REMINDERS

• PHOENIX WRIGHT UPDATE: CONFIRMED – PHOENIX WRIGHT WILL GO LIVE FOR PRE-ORDER ON THE 23^RD OF NOVEMBER 2018!

• The HORNET RING from the F4F x TORCH TORCH partnership is still open for pre-orders until 12 December 2018.
• GUTS THE BLACK SWORDSMAN is still open for pre-orders until the Exclusive versions reach a combined total of at least 1,000 pieces sold or until before production begins.
• SPIKE SPIEGEL is still open for pre-orders until the Exclusive version reaches at least 1,000 pieces sold or until before production begins.
• WARP STAR KIRBY is still open for pre-orders until the Exclusive version reaches at least 1,000 pieces sold or until before production begins.
• PSYCHO MANTIS is still open for pre-orders until the Exclusive version and Special variant reach a combined total of at least 1,000 pieces sold or until before production begins.
• SPYRO PVC (EXCLUSIVE) is still open for pre-orders until it reaches at least 3,000 pieces sold or until before production begins.
• ALPHONSE ELRIC is still open for pre-orders until the Exclusive and Definitive versions reach a combined total of at least 1,000 pieces sold or until before production begins.

WEEK IN REVIEW

• A moment of silence for the late Mr. Stan Lee. May he rest in peace. You are loved by all, and you will be missed.
• So many things going on behind the scenes, just for you guys
• Alex plans on posting the behind-the-scenes production videos on First 4 Figures' main Facebook page as well. The tee-hees and sneak peeks, however, will still remain as exclusive content for members of the Official Collectors Club.
• Alex is surprised that posts in F4F's Instagram and Twitter accounts receive more reactions than their main Facebook page.
• Still looking to move the studio out of the office's second floor and into a nearby location
• Spyro™ Reignited Trilogy recently came out. Grab yours today!
• You now have the ability to add a 3-month Flexipayment plan whenever you like, so those whose waitlists convert can jump on a payment plan.
• F4F has officially been declined to participate in PAX East. They're now looking for alternative options around the time of April/May 2019.
• The following arrived in the office for inspection: Aku Aku Life-Size Mask, Shovel Knight, Solaire of Astora SD, and Solaire of Astora (resin).
• Alex feeling good this week in terms of the development side of things; looking to work on some of the pieces himself to speed up the process as he is the most knowledgeable in terms of what design works and doesn't work from a manufacturing and customer pricing standpoint

TEMPTATION THURSDAYS (TT) POLL

• Last week’s Naia and Naiee from the Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons series TT Poll #126 Results: 16 YES votes / 203 NO votes
• This week’s Meliodas from The Seven Deadly Sins series TT Poll #127 Results: 196 YES votes / 161 NO votes

• Next TT polls will be (in this order): DRAKENGARD ➔ GUACAMELEE ➔ FAIRY TAIL
• The three winners of last week's #F4FMM are LAURA MORROW, SHANIE TANYA, and JAMIE SITES.
• This week's hashtag is #F4FPW for a chance to win 500 reward points.
• Duke Nukem now on the list of possible TT polls

KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT

• CONCLUDED – Match #2: 20^th Anniversary Sonic with 510 votes vs. Amaterasu with ~1.3k votes (WINNER)
• ONGOING – Match #3: Sword Kirby with 602 votes vs. Jin Kazama with 342 votes
• NEXT WEEK – Match #4: Breath of the Wild Link PVC vs. Zero Suit Samus
• With the surprising results of Match #2, 42 entrants were eliminated and only three (3) remain.
• By the end of Match #3, only two things can happen: one person advances to the next round or everyone gets eliminated.

PRODUCTION VIDEO EXCLUSIVES

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

• SPYRO PVC – Exclusive packaging update, insight to speed of PVC production, printing spots
• VARIA SUIT – hardest production piece ever

VARIOUS CHARACTER & PRODUCT LINE UPDATES

• SPYRO PVC UPDATE: Fast approaching the goal of 3,000 units sold for the Exclusive version; subject to licensor approval, looking to do color variants based on the Spyro™ Reignited Trilogy color cheat codes, color variants and LED effects based on the power-ups, and a bobblehead based on the big head cheat code; variants won't include the Exclusive packaging and will be cheaper

• TORCH TORCH PARTNERSHIP UPDATE: John pleased with the numbers from this partnership
• MEGA MAN PVC UPDATE: Will have color variants
• Color variants will be a mainstay moving forward (only when it makes sense to do one) as these will be great as convention fodder. These are estimated to go live in 3-week intervals.
• SOLID SNAKE SD UPDATE: First PVC test shots arrived in the office; hairpiece is removable so that you can change the direction of where the eyes are facing; estimated to go live for pre-order early next year

• AMATERASU PVC UPDATE: Subject to licensor approval, pattern to be added on the side of the base; now in the molding process; estimated to be ready for pre-order in three months; color variants based on Marvel vs. Capcom a possibility.

• MARSHALL LAW UPDATE: E-mail to be sent out next week followed by the re-opening of pre-orders soon after; subject to licensor approval, a small token of appreciation for those who placed a pre-order during the initial launch
• Top 3 statues estimated to ship out soon to Australasia: Solid Snake, Crash Bandicoot, Solaire of Astora
• Combo Editions—except for Solaire of Astora (resin)—boxed separately
• VARIA SUIT UPDATE: Most difficult production piece to date; Alex to visit the factory next week; factory has been a headache to work with
• BOWSER UPDATE: Chances of waitlists converting are high at this stage; in the same factory as Varia Suit
• NIGHTMARE UPDATE: Still finishing off the remaining edition size

• MINI CRYSTAL DRAGON UPDATE: Factory quotation for metal material higher than expected, though fan feedback was still positive even if it sells for around 50 USD (subject to change); would come in different colors

• GRAY FOX UPDATE: Looking ace

• DARK SOULS UPDATE: London buses (an expression that refers to waiting a long time but all of a sudden arrives all at once); F4F now has enough material on standby to move at their own pace; products are great because FromSoftware is very hands-on, but then are really tough to make
• GRAVELORD NITO UPDATE: Will be massive; definitely more expensive than Alphonse Elric (Definitive Edition); legs likely to be made out of metal as the character's legs are too skinny to support the weight of the body; will come in several parts due to the nature of the character; some delicate parts likely to be made out of PVC material to avoid breakages; Alex's biggest concern will be the hair; scale will be the same height as Dragon Slayer Ornstein's hair

• This week's tee-hee likely to be a part of this year's Christmas sneaks during Episode 100

• With their new licenses moving forward, Alex wants to start with TF PVCs first because it's going to widen the customer base.
• META RIDLEY UPDATE: Submitted a couple of weeks ago but F4F's contact is currently on holiday; hopefully some feedback next week
• ROY MUSTANG UPDATE: 100% guaranteed to be made; 3D done but no pose yet; Alex made a concept and looks incredible
• F4F will not pitch an SD line to Nintendo until they have a more established selection of SD statues from other licenses.
• Alex wouldn't make a PVC statue of a character that would sell poorly as a resin.
• CRYSTAL DRAGON UPDATE: Will go into production very soon; Alex still in two minds on how to go about the Mini Crystal Dragons that come with the Exclusive version
• SPYRO REIGNITED RESIN UPDATE: Currently being printed; could hopefully see it early part of next year; to go up for pre-order first than Spyro OG PVC
• SPYRO OG PVC UPDATE: Just submitted
• EDWARD ELRIC UPDATE: Tweaking to make it a stronger piece; some initial discussions but still needs to be worked on; Alex has a great concept
• SONIC PVC UPDATE: To be painted soon
• SONIC AND TAILS DIORAMA UPDATE: In the casting stage
• No new information on Dracula
• CONKER UPDATE: Estimated to still go up for pre-order in 2018
• Coco Bandicoot possibly a "Kickstarter" candidate
• BANJO-KAZOOIE UPDATE: Estimated to still go up for pre-order in 2018
• Alex serious about a Castlevania SD PVC line
• IVY VALENTINE UPDATE: Still looking into how to go about her whip
• PLUSH UPDATE: Alex still needs to get his head around this; would love the first one to be one of the staples
• No work has been done on Uka Uka Mask, but it makes sense to make one; would likely match the base of Dr. Neo Cortex
• YOSHIMITSU UPDATE: Possibly a "Kickstarter" candidate; could have a conversation with the Bandai Namco team in January 2019 during their visit to the F4F office
• Statues that receive both the resin and PVC treatment will more or less have the same amount of details on each, but the bases on the resin versions will be more intricate.
• DEATH UPDATE: Shaping up to be something amazing
• MINI AKU AKU MASK UPDATE: Statue numbers to match customers' Crash (Resin) statue number
• Possibly a new license announcement as part of the Christmas sneaks
• Solaire of Astora SD and Solaire of Astora (resin) to ship relatively around the same time
• CRASH BANDICOOT UPDATE: To ship out before the end of this year
• YAKUZA UPDATE: Alex thinking about getting rid of the gate and just turning that into a companion piece later on since its complexity is the only thing that's holding Kiryu back; Definitive Edition to come with a second torso and a stand to turn the unused torso into a bust; will be 1/6^th scale
• MINI FIGURES UPDATE: Alex still needs to figure out how to go about this.
• Future Crash Bandicoot merchandise likely to be made in resin and PVC
• CONFIRMED – The next anime pre-order will be Jet Black.
• SHIRANUI UPDATE: Face markings have been changed.
• The new waitlist conversion system updates once a week.
• Alex to get more accurate information on Amaterasu Life-Size Bust
• Will see how Alucard's transformations perform first before looking into his familiars
• No updates on Alucard Crystal Cloak variant
• Anything can be classified as a companion piece, even a character.
• Hopefully, SEGA approves of the "Kickstarter" idea.
• 100% committed to the SD lines
• DONKEY KONG UPDATE: Possibly next after Mario on Yoshi
• DR. NEO CORTEX UPDATE: Just resin for now since this was before F4F started doing TF PVCs
• Beastly PVC line-up for 2019

OTHER TOPICS

• Alex was farting like a champion during his two-week Keto meal preps.
• Never going back to the old method of issuing replacements as it was a nightmare trying to follow up with the customers
• Zero news on a Wolf Link PVC
• Chockles will try to find the time to fix Mini Chocks.
• F4F didn't know that there would be different-colored Spyros in the new game.
• Statue giveaway winners contacted by Chockles through e-mail; still some backlog that needs going through
• There will be a do-over of the Kingdom Hearts character poll.
• Alex likes the idea of a Crash Bandicoot on Polar Bear PVC statue.
• Ability to postpone payments coming soon
• New US tariffs already kicked in; currently no way around it
• No Persona 5 updates
  
• Would be nice to make a mini range of the other Celestial Brush gods from Ōkami
• If they do it, all colors of the Mini Jinjos will be made.
• There have been licenses that F4F acquired but never made statues for due to the lack of support.
• Shenmue is one of Chockles's favorite franchises. It's sad to see that there aren't that many fans out there willing to buy Shenmue merchandise.
• Alex's third favorite dinosaur is a Deinonychus.
• Chockles keeps Alex informed of every news related to the collectibles industry.
• A long time before the next Darksiders news (if any at all)
• Alex would love to make a TF PVC statue of Bowser.
• Life-sized Puck from Berserk makes sense if there's support
• Alex has been looking into making some statues into bronze to actually give it a statue feeling.
• WHO DAT WHO DAT: The answer was Om Nom. Those on the hot seat were SARAH GILLEN (denied!) and MARKUS FUCHS (denied!).
  

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: