[Toy Review] Sora Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Play Arts Kai

Dream Drop Distance (or "3D") is the 6th Kingdom Hearts sequel for the Nintendo 3DS. Its story took place after Kingdom Hearts 2 and Re: Coded. It's also the last bridge towards Kingdom Hearts 3. Unfortunately, I haven't played the game yet, no 3DS, but I have the next good thing. I got this awesome Play Arts Kai figure of Sora as an alternative after failing yet again to search for a Vincent PAK. This version of Sora is from that KH3D game, and thanks to the dude at the store for lowering the price of this figure.

PACKAGING

[Left] Front side of the box

[Right] Back side of the box

Front cover opened

Finally, a brighter and livelier wide coffin-type packaging! I said that because most of my PAK packagings have darker tone and color. The front cover shows Sora's picture and the KH3D, Disney, PAK logos. The back shows three different poses of Sora and a little space for Riku's pic (I want that Riku PAK more). Open the front cover and look left to see the game's plot, story summary and the description of Sora's Keyblades. The right shows the figure and its accessories. The toy is unboxing friendly. No struggling to get the figure and accessories out of the packaging (I'm looking at you Lightning and Leon!). LOL, even as a toy, Sora is friendly.

Now he's out and ready to whack Heartlesses, Nobodies and Dream Eaters with his Keyblades

Packaging includes: Sora figure, Open left/right hands, Gripping left/right hands, Kingdom Key, Ultima Weapon, Sweet Dreams, and a display stand.

THE FIGURE

My first impression on this Sora action figure is positive. Solid build quality, decent paint job and incredible sculpting. The figure is 100% identical to the game's CG cinematic counterpart of Sora, not the in-game model. The toy is very playable too.

Sora's four sides

The Sora PAK that I got almost reached perfection. All parts of the action figure have really nice paint and shadings and it's smooth, no rough texturing for more detail, probably because Sora's wearing simple clothing this time (just one belt and few zippers, if you know what I mean).

Sora's happy face

Sora sports a happy face, this PAK figure is the happiest of all PA/PAK figures in my collection so far. This figure shows the character's usual expression, just like Mr. Sazh Katzroy PAK, always smiling. His brown spiky hair may look hard but it's semi-soft and well sculpted.

Few belts and zippers this time

Sora wears a new set of threads in KH3D. It uses most of my favorite colors: Red, Black and Yellow. The paint job on the whole outfit is good, there are some parts lacking paint. Unlike the old Sora KH2 figure, the hooded jacket isn't soft, and the crown neck chain is sculpted, not a separate accessory.

Sora's glove

The arm and check out the hands... no fingernails.

The gloved hands are huge, it's kinda detailed. All hands included on this figure doesn't have fingernails, and some hands have black "paint sticks" from the gloves.

[Left] The short's side pocket

[Right] The back of the shorts showing the double hinge joint

The cargo shorts have very few details to feature, just a side pocket for each leg. Square Enix MD did a good job on putting the double hinged knee joint and making it look natural. Because of this, the shorts looks like it's made of smooth rubbery plastic.

Sora's shoes for clowning around with Donald and Goofy

Sora's signature large shoes is a re-colored version of his old shoes in KH1. This pair of shoes have some straps and zippers.

The paint drop looks like a mole on Sora's leg

Skin paint job is fine, but the right leg have one tiny black "paint drop".

ACCESSORIES

You get what you've paid for on this action figure. Extra two pairs of hands and three different Keyblades! It eliminates the need of Play Arts Arms weapon pack like in the past. But it lacks something, perhaps a changeable face or head that looks like it's sleeping? That makes sense, right?

Wowza!

Sora's extra hands closer look

This is my favorite part... teh Keyblades! While Sora's getup doesn't have that much detail, but these Keyblades do.

Kingdom Key Keyblade

Kingdom Key other side
See the paint scratches?

The Kingdom Key is Sora's first Keyblade. The simplest looking Keyblade of all of its kind along with King Mickey's Kingdom Key D. The other side of this Keyblade have ugly paint scratches... doh! This Keyblade fits nicely on the gripping hands and it's the lightest of the three Keyblades.

Ultima Weapon Keyblade

Ultima Weapon other side

The Ultima Weapon is one of my favorite Keyblades. It's translucent, and it looks like its glowing especially when the light pass through this Keyblade. This Keyblade have a slimmer grip making it loose when holding it, and it's kinda heavy and it falls down occasionally.

Sweet Dreams Keyblade

Sweet Dreams back

Sweet Dreams Keyblade, introduced in KH3D. The most colorful and cute Keyblade on this set. There are parts that lacks paint. Its got that Meow Wow (a Dream Eater) on the tip and the Keyblade also have a cake design on it. The grip of this Keyblade have a snug fit on both gripping hands. It's the heaviest Keyblade, the figure can't hold it for long on some poses.

The keychains of the Keyblades

The key chains on each of the Keyblades while looking good is sculpted, unlike some of the old Play Arts Keyblades that uses real miniature key chains.

The following are some of the pictures of the Sora PAK figure with different accessories equipped:

Sora salutes!

Powering up!

Sora pose

More pics on the ARTICULATIONS part of the review.

This stand still have no use to me

Here's the display stand, it's almost useless, because the Sora PAK figure have a huge pair... of feet, it can stand on its own. Just use the stand for more action poses, like aerial moves.

ARTICULATIONS, POSING AND SCALING

The Sora PAK figure have more articulation points than the old Play Arts versions.. It only uses standard joints with few added/removed articulations and no weird joints to compensate to the design of the character. This Sora action figure is fun to play and pose, just don't abuse the joints.

Sora eating a sea salt ice cream
(No ice creams included on this action figure.)

Head can rotate 360 degrees and can tilt up, down and sideways naturally. No neck articulation on this toy.

Box pose #1: Kingdom Key

Box pose #2: Sweet Dreams

Box pose #3: Ultima Weapon

The Bro Fist

Arms are butterfly hinged but it's small so they can't go a little more closer to the chest. Bicep swivel points are hidden in those sleeves. Elbows and wrists are ball hinged, they can also swivel.

My poor attempt on pulling off a keyhole locking pose on this action figure

Battle pose!

The jacket isn't soft so it's a little hard to move the chest which already have limited movement. The waist have excellent movement, but it came out pretty loose, maybe it's just my PAK figure. If you move the waist all the way to one side, you can see the hollow gap in the figure where you can see the waist and leg joints.

Sleeping again?

He usually do this gesture

Leg joints are ball hinged and can twist a little because the shorts are too baggy. The double hinged knees are also affected by the short's design, but the joints have decent range of movement, Sora can still sit down.

Looking far away

Running
This pic will look good with Riku

The "clown" shoes are ball hinged, and to my surprise, it moves pretty well and features the classic toe swivel for flat stepping and solid footing for the figure.

Thanks to Xion and Roxas, Sora can wield two Keyblades

Since Sora figure got a left gripping hand, he can dual-wield Keyblades!

Initiating an air combo!

You can see on the pic above that the Sweet Dreams Keyblade is too heavy, Sora can't lift it.

Sora, you've gotten taller!

This Sora action figure is larger than the old Kingdom Hearts figures and some PAK figs. You see in the pic that Sora looks like he's got a sudden extreme growth spurt, maybe because he's sleeping too much?

New and classic Keyblade comparison

And the Keyblades Sora's got is even taller than Roxas and Kairi!

They both have the same color motif

When standing beside a fellow large PAK figure like Lightning (LR:FFXIII), the scaling is spot on.

It's Leon S. Kennedy, not Squall Leonheart A.K.A. "Leon"

Even with Leon, Sora's scaling is not that bad. Good thing that Sora is still a small kid.

Hmmm, we'll see indeed.

QUALITY ISSUES

I'm happy to say that I didn't find any random broken parts and missing pieces on this action figure and its accessories. My complaints are minor, like the paint sticks/scratches and the waist joint that feels kinda loose.

CONCLUSION

Being my optional purchase, this Sora PAK didn't disappoint. It became one of the best PAK figures that I have. It's very playable and poseable. It came with great amount of accessories and no broken parts. This toy will never break easily (unless abused).  I have reservations on buying this at first, but I'm glad I took the dive. This PAK figure is a lucky win!. I highly recommend this toy if you're a Kingdom Hearts fan like me or an elite PAK collector. It's already, or almost, rare so get this with haste if you see this one in stores.

A Traverse Town inspired picture for you guys!

Weeee!

Cheers and Happy Collecting!