Lightning-cognition: Most Wanted Game Swag

Hello, internet!

LightningEllen here and still filling in for the almighty Goddess of Wisdom while she takes a well-deserved break from writing brilliant articles here on AmbiGaming. Warning: I’m certainly not a great Athena substitute, but I’ll be babbling at my best during this blog-sitting gig, eh!

So Lightning-cognition will be my version of Athena’s epic Metacognition series of posts where she explores deep thoughts (and occasionally not so deep thoughts) on gaming. This week I’ll be talking about the game related swag items I would like to own. Tis the season for being greedy and thinking about wanting things, right? Tee hee! I’m kidding. Peace, joy, and love are the most important things to think about this time of year (and honestly every time of year). Don’t let the never-ending commercials telling you to buy stuff make you forget it.

Also, today is my birthday and I’m 30 years old now. Instead of depressing myself by thinking about what little I’ve accomplished in my 3 decades trapped on this planet, I’m going to enjoy dreaming about the gaming related swag I’ll never be able to afford. Unless I win the lottery, of course! Any draw now… I can feel it.

It’s no secret I love collecting plastic things that represent stuff from the games I play. I have over 160 Amiibo figures and more cheap collector’s edition statues than I care to admit. I’m certainly grateful for all those shiny things, but there are some cool items that I’ll never be able to afford or find anywhere… or even exist (a lottery win can totally change that… just sayin’). A few of the big ones incoming!

Gaming Heads Liara T’Soni Statue

I love Liara T’Soni with all my heart and soul!! Ahem. TL;DR – The way her friendship unfolded with my Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy makes her this demiromantic asexual’s dream life partner. Basically, a super best friend who always has my back no matter what, someone special to chat about life with, and lots of beautiful hugging moments… swoon! I really want to have this badass statue of her, but alas, this was long sold out by the time I knew who Liara was. Sadly, Gaming Heads only did a limited 500 run of these. I did find one recently on eBay for about $2,000 USD. Not happening, eh.

First 4 Figures Bowser Statue

Bowser always has been and always will be my favourite bad guy. The big guy’s tenacity is so inspiring and he just looks totally badass. This spectacular statue of the King Koopa is currently in a “waiting list” state. I just can’t fork over that many coins for it, unfortunately. Hm. Maybe I could come up with a hilariously bad kidnapping scheme to get one of these…

Lightning Returns Play Arts Kai Figure

Lightning Returns is probably my favourite of the 3 Final Fantasy XIII games. I mean, come on… my shero is the legendary Savior of Souls that people worship and look up to. Awesome! Not gonna lie, I almost rage-quit the game at first. Once I climbed the steep learning curve, it was a very rewarding experience I’ll never forget. I’m lucky enough to own the Guardian Corps and Dissidia Lightning Farron Play Arts Kai figures, but her badass default Grab from Lightning Returns is just so epic. These are long sold out from retailer channels and going for stupid prices on eBay these days. I’m hoping if Sqaure Enix ever does a remake, more of these will be made.

Odin Play Arts Kai Figure

Lightning’s trusty Eidolon, Odin, stays by her side throughout 3 whole games. What I like about Lightning and Odin is the silent bond of trust and mutual respect they show each other. Lightning doesn’t treat Odin like a summoning slave. She sees him as her partner and I think that’s so special. This Play Arts Kai figure apparently behaves like a transformer allowing you to change Odin from horse to humanoid form. So cool!! And alas, way to expensive on the secondary eBay market.

That’s it for the actual things I want. Yeah. They’re rare and expensive but they do exist. On the imaginary side of things, I’d love to own the following (I hope you’re taking notes Santa):

• An actual working replica of Lightning’s Gunblade from the first Final Fantasy XIII game. How freaking amazing would that be?? I swear, I’d only use it to do good in the world… honest.
• A really detailed statue of Senua from Hellblade. I’ve seen some cool swag on Ninja Theory’s website but no statues.
• Little matchbox car style figures of the racers from Diddy Kong Racing. And maybe play sets in the form of race tracks from the game. ZOMG! That would be so cool.

Alrighty. My inner obsessive collector is satisfied now. Ultimately, stuff is just stuff. It’s nice to want shiny things, but accumulating things is NOT what life is all about. I’m eternally grateful for the few close friends and very few family members I have in my life. I’d trade all my treasured swag, games, and Amiibo for just one extra minute of time with (or a second chance to not hurt) those few people I trust and will always love unconditionally.

Merry Christmas and happy whatever holiday you celebrate peacefully, my friends!

What about you, internet? Like any of the shiny things I listed? What game related swag do you wish to have? Let me know in the comments area thingy below and I promise it’s yours as soon as I win the lottery!

⚡Thanks for reading!⚡
~ LightningEllen

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