[Toy Review] [Bootleg?] SEPHIROTH - Final Fantasy VII Remake Play Arts Kai

I got another Play Arts Kai action figure in for review and it's the big bad guy with long silver hair of Final Fantasy VII Remake that wields a really long sword. Yes, the one-winged angel himself, Sephiroth. Sadly, this action figure is a knockoff(?). But rejoice, it's another great quality knockoff(?)! It looks so good that it looks authentic. But as expected, there are some flaws. That's why I'm here to mention them in this review.

"Within my veins flows the blood of Ancients.

This planet...is my birthright."

~ Sephiroth ~

PACKAGING

Box: front

The box have poor print quality and the cardboard felt very thin and flimsy. The Arts logo and the authentication sticker is missing in the front cover and the bottom of the box. The Play Arts Kai's spelling is correct.

Box: back

The back shows more product shots of the figure in different poses.

Front cover opened

You can check out the action figure and it's accessories if you open the front cover. You can also read some texts on the backside of the front cover.

He's out and eager to mess with Cloud again.

Packaging includes:
- Sephiroth figure
- Masamune
- Interchangeable faceplate (Closed Eyes)
- L/R open hands
- L/R gripping hands
- L/R open gesture hands

- Display stand

THE FIGURE

Viewing Sephiroth

The figure looks amazing for a knockoff(?). This Sephiroth figure looks cool in different angles and it's a pretty tall figure.

That's a good-looking evil face

The face, again, looks amazing and accurate, it looks close to the authentic version. The face lacks a few shadings making it more like anime-ish than the face of the older Advent Children Sephiroth PAK figure. The eyebrows, eyes and lips are nicely painted. 

Sephiroth's long silver hair

His long, silver hair looks really nice and got those detailed strands. The hair is in three parts: bangs, back top layer and bottom layer which is articulated. The hair is made of soft plastic. What I don't like about this hair is that it's really smelly, like bootleg levels of smelliness. It smells like rubber dipped in gasoline, it hurts my nose and it feels sticky when I touch it.

Sephiroth's new threads for the remake.

Sephiroth got a redesign for the remake. His clothes are different but the silhouette remains the same. His new long dark coat have this wing-like design. Sephiroth is still shirtless underneath. The crossed chest belts and his SOLDIER belt are still present.

Shoulder armor.

The double-layered shoulder armor have a redesign. Now, the shoulder armors got silver edges and some gold trims.

Sephiroth's right arm

Both arms looks good and symmetrical in design. The long black sleeves have some wrinkles for detail. The cuffs have a slight redesign. It's now silver with white middle part, instead of just pure silver in the older version. There's a textured part near the cuffs too.

That belt looks nice

This belt is a new addition to the newly designed Sephiroth. It looks like a very long belt that loops around Sephiroth's waist several times. It got a huge silver buckle with a wing-like engravings. There are some tiny details on the buckle like the two yellow Materia-like gems. The strap of the belt have really nice details.

The new coat design looks good

The lower part of the long black coat have this wing like pattern that I mentioned earlier. It looks really nice. There are lots of belt buckles on the coat and all of the silver parts are painted well

The legs and boots looks simple

Both legs looks simple. The black pants are wrinkled. The left and right long boot have a couple of silver bands.

The bottom of the boots is flat.

The bottom of the boots are just flat but there's a readable copyright label at the bottom of the left boot.

ACCESSORIES

Sephiroth have good set of accessories. He got his weapon, Masamune. He also got an interchangeable faceplate and a total of six extra hands.

Sephiroth's accessories

This is considered barebones. I wish they included his single black wing or some swoosh/slash effects for the sword.

Masamune

Sephiroth's Masamune is really long. It looks around the same length as the Advent Children version. The difference is that it got a larger crossguard. It also got a black grip. The gold pommel is removable so that the grip of the sword can easily slide in the gripping hands. Be careful on removing the pommel. This small piece is difficult to find if you dropped and lost it.

Interchangeable closed eyed faceplate

Sephiroth got an interchangeable faceplate where his eyes are closed with looks like a cheeky smug smirk. This faceplate looks really nice and painted pretty well.

Extra hands

The extra hands looks good and they're just black colored. But there are some tiny details like stitchings and few wrinkles.

Display stand

The display stand is useful for characters like Sephiroth who likes to jump high and fly around. There are two different sized clamps to use for the stand: small and large clamps.

ARTICULATIONS

Preaching high above like he's a god.

This newer Sephiroth remake PAK figure have newer joints so let's check them out.

Insane-like gesture.

He head is on a double ball peg and it's loose. Its movement is limited because the front hair is colliding with the collar, You have to finagle and adjust the front hair to make this Sephiroth figure look left and right. Looking up and down is bad because of the loose head joint. If you make him look down, it will go back facing front because the hair is heavy. This figure also have a hidden neck joint but its movement is also limited.

Trying to manifest his single wing.

The hair is also articulated via ball-hinge. The ball-hinge is loose too making it difficult to pose the hair.

Casting a spell or something

The arms moves really well. The shoulders uses disc ball-hinge joints. The shoulder armor also moves when you pose the arms. The bicep swivel works, but it makes the wrinkles on the arms look inconsistent/misaligned.

Masamune summoned

The elbows now uses double-hinges than ball-hinges. They have great movement range but in this Sephiroth PAK figure it looks weird because the elbows looks flat when you bend the arms. The forearm and bicep can also swivel using the ends of the double-hinge joints. The wrist ball-hinges moves well.

Ready for battle

The chest articulation works but it's limited because it's inside the coat. The coat is thin and soft so that the chest can move. It's difficult to make it turn left/right and tilt. side to side. Ab crunches are doable but really limited to almost no movement.

Focusing

The waist have better movement range which makes up for the restricted movement of the chest. It can turn left/right and tilt side to side. Bending forward and backward is good.

Doublehanded sword grip stance.

The legs can raise forward less than 90 degrees, I think it's good enough for this character. Both legs got a thigh swivel joint but, like the bicep swivel, it ruins the look of the pants' wrinkles. Both legs can also twist or swivel on the leg joints

Going for a turning slash.

Both knees are double-hinged. It looks good when they're bent, in my opinion. No complaints here.

Sephiroth's favorite move.

Both feet uses ball-hinges for articulation. They move really well. It can point up in two clicks and point down in 3 clicks. Both feet can also swivel and have ankle pivot. Toe hinges are also added for more articulation.

SCALING

Scale comparison time! Let's see how tall this Sephiroth figure when compared with some of my PAK figures in my collection.

My FFVII Remake PAK collection is growing

Sephiroth is a tall guy! Cloud (FFVII:R), Tifa (FFVII:R) and Aerith (FFVII:R) are all shorter than Sephiroth.

Two Sephiroths!

The older Sephiroth (FFVII:AC) is shorter than the remake Sephiroth.

Tall guys

Here's Sephiroth to other taller characters from FFVII series. Once again, Sephiroth is the tallest when compared to Barret (FFVII:AC) and Vincent (DoC).

Sephiroth with other tall people.

I also compared Sephiroth's height to other characters that are tall. Even Gladiolus (FFXV) and Fran (FFXII) can't beat Sephiroth's height.

Sephiroth with Raiden and Lara

Lastly, here's Sephiroth with other characters from different titles. Sephiroth is taller than Raiden (MGR) and Lara Croft (RotTR).

QUALITY ISSUES

While this bootleg(?) PAK action figure of Sephiroth is pretty good, it's still a knockoff(?), meaning there are some flaws. I already mentioned them earlier, but here's a recap.

- Loose/wobbly head articulation

- The hair smells super rubbery and toxic.

- The hair feels sticky

I fixed the loose head joint by applying some nice coat of nail polish on the head's double ball-peg. I tried different methods to get rid of the hair's smell. I dipped and washed the hair with a mix of water and vinegar then rinse it with soapy water. I also tried to coat the part with baking soda paste. The smell of the hair is so strong, all those methods that I did just weakened the smell and its stickiness. I just hope it will fade over time.

CONCLUSION

Well, I'm happy and satisfied with this knockoff(?) Play Arts Kai action figure of Sephiroth that I decided not to buy the authentic version. He's a nice addition to my Final Fantasy VII Remake PAK collection even though he's a bootleg(?). Sure, this figure got some flaws but they're fixable. I really like that it looks identical or close to the original and didn't have a derpy deformed face that's very common in most bootleg figures. That's why I think, like my knockoff(?) Cloud remake PAK figure, this is an another factory reject PAK figure that got released as bootleg. This knockoff(?) figure is about 60% cheaper than the original. So if you're a fan of Sephiroth but don't have the cash to buy the original action figure, then this is for you. It's a really nice cheap alternative if you're fine with its flaws. I wouldn't recommend this to people who only collects authentic Play Arts Kai action figures.

Cheers and Happy Collecting!

MORE SEPHIROTH!

Toy Review - Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children) Play Arts Kai action figure