the pendant is very solid feeling, not cheap.  mine came in the FF VII Advent Children package, with no gift box.  mildly disappointing but really irrelevant.  If I'd been buying it as a gift for someone else I might have cared more.  I just recieved it, so I can't say much about the chain, but it seems nice and solid enough.  I'll probably replace it anyways to be more accurate, though.  Mine does have the shiny bits on the mouth and cross, and a solid silver back, no horrible bubbles or words stamped.  I'm very happy with it.