DOM PEEPS INTERVIEW – A COLLECTOR TALKS ABOUT COLLECTING

I already interviewed several statue creators but I never interviewed a collector. After seeing Dom Peeps museum, the idea emerged and I thought he would be perfect for this article.

1 – Hi, Dom! Pleasure to have you here. When did you start to collect? And when did you started to take it seriously?

Dom Peeps: I started to collect statues at the age of 9 years old. I’ve always taken collecting very seriously. As soon as I got to know about statues/sculptures I quit collecting comic books to be able to purchase more statues.

2 – What was the first statue of your collection? Do you still have it? Can you share a picture?

Dom: My first statue is a batman and robin statue I received for my birthday. I chose the statue myself on a family vacation in Florida at this small kiosk in the middle of Aventura mall. Yes I still own the statue and to add I have never sold a statue that has been part of my personal collection.

3 – What do you do with the boxes? With so many pieces, I just can’t imagine how you manage them.

Dom: I keep and protect every box, I have two garages and 2 storage rooms in my house. Every box is double wrapped to protect from getting any moisture or water damage. So far I haven’t spent any money on storing my boxes in storage facilities.

4 – You told me you have 550 figures on display and two hundred more scattered around your house. Do you intend to display them all? Is there room for the ones left in your museum?

Dom: I have a total of 750 statues. In my new museum area I have around 550 statues that are strictly Marvel and DC. The other 200 are on display in my living room, dining room and spare bedroom which is in the middle of getting converted into a movie room. So to properly answer your question every piece I own is currently on display in my home. I’m not the type to keep pieces in the box.

5 – From all your collection what are your five favorite pieces? The ones you love the most?

Dom:

- One of a kind Wolverine vs Hulk diorama

- Sideshow Wolverine legendary scale figure

- Prime 1 1990 Movie TMNT SET

- Prime 1 Optimus Prime Dark of the Moon

- Dr. Doom on throne ex premium format figure

6 – What’s your criterion to choose a new statue to your collection? What drives you to a new figure?

Dom: What drives me the most is the art, the colors and being a “completionist” I love having an entire set. I only buy statues of the universes/characters I love.

7 – Is there a figure (or figures) you regretted you bought? Which one(s) and why? Did you sell them?

Dom: I haven’t ever purchased an item for myself that I ended regretting, I also never sold a statue from my personal collection.

8 – What do you think about “collectors” who buys figures just to resell them for a profit?

Dom: To be honest it doesn’t bother me. It’s their choice I could obviously do the same but have no time to waste doing this. I buy statues for the art and really don’t have any interest in making money from them. A lot of people don’t have the means to collect the way I do so a lot sale for space or to pay their next sculpture which makes a lot of sense.

9 – To you what’s today’s best company and why?

Dom: I will always be a huge fan of Sideshow because of their variety but I think Prime 1 is the leader today just because of their amazing sculpts and overall quality.

10 – What do you think about the customs market? Do you have any customs in your collection? In this case what led you to choose said custom(s)?

Dom: I think they are amazing, it’s great to be able to create your own statue and get to see it be created or even on display in your own collection. I do own a few but a lot have been purchased because they fell into my lap. I’m not the type to pre-order a custom statue because it’s usually not part of a set or doesn’t fit in great with other licensed pieces.

11 – What do you think about the escalating prices in our hobby? Is there someone to blame?

Dom: I think it’s horrible. I have actually stopped pre-ordering statues because of this. Almost every statue today has decreased in price after its release so instead of paying more on pre-order day I will patiently hunt down the ones I’m missing in the near future on the aftermarket. I think it’s terrible how companies can drive away their number one fans (like me) who have supported them on every release since day one with this incredible increase in price. I think the new competition and customs are to blame. People are spending more on statues today, any company can see that and say why can’t we do the same if they are successfully selling out their products at those prices.

12 – From the SDCC18 and Wonderfest (if you followed them) what pieces get you excited about? Why?

Dom: Every single Marvel/DC statue. I just love seeing new representations of every character and how statues are getting more detailed and paint applications bringing them alive more and more. If I have to pick just a few favorites it would have to be Sideshow's Wolverine, X-23, Harley Quinn and Joker premium formats.

13 – You know death comes to all of us, so what do think will happen to your collection? Got any plans for it? If so, which are your plans?

Dom: I’m planning to reduce it in the far future. I will use the money to travel the world with my wife. I wouldn’t want to leave my family with the burden of taking care of such a big collection.

14 – Is there a company (or companies) you would never buy from? Why?

Dom: No there isn’t. I am very open to all companies. I love to see variety in my collection and to see what other companies can offer once their pieces are released in hand. If I have to pick one it would be Hot Toys because I don’t collect action figures or toys.

15 – How do you see the statue’s market today? Any changes since you began? Please, develop a bit over the subject.

Dom: The market has took a turn for the worst. We are no longer purchasing collectibles that are hard to obtain yet we are paying more than ever to own these so called “collectibles”. There are so many new collectors in the hobby who buy and sell so quickly and so many statues just floating in the community. I don’t feel many people have the same love for collecting it is more a money making business and for me that is the biggest turn off. You will never see a statue sold at 300$ on pre-order and be worth almost 4-5k 10 years down the road like for example a Dr. Doom on throne premium format. The rarity has just gone straight out the window.

16 – What characters you would love to see transformed in 1/4 statues?

Dom: My favorite band Metallica.

17 – Do you think this hobby is addicting? If so, do you consider yourself addicted? If so (once again), how do you control your craving?

Dom: Yes, I do think this hobby is very addicting. I consider myself an addict at 100% but just like any addiction you need to be able to control yourself. If I don’t have the money to spend I will not order any statues but I have in the past used flex pay options or also made arrangements with monthly payments with collector friends to help afford certain statues. Like I mentioned earlier I have today completely stopped ordering any new pieces because prices are just not justified any longer and US$ to Canadian $ conversion does not help me either. I love collecting but I’m not ready to just throw my money in the garbage or put my life in jeopardy over collecting.

18 – There’s much ado about Sideshow new more realistic take on portraits, what do you think about it?

Dom: I’m always opened to new concepts from artists, after all we are buying the art created by them, the way they see, the artist in their eyes at that specific moment. If you’re not a fan of that sculpt or vision all the more reason to keep your money in your pocket. I don’t know many people who complain about the Mona Lisa and ask Leonardo Da Vinci to change the way her face looks. Lol. That’s just my opinion, of course. Seems like everyone is an artist today in this hobby.

19 – What do you think about the Facebook collectors’ community? Do you believe they (we) influence the market somehow?

Dom: I think there are pros and cons to this subject. When I was younger I figured I was the only collector who existed. Through time and the development of the internet I slowly began to meet other collectors from forums or on YouTube. Collecting was always great and very low key. Prices were fair and always very easy to find good deals from comic book stores, eBay or Kijiji. Since the creation of Facebook a lot of this changed. Yes it’s great to get in touch with so many collectors around the world but this also created a lot of fake collectors, a lot of people just looking to make a quick buck and many others who think they might become rich from this hobby. People looking at this hobby more as a business. Today a lot of people compare each other from one another. There is a lot of jealousy out there and worst of all a lot of people getting scammed. People sending money to purchase a statue but never receiving it. Send deposits and then sellers deleting profiles. Just not right that these things happen to people who share the same passion & hobby.

20 – Is there a sculptor (or sculptors) you like are more fond of? Could you name them?

Dom: Martin Canale, Pablo Viggiano would probably be my favorite sculptors. They have produced some of my favorite sculpts by Sideshow and are also probably the most talented in the industry in my opinion.

21 – Will you buy the new Wolverine life-size bust from Sideshow?

Dom: Most probably down the road when I find him for less than retail.

22 – Name your three favorite characters.

Dom:

- Wolverine

- Superman

- Batman

23 – Name three favorite movies.

Dom:

- Batman 89

- TMNT 90’S

- Transformers

24 – Name three favorite bands/singers.

Dom:

- Metallica

- Bon jovi

- Eminem

25 – What message/advice would you give to humankind? What life taught you?

Dom: The best message I can give is to follow your dreams, do not let anybody tell you otherwise. We have only one life to live and the best way to live it is with as much happiness as possible and with the least amount of regret. What life always taught me is that nothing comes easy and with hard work anything is possible. I’ve always been a big dreamer and hard worker. I am currently 32 years old. I have my dream job and live in my dream house, which is actually my childhood home that I purchased from my parents. I finally completed my museum in my basement that I have always dreamed about having and did everything with my bare two hands and of course help from my best friends and family. Many people told me I wouldn’t be able to do it or I dream to big but in the end my dreams became a reality and if it wasn’t for my positive way of thinking and never giving up in myself I would have never been able to prove them wrong.

Thanks for the interview! I’m quite sure collectors will love it!

P.S.: if you are interested in reading more interviews, click here. 

INTERVIEW WITH POP CULTURE SHOCK JERRY MACALUSO

From Street Fighter, passing by Mortal Kombat to Masters of Universe and Conan (Schwarzenegger version) to… Power Rangers (?!), Pop Culture Shock has been amassed a great deal of fans. Today I’ll interview the founder of PCS (as the company is called by its fans and by his owner), Jerry Macaluso.

Ladies and gentlemen, with you: Jerry Macaluso!

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1 – I will start with a hard one: what sets PCS apart from the rest of the
fierce competition you face?

Jerry Macaluso (JM): You aren’t kidding when you say ‘fierce competition’. Over the past few years it seems like a dozen new collectibles companies have appeared. I think what separates us is that unlike the owners of most collectibles companies, I myself am a designer/sculptor. This means I consider PCS to be more of an art studio that sells copies of its art, than a corporate type manufacturer. While we use many talented sculptors, I personally art direct every project to make sure it stays true to the PCS ‘look’. There is a cohesive style to everything that comes from this studio. The other aspect that really separates us is, we listen to the community. We may not always agree, but we are listening and give all constructive criticism serious thought.

2 – Are there new franchises on the way? What could you anticipate to let
us salivating?

(JM): Well the big ‘well known’ secret is we are doing Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. It’s a license that’s very close to my heart because I was the Creature Supervisor for the first season. Another new license we have is Rambo. Even though other Rambo statues have been made, like with Arnold Conan, I don’t think it’s been done justice yet. Ours is going to be epic. Another that we are working on is the new videogame Battleborn. It’s a great game and when I saw the character designs I knew I wanted to make statues of them. We have a few more licenses but the paperwork isn’t done so I shouldn’t speak too soon!

3 – Many costumers complain of the long developing/producing period of PCS
from prototype or announcement until the end product arrives at the homes
of collectors? What do you say about that?

(JM): The long wait from pre-order to delivery is something we are working hard to improve on. The delays certainly are not intentional. There are a lot of factors during manufacture that cause these delays. The biggest factor is that I demand a very high level of quality and frankly, there are only a dozen factories left in China that can achieve the quality I demand. If we push too hard quality comes down, so we take a bit of a ‘when it’s done it’s done’ stance. That’s always how you get the best quality. Most collectibles companies will approve the second sample, it usually takes 4-6 samples before I approve them. Having said that, we are slowly moving to a pre-order model where we are further along at the factory level by the time we announce the preorder. This should cut down on 3-4 months of wait time.

Where's my Robocop?

4 – Which license has been the most profitable so far?

(JM): Street Fighter is our most popular license. I’ve been the Street Fighter licensee since 2001. That’s a long time!

Come and get me!

5 – Which was your fastest seller product of all time?

(JM): I honestly don’t remember. We have had a few collectibles that sold out within 5 minutes. The 1:3 Akuma, 1:3 Ryu and some others. I bet the collector community has a better memory than I do.

Five minutes ago I was on pre-order...

6 – Do you have some PCS sculpts that are your favorites? Which ones?

(JM): As an artist myself, I tend to like things less and less as time goes by. The longer I see something the more I can start to find flaws and pick it apart. So the honest answer is, the most recent pieces are almost always my favorites. Having said that, I still really love the Mortal Kombat 9 Sub-Zero sculpted by John Cleary a lot. I can’t really find any flaws in it to this day. As far as pieces I have sculpted myself, it’s the 1:3 Darkness from the movie Legend. It’s one of my favorite character designs of all time and I think I did a good job capturing his character.

Perfect in Jerry's opinion

One of Jerry own favorite works.

7 – All the process of sculpting of Pop Culture Shock is digital (through
3D software) or is there a part that is still hand made? Which parts are
hand made? I’ve heard you’re an active sculptor yourself and that you make
the 1/3 statues from PCS hand made. Is this info accurate? If so,
congratulations, handle business and clay at the same time! ;) At least you
didn’t abandon the fun part being in this industry.

(JM): My career began as a sculptor. I have sculpted for Toy Biz, McFarlane, Mattel, Trendmasters and as well as many movies. I try and spend 50% of my week on business and 50% on art. Currently we do about 85% of our 1:4 scale and smaller collectibles digitally and 100% of the 1:3 and life-size busts in traditional clay sculpture. While I myself can sculpt digitally, I still prefer good old fashioned clay and wax.

Jerry and his "work" on the movies

8 – On average, how many people work on a PCS figure to elaborate the
painted prototype?

(JM): A lot of artists are involved from concept, to sculpture, molds, casts, electronics, paint, costuming, etc… I would say at least 6 people are involved on every piece. Sometimes many more. Then we should not leave out the photographers, graphic artists, customer service, shipping, factory project management and so many other people that keep things running.

9 – Do you outsource sculptors? If so, how do you guarantee unity to the
pieces of a given line of statues?

(JM): While we do have a great staff of full time in-house artists, we do outsource many of our sculptures. As the sole art director at PCS, I work hard to keep a cohesive look to everything. I give a lot of direction to our sculptors to help guide them to our style. The sole exception to this was when we were doing Masters of the Universe collectibles. For those I brought on the brilliant artist Emiliano Santalucia to art direct.

Thank Emiliano Santalucia.

10 – Do you have a 3D printer at PCS or do you outsource this part of the
project either?

(JM): We own two Stratasys Eden 3D printers, which are very high-end machines. However, even with two of them we still need to send some prints out to vendors when we get behind. If we had more room at the studio I would probably buy a couple more.

11 – How old is Pop Culture Shock? When things began to work? Tell us a bit
about the company’s story

(JM): Pop Culture Shock Collectibles was technically formed in 2007 after I sold my previous company, SOTA Toys. However, for the first few years it was mostly a hobby as I ran it out of my home and I only released one statue per year. After 10 years of running SOTA Toys I was a bit burned out and just wanted to take it easy. In reality the fans and collectors created PCS, because I would not have grown the company if I wasn’t getting so many requests to make more statues. So, in my way, I see PCS as having really come together in 2010.

12 – In your opinion, what is the best statues company out there (not
counting PCS, of course)? Why?

(JM): That’s a tough question as companies have strengths and weaknesses. My personal favorite is Kotobukiya PVC statues. They are so beautifully made and really capture the characters personalities. But at the same time I’m not a big fan of their polystone statues. Something is missing in their polystone for me. As far as polystone I would say Sideshow is still king of the hill. Their art department really knows how to balance the composition of the figure with the base. Some companies, like XM and Prime 1 go too crazy on the bases for my tastes. I prefer a more subdued base. And while he isn’t releasing any statues lately, I’m a huge Randy Bowen fan. I love his work.

Bowen Designs, Kotobukiya and Sideshow.
Jerry favorite companies other than PCS.

13 – What measures you take to guarantee quality control standards to your
production lines? Never saw a fan complaining of the end product they
receive from PCS.

(JM): We do something most collectibles companies do not, we have a full time employee in China. Most companies rely on the factory quality control and every few months send someone from the USA to China. I’ve learned that that is not good enough. Our employee spends his week going from factory to factory doing constant quality checks. He and his assistant also personally review every piece before it is packed into the box. This ensures we have one of the best records for quality control in the industry.

Quality in every product is a cornerstone to Jerry Macaluso.

14 – Do you have a specific team for each franchise or everyone takes
whatever work falls on one’s lap?

(JM): We don’t have teams but I do have artists that are my go-to for certain licenses like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. Some artists have a hard time getting into the aesthetic of a license, particularly if they aren’t a fan of it. You really want to choose a Street Fighter fan to sculpt Street Fighter.

Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter are two very
different games also on sculpting.

15 – What is the most fun and what’s the most difficult parts of working in
this industry?

(JM): The most fun is conceptualizing a new project. Discussing ideas with everyone and sketching. That’s great fun to see it come to life. The worst is all the technical and logistical issues that come with working with factories 6000 miles away. It can be very difficult even with our full time employee there. I wish I could hop in my car and go see what’s happening personally.

16 – How do you justify the inflation of prices of collectible figures in
the last couple of years, even though PCS is one of the companies with more
competitive prices over there?

(JM): Prices are rising for several reasons. The good reason is quality. Many of us companies are raising the quality and better quality usually means higher price. In addition, factories that have the best quality are raising their prices because they have come to see that there is a line of companies knocking on their door trying to get them to manufacture. It’s the law of supply and demand. There just aren’t a lot of great factories left. There are other more incidental reasons, but the two above are the main ones.

17 – Why 1/4 is the standard scale for figures nowadays? Is there an
explanation for this? If not, what’s your theory?

(JM): I think 1:4 scale is the perfect balance of detail, space and price. As you get smaller a lot of collectors feel the statue becomes more like a toy. I think our 1:6 statues are some of my favorites but they don’t sell nearly as well as the 1:4.

18 – Do you think that the 1/3 figures will really catch or is this format
reserved for very special figures in PCS?

(JM): I think 1:3 scale is my favorite. It’s certainly catching on with Prime 1 and ECC jumping into it. Because of the cost and space I don’t think it will become the ‘new 1:4’ so for now I’m only focusing on what we call ‘A List’ characters. But you never know, I might try something down the line.

1:3 Arnold ready for war.

19– Did you ever think in entering in the 1/6 articulated figures arena?
What’s your vision about this segment of the Market?

(JM): We are doing 1:6 articulated figures, or as everyone calls them these days, ‘Hot Toys Style’. I’m approaching this market from two different angles. One is from what we are known for, Street Fighter. We have a very full line of 1:6 SF figures being developed. I hope this line goes for ten years , if not more. The other way we are getting into it is with licenses for less well known properties that I’m a fan of. So, we are doing Sons of Anarchy, The Thing, An American Werewolf in London and even Alice Cooper. All things I love that I didn’t see anyone else doing. I myself collect Hot Toys so I’ve learned about the market that way, and while I don’t think we are at the Hot Toys level yet, I think the 1:6 figures we are making are pretty good.

Entering the 1:6 arena to cause some anarchy on the market.

20– What makes you happy with PCS? What makes you mad about it?

(JM): PCS is like being a kid in a candy shop. There is not much to complain about. I try to choose licenses that I love, or that I find creatively interesting so it’s always fun. At times dealing with the factories can be a bit of a drag but really it’s a great job.

21 – Where are your figures manufactured?

(JM): China

22 – What do you say for a guy/gal who wants to enter the Market as a
sculptor?

(JM): I would suggest practice both digital and traditional sculpture. The best digital sculptors I know are also good at clay. Being good at clay is harder than digital so it gives the artist and extra step up. I would strongly suggest spending a lot of time learning to translate others two dimensional artwork into three dimensions. Most of the time in this business the sculptor will not be designing the statue so they need to know how to translate others artwork. Many times I see great sculpture portfolios full of original art. But then you hire them and they cannot follow others art. Being able to copy is one of the most important things.

23 – What would astonish you the most: to see an alien or to see a ghost?

(JM): Hmmm good question. I would be most astonished to see an alien as I actually spend a lot of time thinking about what type of life exists on other planets. I’ve always wanted to do a line of statues based on alien creatures.

24 – Three bands and three movies.

(JM): Bands - The Sweet, Savatage, Abba. Movies - Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Evil Dead 2, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

Did he see Encounters of 4th Kind? That movie almost got me.

25 – What is the franchise of your dreams?

(JM): Gatchaman

Gatchaman. Would you collect them?

26 – Leave a final note, or quote, or a bombastic news to PCS fans.

(JM): I want to thank all of our fans and collectors. Without you we wouldn’t be here today. I also want to thank you for the interview. We will continue to work hard to bring collectors the highest quality statues and figures possible while keeping prices as reasonable as possible.

Thank you for your patience! Have a great day!

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You already gave a great day with this interview, Jerry! To be perfect only if you send me a Blanka statue, since I’m Brazilian and love SF II!... Just kidding… kind of… er… nevermind…

Well, thank you for your sincerity and passion for what you do and for a so informative and fun interview. Now I understand the reason for such cool statues with such high quality production value and so friendly prices. And Gatchaman doesn’t seem an impossible dream. I just don’t know if it’s going to sell…

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SIDESHOW “MONSTER” AMILCAR FONG INTERVIEW

Dangerous aliens.

This sculptor seems to come from another world. A very dangerous one indeed. He was responsible for the sculpting of Sideshow’s alien statues on SDCC 2016: the Alien King, the Predator Maquette and Wolf Predator Legendary Scale Bust. Those really put the spotlight on him. And as the community voice rules, we’re here to talk about this otherworldly pieces with the man who worked on them all: Amilcar Aldana Fong.

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1 – Your pieces causes quite a sensation on SDCC this year. Is it coincidence that you get all the aliens characters or is it a personal choice or people at Sideshow knows you’re good with monsters and pass them up to you?

Amilcar Aldana Fong (AAF): Well, I think the short answer would be they know that I love monsters and because of that, I developed a kind of taste that seems to fit with what they want. So every time they want to create a new piece based on a monster character they count on me.

2 – Among the three pieces which one was the most complicated and which one was more fun to do?

(AAF): Well, I actually designed and sculpted just one of them, the Wolf Predator Bust. But I helped them to design the Alien King and to conceive the pose for the Predator 1 figure. The Alien King was the most fun of the three. We had to play and create and imagine a new alien member of the hive...WHAT CAN BE MORE FUN THAN THAT?!!! The other two characters were already stablished, so it was a matter of making a very good representation.

3 – Do you have a preferred one among the three? And among all your work what are your favorites?

(AAF): The Wolf Predator and the King Alien were some of my favorite projects. I can also say that the work we have done for Sideshow’s original line Court Of The Dead is marvelous.

One of Almicar's favorites.

4 – I assume all of them were created digitally am I right? Or were some of them manually sculpted or partially hand sculpted?

(AAF): The Wolf Predator Bust was entirely made by hand. Also the Predator Maquette. The Alien King was made digitally.

100% hand sculpted.

5 – I saw that in order to create the Alien King, Sideshow had the collaboration of preps artist John Rosengrant (co-owner of Legacy Effects). We all saw his side of the history on Sideshow’s video. I would like to know your take about the partnership.

(AAF): Me and the David Igo (Sideshow art director) and Anthony Mestas (project manager), as well as artists like Simon Lee and Allen Williams, were involve in the creation of this new character. After the design was approved it went to Legacy Effects and also had to pass through the vail of FOX. So it was an amazing opportunity to work with the Legacy team. I mean, they were involved in the creation of the Queen Alien for Aliens. So as an artist, as a kid and as a professional it was a privilege.

6 – We have seen in the last couple of years an astounding inflation on Sideshow’s prices. So much so that many longtime fellow collectors are about to give up the hobby altogether because they can’t handle the prices anymore. What can you say about that? Is there a real reason or just the laws of demand and supply? The collectible market had a boom of popularity and so did the prices?

(AAF): I really cannot say anything about it since I am just an artist. However, whatever price they put on the Wolf Predator Bust, it is worthy. It was such a complex piece, and took so long to be developed, from the making to the production, I mean it have been more than two years to bring that piece onto the stage. So, I don’t know anything about price and market demand, but I can say that it took a lot of effort to get that piece done at such high quality.

7 – Another usual complaint of the community is about the number of defective pieces they receive from Sideshow. Especially painting defects. Do you know if the company is taking measures to avoid it to the max?

(AAF): I can say they do their best to bring best quality with each piece and product. That is all I can say.

8 – Sorry, I needed to ask those last two, as they are centerpieces of the community debate about collectibles; so let’s get back to sculpting: is there a part of the job you like more than the others, like body sculpting or head sculpting or something else?

(AAF): It is ok, I understand. Well, I wouldn’t say parts of a character or a piece. I would say that I do really enjoy any project that put to the test my imagination.

9 – How was to you the migration from traditional hand sculpting to work on computers? Was it hard, did you resist or was all smooth sailing?

(AAF): Computer programs are the present and the future. My nature as an artist is to constantly move among mediums. Pencil, pen, markers, clay, ZBrush, KeyShot, you name it. For me it is just a matter of keeping my mind open to the new tools the technology nowadays offer.

10 – When you do your personal projects, if you do for personal amusement and practice, do you use the computers or go back to the roots and dirt your hands in clay?

(AAF): Today I face my personal work in both realms, the traditional and the digital.

11 – The Maquette Predator can’t come without an unmasked head (even the non-exclusive version) it would be an offense to the fans to be otherwise. So considering this, can you tell us what the exclusive item will be? There’s a lot of curiosity around this matter.

(AFF): I don’t know much about it. Sorry.

12 – What is your all-time favorite character?

(AAF): King Kong and Alien (from Alien).

13 – Which character you would love to sculpt but didn’t have the chance yet?

(AAF): I think I would love to give my personal vision on many characters. Not just sculpt it as it is.

14 – How does it feel working on Sideshow?

(AAF): It is AWESOME! They are very open to hear your opinions about the project you are working on and that is not, as far as I know, very common.

15 – Do you also know painting? Did you have an input in the coloring of Wolf Predator? It’s a figure with a very complex paint-scheme. Lot’s of different weird color texturing. And about the Predator Maquette, were you involved in the painting and the use of mixed media?

(AAF): No, I am not involve in the painting process. I usually think in forms and lines, not color. It is a realm that still alien for me!

16 – When they decided to put several aliens lurking around Alien King did you think “great idea” or “holly cow, now I’m f*ckd”?

(AAF): The idea came from a Simon Lee Shabant (Chavant clay) sketch where he used a tiny alien to stablish the size of his version of the Alien King. And we all say, let’s use it!!!

17 - Since we spoke so much about aliens I would like to know what would you astonish the most: to see an alien or to see a ghost?

(AAF): A ghost of an alien.

18 – Three bands you really enjoy and three movies you love.

(AAF): Bands - Buena Vista Social Club, QUEEN and the music composed by James Horner. Movies - King Kong (1933 version), Alien, The Thing (Carpenter version).

19 – What advices would you give to a person who wants to become a collectibles sculptor?

(AAF): How the general shapes talk about the character personality or behave and its world are the most important aspect. Pay attention to that and the level of detail won’t matter at all.

20 – Leave a phrase, or a quote or a bombastic news to our fellow readers.

(AFF): THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS IN THE WORLD CANNOT BE SEEN OR TOUCHED, THEY ARE FELT WITH THE HEART.

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Thank you for your time in this planet, sir. I hope you enjoyed your stay. Now serious, congratulations for your superb work. If I had the bucks, I would buy an Alien King but I’m probably one of those who will be saying goodbye to collectibles very soon and cannot afford this awesome piece. Peace!

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