I have the Arkham, Mass Effect, Cowboy Bebop and Metal Gear Playarts figures. For the money, you get a good amount of figure. Other Japanese lines cost 70 bucks for a tiny 4.5 inch figure with tiny pieces that break. Play Arts often can be found reduced from 40 to 50 dollars on Amazon and other sites.

There are some negatives, I'd check the paint before opening the figure...most sites are pretty good about exchanges. Also, I'd avoid buying them from Japan, even though they get the figures first. I got a Solidus Snake from the Japanese release and he was much more fragile and sword broke right out of the package. None of my other figures had this issue and they were released by Diamond Distributors...perhaps they have to go through more rigorous standards than the Japanese releases. Amazon I believe only carries the Diamond releases.

I own Spike Speigal, Solid Snake, Meryl Silverburgh, Cyborg Ninja, & the red Cyborg Ninja exclusive. I have had only 1 issue & that was Cyborg Ninja's left hip thingy wasn't glued @ the factory. A drop of glue & a minute later & everything was fine.

I know the MGS figures are an odd scale being around 8 inches, but they stand out really nice on my shelf. The figures themselves are hefty & pretty solid pieces of plastic. I'm betting you could do some serious damage w/Solidus Snake.

I know there were quite a few complaints w/the Street Fighter figures breaking if you simply looked @ them funny.

Swift can attest to the Arkham figures & I think Brian has a few of the Halo: Reach figures.

Aw man, there's a Meryl? I gifted my McFarlane MGS figures to a friend a while ago, but I'd love a Meryl and Sniper Wolf on my desk.

KP,

I am a big fan of the Play Arts product and own the Arkham Batman, Halo Reach and Combat Evolved Figures including the Black & Silver variants. I also have the Halo 4 and Dark Knight on preorder as well.

That being said, I obviously enjoy them, although I buy them for the poseability, aesthetic and level of detail. I do not fidget with or play with them in any manner, which is a key to your opinion on these. For example, the leg of my Halo Jun figure popped off right out of the box, while My Halo MC Combat Evolved fell from a shelf and survived flawlessly.

These are not toys and are not made to have the joints overworked. They are more like statues with an amazing amount of articulation, allowing you to reposition them a few times a month. Some may have experience playing with these however I do not advise it.

Swift is another member here that does awesome reviews and is a great source for input. He has a cool blog that I would definitely check out, as he has swayed me into spending money many times before LOL

By the way, great to see you here....I'm Brian formerly Brian and also ClanKiller from waaaay back in the day.

The Buzz has changed, people have come and gone but the genuine love of the hobby and respect for each other us what we are bout here.

Brian

70 bucks for a smaller figure? What line is that? Figmas and figuarts are usually a bit cheaper than that...

There are a few things that bug me about PlayArts figures. One is that they changed scale. I have the FFXIII Lightning which is gigantic, as is my Bleach Ichigo. Second, as someone said before they're not super playable... I think the size is part of it, and the articulation can be wonky sometimes. Third, the quality really varies with these. I really wanted that Vanquish figure, but heard terrible things about it, and then there's the infamous Chun Li knee joint (I'm not sure if they fixed it with their later releases, but some of their joints are really really ugly)

That being said they have excellent customer service. I opened my Ichigo about 6 months after I bought it, and it came with the wrong hands. I thought it would be impossible to get a replacement (and their site does stink), but I contacted them and they sent out replacement hands no problem.

They're not my first choice for figures... i still prefer SH Figuarts and Figma. But I am tempted by the Dead Space 3 figure, and some of the upcoming anime-styled DC ones.

I'm just gonna leave these here for ya, kitty...

Batman V. 1 & Joker

Kratos

Armored Bats and Harley

DMC 3 Dante & Vergil

Batman V.2 & Catwoman

I'll echo some of the sentiments and say they look great, pose great and feel worth the price tag. Quality control does vary, but I've been fairly lucky thus far. The Arkham City stuff is phenomenal, but some of the others can be hit or miss (Like Kratos and DMC 3 Dante; great looking, but not as well executed). I've actually been thinking about cutting DKR Batman, as I already have three now, but dangit if that new one with the sword doesn't look cool. Anyways, hope you find the reviews helpful, and thanks to others for the kind words about my reviews

I own more of the Halo product than I do Batman but you need to check Swifts reviews as they are unbiased and honest. I've given you my thoughts above and honestly prefer these over a sideshow scale and type.
Another suggestion: buy them at amazon where you can get free shipping.

Let us know how you make out!

I got the Arkham City Batman Play Arts Kai a few weeks ago. It was about $70.

Great quality...looks cool on my shelf.

Hello, did buy the figures from PAK/SQ ENIX online Site? I cant seem to find an email address for customer service Play Arts Kai. Will they stand behind their products if there is a QC issue from the manufacture. I didn't buy the figure from the PAK/SQ ENIX online Site. I bought from a retailer who will not take back the defected figure. Can you shine some light onto my situation?

Cheers