After two years of waiting, the First 4 Figures Fullmetal Alchemist Statue line is finally off to a hot start, as the F4F Alphonse Elric Exclusive & Definitive Editions are now up for order on the website! But what kinds of challenges did you F4F face in the development of Edward’s “little” brother, what ideas changes and fell by the wayside, and why is #BigAl the way he is? If you don’t have time to listen to the whole hour-plus documentary but would still like the answers to these questions, fear not—I’ve got you covered with the Making of Alphonse Documentary Recap!

[Disclaimer: As always, you’re best off sitting back and watching the whole video and enjoying the ride. In fact, I’ve linked the whole video for you below so you can do just that! But if you just want the bullet points? Read on…]

• One of the longest pieces in development at First 4 Figures; announced back in 2016

Treve Hodsman (at 2:45 on the video): “What did you give up in exchange for this license? Was it really of equal value? ALCHEMY–The Principle of Equivalent Exchange”

• The principle of equivalent exchange is a theme throughout the entire series Fullmetal Alchemist
• The equivalent exchange here is clear: Chocks put on pounds and Alex has lost his hair as sacrifices since announcing the FMA license

Dabid Kuhrt (at 4:13 on the video): “Were there any earlier ideas or concepts you had for Alphonse that ended up being scrapped in favor of the design you ultimately went with?”

• This is a good segue to talk about the pose
• A lot of fan feedback went into selecting this fighting pose for the Alphonse statue
• Al has this karate chop hand and fist–the pose that the club was really pushing for
• Didn’t really have to worry about changing earlier concepts, as the F4F OCC Facebook club was so overwhelmingly in favor of this particular pose for Al
• This pose is sort of in-between being a museum pose and an action pose

Michael Pilote (at 7:02 on the video): “What was the most challenging part about designing this statue?”

• Most challenging aspect was dealing with the size of Alphonse and the fact that he’s so big; trying to understand how to maximize the value for the piece, as First4Figures is known for being a company with good value for money
• Really challenging to limit the creativity of a piece in order to hit a certain price-point and keep the statue accessible for a low price; don’t want to limit the number of Fullmetal Alchemist fans that could afford the statue
• Wanted to really focus on Alphonse himself, rather than a huge base with a bit of Al on it

Michael Lai (at 11:01 on the video): “Will any parts be done in a more durable material to lower the chance of breakages during delivery?”

• This statue requires a lot more engineering to reduce the possibility of breakages; some parts may need to be cast in PVC to reduce the chances of breakage

Brendan Rastello (at 11:58 on the video): “What did you learn from prior anime pieces that you were able to apply to Alphonse?”

• The thing about the anime pieces is that usually F4F wants to add subtle “sketch lines” to the deco, such as in the grooves of Alphonse’s loincloth; Alex wasn’t convinced the sketch marks should be on Al’s armor itself
• A lot of the things First4Figures has learned from previous anime pieces has to do with creating the head sculpts–which was absolutely useless for Alphonse (since he doesn’t have a face)
• Alphonse is the 5th anime piece that F4F has ever made, but was being developed at the same time as most of the previous anime pieces (so there wasn’t a lot to learn yet)

Jake Meyer (at 16:03 on the video): “Does his armor contain Ed’s blood seal inside?”

• Now we can talk a little more about the detail of this piece
• Absolutely it’s there–it’s really important to be able to see Ed’s blood rune inside the armor which bonds Al’s soul to the suit of armor
• It was challenging to design this suit of armor to look hollow when it isn’t; creating the illusion of a floating head
• Could have used a pole running from the middle of the neck going straight up or had a real neck painted black to create the floating helmet illusion, but this would have obscured the blood seal and done a massive disservice to the piece
• Ended up using a pole that’s only visible from the side to “levitate” the helmet so there’s no neck peg or rod in the way of the blood rune
• Couldn’t use magnets to make the helmet reliably “float”–just not possible

Additional Discussion of Details on the Statue (at 22:00 on the video):

• Armor is full of rivets and bolts
• Top to bottom covered in textures
• Black wash within the texture lines
• Alex thinks the loincloth needs to be a little bit more matte and is blending a bit too much with the colors of the suit of armor as seen in the documentary
• Edward’s symbol is correctly printed onto Al’s shoulder–authentically not sculpted into the armor (as it shouldn’t be)
• Alex thinks they’ve nailed the right balance of texture and bright, bold colors to make the piece look accurate to the anime
• Plume gives a beautiful flow and dynamic feel to the piece
• The base looks very simple at a glance, but looks very good both up-close and from a distance
• Trunks and roots coming out of the ground; can see dents and rubble on the ground
• Would have been easy to make the base too basic and simplistic, but is detailed without drawing attention away from the Alphonse figure itself
• Blood seal on the badge on the front of the base; wording and design of the transmutation circle going around the perimeter of the side of the base
• Edward will eventually be able to have a base with a similar design going around the outside of the base, even if the base itself is from a different scene
• Made the “rim” around the base metal-like as a nod to the name of the series (Fullmetal Alchemist)
• The writing around the side of the base will be able to glow in the dark after being charged up

Jeremy Bierson (34:53 on the video) “What is some licensor feedback that helped shape this piece?”

• Mainly to make sure that the blood seal is present and easy to be seen
• Licensor also wanted the legs to be chunkier and less long
• Working with Aniplex has been a great experience; very supportive

Chris Hildebrand Jr. (36:06): “How did you decide on the exclusive?”

• There are a lot of comical parts to Fullmetal Alchemist, including default faces suddenly becoming “cartoon-like” in the anime
• Alphonse is a badass walking armor, but he’s also a kid inside and will be scared at times; nice for the exclusive to come with an extra alternate head that illustrates this
• Flat and smooth circular eyes that really pop; also has sweat pouring down his face
• Most people will display with the standard head, but fun to display with the comical head every once in a while (even if it’s not canonical to the actual scene this statue is based on)
• You may see the rod holding up the head from one particular angle, but the head will still have the feeling of “floating” the majority of the time
• Both heads come with the exclusive, although the eyes on the “standard” head that comes with the exclusive version will also light up–the battery is within the actual helmet itself
• Same glow-in-the-dark base included with both the regular/standard version and the exclusive version

Michael Pilote (47:14): “How did you manage the ‘real’ vs ‘anime’ balance look on this statue?”

• Added a metallic wash over the grey to give the statue an added bit of realism
• …But why not both? And so, there’s a silver version of this statue as well that really picks up the light!
• The gray version is more on the anime side, while this silver version looks more “realistic” and has more of an emphasis on the metallic nature of the armor
• No blue on the Silver version, really–looks more dirty and silvery with more black wash and highlighted scuff marks
• Silver Variant Exclusive will also get the LED helmet and alternate comical head included

Lashel Diaz (57:01): “How many soda cans tall is Al?”

• Alphonse is slightly hunched over to maximize the value of the width and depth Alpohonse takes up shelf space-wise
• Very slightly under 5 cans; not one of the tallest F4Fs, but very squat and thick
• 21.5″ tall (55 cm)
• 18″ wide (46 cm)
• 18″ deep (46 cm)
• Perfectly compact within the size of the base; a beautiful arrangement to keep the whole statue within the dimensions of the base; a good use of space
• 15 kg heavy (33 lbs.) = Heavy!!

Shout-Outs! (1:01:04):

• Howard Vi
• Edgar Ramirez
• Michael Pilote
• Brendan Rastello
• Lashel Diaz
• Ryan Rastello
• Raina Doyle
• Jordan Rhudy
• David Contreras
• Bob Watts

F4F Alphonse Definitive Edition (1:02:47):

• Definitive Edition incorporates elements of the fight between Al and the Homunculus Pride
• Includes additional arms for Alphonse with sword and light-up Philosopher’s Stone, as well as clip-on Pride pieces to attach to the base
• Pride tendrils are all different shapes and sizes; eyes are sculpted on and not just painted; absolutely wanted to make sure that Pride’s eyes were facing the right direction
• Paintwork on Pride isn’t pure black–there’s also purple colored lines worked in as accents to add to the aesthetic
• Including Pride on the base drives home the intensity of this scene
• Sword curves in just like in this scene from the anime (which also minimizes extra display space since the sword isn’t fully extended)
• Philosopher’s Stone was an engineering nightmare; three different shapes from the whole effect going on with the Stone
• Definitive Edition has to come with everything the other versions have and more, since it is the “definitive” version
• Pride is removable if you don’t want to have him on the base
• Really wanted to give choices and add a story to really put Al into this scene
• Combo Packs available for both the Exclusive and Definitive Versions for those who are interested in (and able to buy) both with reduced prices
• Definitive Edition is ever-so-slightly higher because of the Philosopher’s Stone (22″ tall) and wider because of the Pride effects (22″ wide); plus a bit deeper (20″ deep)

Michael Pilote (1:20:05): “How likely is it to have a future FMA SD line down the road? I think it would be so appropriate!”

• The SD line is something F4F does in PVC that’s a lot smaller and more accessible
• Nothing planned right now, but would love to discuss with the licensor if there’s a large demand for Fullmetal Alchemist statues

John Shirley/Michael Lai (1:20:55): “Have to be able to consider connecting the base to Edward’s base once he is complete?” / “Will Ed have a similar base?”

• Ed and Al are brothers, but First 4 Figures wanted them to be able to have their own scenes
• There will be unifying elements across the two statues, but they’re from different scenes

…And that’s it for the Making of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Alphonse Elric Documentary! The Exclusive and Definitive Editions will remain open for order one month (or until 1000 orders are reached if it takes longer than a month).

Now that you’ve seen and heard all the details of this FMA Masterpiece, which version (if any) are you planning to add to your collection, #F4Fans?