F4F Q&A #41 Recap: Banjo-Kazooie, Sonic Minis & Majora’s Mask!

My apologies for another late F4F Q&A Recap, but the never-ending calamity that is my recent life continued over the weekend with my whole basement (AKA Collection Box Room) flooding. Huzzah! Regardless, the F4F Q&A #41 Recap is now ready, and it’s filled with juicy details about the possibility of a Banjo-Kazooie statue, the upcoming Last Chance Pre-Orders for the Zelda Majora’s Mask & Taki statues, the debut of a new F4F Partnerships Sonic the Hedgehog line and more!

On Sonic the Hedgehog:

The GNZ Boom8 Sonic PVC figures revealed at NYCC 2017 are the newest F4F Partnerships release!
The first two figures in the series are a running Sonic the Hedgehog (with die-cast foot) and Sonic posed wagging his finger from the cover of his first video game.
The Sonic PVC figures are 8cm tall and are sold only as a two-pack for $45 on the F4F website.
A lot of Sonic collectors didn’t even know about these figures previously–ordering them was a real hassle, requiring translations and fees because the Boom8 figures were only available in Korea
F4F makes it cheaper in cost, shipping and taxes than having to try to import these figures directly from GNZ Toys. These will be shipped direct from the worldwide First 4 Figures warehouses and come with the usual warranty.
The Combo Pack will ship together in a nice F4F Partnerships box, and is expected to be ready in Q1 2018. These figures will be ongoing and not limited, so don’t worry about them selling out right away.
The eyes and muzzle on the Sonic Boom8 figures are separate pieces rather than just being painted, so that they really stand out on Sonic’s head.
First 4 Figures is aiming for December with Silver the Hedgehog statue–he’ll be on the boat then if not delivered
25th Anniversary Sonic statue should go into production in 3-4 weeks
Rally the fans if you want a Chao statue

On Nintendo:

First4Figures had a recent meeting with Nintendo already; needs to follow up
“Could we do a Nintendo Switch holder…? Maybe.”
Luigi TT numbers aren’t as high as they need to be for a Nintendo piece–Alex doesn’t want to have a conversation with Nintendo where they approve a regular Luigi statue but not a Luigi’s Mansion version statue unless the demand for regular Luigi is high enough
Following up this week about Lucky Cat Mario bonus reward points
Star Fox characters (not vehicle) is a future TT
Mario dioramas with smaller figures down the line are a possibility
Bowser pre-order is still planned for November–payment plan maximum likely to be for 9 months
No plans to spice up Bowser base before the official pre-order
Can’t offer 12-month payment plans outside of blind POs, as F4F wants production to be faster than that and they can’t have hundreds of statues sitting around in the warehouses waiting for payment plans to finish
Submitting Varia Suit Samus to Nintendo this week–just about done with the revisions
Metroid statues are incredibly challenging to create–both Light Suit Samus and Varia Suit Samus were delayed 18 months

On Legend of Zelda:

I posted a huge write-up discussing the changes to the revised Majora’s Mask replica and the Last Chance Weekend ordering window yesterday, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested!
Waiting for comments from Nintendo on the Sheikah Slate replica, which has been submitted
Alex would definitely consider making a Majora’s Mask-sized Moon with Skull Kid on top
Alex’s response to Nintendo approval of Majora’s Mask replica: “Fuck Yes! Finally Majora’s Mask is coming home to F4F!”
The production cost for the Majora’s Mask prop replica has gone up since it was first pre-sold, but the increased cost will not be passed on to consumers–F4F is covering the costs because they feel embarassed about the unexpected extended delays for this statue
There’s no way Majora’s Mask will ship this year–likely end of Q1 2018/start of Q2 2018
First4Figures has never considered Spiritual Stones or Medallions as replicas–rally if you want these
F4F is only talking about 3 Zelda pre-orders in 2018 so far
True Form Midna is still with F4F undergoing revisions and hasn’t been submitted to Nintendo yet for approval
F4F would never make a Bowser-sized Happy Mask Salesman–he would be in 1:4

On TTs (Temptation Thursday Polls):

This week’s TT poll (10/26/2017) will be for Banjo Kazooie
This week’s hashtag is #F4FBANJO (Shit Just Got Real!)
Alex is concerned about the number of fans really wanting Banjo Kazooie–perhaps it’s just the same few people asking for them over and over?
My Hero Academia TT poll on 11/2/2017–RALLY!!
Cuphead TT poll upcoming on 11/9/2017
Legend of Dragoon poll numbers weren’t strong; falls into the “TTs Never Die” category
Luigi TT received less “Yes” votes than Alex expected, perhaps because of being for generic Luigi rather than the Mansion version
There’s always a chance for a Resident Evil TT poll

On Dark Souls:

We should see a Dark Souls II or Dark Souls III statue up for order in 2018
SD Dark Souls Chibi statues pre-orders will be a while–the ones shown at NYCC were prototypes, but actual PVC samples have to be created before the PO
Solaire Production is starting soon
Ornstein is deep in redevelopment–sample from NYCC isn’t back yet from the United States
Do we want a semi-blind Pre-order for Ornstein?
Torch Torch Dark Souls rings will hopefully reach customers in December

On Anime:

Do we want a Berserk Guts statue blind pre-order? The final prototype isn’t finished yet and the video documentary isn’t ready. All of the exclusives haven’t been shown yet either. (You can check out my hi-res photos preview of Guts from NYCC right here.)
Gurren Lagann Kamina statue submitted for approval in a cool/museum pose
Cowboy Bebop Jet statue’s shoes are being reprinted–he’s almost ready to go

On Crash and Spyro:

The Crystal Dragon is still planned to be made entirely of translucent green resin
Crystal Dragon pre-order is planned for early 2018
Resin Crash statue will make a fantastic centerpiece to a Crash display
A size comparison teaser of comparing the resin and PVC Crash Bandicoot statues was shown last week
Feathers on the Aku Aku Mask have been revised to be brighter–final version has not been shown yet
No plans for swappable feathers for the Aku Aku Mask replica, but plans for other features
Aku Aku Mask pre-orders are still planned for November
Sparx hasn’t been submitted to Activision yet

On Various Topics:

It hasn’t been determined yet if the Darkstalkers Morrigan statue will be the start of a new Darkstalkers line or just a one-off inclusion in the Capcom All-Stars series–up to collector response
No alternate costumes for Soul Calibur statues–tried and did not sell well for Tekken series
Alex makes time for the Collector’s Club because it’s so important to the company
Customers who pre-order two of a statue at the same time will receive sequential numbers
Monkey King was one of the first F4F Partnerships–First 4 Figures helped with the production and development of it
UK and EU Wait Lists will be split due to the new warehouse
If Zero and Alucard sell really well, we’ll see more frequent releases in their respective lines
Next Preview Friday date is still up in the air
F4F Mugs will eventually come to the CORE line
Shovel Knight statue has been reprinted at 20% bigger than the prototype shown at NYCC 2017–will be a better overall value to collectors as a result

And that’s all for this week! Don’t forget–Last Chance Weekend for Taki and Majora’s Mask Exclusives is this weekend! If you want this duo, don’t delay!

Be sure to check out the next First 4 Figures Q&A Live on Facebook with Alex and Chock this week if you’re available, or you can follow Gamer Toy News on Facebook to get the latest F4F news and recaps as they’re posted! What did you think of this week’s Q&A? Learn anything new that gets you all riled up, gaming collectors?