Chrono Trigger Formation Arts

The gem of this past month in collecting has without a doubt, been Chrono Trigger Formation Arts. It's kinda ass-backwards, too. I love Chrono Trigger, and naturally when someone loves a game/movie/TV show/etc, they expect a lot out of related products. And when it's something like CT - a property which doesn't receive merch very often - I tend to expect even more.

The prototypes of these that were shown earlier this year, as well as the pictures that several websites posted when they started taking preorders, looked to have strange faces. So I was VERY pleasantly surprised whenever I got them in the mail last week & the faces were just like Toriyama-sensei's art. In the prototype pics Chrono's face was especially concerning, considering he's in every diorama/figure except for one. But SquEnix (and I'm told Kotobukiya makes SquEnix's products) really came through.

I chuckled a little when I saw the "Black Label" on the box. What was I buying, Square-Enix booze? But truly, these are "Black Label", if that means "Elite". The quality is really nice, they're painted well for mass production models & their tiny size. The poses look like they're right out of the concept art for the game.

I hope that this is the start of more Formation Arts editions for Chrono Trigger (Kingdom Hearts has 2 or 3 sets and it isn't a quarter of the series that CT is), but I'm not holding my breath. Japanese companies tend to very hit n miss about what they produce & release. Unless you're a REALLY prevalent/popular series (i.e. - Evangelion, Doraemon, Mario) you don't see a giant variety of related-merch releases. But here's hoping SE decides to continue on with Formatin Arts based on one of their best properties.