Final Fantasy VIII Action Figures Assortment 1 (Odin, Cerberus, Ifrite, Siren) Manufacturer ARTFX Collectible Toys Site www.kotobukiya.co.jp Company SQUARESOFT US Distributor Palisades Marketing (Battletech 6" toys soon!) Site www.palisadesmarketing.com FF8 Case Assortment (C) UPC Code 6-66620-77301-6 Case 3171 of 5276 Price $45 (free shipping) from ActionAce.com I ordered the case on Wednesday and they showed up at the office Friday! WAVE TWO NOTE: Wave two (Bahamut, Shiva, Gilgamesh, Diabolus) are already released in Japan for 3200 yen (about $32). OVERVIEW: Very big figures. They seem compatible with SPAWN toys. The sculpting is nice as well! Wave 2 looks just as promising. These toys are well done and have some thoughtful posability but they are a bit frail and don't quite "work" as full action figures. SIREN: Let's start out with the weakest (IMO) of the bunch. She's got these huge wings growing as long flowing hair. The feather-hair is strategically wrapped around her body to cover her. Right away, the left "wing" was loose and falls off with the slightest provocation. Still she has more than average posability for a female figure. 11 Points to be exact: Neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles. If you count each wing and the frills, she has an additional 4 points of movement. Only lacks wrist and waist articulation. Comes with harp and little cactus buddy. The stand and peg are a useless. Since these toys don't come with instructions, I don't know know if the stand is _supposed_ to stay stuck to the card or if I need to pry the stand off. Futile anyway, the peg on the pole doesn't fit the hole on the stand! IFRITE: Wicked looking werewolf-type creature. Like the SPAWN werewolf, has ball jointed shoulders for great arm movement. Add to that elbow and wrist turn, a real winner! Turns at the hips and knees. Ankle movement would have been nice. Of course, the way they sculpted the head, it can't turn. Again, no waist articulation. I had trouble getting one horn in but it's in now. Which horn goes in which slot? Ah well. Comes with a fish creature. CERBERUS: Very ferocious looking mutt! And Cerberus is too! No, Big C comes with a cute little dog (very well sculpted, no articulation). Cerberus himself is well articulated. Each head is on a ball joint but the armor plates prevent a wide range of motion. Each jaw can open and shut. Each leg can turn at the body but each paw is on a ball joint which helps a lot. The front left leg is spread _WAY_ out. Probably to keep balance since his tail is permanently swung to the left. Tail can rotate at two points. Once you get his tail in, it's in for good. Make sure you get it right! Oh, and keep trying, it takes a little work for it to become snug. Once it's all the way in you won't have a problem with it falling back out. I would make a dramatic improvement if the legs could bend at the knees but that would have decreased stability of such a big toy. I suppose, it's an acceptable sacrifice. One BAD dog! ODIN: What a massive box! This guy will have an impressive presense on any store's toy shelf. What is odd is that he has a flap for a peg. Both the Odin and Cerberus boxes have a flap so it can go onto a peg. What were they thinking about ODIN though? I can see it now! Some poor kids tries to lift one off and gets buried in a mountain of ODINs. Anyway, the toy itself is very mean looking -- the horse and rider. The steed is one massive piece of muscular horse. The only movement is the tail so it's locked into the rearing to the right pose. Upon closer examination, I found that this horse was originally an eight-legged horse! I was wondering what the extra muscle bundles were by his ribs and, disturbingly enough, they are muscles for another set of legs. But they have been ripped off and the stubs burnt closed! Scary indeed. OK Todd, let's see if your Sleepy Hollow horse is any good. Well, it's not really fair to compare. Saddle has a peg so ODIN can ride securely. The rider, ODIN, is a strong, stoic soldier. He's got a stone-cold face, empty black eyes, an elaborate boney headdress, a sleek black cape and a wicked sword!. I really like this guy. Not only does he look cool but he's got articulation to make him a true action figure. 12 Points of movement. Shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, head (on a ball joint!), and cape. Yes, cape! His cape is rather long and made of stiff plastic so he can't stand unless his cape is tilted back. Also, if the cape were locked "downwards", he would have trouble sitting on his night-mare. An added plus is that his hips are also ball jointed so he can mount the steed easier. He only misses waist and ankle articulation. ODIN's joints were a bit tight to get going. Give each joint a few careful twists and he'll be fine. Unfortunately, only one hand has a hole in it to hold the sword. The way the horse is molded rearing right, it seems to make sense to have ODIN facing a bit toward the left. Lift his cape up and it will be flowing behind him dramatically. ODIN is by far the best in terms of "fright factor" and articulation. Toys that ride a vehicle demand certain articulation to both ride the vehicle and stand as a normal figure. ODIN doesn't take any shortcuts, the ball joints solve the sitting/standing problem. The cape doesn't get in the way due to a clever hinge under it. He and his horse are very evil looking and the colors work well. PARTING NOTES: A well done set. While some have their weaknesses, they have been loaded with a lot of movement. Especially with McFarlane toys loosing some articulation, it's great to have a line that seems to TRY to add articulation when practical. ODIN is a must have to any action figure collection. CERBERUS makes a good statue. He's impressive to look at but futile to pose. IFRITE rivals the best werewolf figures out there if you get his horns in. SIREN is a fragile figure with a generous amount of articulation.