REMINDERS

• True Form Midna is still open for pre-orders until 12 June 2018.
• Because the two Exclusive variants combined didn't reach 1,000 pieces in sales during the initial 2-week pre-order period, Guts: The Black Swordsman pre-orders will remain open until it hits its target or until before production starts. (UPDATE: 619 pre-orders as of 1 June 2018)
• F4F Partnerships will be launching the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG BOOM8 SERIES – COMBO PACK 2 right after this live stream. Furthermore, for those that missed out, F4F will also re-open pre-orders for the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG BOOM8 SERIES – COMBO PACK. For more information, kindly check out our blog post.

WEEK IN REVIEW

• The Dark Souls: Remastered giveaway has kicked off, and so far, they've given away one PlayStation 4 copy and one Xbox One copy to the lucky winners (VICTORIA CROMBIE and TODD MANFIELD, respectively).
• To win the third giveaway, which is a PlayStation 4 copy, people just had to leave a comment on this live stream using the hashtag #F4FDarkSoulsRemastered. This too is the hashtag for the week for a chance to win 500 reward points.
• The Solaire of Astora SD validation process went semi-smoothly.
• Shoutout to Miguel Hasson from Halberd Studios for an amazing fan-made Shovel Knight Film Trailer.

TEMPTATION THURSDAYS (TT) POLL

• Last week’s Ashley Riot from the Vagrant Story series TT Poll #104 Results: 82 YES votes / 141 NO votes
• This week’s Orbital Frame Jehuty from the Zone of the Enders series TT Poll #105 Results: 126 YES votes / 108 NO votes

• Next TT polls will be (in this order): ROCKET KNIGHT ADVENTURES ➔ SAILOR MOON
• The three winners of last week's #F4FPRAISE are GILBERT RIVAS, MITCHELL JENKINS, and MATT WATKINS.

KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT

• CONCLUDED – Match #2: Artorias the Abysswalker with ~1,200 votes (WINNER) vs. Shadow the Hedgehog with 561 votes
• POSTPONED (due to technical Facebook issues) – Match #3: Ryo Hazuki vs. Lucky Cat Mario

PRODUCTION VIDEO EXCLUSIVES

(NOTE: You need to be a member of the Official Collectors Club to view these videos.)

• MUGEN – signing of Day One Edition cards
  
• SOLAIRE OF ASTORA – handle by handle, painting with signed sample on top
• SOLID SNAKE – pre-production samples looking good

VARIOUS CHARACTER & PRODUCT LINE UPDATES

• Remind Alex next week for the Edition Size of Shiranui.
• ARTORIAS THE ABYSSWALKER SD UPDATE: Samples arrived in the F4F office subject for final inspection before shipping out; be sure to jump on the waitlist because the chance of converting are high

• MUGEN UPDATE: Alex gave green light to proceed to packaging stage; final samples to arrive in the F4F office possibly next week
• GUTS THE BLACK SWORDSMAN UPDATE: Cape now made out of soft Polyurethane material, which has a bit of bend to it and consequentially won't break if dropped
• SOLID SNAKE: Slight tweaks needed after inspection of pre-production samples; metal rods sticking out of the wall now die-cast to avoid these from snapping; estimated to release Q3-Q4 2018; they've done some things for the Essential Edition
• F4F CARDHOLDER UPDATE: Design poll has a clear winner; for 3D printing to test; still no price
• AMATERASU PVC UPDATE: For the resin version of this, Alex and Chockles are leaning towards a 1/4^th scale version instead of a 1/3^rd scale one since a 1/3^rd scale might be a bit too big and will be significantly more expensive compared to a 1/4^th. Currently, their plan is to have the resin version up for pre-order only when the PVC is already in the marketplace, but during the announcement that the PVC version will be up for pre-order, that is also when they intend on letting people know that there will be a resin version of it coming as well.
• MARIO ON YOSHI UPDATE: Now in the physical stage; still needs to be duplicated before the painting stage; started out with a design that they weren't feeling so much and ended up with a eureka moment; will be in the same scale as the others in the line

• ZERO UPDATE: Head will continue to be improved on; Alex not sure why people thought it would be a complete resculpt when they were just supposed to put it back up again for pre-order after being cancelled but with a new head

• ALPHONSE UPDATE: Finally approved; if everything goes smoothly, the prototype will be on display in F4F's booth during Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong 2018 this 27-31 July
• SOLAIRE OF ASTORA SD UPDATE: Alex estimates release date to be near the release date of Solaire of Astora (Resin)
• SIEGMEYER OF CATARINA PLUSH UPDATE: Some movements happening but it's going to be awhile
• DARK SOULS UPDATE: Mimic will be the next pre-order from the line; statues from Dark Souls 2 or Dark Souls 3 possibly in 2019
• MIMIC UPDATE: No guarantees, but if everything goes smoothly, Mimic will be on display in Bandai Namco's booth during E3 2018.
• YAKUZA UPDATE: They've been having conversations behind the scenes now that Yakuza 6 was recently released worldwide. It is on the list.
• ŌKAMI UPDATE: Apart from the confirmed Amaterasu PVC, they've also been looking into Chibiterasu and Oki.
• SONIC THE HEDGEHOG MODERN LINE UPDATE: Alex might switch it around and release Modern Amy Rose first before Modern Metal Sonic so that Alex could run a poll for Modern Metal Sonic first.
• MODERN AMY ROSE UPDATE: Looking good
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA UPDATE: Alex knows what the next statue will be after Rider Link.
• Rider Link will be the first statue in the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild line (since the Sheikah Slate will be part of the Legend of Zelda Life-Size Replica line).
• Rider Link unlikely to come with the Hylian Shield as well; Hylian Hood not as big a factor
• None of the Legend of Zelda lines are "dead".
• Fourth secret Legend of Zelda statue not from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time title
• Not sure how many Legend of Zelda statues for 2019
• If you pre-ordered both True Form Midna (Exclusive) and True Form Midna (Definitive Edition), the numbers will be different.
• SKULL KNIGHT UPDATE: Now in the 3D process; no sneaks until much further down the line; decided not to include the horse because Alex feels that the majority of their current market couldn't afford USD 1,000+ statues
• SPIKE SPIEGEL UPDATE: Cigarette won't have LED light but will be painted as if it's been lit; pre-orders soon; price range not the same as True Form Midna
• GENOS UPDATE: Estimated to go live for pre-order in 2019
• SHIRANUI UPDATE: Tentacles will be painted using glow-in-the-dark paint; tail tip won't be painted black
• Definitive Editions are here to stay. These will be applied to statues that makes sense to have one.
• They have plans to look into an in-scale Sonic the Hedgehog PVC line, but they need to have a eureka moment for that.
• PSYCHO MANTIS UPDATE: Not yet done but soon; pre-orders 2-3 months away on estimate
• THE GREAT GREY WOLF SIF UPDATE: Replacements currently being developed
• KIRBY UPDATE: Warp Star Kirby up next for the line
• WARP STAR KIRBY UPDATE: Alex saw him in the factory and is looking good.
• PHOENIX WRIGHT UPDATE: Definitive Edition won't be a display case; looking tight
• DRACULA UPDATE: Nothing to report for now but working on it
• CRYSTAL DRAGON UPDATE: Working hard on this and should be up for pre-order soonish
• KAMINA UPDATE: Will be followed up on
• FAYE VALENTINE UPDATE: Design still needs some refining; will worry about this later after Spike Spiegel and Jet Black
• What a crazy coincidence that the 20^th anniversary of Banjo & Kazooie falls on a Friday.

• Two of the four golden tickets have already been claimed for Majora's Mask.
• GUTS THE BLACK SWORDSMAN UPDATE: Bloody version numbers significantly higher compared to Non-bloody version; final factory pre-production sample possibly in a month's time
• DRAGON SLAYER ORNSTEIN UPDATE: Lightning updates will be looked into when the factory is working on the counter sample.
• SPYRO THE DRAGON UPDATE: Eyes approved a few days ago; down the homestretch
• More 1/6^th scale statues are coming to F4F.
• Such a shame that Virtua Fighter didn't get much love; still some in-stock items remaining
• There's a lot of secret projects.
• The 50k Reveal is a future Alex and future Chockles problem.
• PVC statues fall under the "guinea pig" shipping procedure.
• SHOVEL KNIGHT UPDATE: Variants still to come; possibly no Definitive Edition for future Shovel Knight releases
• META RIDLEY UPDATE: Price range is between expensive and super expensive; it's big, complicated, and lots of paint work
• It's too late for a Definitive Edition to save the Pac-Man line.
• NEO CORTEX UPDATE: Almost ready for submission to the licensor; will be the next pre-order in the Crash Bandicoot™ line
• JETPACK CRASH UPDATE: Being worked on at the moment
• Day One Edition card design for the Dark Souls SD line is reliant on the Club's decision.
• SOULCALIBUR UPDATE: Ivy will be the next statue up for pre-order from this line.
• DARK SOULS SD UPDATE: They know what the next two SD statues will be after Dragon Slayer Ornstein SD.
• SONIC AND TAILS DIORAMA UPDATE: Just had a long conversation about it; working on it

OTHER TOPICS

• The workers at the factories only know how to perform their respective tasks, meaning workers of low-quality items only know how to produce low-quality items and vice versa. Alex learned this the hard way 14 years ago in their Fierce Deity Link factory. He would love to make life-sized statues but will make sure to give it to the workers of high-end-quality items.

• Aniplex has been loving the activity in the Club, specifically with regards to their anime poll. If you want the Kill la Kill license, Alex would first like to see 850+ votes for it before having a conversation with Aniplex.
• Alex hasn't had that follow-up conference call with Nintendo. On the list of topics is Happy Mask Salesman. Although Fierce Deity Link 2.0 is more likely compared to Happy Mask Salesman based on the poll results.
• Alex would like to see announcements of remastered games during E3 2018 that are in line with the licensors they have.
• Alex is a fan of glow-in-the-dark details, but it should make sense for the statue.
• There are plans of adding a website feature that allows people to delay or change the date of due payments.
• F4F's SD PVC statues are harder to make than regular PVC statues.
• Four new Legend of Zelda concepts still need approval from Nintendo Japan
• If F4F were to make Mipha, Alex will start by showing Nintendo the existing artist render and work from there.

• Ideally, Alex would like to release one statue every four months for any franchise.
• The F4F IT team is very busy. Alex and Chockles talk to that department literally every single day.
• Adding statue names on the orders list of their website is up for discussion during their next weekly meeting.
• No plans for Berserk jewelry
• Too complicated a feature to add your waitlist position on the website
• Bookend statues are a bit complicated to design because they're restricted to look at something from the side. 2D side-scrolling games would make more sense for these kinds of things.
• F4F likely to only bring video-game-related statues to Gamescom 2018
• There are a ton of stuff F4F would like to work their magic on.
• The Las Vegas Expo 2018 was fruitful for F4F.
• Nothing to report on My Hero Academia; nothing will happen if Alex's post hits 1,000 likes, although Alex is always thankful for the support
• No plans to live stream E3 2018
• If they got the Code Vein license, F4F would like to start with the main characters if these aren't player created.
• Crash in Kart not very likely
• No movement on Dead Space
  
• Too many resources are needed for the Disney licenses so it won't be happening, at least for now.
• Mini Chocks still laying in his tissue coffin
• Alex and Chockles think there will be more anime fans in the Club after a year's time, and there will be more fun and giveaways similar to the Dark Souls: Remastered giveaway.
• F4F needs more resources to create more video content, but their priority first and foremost is to try and grow in a safe manner.
• Uka Uka is something they can look into once Aku Aku is out in the market.
• If you want to provide constructive criticism, do it in a polite way. If Alex doesn't approve of a suggestion, be respectful about it. At the end of the day, it is still his decision.
• Polls, successful or not, are always useful information.
• NieR: Automata license quite complicated
• Nothing to report on Persona 5
• Alex could consider other interchangeable pieces.
• Haven't heard back from the Darksiders licensors
• Some statue designs that the public haven't seen need feedback from other people like the Club admins, but generally, F4F is seasoned enough that they know what they're doing internally.
• WHO DAT WHO DAT: There were four players this week since they didn't play last week to make way for the Solaire of Astora SD launch. The answer was Giant Dad. The winners were JAMES BENNINGTON (500 reward points), JEAN-PHILIPPE VANIER (playing next week), TRISTAN TISDALE (lost), MARC-ANDRÉ DUCHARME (lost).

To view everyone's questions from the Q&A portion of this episode, please click HERE.

If you want to have your questions answered by our very own Chocks and Alex, simply search "Chocks and A" in the F4F Official Collectors Club Facebook group and leave your questions in the comments section of the most recent thread prior the upcoming live stream. This thread is posted every Thursday of the week.

If you wish to watch the entire video: