Tomopop review: Square Enix Static Arts Cloud Strife

6:00 PM on 07.30.2009   |   Colette Bennett

After reviewing the grand Sephiroth figure from Square's Static Arts line, I felt the series was certainly offering something to fans that was needed: a larger scale collectible of a legendary character that was nicer than a poseable figure, but not so high end that it would break the bank. Of course, there's no Sephiroth without Cloud, and the most recent release in the series was naturally the memorable spiky-haired hero.

"But Colette," you say, "What if I can only buy ONE? Which one should I buy?" I can understand your concern. At $149.99 a pop, the Static Arts series may not be affordable enough to be able to buy both the Cloud and the Sephiroth. I'd say if you are limited to one choice you should choose your favorite of the two characters ... but if you love both and can't choose, well, I can give you my opinion on which one is the better of the two. Hit the jump if you want to know more.

I hope you'll forgive me for the glare on this shot -- no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to get a picture without it. As you can see, this box is fairly similar to the Sephiroth box, but it goes for the good feel rather then the evil. Fans of the game will instantly recognize the flowers from Aerith's church, which comprise the base of the statue itself. The sides of the box also look like cathedral windows, which makes for a nice touch.

I am a sucker for Cloud. I love him so much as a character that seeing a good figure of him always kind of touches me in that nerdy way that gamers feel when someone they've met in a game matters. This statue captures Cloud in that perfectly beautiful moment that really expresses his character. All his details are simply breathtaking: the lines of the muscles in his arms, the hair, the equipment he wears, even the pose of the Buster Sword.

The base, as I mentioned before, seems to be inspired from Aerith's church. Cloud stands on wooden boards which give way to beautiful flowers. The clear PVC from the previous statue comes into play again here, with the rays of light behind Cloud and the smoky-looking substance behind his feet. Put this in a windowsill and the yellow rays will simply light up.

This piece would also be nice displayed in a way where you can see all angles. As you can see here, it' sjust as striking from the rear view as it is from the front.

Here's a better look from top to bottom.

The face expresses all the determination and youth that fans have come to associate with the character. I place a lot of stock on whether a face is well done on a figure or not, and this one rings true.

I admit the line of the figure is prettier without underarm hair, but I never noticed before that Cloud didn't have it. That's kind of high detail to expect from a Playstation 1 game. I went back and looked at a few of my other figures of him, though, and sure enough, it's smooth as a baby's ass under his pits. I guess Cloud waxes.

So which one should you buy? If I had to choose one, I prefer the Cloud. The workmanship of both figures is equally high quality, but there's something about this one that sticks with me in a way that the other figure did not. I love Sephiroth as a villain, and obviously if you can display both next to each other it'd make for a striking shelf of collectibles indeed, but in the end, Cloud won my heart.

Cloud was just released a few weeks back, so he is available through the Square Enix Merchandise Store just like his evil counterpart Sephiroth. This one gets branded with the Tomopop Recommends stamp for sure!