Tales of Vesperia Plush Doll: Overdrive Knight (Alter)

My first Alter purchase...is a plush doll!  Yeah, I know their figures are gorgeous since I often hear about them from Jenn, but I couldn't resist this plushie after seeing a few pictures. Look at how adorable his face is! Doesn't his head look squishy?  Don't you want to just poke him?

So what is an Alter doll like? Much different from figures, but the quality is still quite nice!  Not perfect.  Nice.

I missed out on the Yuri doll a while back, but I decided I wouldn't let Flynn go. I like him as a character.  I've played both versions of Tales of Vesperia, and I was happy to have him on my team in the PS3 version.  It's too bad he doesn't smile here.  It definitely would have made him cuter. I can see why they chose a frown though.  Flynn can be pretty uptight sometimes.

There are quite a few differences between the doll and the actual character/game design.  The armour on the overdrive doll, for example, is lacking detail. My guess is that it would make Flynn clunky (judging by the shoulder pieces in the tag).  I think his arms and legs are thin because you can actually move them. Still, somehow I feel Alter could have done better.  They're usually really good with figure details after all.

Look at them stubby legs!

Flynn's doesn't exactly have hands or feet , but Alter added little things to make up for it.  Even though you can position Flynn's legs the way you want, I don't think there is anything special about them, mainly because the little guy can't even stand on his own!  Sure...you can spread his legs or keep them together (okay, that sounds a little dirty), but that's about all you can do with his legs.  A part of me finds the idea nifty, while the other decides that there's really no point in adding that feature.  I've already tried making him stand.  Even with back/front support it's hard to actually make him stand.

On a brighter note, Flynn's hands/hand-nubs are magnetic!  He comes with a magnetic sword and shield, so you can arm your little warrior for battle!  Making him left-handed or right-handed!  Or have him climb up a desk like mine did.  Maybe I'll equip him with other items if I can find them around the house! 

Nothing can stop him now!

So let's look at some other cute little details. Alter put in some effort to design Flynn's shield nicely. It certainly has a royal feel to it, so I'll give them credit for that. Also, Flynn's sword almost looks like an exact replica of the sword in the game. Not regular-Flynn's sword, but the overdrive doll version (refer to the tag above). You just have to ignore the white-to-silver part.

Alter also managed to keep the chest gem on Flynn's original outfit.  They added this tiny bead, which I think they glued on.  I'm not really concerned about it falling off because it feels sturdy.  I also believe they ironed in some glittery parts to surround the bead. So you have the full inside-chest design on this little plush!

Missing all them yellow dots on the belt! But ooh, look
at the chest gem!

The inside of Flynn's cape is red; true to the original character design.  It's a really nice colour to add to the plush.  While it isn't always visible it's a nice contrast to all the white and blue.

I originally thought my Flynn plush had a tear in it.  If you look at the bottom of the back of his outfit, you'll see a tiny upside down "v" shape.  I had to look up the original picture again to make sure it was normal (which by the way, it is).  So don't panic like I did when you see it!

Alter has definitely created an adorable little plush doll. While they could have added more details, such as armour on the shoulders or yellow beads on the front of his belt, Flynn is still an adorable little guy overall, and I'm glad he's part of my Tales of collection.  It's rare to see game characters made into adorable and adjustable plushies.

By the way, Flynn's bum is kind of shiny.

Summary:
Stitch Quality: 8/10 (Some fluff sticks out here and there)
Colours:  9/10 (Silver definite works as armour.  The colours used for Flynn's hair and outfit are quite accurate as well)
Details: 7/10 (As adorable as Flynn is, I expected more details from an Alter product)
Enjoyability: 8/10 (I want to make him stand, but I can't.  I do love how he can hang onto metallic objects in my room though!)

Overall: 8/10 (He's a cutie)

Manufacturer: Alter
Price: 2650 yen (Originally 3000yen)
Purchased at: Amiami

Thanks for reading!
~Suich