“What is Guts, guys?!” First 4 Figures’ long journey to create statues based off of the Berserk manga and anime reached a milestone this part Friday, when four versions of the F4F Berserk Guts statue (including two exclusive versions) finally went up for pre-order! Validation Tuesday is fast approaching (it begins on 4/10/2018 at 11AM EST), when collectors will be able to log in and validate their orders to vie for low edition numbers in the new Berserk series.

Trying to decide whether to order or not before Validation Tuesday, and don’t have an hour and 40 minutes to listen to the whole Making of Guts Documentary? I’ve got you covered, with 2000+ words of text recap…

“What was the journey to creating Guts like?”

• The journey to creating Guts started right in the Facebook First 4 Figures Official Collector’s Club group
• The club was always saying “Have you thought about Berserk?” “I would love a Guts.” “GUTS GUTS GUTS!”
• F4F went through the whole process of getting the license in mid-2016, as Berserk was one of the anime licenses that First4Figures wanted to have right off the bat.
• Acquired license in September/October 2016 and announced Berserk license during 2016 Christmas Sneak Peeks when the club was at 15,000 members.
• Crunchyroll booth debuted unpainted prototype at Anime Expo 2017 in July 2017. Painted version debuted at New York Comic Con 2017 in October 2017.
• It’s been a really long journey, but Guts is finally ready for order!

“Was it hard to pick a dynamic pose for a character like Guts with such a huge sword?”

• For Alex, it made absolute sense why Guts must be in a dynamic pose. The clue is in the title: “Berserk”. The piece needed to convey a sense of power and rage to really feel “Berserk”.
• Also wanted to make Guts dynamic to differentiate F4F’s Guts from other Guts figures and statues on the market.
• The huge sword led to some challenges, but from the get-go Alex knew the statue had to be dynamic to illustrate the explosiveness and intensity of the manga/anime.

“How long have you been working on Guts?”

• Initial ideas for Guts were made in 2016, with Guts reaching the prototype stage by summer 2017.
• Sculpting began at the end of 2016, then rushed to have prototype ready for AX 2017.
• Refined for 5 months after showing painted prototype at NYCC 2017.
• This is a gravity-defying pose, so a lot of engineering work had to be done behind the scenes.

“With Guts being vertical, were there any engineering difficulties in the development of this statue?”

• The sword is over 20” long, 2.5” thick with different textures and detailing on both sides of the sword. There’s a plethora of different textures and it was really difficult to get it done.
• Inherent difficulties: how do you keep something so heavy in its dynamic position for all time?
  There’s a long metal rod that’s square shaped that runs a log distance into the sword itself. The peg is square shaped to keep the sword at the proper angle that it’s meant to be fixed in.
• Guts needed to be elevated above his enemies so he could be leaping downward and slashing his sword down, and the square peg was necessary to keep the sword angled appropriately.
  Since he’s jumping off a cliff, his cape needs to be flowing backwards to convey the right sense of movement.
• Guts has a rotation in the chest, through to the waist, as part of his swinging pose. There’s a massive internal skeleton built into the Guts figure to keep its pose, as well as a huge metal pole coming out of the base into the figure to prevent leaning over time.
• Metal chains, rivers, bandages, armor, pouches, belts, buckles, ribbing… a tremendous amount of sculpting and paint deco went into the insane amount of detailing on this statue. There are layers of armor to allow for a dynamic pose on such an armored character—a testament to the design.

“Were there engineering difficulties with Guts’ cape?”

• The cape provided quite a lot of challenges for First4Figures. The cape was initially thinner, but Alex was concerned that a thin cape would bend and warp over time, which wouldn’t be acceptable. Because it was so thin, it also could break easily. So F4F went back into the 3-D stage to make it thicker.
• But making it thicker could also make it heavier and cause it to droop over time. F4F tried making the cape out of cloth with wires, but the sculpted cape ultimately looked much better than the cloth goods cape. The F4FOCC also voted in favor of the sculpted cape.
• Inside the cape there are wires running through to maintain the shape. The cape is also made of PU (polyurethane) instead of polyresin. PU is stronger, but lighter, than resin, and can still capture all the same details.

Various Tidbits:

• Guts is looking forward with yelling/screaming face—literally going berserk. Brand of Sacrifice on the back of Guts’ neck bleeds when he goes berserk. It’s difficult to see unless you’re up-close looking at the right angle, but that’s a detail that cannot be skipped. The face has a lot of power in it.
• If you look throughout the armor, it looks like Guts’ armor color is black (he is the Black Swordsman, after all)—but there’s actually quite a lot of color in the costume. There’s a lot of browns and blue-y greys.
• “Detail for days”—stitch marks, textures, lots of dirt and wear on the costume from running in this terrain for days. Alex did the research to be as accurate as possible and to respect the fans.
• Alex’s intro to Guts was the Dreamcast Berserk game, but it’s been an honor to come back and learn so much about Berserk and the source material. Researching to be able to see and know about what part of the story this design comes from has been a fantastic experience.

On The Elephant In The Room–Blood:

• The elephant in the room: blood. This is Berserk, but there are only subtle flecks of blood on the base and some areas of the statue itself for the regular version. The statue focuses on the details and the armor (similarly to Artorias and Nightmare), without excessive blood.
• But let’s face it: this is Berserk, and there should be gratuitous amounts of blood involved. And so, there’s a “clean” non-bloody version of Guts that’s suitable for family-oriented displays and more sensitive collectors.
• There’s also a bloody version of Guts to cater to those who like the more raw aspects of Berserk. The Guts bloody variant is drenched in blood, with streaks and blood splatters and different types of blood on the sword. The blood goes down the hilt of the sword, the wraps, pours down his Guts’ arms, the inside and outside of the cloth, the belt buckles and boots… there’s blood everywhere.
• The Berserk logo on the base will be red on the production version of the statue to complement the bloody version.

“Is it possible the weight of the sword could break Guts’ arms?”

• There’s a long metal pole attached to Guts’ arm and a long metal sleeve in the sword to keep the sword stable and to prevent breakage.

“How much would a fully die-cast version of the Dragon Slayer sword cost, and how much would it weigh?”

It would weigh “A LOT”. If collectors want to see a die-cast Dragon Slayer replica, let F4F know and they can look into it.

On The Guts Exclusive Version:

• Exclusive gives context and story to the piece. The triangle of rock on the base is the same as the regular version, but now there are Blood Spirits on the base that Guts fights against.
• Guts’ eyes are angled at a different direction on the exclusive version, as Guts’ eyes on the EX are looking at his 7:00 at the Blood Spirit instead of straight forward. His pupil is also white now instead of brown, because Guts’ pupils sometimes turn white when he’s raging.
• The base itself has a lot of layering on it, with 3 layers. Top and bottom bands of base surround a middle band that is covered in scenes of despair showing villagers being consumed by the Blood Spirits.
• The Blood Spirits don’t die when they’re sliced off—they just keep reforming, so Guts is never out of danger. You can see the faces reforming on the Blood Spirits on the base that Guts has already cut down.

“How did you settle on the Spirits for the Exclusive version instead of another enemy?”

• F4F wanted to give a sense of the kind of scenario that Guts finds himself in—the supernatural and demonic. Alex feels the Blood Spirits are often overlooked and wanted to have a very specific scene to give context and meaning to what Guts was doing.
• Blood Spirits are also an amazing effect that gives the piece a lot of presence, but also allows the price to be as accessible as possible and make the piece a great value. Beautiful otherworldly effect is possible with this base without making the price exorbitant or increasing the spatial footprint of the piece too much.
  The transparent resin for the Blood Spirits also facilitates light-up functionality (white LEDs) and handprints sculpted onto the inside of the resin. Subtle details that tell a story! You can really feel for Guts because so much of the story is captured in this statue.
• The LEDs can be turned on and off, but there’s also an animated mode where the lights move throughout the base and Blood Spirit strands. Pulse effect throughout the base give a feeling of gooey movement and help tell a story in a static statue.

“Was it hard to make a Guts Statue That could appeal to Berserk fans but still fit the F4F Family Friendly feel?”

• Wanted to go for something different from other companies’ offerings. Bloody variants available for those who prefer more gore on their Berserk statues, while also having the clean versions for more family-friendly displays.
• Guts is fighting spirits, but it’s not like Guts wouldn’t have been fighting creatures with blood beforehand. Whatever the reason, Guts and his sword are covered in blood.
• Bloody Guts has blood spatter on Guts’ face that the normal versions do not

On Future Tweaks:

• Hand Wraps — The hand wraps should be wrapped around Guts’ fingers and not just his knuckles, so the wraps are being altered
• Canines on screaming, Berserk Head will be changed to be sharper and more natural-looking; updates will be shown in the production videos and collector’s club
• Some areas of the statue have the Blood a little bit too bright—will be darkened and toned down for realism during production

“How did you decide on additional heads for the exclusive?”

• EX comes with two additional heads ; heads are interchangeable via magnets
• Serious-looking face; not straining too much; stern looking; no bleeding Brand because Guts isn’t too agitated and is feeling comfortable in his attacking mode
• Grinning face; having fun; iconic image from the manga suggested by the F4F OCC members; Brand isn’t bleeding because Guts is having fun and isn’t angry
• All of these heads look at the Blood Spirit
• Alex would go for the grinning head himself for a sense of empowerment; the exclusive versions gives you three different expressions and emotions to choose from

“Will you avoid naming characters and bases with graphic content, such as nudity and dismemberment/gore?”

F4F won’t actively aim to avoid these aspects, but will also be F4F’s own unique take on the license.

“Will F4F create any characters in the line on horseback?”

1/4 Skull Knight is next in the series, but he won’t be on horseback since that would put the piece in a cost category that is much higher than F4F wants. However, a 1/6 Skull Knight on horseback is something First 4 Figures is open to if there is a lot of demand for it.

“If the line does well, are you open to making Golden Age Guts and the Band or Hawks from that time period?”

Absolutely—F4F wants to make Berserk statues for years to come as long as there is support for it. Whatever fans will support, First4Figures wants to make.

“What are the specs of the Regular and Exclusive Versions of Guts?”

Exclusive Specs (Normal and Bloody Versions):

• EX just over 6 cans tall
• 28” tall/71 cm
• 24″ wide/61 cm
• 22″ deep/56 cm
• 13.8kg (vs 9.38kg of regular)

Regular Specs (Normal and Bloody Versions):

• Slightly under 6 cans tall
• 27” tall / 69 cm
• 24” / 61 cm Width
• 20” / 50 cm Depth
• 9.38kg

“How many pieces does the statue come in?”

• The regular versions come in 6 pieces: Sword; Head; Cape; Sword Fastener; Base
• The exclusive versions come in 8 pieces: Sword; 3 Heads; Cape; Sword Fastener; Base (with Spirits)
• F4F will post an unboxing video to show how to assemble and unpack the statue once production is complete

On Shipping:

• Shipping cost would be crazy if they all shipped from HK, but F4F has local warehouses around the world to cut the price of shipping as much as possible and to eliminate import charges
• Shipping will still be expensive because this statue is inherently huge and heavy, however—but much cheaper because of the regional warehouses
• 18650 removable, replaceable battery included outside of Australia (where not allowed by law) — can also be powered by an external source if you don’t want to use a battery

…And that’s a wrap on one of the longest and most involved First 4 Figures Making of Documentaries to date! All four F4F Berserk Guts statue versions are available for order now through Friday 4/20, although those collectors wanting to be guaranteed low numbers for the entire Berserk series will want to place their orders as soon as possible so they can validate and snag low numbers on Validation Tuesday 4/10/2018!

Who out there is ordering Guts, and which version did you opt for?