Hironobu Sakaguchi, game designer, game producer, and writer, most well known for his work on the Final Fantasy franchise, reacted on Twitter about the absurdly overpriced statue of Terra from Final Fantasy VI. And then it exploded on Square-Enix’s face.
People on Twitter offer a translation.
The reaction from Sakaguchi came after a Square Enix account tweeted that they have started accepting reservations for the statue.
Can We Make a Case to Justify the Price?
The Terra statue in question is part of Square-Enix’s Masterline figures. You might remember their first set of statues for Nier Automata with 2B, A2 and 9S. The deluxe version of the Nier Automata statues went for sale for $3,399. Terra will be sold for almost 3 times that amount.
Granted, the Terra statue does look nice. It is a smaller scale compared to the Nier Automata statues — 1/4 vs 1/6. The Nier Automata statues also have more characters but Terra’s statue has more minute details. I can understand someone making a case for the price because of the level of detail. But seriously, can you equate creating a character statue with a car? Because ¥1.485 million can already buy you a car. You won’t be looking at a Porsche, but a car is a car. Also, plastic is so much cheaper than steel. Even if you consider that figure requires much more craftsmanship to create, I can agree with Sakaguchi’s sentiment. Are you okay Square-Enix?
The Statue Details
This statue of the main character of the Final Fantasy VI franchise is a 1/6 scale and is being created by Prime 1 Studio which is a well-known manufacturer of Western character figures and lately, they have been dabbling on creating figures for anime. I believe Prime 1 Studio produces good quality stuff just based on the comments I see on their works. I do not own any figures they’ve made so I cannot make a personal judgment.
The Terra statue is made of ABS, Die Cast, Polystone, and PVC. And it’s going to be huge so if you think the statue costs a lot, shipping cots will deal another major blow to your wallet. The measurements are W=580mm (22.62in), L=660mm (25.74in), H=780mm (30.42in). If you can afford this statue though, having enough space for it won’t really be a problem since you probably live in a mansion or a castle.
Also, only a total of 600 units will be made; 150 of which will be reserved for Japanese residents. 600 units is not really a bad amount considering the price and also, I’ve seen many limited edition figures have productions of only 100 to 300 figures. Release date is slated for July 28, 2023.
The details on the figure look great. Or at least I think they do. Because we don’t really have any good images to really scrutinize the figure. On top is the best close-up image of the figure that I can find. Terra looks almost lifelike. Also, when it comes to figures and statues, you don’t know really know what level of quality you are getting until you get to the unboxing. This line of statues is also new and Square-Enix, by itself, does not have a good reputation for making quality collectible statues (more information on this in the next section).
If Square-Enix is going to charge a crapton of money for a statue, the least they could do is give potential buyers good images so they know what they’re getting.
Below is the slew of the other low-resolution image Square-Enix provided. That’s just so effin’ bad. I want to drool over this a bit more before I cry in a corner of my room but I can’t because I can’t really see much of the details when the images are so tiny.
Better to just check out this YouTube video and make it full screen then jump to 2:35.
Are Square-Enix Figures Worth It?
Truth be told, I was not really ecstatic when I first saw the Nier Automata and Terra statues. I knew right away that I couldn’t afford it unless I sell off an organ or two. I tend not to dwell on things. So I moved on with life. I later saw the preorder prices for the Nier Automata statues and I was right. No surprises there. Had the same thoughts when I saw the Terra figure prototype floating around social media. Who would’ve thought it would go for so much more? Not Sakaguchi.
I’ve been collecting scale figures for almost 6 years as of this writing and I’ve amassed a sizable collection. But if you told me that Square-Enix was working on the figures themselves, I wouldn’t touch those with a 10-foot pole. Have you seen the quality of the Play Arts and Bring Arts line that they make? Those things look horrendous. If you’re used to seeing masterpieces from Good Smile Company and Alter, the Play Arts and Bring Arts lines start to look like bad bootlegs.
But since I’ve already mentioned this one is being manufactured by a different company, Square-Enix (I believe) has little involvement in the actual production.
You can post your preorder here. But do take note that preorders cannot be canceled.
I started the NekoFigs blog in January 2021, 5 years after I’ve started collecting anime figures. It all started with one humble prize figure of Saber Lily which was bought on a whim. Now, I have also started my own anime figure store which just means more box problems.
Leave a Reply