WhiteNoise_85
Final Fantasy 7 - UFO Catcher plushes
I was a huge fan of the game 'Final Fantasy 7' when growing up, and these plushies were some of my favorite memorabilia made for the franchise. I coveted these as a teen and had no means of importing them back when they were new, so I was thrilled when I was able to finally start collecting them years later. They stand at about 7" and were officially offered via Japanese "UFO Catcher" crane machine arcade games in the late-90's; licensed by Banpresto.
Cloud Strife with his "Buster Sword", Aerith Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, and Red XIII - were a part of the first wave (along with a sitting yellow Chocobo), while Tifa Lockhart, Yuffie Kisaragi, Cid Highwind, another version of Cloud Strife with his "Hardedge Sword", Vincent Valentine, Cait Sith, and Sephiroth - made up the second run. A third wave was also released, comprised of just Chocobos, which included standing versions of the yellow, black, blue, green, and gold color morphs, and a sitting "Chubby Chocobo." I'm missing 2.0 Cloud, the Chocobos, Vincent, Cait Sith, and Sephiroth. I'm not too fussed about having a complete collection though, so not sure if I'm ever going to ever bother tracking them down.
The downside to these is that they weren't made of very high quality materials, and have not really aged well as a result. The pleather/vinyl parts of them are very dry, and have a tendency to crack and flake. Some of them are in better condition than others, depending on what materials were used. The brown pleather on Cid and Aerith, for example, seems to be better quality, and has held up better than say, Tifa and Yuffie's gloves and boots. Unfortunately, I know that large portions of Vincent and Sephiroth's plushes are also comprised of weaker materials, which is largely what put me off from completing the set.
The eyes (as with most UFO catchers from this time) also have a tendency to yellow, but I've been able to get them looking white again with a gentle cleaning. Red's bangle bracelets were a metallic gold at the time of this photo, but they have since oxidized and turned black (which seems to have also happened to all that I've seen on ebay recently).
They're becoming more scarce as the years tick by, but every now and then you can find someone selling one. Remember that they've been out for nearly two decades now; they're very fragile at this point, so expect them to have flaws.
Despite all that, they're pretty cute as far as collectibles go, and I really appreciate the details that were put into them for such little plush dolls. Aerith even has her "White Materia" resting on her hair ribbon, and a full plastic "Guard Stick" staff (the others' weapons are fabric).
Final Fantasy 7 - UFO Catcher plushes
I was a huge fan of the game 'Final Fantasy 7' when growing up, and these plushies were some of my favorite memorabilia made for the franchise. I coveted these as a teen and had no means of importing them back when they were new, so I was thrilled when I was able to finally start collecting them years later. They stand at about 7" and were officially offered via Japanese "UFO Catcher" crane machine arcade games in the late-90's; licensed by Banpresto.
Cloud Strife with his "Buster Sword", Aerith Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, and Red XIII - were a part of the first wave (along with a sitting yellow Chocobo), while Tifa Lockhart, Yuffie Kisaragi, Cid Highwind, another version of Cloud Strife with his "Hardedge Sword", Vincent Valentine, Cait Sith, and Sephiroth - made up the second run. A third wave was also released, comprised of just Chocobos, which included standing versions of the yellow, black, blue, green, and gold color morphs, and a sitting "Chubby Chocobo." I'm missing 2.0 Cloud, the Chocobos, Vincent, Cait Sith, and Sephiroth. I'm not too fussed about having a complete collection though, so not sure if I'm ever going to ever bother tracking them down.
The downside to these is that they weren't made of very high quality materials, and have not really aged well as a result. The pleather/vinyl parts of them are very dry, and have a tendency to crack and flake. Some of them are in better condition than others, depending on what materials were used. The brown pleather on Cid and Aerith, for example, seems to be better quality, and has held up better than say, Tifa and Yuffie's gloves and boots. Unfortunately, I know that large portions of Vincent and Sephiroth's plushes are also comprised of weaker materials, which is largely what put me off from completing the set.
The eyes (as with most UFO catchers from this time) also have a tendency to yellow, but I've been able to get them looking white again with a gentle cleaning. Red's bangle bracelets were a metallic gold at the time of this photo, but they have since oxidized and turned black (which seems to have also happened to all that I've seen on ebay recently).
They're becoming more scarce as the years tick by, but every now and then you can find someone selling one. Remember that they've been out for nearly two decades now; they're very fragile at this point, so expect them to have flaws.
Despite all that, they're pretty cute as far as collectibles go, and I really appreciate the details that were put into them for such little plush dolls. Aerith even has her "White Materia" resting on her hair ribbon, and a full plastic "Guard Stick" staff (the others' weapons are fabric).