question about ff7

[Masamune·1600]

Alright, just to briefly address the original question: those items have no purpose. The Umbrella cannot be earned, however, with 3000 points. You need 5000. In Discs 2 and 3, the Umbrella is replaced at the 5000 mark with the Flayer. Each of these weapons can only be acquired once; after that, you will continue to receive 1/35 Soldiers, Masamune Blades, etc.

Now, as to the current debate, there are several ways of looking at it. Statistically, there are slight tendencies for the characters. They are not, however, all that significant. As to the question of the characters at level 99, I'll be sure to manually max levels on Disc 1, and give a definitive answer. However, since almost all abilities are derived from materia, and any materia can be used by any party member, you can build up your party however you prefer.