The longest-running weekly Q&A live chat with a statue company ever continued this week with the 8/11/17 First 4 Figures Q&A #32! I’ve been pretty busy the past month reporting on my other blogs about various collectibles shown at San Diego Comic Con 2017, but I finally got some free time this week to tune in and hear Alex Davis and Tsoek Cheung discuss the upcoming blind pre-order for their Bowser statue, tease big news at New York Comic Con 2017, fully reveal the Samurai Champloo Mugen statue going up for order next week and more!

On Samurai Champloo Mugen:

• Mugen’s base is Edo-period architectural roof; nice weight to it; F4F’s most dynamic base to date
• First4Figures Mugen is their most dynamic statue ever made–doing break-dancing fighting moves on top of a roof
• Very rare to do statue looking downward–will look awesome on top of a detolf or other tall shelf
• Comes with five die-cast arrow to attach to the roof base
• The Exclusive Mugen also comes with four die-cast swords for the base and an extra interchangeable angry head
• If Mugen does well, Samurai Champloo Jin and Fuu should follow six months apart each, completing the team in about 1.5 years
• Jin is completed in 3-D form right now and F4F is almost ready to hit the button and go forward on him soon if Mugen does well
• Samurai Champloo Mugen statue release estimate is Q2 2018
• You can hit up CS using the Contact Form (here) if you want to pay in full for Mugen in advance
• Both the regular and exclusive versions of Mugen will be priced at $449.99
• The non-refundable deposit on Mugen will be $45 (10% of the total cost)
• 4-Month and 7-Month payment plans are available. 4-Month plans will have four $101 payments; 7-month plans will have seven $58 payments. Shipping will be added to the final payment.
• You can check out the full product details and photos of the F4F Mugen statue on the website now

On the Bowser Blind Pre-Order:

• The First4Figures Bowser blind pre-order will be open for a two-week window–numbers for the statue will not be determined during the blind PO
• During the blind pre-order period, Bowser will not be revealed in full. Likely to be a darkened silhouette with a “?” on it, along with the price and dimensions
• Blind PO is being done to allow 12-month payment plan because fans asked for it–no penalty for cancellations when Bowser is fully revealed
• For numbering purposes, Bowser is part of the Mario series that began with Tanooki Mario
• F4F doesn’t necessarily want to do a blind pre-order like this, as it requires a lot of extra effort and coordination, but they’re doing it for us collectors
• The blind pre-order will only be open for two weeks because F4F needs to start taking money for the 12-month payment plan–leaving the PO window open longer would delay things and defeat the purpose
• How legacy numbering will work hasn’t been figured out yet–may or may not be a “fight to the death” between Cat Mario and Lucky Cat Mario owners
• Choosing the special feature(s) for the Bowser Exclusive Version was easy
• Blind pre-orders will not automatically be Day One editions–collectors will have to log back in on actual PO Tuesday to confirm their order for the Day One Edition

 

On Anime Lines:

• First4Figures plans to space anime character releases out so as not to have too many payments overlapping and crushing anime fans

 

On Zelda:

• Heard back from Nintendo about Majora’s Mask this week–will make changes and resubmit for approval next week
• The King of Red Lions is now shipping, and is the first F4F statue with a removable, rechargeable battery
• Nintendo New York will carry the KORL statue, which should be arriving soon, as their order ships along with everyone else’s
• Payment plan for Majora’s Mask still paused until further notice

 

On Dark Souls:

• Ornstein’s pre-order is likely to open up before Bowser’s
• There are quite a few super-secret Dark Souls statues in development that haven’t been announced yet
• Dark Souls drought right now, but when it rains Dark Souls sneak peeks it will pour
• Payment plans for Solaire still paused until further notice

 

On New York Comic Con 2017:

• The next First 4 Figures PVC figure will debut at New York Comic Con 2017 in October
• Lots of new statues will be shown at NYCC 2017 that have never been mentioned before!
• Fans “may be surprised who’s up for order after Mugen”–not 100% sure because of New York Comic Con considerations
• New York Comic Con F4F booth in development now–virtual booth may be posted
• Life-size Aku Aku Mask should be ready to show at NYCC 2017

 

On Berserk:

• Guts will have some ABS/PVC parts–nothing detrimental to the product–which will be disclosed before orders open
• Skull Knight statue is deep in development–Berserker Armor is being started now
• Berserker Armor sneak peek likely in March 2018

 

On Various Nintendo Lines:

• Lucky Cat Mario buyers will receive a bonus 1000 Rewards points in their F4F accounts approximately 30 days after receiving their statue as a thanks for being so patient
• Bowser will be fully shown when his (non-blind) pre-order is ready to open; Mario & Yoshi will be shown after Bowser has had his spotlight
• Warp Star Kirby submitted to licensor for feedback today
• Alex feels bad about revealing Meta-Ridley so early. No more Metroid sneak peeks until products are closer

 

On Spyro The Dragon:

• Cynder is deep in development and almost ready for posing now
• The Spyro Exclusive Edition size is 1300! Fantastic amount of support to start the line
• Ripto and Hunter are interest polls–not official TT polls
• More Spyro sneak peeks throughout the rest of the year

 

On TTs (Temptation Thursdays):

• Next week’s TT #64 will be Kasumi from DOA Volleyball.
• Use #F4FDOA in comments for a chance to win 500 Rewards Points next week.
• TT #65 on 8/24 will be for Aika from Skies of Arcadia. The 3-D sculpt for Aika will be shown. This TT is important–fight for Aika if you want her and more Sega All-Stars!
• There are still some Skies of Arcadia Vyse statues left. Pick one up before they’re gone!
• TT #62 for Medieval and TT #63 for Breath of Fire III are both close right now, with a little over 200 “Yes” votes for each.
• TTs possible for Persona 5 and Fire Emblem–rally your fellow fans

On Other Topics:

• No plans for more Sonic miniature figures at this time–let’s see how Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces fare
• Amy Classic TT desperately needs more love and votes–please vote if you want Amy
• Super Shadow and Super Silver could be a future TT–definitely not no-brainers
• Metal Gear license begins with Metal Gear Solid statues and will go forward from there
• You can contact CS to have Fedex waive the signature for shipments, but then F4F is not responsible if your package is lost/stolen
• No news about Samurai Jack at this time–keep voting in his TT
• Taki’s “butt is looking tight”–factory counter sample is in
• Short sword sheath for one of Taki’s daggers shown
• Amaterasu PVC needs at least 1,000 votes for consideration without having retail support or a new game announced