Alter Tales of Symphonia: Zelos Wilder PVC Figure (1:8 Scale)

This was my first time purchasing one of these PVC figures, having had a long-held prejudice against them from seeing too many poor sculpts and careless paint jobs that never felt worth the price. But the preorder photos for Zelos' figure looked very appealing, and I happen to love this character, so I figured I'd take a chance. I don't regret my decision at all. The sculpt is extremely detailed, from the creases in his clothing to the waves in the hair to the smaller red gem on his key crest (below the actual Ex-sphere). The colors are also spot-on, and I love that the paint has a different sheen for fabrics versus metals versus...leather? (Whatever his boots are made of -- they're a pearly white as opposed to the straight-up white of his pants. Pearly white doesn't exactly scream "leather" to me, but I still liked that they used a different paint to distinguish the material of his boots from his clothes.) Probably all of this is old news for experienced figure collectors, but as I said, this is my first one, and I'm a little blown away by the quality exceeding my expectations.The figure came well protected in its own box, with two pieces of plastic holding it securely in place. (Which I wasn't expecting. I somehow got it into my head that I was going to have to dig Zelos out from under a lot of packing peanuts.) The box itself is green, with some nice decorative leaf/tree motifs surrounding the cut-outs that allow you to see the figure inside, and the words Tales of Symphonia: Zelos Wilder in both English and Japanese on various sides of the box. There's also a brief character blurb (in Japanese) on one side that I found more amusing than I probably should. (I don't have the box with me so I can't recall the exact words, but it basically said something along the lines of: "A playboy with no fixed profession. He loves women and can't resist hitting on them, but his light attitude means he's never really taken seriously. However, he seems to be shouldering an onerous fate...." I think this is actually the same description that is on the official Japanese Tales website.)There's also a small slip of paper with directions for 'assembly' (in Japanese) included in the box. I don't really think you need directions to do three things: stick figure onto platform. Stick sheath onto figure. Stick sword into sheath. But who knows, maybe the little holes really confuse people. Incidentally, the sword and sheath are really awesome, IMO. The tassels on the sheath look like they might break off very easily, so you probably need to be careful handling it, but I do appreciate the fact that they had the tassels flow out to give a sense of movement rather than just having them stick to the sheath. I also love that the sword is removable, although once you remove it, you can't do much else except put it back since Zelos' hands aren't sculpted to hold anything. (I'm fine with this because I don't like how the hands always wind up looking unnatural when they're sculpted so you can insert some removable item, but in case people were wondering if he can pose holding the sword -- he can't. I guess you can, I dunno, wave it around by yourself and grin stupidly at it because it looks so nice.) The sword is about the length of Zelos' extended arm, has beveled edges, and comes to a surprisingly sharp point. It actually looks like a weapon, for all that it's made of plastic.In case it's not obvious already, I really like this figure. Perhaps more discerning collectors will find flaws or consider this pretty run-of-the-mill, but I can't see anything to upset me. And the price has recently gone down, so I would say if you're a fan of the character and you like this kind of merchandise, the figure is totally worth it. Now I'm really looking forward to getting Colette's figure!

This figure is beautiful and extremely detailed, it looks just like the character and it captivates the sassy attitude and the sultry disposition that made Zelos a memorable companion and an instant fan favorite. The package is perfect and follows the esthetic of the figurine and the collection.

Zelos was my favourite Tales of character ever!!! The figure was delivered on time and is just so good n.n!!! If you're a ToS (and, especially, aZelos) fan, I highly recommend to get one!!!!

This arrived waaaay before I thought it would! My only disappointment is that his sword is smaller than it should be T-T. But I still love it dearly! So happy to have this!!!!

Oh Zelos...what can I say. This figure came to me quick. I love his pose. It's so him. The detail is great and so is the color. He looks so great next to my other Tales of figures.

Absolutely beautiful figure. Very detailed and high quality. Couldn't be happier, nothing less to be expected from Alter.

A must have for any Tales of Symphonia fan. Especially if you are a big fan of Zelos Wilder.

I had received this figure as a gift, and I am very happy with it. It is absolutely gorgeous. Everything is perfect from the look on his face to the way his clothes are. This is a must have for fans of Zelos or of Tales of Symphonia.

War gut verpackt. Von der beigelegten Zeitung auf japanisch hat mein Bruder auch noch was. Fährt regelmäßig nach Japan 😄Kam sicher und schnell bei mir an.Die Figur sieht so toll aus. Ist definitiv sein Geld wert.Randnotiz an zukünftige Käufer: Die Fäden am Schwert sind abnehmbar, sodass man sie positionieren kann wie man will. Ich habe mich stark erschrocken, als die plötzlich neben der Figur lagen. Nach langem untersuchen hab ich gesehen, dass die nicht festgemacht sind, denke um eben Abbrechen zu vermeiden

Je m'attendais à ce qu'il y ai des petits défauts dessus, et il n'y en a aucun, elle est parfaite !

Une figurine magnifique et vraiment bien rendue. Rien à dire, les détails sont là et on retrouve bien le perso original de Tales of Symphonia :)

塗りのはみ出しとかもなく、とてもきれいだったのですが個人的に口元が好きではありませんでした。