Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Final Fantasy Cold Cast Collection


Final Fantasy Cold Cast collection is another limited edition collectible which was released in 1999. It consists of 5 statues from Final Fantasy IV to Final Fantasy VIII. These statues are unique because they are diorama i.e they depict memorable scenes from the respective games, while most Final Fantasy figures often focus on the characters or the summons. Only 3000 figures were made for each statue. Each figure comes with a card with a serial number although unfortunately the serial number is not indicated on the base of the figure itself. Each figure also come with a unique "holder" to hold the serial card for display.

I am not sure about the original price (it was nowhere printed on the box) but I read somewhere that it was about 3500 Yen each. FF V and FF VI statues are the most commonly on sale and the price can go up to 300-400 USD on eBay for mint-in-box figures. Yup that is almost 10x of the original price!! FF VII statue could go up to 700 USD on eBay even for a damaged one -_-" However, for once, FF VII is not the rarest. I have never seen FF IV statue being sold and have only seen FF VIII statue being sold once on eBay with final bid close to 600 GBP. Wew..

I only own FF V, FF VI, and FF VII figures. I don't know whether I will ever be able to complete the set seeing how rare they appear on the resale market. I bought FF V and VI on impulse with a combined price of 18500 yen. I said it on impulse because I did not really scrutinise the photo to realise that the items were without boxes, serial cards, serial card "holders", and worst part was damaged. Haiz.. Well, comparing to 300-400 USD each, seeing a bidding price of less than 20000 yen for both just knocked my senses away.

My FF VII figure is complete with everything, except for 1 part broken. I bought it for 21000 Yen and that was together with an FF Chrome Lenna figure (FF Chrome is another FF collection which I am not so interested in collecting). Considering FF Chrome is usually sold for more than 5000 yen each individually, the "package" that I got is not too bad, especially considering I saw one damaged FF VII figure alone sold for 30000+ Yen in late 2012 or the usual 600-700 USD on eBay.

Final Fantasy V: Butz and Boko
Can't remember the scene (perhaps I need to replay the game? Haha) but I think it could be at the beginning of the game. The figure represents Butz and his faithful chocobo, Boko, setting a campfire and relaxing in the woods. It is about 11cm wide and 9cm tall.

I absolutely love the details of the forest, complete with the canopy and the "shadow" effect. Suprisingly, Boko is more outstanding in appearance than Butz here. Haha.. The "holder", which I did not have, is actually the nicest among the five figures because it is a tree-trunk to match the forest theme. Initially, I was excited when I found that "Damn cool.. Boko can twist around" but the excitement turned into tears when I realised that this was because his legs were broken T_T

Front view
Aerial view
Back view
Close up of Butz
Close up fo Boko.. Love the canopy but the shadow makes Boko ugly in pictures!
The base.. Grr.. I prefer serial number to that "made in China" tag!
Boko's broken legs T_T
Final Fantasy VI: Opera House
This depicts the scene of Celes, as Maria, throwing away her bouquet in the Opera Maria and Draco. The top of the left tower was chipped and I did not realise it in the seller's pictures :( Cries.. I only feel "so-so" towards this figure. Haha.. Not really a fan of FF VI or Celes. The figure is 7cm wide and 13 cm tall.
"Default" display pose
If I move Celes around

Close up of Celes
Aerial view.. Look at THAT bloody broken spire on the left!

The details of the bricks are nicely done
The base
Final Fantasy VII: Forgotten City
I am usually an anti-overrated FF VII but I have to admit that this figure is dead gorgeous!! It represents perhaps the most "memorable" event in the whole FF universe: Aerith's death. The branches are extremely fragile and it will be so lucky to have none broken. Luckily, I can glue mine perfectly and it still looks perfectly okay. Take a look at the pictures below and try to guess where the broken branch is. Instead of the chibi version of the characters like what they do with FF V and VI figures, Cloud and Aerith look more human and I have to say they resemble the in-game sprite very closely. They look gorgeous and the part of dipping into the water is just brilliant! No wonder the price is like that..

The box is surprisingly huge at 22cm (L) x 19.5cm (H) x 17cm (W). The figure itself is about 13cm tall and 12cm wide.
The box still looks pristine
The full set
Nice stone.. But I still prefer FF V's tree trunk (which I don't have!)
Now you know why the branches are brittle.. Even the tree trunks are also brittle.
Aerial view.. The water effect is nice, isn't it?
Back view
Close up on Aerith
Close up on Cloud
I have no memory on this structure in the game..
The base
Can you tell which is the broken branch?
Since I doubt I will get the other two, I will just say what they are. FF IV figure displays the scene at Mt Ordeals where Dark Knight Cecil turns into Paladin. FF VIII figure displays Squall & Rinoa "Waltz of the Moon" at Balamb Garden scene (T_T I am dying to get this as an FF VIII fan!). Wish me luck to get this two!

10 comments:

nosajj said...

Nice haul. I think I also bidded on one of the auctions you won (Lenna chrome with FFVII) but the price went too high for me!

I currently own the FFV, FFVI and FFVIII cold casts

darkrose said...

I think 21000 yen was a good price considering that FFVII alone usually fetches 30000 yen on Yahoo Japan or >$600 on eBay.

And cool you have FFVIII!! I only saw it once for the whole 2012. Haha.. Looks like FFIV has gone extinct

nosajj said...

Yeah true but I didn't know how high you would've bidded so I didn't bother raising it any higher lol. Lucky you then =P

You only saw it once during 2012? Guess you didn't check it in 2013 haha I only got it from Yahoo Auctions last month.

darkrose said...

Haha yeah.. My luck then, thanks lol..

How much did you get your FFVIII for? Not really a fan of yahoo auctions as it is quite difficult to search using Japanese characters.

nosajj said...

15000 yen but it's like your ones, some broken bits

darkrose said...

Nice one :)

Please let me know when you see one on sale again. Haha..

nosajj said...

http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g128150231
Rinoa and Squall Dance scene

Victoria said...

Hello... I have the mythical FF VIII one. Bought it for about $300 in the early 2000s. The tiny figures came off the floor in the mail but a clean break under the feet, would have been easy repair. I wasn't home to receive the package and my idiot ex-boyfriend glued em back on with gorilla glue. It bubbled up and looks horrible. I wanted to hurt him for doing that and still do to this day. I want to cry now that I know how much it's worth and wish I could sell it for top dollar to help fund a Europe trip. Wah!

darkrose said...

Thanks nosajj for the link. Just saw it today but it's okay. My eyes nearly popped out when seeing the final sale price. Unbelievable that a FFVIII item is much more expensive than FF VII one.

Victoria, depending on the damage, you might still be able to sell yours as FF VIII is very rare indeed.

Victoria said...

I'm looking into finding someone who specializes in cold cast resin repair and porcelain too would be a bonus. I have the big Rinoa/Siren one also, it has a couple tiny nicks but that is different material and paint as you probably know. Have no idea how much that'll run me but seems like the right thing to do. I'd rather invest to fix than sell damaged. Since the diorama is such a rare, coveted piece (and I loved FF VIII) I think it should be restored even if I don't keep it. I'll try to remember to comment here again if I can find a pro to help and if then I decide to sell on ebay.