HOW DARK PHOENIX TURNED INTO A WII U WITH A BUNCH OF GAMES

I had a letdown after I saw the production piece pics of Dark Phoenix. The red parts of the uniform were glossy compared to the prototype which reduced the contrast with the golden parts and I didn’t like that at all. I've loved the darker matte painting of the prototype. I also thought the Jean Grey portrait – the reason I would buy the figure in first place – dismaying in comparison to the prototype. Not that much, they did a decent job replicating it, but it doesn’t got quite there to me. The hair I found too blocky but it couldn’t be any other way due to breakage. Even so it looked odd and unpolished to me. In some parts resembling branches from a tree. Besides I grew worried with the leaning issue due to the translucent resin base and if it can hold the weight of the statue. So I cancelled my pre-order and suddenly I had $500 dollars in my hands.  

Almost, almost got her... then let her go for good.

I have a PS3 and apart from both Rayman games, I only have serious, mature games. (Playing FarCry 3 now and having a blast with it, by the way). 

Having heard a rumor that the Wii U wouldn’t be produced anymore (after all Nintendo Switch is just around the corner) I decided to use the money I saved from Dark Phoenix to buy a Wii U while supplies still exist, since Nintendo Switch didn’t impress me at all. 

Yes, I decided to trade a collectible statue by a videogame where I can play light-hearted fun and accessible games (or games for kid if you will. I rather say for all ages).

Anyway, shifting to a Wii U (that is not a cheap console given his age and in comparison to most powerful machines as PS4 and Xbox One) was going to another order of magnitude regarding the prices. I was able, with the value I would spend with Dark Phoenix, to buy a Wii U and about ten games (by Nintendo, of course) on eBay, most of them brand new. I was impressed by the discrepancy of value aggregated to a regular Sideshow statue versus a videogame. I know the latter is a mass-produced good and not a limited edition product (as far as 2500 copies are limited) but even so is a high technology hardware with expensive software (given Nintendo doesn’t lower the prices of its software until they sell a zillion copies and become “Nintendo Selects” games, then being sold by $ 19.99).

Nonetheless I was able to build a pretty good library of games and buy the console (Mario Kart Bundle with 32 GB black Wii U) with the price of one average statue nowadays. Videogames are not a cheap hobby either, games range from $ 20.00 to $ 60.00 and the said console cheapest price I’ve found was $ 300.00. I had to dig a lot to find fair prices to buy the games (the less I accept is “like new” on eBay) but I could find pretty decent deals compared to GameStop pre-owned prices. Of course, I bought four “Nintendo Selects” games for about $20.00 but I also bought Super Mario Maker for $ 42.00. But even being a relatively expensive hobby it doesn't come even close to the prices of collectible figures. 

Would you trade Dark Phoenix for a Wii U? Bad choice? Good choice? My choice.

Yes I traded joy for fun. And though I am a collector at heart I don’t regret my decision. At least not yet...

What I’m trying to say is that I finally realized that collect premium figures is beyond my financial reality. The last one I will buy will be Captain Marvel Ex Version when and if it arrives for PayPal payment. Apart that, I have a Sideshow Killer Croc on payment plan. And that’s it. I throw the towel regarding collecting statues. It’s a pleasure to the eye and there is that famous saying “a thing of beauty is a joy forever” but I can no longer stand the prices. 

I loved my He-Man, it surprised me in terms of quality and Skeletor is about to come. Just one parcel away. Then Captain Marvel and I’m done when I finish paying Killer Croc.

It was tremendously fun to participate the communities and maybe I’ll keep my blog following and commenting the launches from a safe distance (I hope!). Other than that, I’ll enjoy my new Wii U cheerful games intercalating them with PS3 serious adventures. Have tons to play. And some wonderful statues to watch while the games are loading or when I take a break of gaming or writing. Also when I wake up or when I’m preparing to sleep. These are the moments I love to watch my collection the most.

It is a sad goodbye even though I hope I do not fall in temptation again, otherwise I will deprive me of a ton of other things I could be doing with the same amount of money.

As a New Year wish, for those of you who will continue to collect these evermore-wonderful figures: sign the petition below. We need less than 30 signatures to reach the milestone and I can send it to Sideshow. Please read it.

Below is the link for a petition requesting Sideshow to begin their payment plans as soon as the figures are out for pre-order, giving us more months to pay with smaller monthly fees, making it easier to acquire a figure overall. If you like this idea, just click the link below and sign the petition. It only takes a minute but can bring long-term facilities to all of us collectors of Sideshow (and Prime 1 and Hot Toy and all other companies Sideshow represents). Please, make a difference: take action. We gathered  more than 70 signatures already; less than 30 to 100 signatures benchmark. The next can be yours.

https://www.change.org/p/sidewhow-collectibles-sideshow-we-want-payment-plans-with-more-and-lower-monthly-fees

INTERVIEW WITH OWNER OF FIRST 4 FIGURES ALEX DAVIS - EXCLUSIVE!

First 4 Figures has become known among collectors by doing official statues of Nintendo characters. Today, the company expanded and, though still focused on videogames figures, they no longer work solely with Sega and Nintendo but also Konami, Namco, Capcom among others. In this meantime the quality of their production increased tenfold while the prices continue among the best in the market. We’ll interview Alex Davis, owner of F4F, to try to discover the secret behind such transformations.

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1 – First I want to thank you for taking a little of your time to answer these questions and begin the interview trying to give a dimension of First 4 Figures today. Could you tell us with how many brands do you work today and how many franchises? Are there more coming on the way? If so, could you reveal who they are?

Alex Davis (AD): 6 licensors that are public which amount to over 18 franchises. Behind the scenes, we’ve inked deals with a further 3-4 with more planned in the future.

Some of F4F franchises.

2 – How the change of a Nintendo only manufacturer to a broad line of licenses happened? Did you encounter some resistance of Nintendo while choosing to broad your market options?

(AD): We’re going into years 10-12 with Nintendo so are really happy with our partnership with them. They are really awesome to work with! We actually started with SEGA back in 2009 so for many years have made a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog items too. In terms of broadening our market options, it’s not really something that is discussed directly with licensors.

A funny story: my point of contact at Nintendo a few years ago moved across to Capcom - who then contacted me when they there to suggest that we start off with some Megaman statues. Couldn’t resist that opportunity!

3 – Up until now, what figure is your bestseller? Which one sold out faster?

(AD): Top 3 are Varia Suit (Metroid), Artorias (Dark Souls) and Amaterasu (Okami). The way we do preorders now has the edition size set to 2 weeks i.e. time limited (not quantity limited) so there is no comparison on which one sold faster.

Best-sellers.

4 – It’s noticeably from the early days to now the quick evolution of the sculpt quality of your figures. There's an undeniable difference from the first Link (from The Legend of Zelda) productions to, say, the new Dark Souls character. What happened? Did you reshape your team of sculptors or are working with outsourced professionals, or the new licenses allow to more detailed and creative sculpting, after all, what’s the trick?

(AD): No trick - just years of experience. Honing the craft. :)

Evolution on sculpting.

5 – How can you manage to keep the prices relatively small and don’t enter that inflating bubble of prices other companies are practicing? Your prices are on the rise too but at a slower rate. What do you do to keep the costs down? And by the way in which country are your statues manufactured?

(AD): The biggest reason is because we are a small company - we can keep the overheads lower which is translated to a cheaper price point. We use all the same factories as all the other statue manufacturers so the key is running a small, yet highly efficient team.


6 – How do you decide who is the next character to be launched?

(AD): Internally discussions, community engagement and in depth research.


7 – I believe First 4 community is a very sound one. Do you receive a lot of input from your fans? If so, do you consider their comments when choosing the next character to be done or altering a work in progress?

(AD): We love the First 4 Figures Community. They are incredibly passionate and we are very open to feedback. We will always try our best to improve where we can. We actually run a weekly poll for possible future character choices so allow for the F4F community engage in helping shape our character selection.


8 – Which figure(s) you produced you are more proud of?

(AD): Dredd vs Death for me is one of the most rewarding items I’ve ever made. It was so complicated back when I made it 8 years ago - I really learnt a lot from that experience. In terms of which one made me the most proud from an Aesthetics point of view? Well let’s just say the best is yet to come! Lots of goodies coming up! :)

9 – Which character was the hardest to sell so far?

(AD): My lips are sealed! :)


10 – How is the flux of the work on a character? Which stages a product should pass until it arrives at the hands of the consumers? What is the hardest part of the process and what is more fun?

(AD): 2D concept -> 3D sculpt -> 3D print -> prototype casting -> prototype painting -> factory counter sample -> preproduction samples -> mass production -> shipping to customers. Each stage needs to go through approval stages. The 3D sculpt and painting stages are the hardest and funnest stages as that’s where the creative process is really concentrated.


11 – Every company nowadays seems to become partner of Sideshow Collectibles on the distribution of their products. F4F is no exception as I saw the StarFox Airwing for sale there. What the benefits of that partnership and who approached who to close this deal? Plus, why there’s only two F4F figures for sale on Sideshow’s site (Airwing and Samus Varia Suit)?

(AD): This is actually a deal done through our US distributor, not through us directly so can’t comment directly.


12 – How old is First 4 Figures and how many employees do you have right now? Tell us a bit of your company’s story. Why the name in the first place?

(AD): Started in 2003. Right now have 5 guys in our HK office and 6 guys in our China team. The company was originally set up to be a distributor of anime items from China into the UK which is why the name is a bit more B2B [Business to Business] facing.


13 – What’s the 10 best games of all-time?

(AD): Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Soul Calibur, Tekken, Dark Souls, Metroid, Okami, Megaman, Sonic the Hedgehog and PAC-Man. See what I did there.. ;)

14 – Do you still do hand sculpt or everything now is sculpted through 3D software? If you do hand sculpt, when and why?

(AD): 3D sculpting. Technology has got to the point where the pros of 3D sculpting far outweighs the cons compared to traditional clay sculpting.


15 – In what conventions do you attend annually, so fans can stay tuned to cross paths with you?

(AD): Not too many right now, mainly B2B trade shows but we plan to do conventions in the future.


16 – What advices would you give to a person who wants to become a professional sculptor of collectible figures?

(AD): Study anatomy, anatomy and more anatomy.


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

(AD): A ghost. The possibility of seeing an alien is infinitely higher than seeing a ghost. :)


18 – Please, leave a phrase, or a quote or a bombastic news to your fans around the globe.

(AD): “If at first you don’t succeed, turn to the F4F community for inspiration.” :)

Thank you very much for your time and to answer this interview. I’m sure fans we’ll be delighted with the info you shared here. And for this I can only be very grateful.

(AD): My pleasure!

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TO SEE A LIST OF LINKS TO ALL 

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS FROM CCFIGURES

CLICK HERE.

NEW F4F SAMUS IN VARIA SUIT IS ON SALE (AND I SHARE THE REBATE CODES)

I don’t how many units this edition will have but it will most certainly fly away soon. The new Metroid ¼ series of First4Figures is surprisingly very good. The paint job and the details of this new Samus are top notch and if there’s one thing to complain but is completely understandable is the pose. They gave the statue a more feminine pose just to remember us that there’s a girl inside the armor. I looks somewhat strange but isn't nothing that will ruin the work. I already ordered mine since I’ve sold the first F4F Varia Suit Samus because I needed the money, so to my lucky the replace more than equals the things for me. Even though I think the old pose was the coolest, the production values of this new statue is light years ahead of the old one. I bought the regular version for $364.99 using the code VARIAREG20 (which gave me a $20 discount). If you go to the Varia Suit Exclusive version with several green lights all over the armor be sure to use the VARIAEX30 code for a $30 rebate on the 429.99 statue. If you want the Exclusive version I suggest you to buy it soon as I foresee it will be gone very quickly. I believe both versions will soon been sold out. So my advice if you’re into Metroid series and want a very nice addition to your collection is to go to F4F site now and guarantee your statue. F4F outdone themselves with this new piece.   

DO YOU THINK THE CLASSIC F4F SAMUS IN VARIA SUIT WAS THE COOLEST? THINK AGAIN (AND FAST!)

You can deny First4Figure does some pretty lame statues and some great ones in between. The series of Samus in armor was one of this “in-betweens”, especially the first one with the Varia Suit. Now they’re about to launch a new version of Samus in her classical armor in the molds of  the Light Suit version launched some time ago. By the image below you can bet it has the chance to be even cooler then the first one with a more detailed armor and better paint job with shadowing.

Looks pretty cool to me

Official launch happens tomorrow (March 10^th) on First4Figures website and given the craving Nintendo fans have for their favorite space mercenary you better act fast. No hint about the price. Sorry about that. But I would expect it to go around $350-$400. Oh. I don't know if there will be an exclusive version with lights but it's a common F4F thing to do this. So one should expect something along this lines.

Light Suit Version. Lots of lights, see?