The Kid's Got Heart

Coming soon in January! More of SquareEnix's action figures from Kingdom Hearts. In this series are Sora and Riku as they appeared in the original Kingdom Hearts game, and Mickey Mouse as King Mickey in his Oranization XIII costume as he was in Kingdom Hearts II.

Cloud Strife

Cloud Strife. Enemy of Sephiroth. Love interest of Aerith. Side story in Kingdom Hearts and major player in Final Fantasy. Bit of a moody stiff, to tell the truth. And never, never in all the time I've known him has he ever picked up a check. Not even a lousy cup of coffee. He hasn't called his mother in three years. Always too busy fighting and brooding about his destiny. And let me tell you, after a bout with Sephiroth that leather smells none too fresh. He doesn't deserve Aerith, that's for sure, but she is so sweet and so patient...she's just wasting herself on him, if you ask me. Wasting herself. >sighs<

Well, yada yada yada, 22 points of articulation, Square Enix, and so forth.

Axel

I got Axel some weeks ago, for $23, from Z's Toys and More. He's the last guy in Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series; at least, he's the last I've gotten.

In the Kingdom Hearts mythos, Axel is a member of the sinister Organiztion 13, a group of "Nobodies" who want to gain ultimate power and real personhood. He became a friend of Roxas, Sora's alternative persona, and his purpose in the game is to re-awaken and separate Roxas from Sora. In the process he works against his fellow members of Organization 13, befriends Sora, and dies defending him.

Other good characters also wear the Organization 13 robes to infiltrate the order (including Riku and King Mickey, a.k.a. Mickey Mouse), and this is what has undoubtedly inspired this item in the Museum Replicas Limited catalog:

Copy reads: "Gatekeeper Coat: From a video game kingdom comes this awesome long coat made of a shimmering nylon with an extra full hood and bell sleeves. The double-action front zipper allows for a variety of different looks. Complete with a chain of accent crosses and keys. $130."

Aerith

Today after work I dropped by the local Hastings and found a bonanza of five new figures that I wanted. I will be featuring them over the next few days.

This is Aerith Gainesborough from Final Fantasy VII, but I know her better from her guest appearances in the Kingdom Hearts video games. She has 22 points of articulation, a spare pair of hands in different poses, and a clamp on a clear plastic stand to help display her (not to mention her nifty fighting staff). To a small group of my acquaintances the Kingdom Hearts games are almost a religion; in fact a friend of mine from work named his daughter after Aerith.

I included the pictures of the other two characters in the scan; they had Tifa (the other girl) at the store, but not Cloud Strife. He is a very popular character and the "one to get", I suppose; I'll have to scour other places to see if I can get one. Square Enix Products (http://www.square-enix-shop.com/) has been producing very good figures from video games, usually in groups of three or four.

At $24.99, she is definitely on the high end of the price scale.