1. Heat up the gloves with a hair dryer to soften the plastic (avoid heat on the silicone arms though) and it'll make it easier to put them on/remove them. They are just somewhat hard to remove/put on, though. Even with heat. It's awkward holding the silicone arm lol
2. The shoulder pad just falls out. It's a terrible design lol, best solution is to apply some blue-tac/white putty/sticky tac, whatever it is called where you are from, and put a small amount in the hole of the shoulder pad and it'll stick
way better.
3. I don't recall any black foam ring on either of my Clouds but I can attest to the way they taped those plastic covers on the boots was a huge pain in the *** to remove and stressed me out
4. He can hold all of the swords! The two little ones actually connect together to create one sword, though the handle is a little weird (it has a gap in the middle of it) it still works, and with heating up his hand to make it softer to move, he can hold the sword.
5. The sleeve is a pain in the ***. There are 3 button-clips on a string. It's very small and finnicky. Separate the clips carefully, and when putting them back together, it's easier to pinch them between your fingers to connect, and once all 3 are connected again, you can use a small pair of tweezers or something flat but dull (so you don't accidentally poke Cloud's skin) and guide the edge of the sleeve inside his shirt so there's no gaps.
And for the boots, just apply heat and try to remove them. Both of my Clouds had 2 loose boots too. What I did was remove the boot, and apply some super glue to the ball joint of the boot and let it dry for about an hour. Afterwards, I filed off some of the glue and the ball joint was essentially thicker. It then fit the boot a lot more snug. As for the tight boot, maybe apply heat to remove the boot and just simply place it back on, maybe that's all it needs. If it's still tight, then remove the boot and file away some of the plastic of the ball joint. Do it sparingly, just a little bit, and try to place the boot back on. Little by little until it's not so tight anymore.
I noticed his hands really do suck to change. I wish the plastic was a bit softer. Even with applying heat, it's still hard to remove and replace the hands. And you don't really get that satisfying "confirmation" that the hand has been placed. You know. Like a "Pop" or something. It's just kinda... on there, or it's not.