Tomopop Review: Final Fantasy Trading Arts Vol. 3 by Square-Enix

11:57 AM on 01.24.2009   |   Topher Cantler

If you remember my review of the Final Fantasy III Trading Arts set from last Summer, you already know that I'm a big fan of Square-Enix's Play Arts mini-figs. They're tiny enough to go anywhere without eating up any space on your toy shelves, and awesome enough to stand on their own as great little renditions of your favorite characters from the franchise.

Bite-sized morsels with big Final Fantasy flavor, you might say. If you're a huge dork and say stupid things like that. Ahem. Yes, well, let's check out my full review after the jump then, shall we?

The box is more or less identical to that of the FFIII Trading Arts mini figs I reviewed back in June. It's quality packaging, and does a great job of protecting the figures, while being revealing and attractive enough that you can display the set right on the shelf without even opening it.

First up are Fran and Balthier from Final Fantasy XII. 

This pair is the major draw of the set for me. Aeris and Tidus are both wonderful in their own respects, as I'll elaborate on soon, but Fran and Balthier undoubtedly take the cake. If it hadn't been for these two, I might not have even bothered with Final Fantasy XII, and I'll be quick to admit that their stories are the only thing that kept the disc in the tray as long as it was. I love these two characters, and both are well represented in this set.

Fran is lovely for being only around two and a half inches tall, and her facial expression captures her perfectly. Even moreso when she's posed next to Balthier. Of note are her little claw-footed shoes, which are wonderfully translated here from mildly intimidating to downright cute.

Her outfit and headgear are reasonably well-detailed, and the coloring is true to her original character design. Due to the non-scale nature of these figures, she appears just slightly smaller than Tidus and Aerith, although she is still the tallest fig in the set.

On to Balthier, who still manages to look like a total badass at only around two inches tall. 

You might hear Colette often lament that she longs for some videogame characters to be real people. I suffer from this very same condition, and Balthier is near the top of my own list of those characters. Few things would please me more than to sit back and have a few beers with this guy on a Thursday night. I mentioned before that he and Fran kept me playing FFXII far longer than I otherwise would have, and that's due in no small part to my man-crush on this handsome fucker. He was charming, he kicked ass, and he almost always led my party. Certainly one of the most likeable characters in the history of the franchise, if not gaming on the whole.

One of the things that makes the figure even more enjoyable is the crazy detail on his vest. Square-Enix did a fantastic job with the paint here, making this Han Solo-esque gentleman even more of a pleasure to own.

And then there's Tidus. 

Quite the opposite of Fran and Balthier, Tidus might be dead last on the list of reasons I saw Final Fantasy X  through to its completion. I never liked this guy much. Still, I have to admit that the light of Shunya Yamashita's character design did shine on him, whether or not it was as brightly as the rest of his FFX companions, and the good comes through in this figure. I like him ten times as much here as I ever did in the game.

He shares Balthier's gift of finer detail in this set, and really makes for a cool figure whether you like the character or not. He's also the most colorful of the bunch, which is nice, and might even be why he was included in the set.

Without question, his coolest feature is the Brotherhood Sword, with its water blade. I've always loved this sword, and Square-Enix did well to craft it out of clear vinyl here. It retains the fantastic wonder of a blade magically forged from water, and really just makes the whole figure.

Finally, there's Aeris, of Final Fantasy VII. Loved, hated, mourned, spoiler-ed, she's the least detailed of the four figures in the set, but true to her original design. She carries her staff from the game, and is well-accessorized with her Materia Bracelets, ribbons and bows.

Her hair is faithfully twisted in the back, adding some extra personality to the figure.

Her eyes are a lovely green color that brings the whole figure to life, and almost invokes a bit of sadness if you mourned her in FFVII.  She's the perfect way to round out the set, which, priced at under $20, is a no-brainer for Final Fantasy fans of any age. They're wonderfully detailed, small enough to display anywhere, and a highly recommended addition to any collection.

It should also be noted that if you happen upon these being sold in blind boxes, you stand a chance at scoring the extra, fifth figure in this series, which is none other than Rikku from Final Fantasy X.