I recently found myself on eBay, browsing for Final Fantasy Merchandise and I came across a set of 3 Final Fantasy VIII blister packaged figures which went by the name of ‘Extra Soldiers’.
For the more seasoned collector, they would know when the worldwide phenomenon of Final Fantasy VII came roaring onto PlayStation One in 1997, an array of merchandise came with it. That is when the ‘Extra Knights’ first caught my attention. There was a whole set of them released by Bandai in 1998 for Final Fantasy VII. Following the insanely popular Final Fantasy VII was always going to be tough. But due to the success, it seemed obvious to expand this collection for Final Fantasy VIII as well.
With a slightly changed name than their Final Fantasy VII counterparts ‘Extra Knights’, Final Fantasy VIII’s version of these blister packaged figures was named ‘Extra Soldiers’. The box set was released in 1999 by the ever-popular company Bandai and Square (Square Enix). The Characters who were included in the Extra Soldiers box set were: Squall Leonhart, Rinoa Heartilly, Quistis Trepe, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, Irvine Kinneas, Seifer Almasy, Laguna Loire, Edea Kramer, Moomba (Monster) and Angelo (Rinoa’s pet dog). These characters were released in a bizarre formation and it gets really fascinating.
Extra Soldier Box Set Breakdown
All of the characters listed above received their own separate packaging and was sold separately. Except for Edea Kramer who comes in a box set, as well as Moomba and Angelo who come in a different collectable boxset. Which is quite a strange way to sell them. To make it even more unique, some of the figures, don’t come in either of the two collectable box sets: Irine Kinneas and Quistis Trepe. It has not been confirmed why the two are specifically not in the two box sets, but it seems a little weird not to include them.
One of the two collectable box sets, as shown above, has the box exclusive, Edea Kramer. Also, you can see that these Boxsets were also released by Bandai. Each of the box sets contains accessories specific to each Extra Soldier. These accessories being their weapon of choice as seen in Final Fantasy VIII itself.
Exclusive to the second collectible box set is Moomba (Monster) and Angelo (Rinoa’s Pet Dog). And similar to the other box set their in-game weapons which they in Final Fantasy VII are included as well.
This sums up all the information you need to know, so go out there and start collecting. There are also currently no known bootlegs of the Extra Soldiers. Clearly, bootleggers didn’t see the need to spoil the box set with their faking ways. But if you do manage to find some bootlegs, please leave a comment below!