base - which is required for the statue to stand - and a guitar which fits snugly in her hand... until you pick her up.
	Kos-Mos Some sort of strange, humanoid robotic weapon thing from the Xenogears games. This is one of the more grown-up versions of Kos-Mos, based on the models I've seen of her so far. Then again, she appeared to be quite young in the first game, so perhaps she's of a different age in each game. The mold detail and paintwork on this are fantastic, and the translucent hair is a very neat touch. It seems as though her entire head was molded in translucent plastic, as her face lights up a little when there's light behind her. Rather than having a plain base, this one is quite intricately detailed, and painted gold with a little green bit right under Kos-Mos. The only drawback to this base, as opposed to the plainer ones, is that it's very long, making it hard to find somewhere good to display it.
	Morrigan The statue which began this collection! No surprises there, eh? To be honest, it doesn't look much like any incarnation of Morrigan I've seen (except, perhaps, in my nightmares about a Sailor Moon/Darkstalkers crossover), but the pose is unmistakably her. Oddly, for this sort of thing, she doesn't plug into her base. There's a long arm which plugs into the base, and a clip which goes around one of her legs to keep her upright. No matter which leg I choose, she always ends up leaning this way or that...

Videogame/Anime Toy Miscellany

Final Fantasy

Metal Gear Solid Action Figures

Resident Evil

Steamboy Capsule Figures

Vampire Saviour Capsule Figures

X-Men vs. Street Fighter

Zelda 64

Videogame Babe Statues