Well, back quite a few years ago, I picked these up at Babbages. They started arriving about one a month, and only one in a shipment. I just started buying them. They were $50 each, originally. The only one I didn't buy there was Quistis. Someone beat me to the one at Babbages, but I found her at Suncoast in the same mall.
The game stores in town don't seem to sell anything decent anymore like these since they were bought by GameStop. I guess the other toys had a better profit margin.
This weekend, I'm uncrating the rest of my toys from my closet. They've been boxed up since we moved to our new house. Next up is a ton of Kenshin figures, all three Record of Lodoss Wars, Evangellion, and those small Gundam one's.
After starting my own company (we are making a boardgame called Lomby Zombie), cash has been a little tight, so I'm selling them off to be able to get a 360. If this set goes for what I hope they do, I'll be set. I'd rather sell this stuff instead of my games.
cranguy - FF7 is just more popular. Also, the FF7 figures came two years after the FF8 ones. They also have a lot better looking packaging. I didn't know these were worth anything until I just started pulling stuff out and setting up the auctions. I checked on old auctions and saw them sell for $145-$170.