It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for a new First4Figures Q&A with CEO Alex Davis and Lieutenant Tsoek Cheung! There’s no new pre-order this week (as Warp Star Kirby EX just went up for sale last week), but that doesn’t mean that this week is gonna be barren: instead, we got the announcement and teaser video for the next item on deck for PO: the F4F Metal Gear Solid Psycho Mantis statue!

Announcements and The Week in Review:

• It’s been a pretty stressful week with a lot being worked on–Alex is a little bit tired, as he went to bed at 4AM again [I might have to start staying up an extra hour later at night to be cool like Alex]
• “Tell Trump to not escalate that trade war, yo!” — Alex Davis
• Banjo-Kazooie pre-orders are now closed, but he will be up for a Last Chance Weekend once the changes are made
• Cowboy Bebop Spike Exclusive orders are open until August 21st–will close while F4F is at Gamescom (unless Spike doesn’t sell 1000 units, in which case the PO will remain open until it does or until production begins, whichever comes first)
• Warp Star Kirby Exclusive pre-orders will be open until * (asterisk)–will come back to this
• This is a teaser week, as next week will be a new statue reservation pre-order
• “Teaser Friday–that’s what TF means!” [No, it’s really not.]
• We’ll see the finalized GamesCom Pre-Order Packs during the Q&A next week; Alex and Chock will be hand-packing the Pre-Order Packs at the show
• F4F wants to try their best to make this convention work to show that it’s worth it to go to cons
• “Can I just tell you guys before we get on to the teaser video, what a fucking stressful week that this has been?”
• Over a month ago, F4F sent 150 BOTW Links, 150 Artorias SDs, 150 Crash Bandicoots, and 9-10 resin samples to the UK–it arrived on Friday like clockwork, but the boat forgot to unload the shipment and continued on to Poland without unloading it
• This boat contained all of the GamesCom stock and around 10 prototypes (like Bowser) that were going to Gamescom; now this is gonna delay everything and throw everything out–hopefully the boat actually gets to the UK in time for F4F to haul everything to GamesCom on time
• “When you see those veins on Alex’s head, you know that he’s fucking stressed”
• Alex’s favorite teaser video ever: Psycho Mantis!
• Psycho Mantis will go up for pre-order next week during the Q&A and will make his physical debut at GamesCom!
• Posted production shots of Varia Suit Samus and more this week; showed the metal internal wing for Meta-Ridley–will be sending to Nintendo next week; Mario on Yoshi is shaping up to be something very special; showed some Neon Green Nanase Edition Solid Snake production photos
• Couple of Tee-Hees this week: Alex was very disappointed no one in the club guessed the “You in _____ Perfect” Sneak peek
• “TF” stands for “True Form” PVCs–the F4F PVCs that aren’t SD (Super-Deformed)
• We might have an “F4F AF” in the future!
• TF001 will by “SPY” [Which should be Spyro unless we’re being tricked here]
• “Would you guys go out there and buy it again if we were to reprint the packaging for Crash and BOTW Link and number them as TF001 and TF002?”
• Sonic TF PVC coming in 2019–saw first sneak peek this week; scaled to fit with Crash and BOTW Link
• These PVCs are so important to the company–the reality is that F4F must adapt to some things happening in the future: 1) the advent of disruptive technology like 3-D printers will ultimately have quite an effect on F4F in 5-10 years; and 2) the low barrier to entry for making figures and statues brought about by social media–we’ve seen this from the rise of illegal customs
• PVCs have a way higher barrier for entry because the cost of tooling for PVCs is significantly higher and you have to make tens of thousands of pieces to break even–needs support from brick-and-mortar stores, which illegal custom-makers cannot get
• Alex sees the future F4F beginning to more and more rely on PVCs in the future, even though even one PVC going wrong would be a huge problem since the cost is so very high
• First 4 Figures wants to create a brand that’s respected and that people want to have the originals of so as to combat customs (and bootlegs)
• Video Game Edition Size: Many years ago, Alex put a random arbitrary number on the boxes for statues that was the edition size, but those numbers were bullshit. F4F never went over the stated edition size, but oftentimes far less of a statue were actually made than the edition size. F4F eventually moved on to a two-week open pre-order window, a 10-day pre-order window plus last chance weekend, and the current one-month pre-order window.
• Starting with Warp Star Kirby EX (because the response to Kirby hasn’t been what F4F needed), First4Figures will move to the same system as they’ve been using for anime statues: Video game statues will be open for pre-order for one month, and will either close at the end of that month if 1000+ units have been sold or will remain open until either production begins or 1000 total pieces are sold
• Warp Star Kirby TT Poll Results showed 500+ ‘Yes’ votes, but based on early sales it doesn’t look like Kirby will get near that number of sales–very disappointing to Alex; Warpstar Kirby sounds like it’s only at about 1/3 of the number of sales as it got votes
• Should F4F take pre-orders on 3-D images for characters like Aika and Amy Rose?
• Alex might ask Sega if Aika (or whoever) could be put up for order like a Kickstarter to see if the support is really there for niche characters that F4F already has the license for.
• F4F could take a deposit that’s only refundable if the statue ends up not getting enough support and being canceled. This would allow for First 4 Figures to test more vigorously and give niche characters a better chance. Maybe even Reala could be offered in this fashion, since the physical prototype is already finished!

Temptation Thursday TT Polls and the King of the Ring:

• Undertale TT: Not much activity for some reason, neck-and-neck between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ votes
• FLCL TT: 174 Votes currently, 93 ‘Yes’ and 81 ‘No’; pretty much neck-and-neck as well
• Zero Escape TT Next Week
• Will announce the next set of TTs next week before leaving for GamesCom
• This week’s hashtag to win 500 Rewards Points next week is #F4FMAN
• King of the Ring Semi-Finals Results: Skull Kid defeated Zora Tunic Link; Artorias defeated Twilight Princess Link PVC
• King of the Ring Finals: Skull Kid vs. Artorias; Tight race so far! Down to the wire!

The Q&A!:

• There’s a big possibility of the Donkey Kong crew now that Mario on Yoshi is almost done
• Amaterasu PVC will be shown in a week at GamesCom; pricing will be announced there as well
• Not sure there’s the technology for the livestreams to be captioned as they occur
• Alex looks at the quality of a Japanese meal by how many plates need to be cleaned afterward
• Spike has sold over 600+ pieces; he’s done alright!
• No news on Persona 5
• Some movement on Dante this week
• Nothing to report on Zero just yet
• Will focus their eyes on Donkey Kong as the next release in the Mario line now that Mario on Yoshi is wrapping up
• Issues with getting an Australian warehouse–would have to set up a company, and don’t want to do that
• Revised Aika poll has been posted! Aika would be a really good example of a statue that could be done if enough people are willing to place a deposit on a 3-D model
• No news on a King K. Rool statue for now
• King Dedede might be another statue that could be put up for sale as a 3-D model, since Alex already has a Vaulted King Dedede 3-D model
• 5 brand new never-before-seen unannounced statues will debut at GamesCom 2018 (plus Psycho Mantis and Mimic)–will be put online over the course of the next 3 months
• F4F needs to sell 1,500 Pre-Order Packs over the course of the 4 selling days to break even at GamesCom (approximately 375 packs on average per day or 53 PO packs per hour); that would be 0.89 PO Packs per minute
• Would love to go back to cons like PAX and NYCC and AX (in 2020) if First4Figures can make money at GamesCom and prove conventions are viable
• Alex made Simon Belmont before Smash Bros. made him cool
• Alex believes Nintendo owns the rights to King K. Rool
• Don’t expect any new licenses to be announced for a while
• F4F are small potatoes, but do their own negotiations with licensors directly
• Nope–Smash Bros. inclusion of Richter Belmont and Dark Samus makes no difference at all to Alex as far as how attractive those characters would be as potential statues–Alex only looks at TTs, and only with a grain of salt
• No reason to upscale the Spyro PVC as a larger resin–getting plenty of support at retail, so the Reignited Spyro could just be its own new resin statue down the line if it was done
• Definitely looking into Alucard’s alternate forms
• Alex reads quite a lot of books and then doesn’t remember them well, likes authors like Sophie Hannah and Iain Banks; “I Am the Mesenger”; “Girl with a Dragon Tattoo”
• Chock doesn’t read books
• Sometimes it’s difficult to choose a pose for a statue and it’s crowd-sourced, as was the case with Alphonse, Faye and resin Crash
• Over 1,000 Banjo-Kazooie EXs have been sold so far
• Jet Black PO in 4-5 months
• Nito still being worked on
• Spyro PVC at GamesCom? “We shall see.”
• Will the Shiekah Slate be at Gamescom? “Nope.” Q3/Q4 PO? “Nope.”
• Sheikah Slate may be switched with Rider Link–a lot of changes need to be made to Shiekah Slate
• 3-D has been made for card holder and will be shown next week
• Amaterasu PVC and resin 1/4 versions won’t be put up for order at the same time–the resin isn’t ready.
• LSB Amaterasu coming along slowly
• Going next week to see Varia Suit Samus and take production photos
• Capcom reviewing Phoenix Wright now
• Sonic 25th motor will make noise because it’s a motor–the pole has been improved from the prototype to turn as smoothly as is possible and not be super wobbly; huge improvement from original prototype
• Should Donkey Kong be part of the Mario line or his own line? Would characters like Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong fit in the Mario line?
• Keeping details on the Spyro PVC hush-hush for now
• Bowser EX Wait Lists are very likely to convert–jump on the Wait List if you want Bowser
• Unlikely for a Yoshi statue to be done on its own for a long time after Mario on Yoshi
• There are a few Definitive Editions (DEs) coming up for pre-order this year, including Phoenix Wright
• Wednesday and Thursday tickets for GamesCom still available
• Dracula still due for PO sometime around October
• Skull Knight deep in 3-D development; taking a long time because it’s quite complicated
• Guts’ hair is still being worked on
• Alex is generally open to changes, but it’s dependent on a number of factors like how much they’ll cost and how much the project will be delayed
• Meta-Ridley pre-order could be late this year (October/November) if everything goes smoothly
• Lots of thoughts on what’s next for the Metroid series; negotiations ensuing
• Dante PO likely this year; No Morrigan this year
• Plushies more likely for 2019 than 2018
• Capcom is reviewing Phoenix Wright–not sure when they’ll get back to F4F
• Would be difficult to organize any kind of contest where members create renders for a potential statue
• Maybe Yakuza Kiryu would have to go to a PO in 3-D form?
• Sonic 25th Statue isn’t on the boat to the U.S. yet
• Very, VERY unlikely Mario on Yoshi PO would be in the next 2 months
• Alphonse has been pushed back, and we’ll know why later on
• What scene is Alphonse’s base based on? Alex is so disappointed Michael hasn’t guessed!
• Absolutely have considered an SD Fullmetal Alchemist line if the resin line does well
• Ridley will be taller than Alphonse because Ridley has huge wings that go straight up
• Neo-Cortex is coming
• Alex has never talked to Nintendo about Mario Strikers
• Nintendo said they’d rather an evergreen Luigi than a Luigi’s Mansion Luigi the last time Alex talked to them about it
• Statues stuck in the oven for 3 days now and heated to test and see if they’ll lean so that future statues don’t get the Death Lean like Fighter Kirby
• Haven’t talked about Black & White Guts in a while; could be something shown off as a Photoshop to see if people would be willing to commit to it
• Will have a look at the color of Ornstein’s lightning effects
• If F4F did Kickstarter version of pre-orders for niche characters, F4F could probably tell within a week whether the project would be able to go ahead or not–can extrapolate based off of past trends
• Alex thinks a meeting about Dead Space with EA would go fine
• In his time with First 4 Figures and Gaming Heads, it’s never been a problem to license dead franchises (with defunct developers) since the licensor still owns those franchises
• First 4 Figures is 100% just as interested in My Hero Academia now as he was before the Warp Star Kirby flop–MHA is still the best TT ever with all eyes focused on it; “top-tier”
• Couple things in the air for PO after Psycho Mantis; if all goes smoothly the next will be something revealed at Gamescom
• Alex doesn’t even look at his Facebook notifications–it’s currently at 99+
• Some work has gone into an Uka Uka mask
• Not sure if Alphonse or Meta-Ridley will be more expensive
• Got approval to take Neo-Cortex to physical
• Ridler Link is deep in development color-wise and looks really great–“maybe possibly” could go up for order by the end of the year
• Alphonse pre-order could maybe be in October–waiting on something

…And that’s it for this week’s First4Figures Q&A #82! Learn anything fun this week, #F4Fans? Also, if you haven’t seen it yet and are a new collector who wants some tips, be sure to check out our new article: “A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Statues on the Aftermarket!”