Edward Elric is the Full Metal Alchemist in an anime called, well, Full Metal Alchemist. He is the youngest state certified alchemist, has a short-complex, quite a temper, and a robotic arm and leg. He and his brother go on a quest to find the philosophers stone which they need to get their bodies back to normal.
This review is about the Play Arts vol 1. Full Metal Alchemist Edward Elric, NOT the Play Arts Kai Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood Edward. This toy was released back in 2004 and bootlegs of this toy do exist. This toy is very different from all the other Play Arts toys.
Sculpt: This Ed is a shrimp, no I’m not joking, he really is short! This toy is much smaller than any of the other Play Arts but is in scale with the other two figures in this particular line. The sculpt is decent, the shape of his hair is correct, but it is flat and has absolutely no detail like a lot of the later Play Arts do. His outfit is spot on, and his robotic arm actually looks fairly detailed compared to the rest of the figure.
Paint: Well its anything but perfect. There is some red bleed from the coat onto the rest of his outfit. His face, while painted perfectly just doesn’t really get his personality across. The hair and outfit also have almost no shading on them. My biggest problem with the paint job is that the coat doesn’t have the correct alchemy symbol on the back, the top part of the symbol is just missing…
Packaging: the box for this toy is much smaller than the typical Play Arts box, but still has a large front viewing window.
Accessories: This toy comes with a bunch of extras! his red coat can be removed, so he comes with extra black sleeved arms, a robotic arm with a knife attachment, gloved hands in several positions, robotic hands in several positions, and his spear from the first episode. He does not come with a stand, which is fine since he stands well on his own. He also does not come with a hand to hold the spear, wth?
Pose-ability: This is where the toy really shines! He can be posed in almost any manner! His legs and arms are very flexible, and the joints are pretty loose, but not so loose that he doesn’t hold the pose. None of the other Play Arts can compare in pose-ability to this one.
Overall, this is a great toy for anyone who likes Edward Elric or older style toys. It definitely does not have the level of detail that the newer toys do or the level of detail of Play Arts Kai Ed (which I don’t own, so I can’t give a suggestion). It is however cheaper than the Play Art Kai Ed, Play Arts Kai toys are typically $40-45 whereas Play Arts toys are usually around $25-30. Out of all the Play Arts toys, this one is one of the most fun to play with because of all the posing possibilities! I would not recommend this for small children!
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Hey!! Thanks! now I can buy it whit decision!!! 🙂
Sorry my Englis in no good! ^^
I think this is a review on a bootlegged figure… the package is very different, for example there should not be a caution sign on the front of the box. The face is very bland, and square enix will never get markings/symbol wrong.
I believe the original play arts box re-leases did have caution signs on them, that is why the bootleggers designed the bootleg boxes to match. I’m fairly certain that this ed elric is the real deal, the bootlegs face (which I have seen) looks much more uneven, the bootleg’s coat arms are also much lighter than the rest of the coat. I have also seen bootleg ed’s in boxes with no caution sign. Square Enix is notorious for its quality control issues when it comes to the play arts and play arts kai line, and I have yet to see an edward elric that has the complete symbol on the coat. Now I just wish I could afford the Play Arts Kai ed because he is such an improvement over the old one.