There’s no new product reveal this week, no new trailer, and no new reservation or pre-order. But the First 4 Figures Q&A #86 must go on nonetheless! This week, we’ll see answers to such questions as…

WHO asked 30 questions all by himself in this week’s Q&A?
WHAT material would a Zelda Mipha statue likely be made out of?
WHEN will the Spyro PVC Statue Exclusive go up for order?
WHERE will Chockles be making his next official appearance?
HOW are the Alucard Companion Piece forms coming along?
WHY might we see a Genos TT poll?

…And more!

Notices and The Week in Review:

• Bowser EX will very likely have his edition size increased from 1000 to 1100, but that’s not yet confirmed
• The new factory is working hard to get the counter sample for Ornstein ready quickly–production will be much, much faster than if Ornstein had been left at the original factory
• Dark Souls Pendants are only open until 10/10
• GNF Toyz Sonic vs. Chopper Statue is only open for orders until 10/19
• Validation Day will now be Friday at 11PM HKT instead of Tuesday
• Tuesday Validation streams are pretty tough on Alex and Chock, as they keep them in the office until 1AM and leave Alex like a zombie for his Wednesday meetings; this won’t work well with pre-orders so frequently now
• Pre-Order Calendar has finally been updated this week
• Spyro PVC pre-order will be later this month
• Q4 2018 POs (in no particular order): Dracula, Mimic, Conker, Jet Black, Mini Aku Aku Masks and Alphonse
• The upcoming 1/4 Amaterasu resin statue based on the PVC sculpt will be exactly the same size/scale as the original Amaterasu
• The shipping schedule is never updated until F4F has something more concrete
• 10 Different Day One card polls will be posted into the OCC during the stream
• Alex doesn’t have the numbers for Tekken Law in front of him, but he knows that they’re not good enough to go into production; will be ITV (“In The Vault”) if the numbers don’t pick up
• TT Usefulness: Alex sees the value in a ‘Yes’ vote being the intention to buy something, not in people voting because they want to see something that they have no intention at all of buying; Alex uses the TTs to compare against each other to gauge what’s wanted most
• Spyro PVC samples are in the office now and being photographed and such to prepare for the PO later this month; $99.99 Spyro EX with Sparx has been seen already
• This month has been a little bit tough because F4F had expectations of when they would be doing things, and it didn’t quite work out that way; original plan was to have the Spyro pre-order today, then 9/21, but now the Spyro Pre-Order won’t be until 9/28 (subject to Activision final approval) because of the factory letting Alex down and not having the samples ready in time
• Only one First 4 Figures product launch in September is pretty rare; Alex apologizes that it’s been a little bit difficult for fresh content in the club
• First sneak peek of Skull Knight shown today; looks fantastic so far but has a long way to go in development
• Alex’s visit to China this week to visit the factory was postponed until next week
• October 26th-28th 2018 at MCM London Comic Con: First 4 Figures will be there to meet you guys and will have a booth in conjuction with Animegami. Chocks will be out at MCM London representing, while Alex will be back at home welcoming his newest child, Clementine, into the world.
• F4F thinks MCM London will be an interesting show for F4F, as it’s a smaller con and if it does well, it will allow First 4 Figures to do a more comprehensive world tour; won’t be a marquee event like GamesCom; will make highly-discounted PVCs their “thing” for these satellite cons (will have BOTW Link, Artorias SD and Crash PVC at the show)
• Won’t bother with the Pre-Order Packs for MCM London; will just take orders and follow up manually for what people want to order
• If conventions are going to become a regular thing, Alex will have to put together a full-time team to work on doing shows

Temptation Thursdays:

• Inuyasha TT 117: 662 Votes; 428 ‘Yes’, 234 ‘No’; Not bad, keep on rallying for this
• Perfect Dark Joanna Dark TT 118: 272 Votes; 226 ‘No’, 46 ‘Yes’; “Rally the External Fans”
• Monster Hunter Poll for TF PVCs: 229 ‘Nope’, 256 ‘Hunters’, 720 ‘Monsters’; not bad compared to most TTs, but the problem is that there are only generic monsters–how many specific monsters could reach 800 in a character poll?
• If the Monster Hunter poll reaches 1200 ‘Yes’ votes, then  individual characters would also have to do extremely well in polls since this is for PVCs
• Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell TT Next Week!
• Afro Samurai TT in 2 Weeks!
• Chock gives his snack a 7 out of 10; not as lemon-y as he expected
• “As Chocks is doing his snack review, we need to consider that we need to make time for weewee breaks.”

The Q&A!:

• Edgar Ramirez’s Questions:
• 1) Looking back on old GamerToyNews recaps, something floating on Alphonse’s base is mentioned, is this something you can talk about?  “I don’t know what that is.” [This is apparently from something indicated in Q&A #42, though I know not what it’s a reference to.]
  
• 2) Hey Alex, if I can predict Alphonse’s EX, can I get 100 reward points? XD No chance.
  
• 3) How hard would I have to rally the fans for a “Fullmetal” Edition of Alphonse, if at all possible? As in, FULLY DIE-CAST ARMOR?!  That would be cool, but super-expensive. A lot of, lot of rallying would be needed.
  
• 4) If not for the above, could we somehow get Edward’s arm to be die-cast? Would be expensive.
  
• 5) Sonic v. Chopper sales, how are they coming along? Alright–especially because it’s a Partnership. Well over 100 orders.
  
• 6) Estimation for P2 Shovel Knight PO? Just wrapped up the black one and need to get it approved. Maybe the end of the year, maybe next year
  
• 7) Are there any plans/ would you ever consider making another Modern Sonic in the same scale as the original? Never say never, but not high on the list
  
• 8.) So Genos is on the chopping block and Kamina is vaulted, kickstarters? Not sure, a lot more license efforts required
  
• 9) If the initial Bebop line does well, would you consider a “series 2” with more dynamic poses? Sure
  
• 10) Which licenses are usually more expensive? Anime or video games? Anime because it usually involved more parties
  
• 11) How many orders will Shovel Knight variations need to achieve in order for you guys to consider other characters in the series? 600 is really doubtful for me, as, even the original didn’t reach that amount! 150 sales for each Shovel Knight variant is where F4F would need sales to be
  
• 12) After looking through the F4F site, I found that Katamari series statues, as well as Shovel Knight series statues both seemed to have very similar sales numbers. Despite that, Shovel Knight is getting a couple variations, whereas Katamari is basically dead, whys that? The Katamari numbers are actually fake and pushed up a little bit–far less made than what’s on the bases; Shovel Knight actually sold better numbers
  
• 13) Would now be an ideal time to bug Nintendo about a Luigi’s Mansion statue?  There is a licensing show in October where there’s a possibility to talk about that
  
• 14) Would you consider Mario on Yoshi and Rider Link “definitive” pieces for their respective lines? Not going to give away any news on that right now
  
• 15) How many anime statues are to go to PO next year? No answer (that I heard).
  
• 16) Alphonse is going to be an absolute unit. I’ll be in awe at the size of this lad, will I be able to lift him up myself, or am I going to need to call up the boys to help get this boy set up? Are you a big boy? Depends what muscles you have!
  
• 17) Would you consider 3D printing me a small cat to throw inside Alphonse and pretend it’s my DE? That would be quite cute, but the answer is nope.
• 18) The Roy Mustang teaser that was shown awhile back, is it outdated at this point? Can’t remember.
  
• 19) At earliest, when is our first kickstarter figure coming? Don’t know yet.
  
• 20) Jin and Fuu’s 3Ds have been said to have been completed, were you guys expecting Mugen to have fared better than he did? Of course!
  
• 21) Would you say that the Champloo line died in the way of the Samurai? Could have been better.
  
• 22) Why do you guys think Edition sizes matter so much to some people? Because some collectors factor a lot of exclusivity and rarity into their enjoyment of a piece, although this isn’t what F4F is about. F4F prioritizes those who put love of the character at the forefront–not exclusivity.
  
• 23) Do you remember the first statue F4F ever produced? Alex does. Some WWE thing.
  
• 24) Chances for a Trigun TT someday? It seems no company has produced a full on Vash resin yet! Why not?
  
• 25) There’s this phenomena called the Champloo effect. No Champloo figure lines (I’ve ever seen) have been completed. There’s this one by Hobby Figures of Mugen, before releasing Jin, the company went under. Another, a small “doll” line. Mugen AND Jin were done, however, Fuu never saw the line of day. Now, F4Fs Champloo line is likely to end prematurely. Do you believe there to be a lack of interest in the series? Why do you think this process continues to repeat itself? Alex believes there’s a lack of interest in the series and sales reflect that.
  
• 26) Any anime PVC in development? Nothing to report.
  
• 27) A life sized Sonic has been said to cost about $3000, how much do you think an Alphonse would be? XD A lot!
  
• 28) So obviously, the club has always joked about a resin mini chocks for PO, how about pulling a Gamescom and having a secret section of the site requiring a password found on this very Facebook group to order your very own mini Chocks? Struggling to update their own home page right now–not ready for something like this yet.
  
• 29) Do you guys have an estimation as to when I could find myself wearing some F4F apparel to spread word of my saviors Alex and Chocks? Likely to go with something like RedBubble first.
  
• 30) Since the Warpstar TT failed, despite reaching its goal, what is the new minimum TTs have to reach for consideration now? 800, 1000? Any TT is now compared to the Top 5 to see if it gets into the upper echelons–700+-800+ is really where a TT needs to be now to get F4F’s attention,
  
• “BOOM! Take that, Edgar! In your face!!” –Alex Davis
• No Mega Man-related pre-orders this year
• If Alex could snap his competitors out of existence, then maybe F4F could do a Thanos statue
• Need to follow up on Darksiders statues
• (Fake) Test Product Reveal Time: The Cap! “Check out the details on this cap! We are proud to fully reveal The Cap. There is no combo pack, but there is a DLC companion piece coming that we’ll put up for pre-order later on. Only for this product launch… Australia has its own warehouse! There is a real possibility that this may hit 10,000 units and Chock will have to run around the office naked. In fact, Chockles will take it to the next level and do something even more amazing! There are so many things we can do with this Cap. So many variants!” [See photo of The Cap at the start of this section.]
• Even if only 50 Camo Psycho Mantises were ordered, the factory would still make it–the high cost is just in the packaging, as F4F would have to print 500 boxes and trash 450 of them
• Alex thinks it would be a good time to discuss Luigi’s Mansion with Nintendo at BLE (Brand Licensing Europe)
• Yoshimitsu is complete and has been for a year and a half; might be difficult to shift it to the Soul Calibur line if the Tekken line does because it’s specifically the Tekken 3 version
• No plans to sell unpainted statues
• Can’t say if any Zelda PVCs are planned for next year
• All the Berserk statues in development have ridiculously dynamic poses
• Mini Crystal Dragons will be made into metal and sold individually in different colors; Mini Metal Base will be possible (subject to approval) if the Mini Crystal Dragons are available individually
• The best pizza toppings are pepperoni, pineapple, chili flakes, sweet corn, barbecued chicken; Chocks sometimes likes tuna on his pizza
• Rider Link will have variations, and they will be expensive–you need to start saving for it
• Would love to work more with metal
• Alex hasn’t seen the new Voltron series
• Wires and thick poles throughout the Mimic statue–need to test it in the oven and make certain it will be stable and not lean
• New 1:4 Amaterasu resin likely 5-6 months after the PVC based on the PVC sculpt
• Zelda is a huge part of F4F and fingers crossed it will always remain so
• Alex doesn’t know the next resin BOTW statue after Rider Link
• Let’s see how Mario on Yoshi does first before thinking about doing a Luigi on Yoshi
• Will look into Dead Space next year because of bandwidth
• Went through Crunchyroll for the Berserk license; don’t need fans to hit up Crunchyroll to ask about the potential of a Berserk SD line; F4F can talk to them directly about it if they want
• Alphonse is pretty close to going up for order
• It’s been a tough couple of months, so Alex feels like First4Figures has gone back to teeny tiny potatoes from slightly bigger potatoes–but F4F is certainly going the right way compared to 2, 5, or 10 years ago; thank you for your support!
• Alex did a Pyramid Head poll 15 weeks ago–RTEF if you want this and there’s not enough support in the club
• Can’t discuss anything Zelda-related beyond the Sheikah Slate and Rider Link; doesn’t like to announce things far in the future
• Maybe Alex will do a Genos TT to gauge interest in him being released
• No more SD Pre-Orders this year; next ones will be Ornstein and Snake SD
• Mipha would be considered for a PVC rather than a resin statue if it would make sense
• Capcom hasn’t sent Phoenix Wright back yet
• Yakuza gate can’t be as wide and tall for the DE; has to be tweaked
• Don’t know Crystal Dragon numbers
• Minifigures have to go through the molding stage right now
• Quite a few PVCs that haven’t been revealed yet coming in 2019
• Reignited Crystal Dragon PVC possible; depends upon size and scale
• Monster Hunter poll not looking bad, but still has a ways to go
• Solaire SD is almost done and is deep in production; will come out before Spyro PVC
• The PVC injection machine can make 2000 injection pieces a day, but that’s not the painting, assembly or packing stages–that’s why PVCs take so long and why Spyro PVC won’t be ready in just a few weeks; “you can’t polish and paint a piece of shit–you’ve got to make sure when you’re doing the injection it’s looking perfect”
• The rise of the #F4FPVCNation won’t allow for more risky resins–PVCs are boosted by the resins, not the other way around
• Kickstarter for Kamina? Would require licensor work–not sure. Would people want a Kamina with the knowledge that they won’t get anything else from Gurren Lagann?
• Not giving any information on Zelda, Ocarina of Time or otherwise.
• Making final changes to Yakuza Kiryu statue; have to talk to IT team about Kickstarter-style statues
• Modern Amy Rose is pretty much finished, but Alex is thinking about the Kickstarter; have to be diplomatic about how these Kickstarter-styled pre-orders could be done
• Alex’s week was a little bit disappointing; wasn’t such a great week
• Solid Snake will absolutely ship in Q4 2018
• Dante is not at Capcom right now
• Oki Wolf Form has enough votes to be taken seriously
• Ivy will have her Soul Calibur II standard whip
• What would Kirby SD look like?
• Alex played a little Xenoblade back in the day, but would play it more and do super-detailed researching if it was a license F4F was going to do
• Shiranui is doing amazingly well
• Metal poles through the arms are used to make sure Mugen doesn’t lean
• Alucard Companion Pieces: Bat form is done, mist form is done, and a lot more work needs to be done on the wolf form
• Zelda plushies would be sweet; F4F will be working on plushies in the future [not necessarily Zelda]
• Alex’s baby #4, Clementine, is due on October 22nd
• Chockles is a big Persona 5 fan; would be great if First 4 Figures could do Persona 5 statues someday
• Spyro PVC packaging is still being designed, but looking really great

…And that’s it for this week! Next week will not be a Reservation Friday, as the Spyro PVC pre-order won’t be until September 28th. Learn anything exciting this week, #F4Family?