NFans: Hello and thanks for taking the time for this interview. What made you decide to produce and deliver special and exclusive figures for video games?

First4Figures: Hi, my name is Alex Davis, the creative direction of First 4 Figures. I`ve always grown up playing video games, so in short, I`m a big fan. Specialising in video games was a perfect fit.

NFans: You have decided to publish figures from the field of video games, which has been and is now an integral part of gaming in society today. When did you start the project and why exactly did you decide to develop characters out of video games?

First4Figures: F4F started in 2003, but actually didn`t start with video games. Started with the WWE, Transformers and GI Joe license. However, when I became the creative director in 2005, I decided to push the company into a different direction i.e focusing on video games.

NFans: By now you have quite a huge range of special and interesting characters – did you ever envisage that there would be such a large assortment and selection of diverse gaming characters?

First4Figures: Yes, video games have such a lot of variety that is apparent in the variety of iconic and interesting characters.

NFans: Your offers includes, along with various characters, numerous characters from the Nintendo franchise, figures like Super Mario, Metroid and The Legend of Zelda. We as "Nintendofans" ask ourselves, of course, if you might have a strong business relationship to Nintendo. Are you playing on Nintendo-Systems itself or is the reason only to reach a large product range?

First4Figures: Both. It`s fantastic the be able to mix personal passion with business sense. I love Nintendo games, consoles and the fact that that leads to a large product range is great synergy.

NFans: Many of your characters are available in an exclusive version with lighting, such as „Samus Light Suit“ or the „Metroid Prime Gunship“, which look really spectacular. How did you come up with the idea of lighting? Did you want it to be special - to stand out from other figures or providers? What was the thinking behind this decision to go into lighting?

First4Figures: Yes, when characters actually have lights incorporated in their design, we`d try and incorporate it into the figure. Not all have lights in them but when they do and when it makes sense, it adds to the realism and accuracy of the character that we`re making.

NFans: At the beginning of 2015 you will publish the "Running Megaman" figure, which will be available as a standard and exclusive Edition. The design of the figure corresponds to the Metal Man Stage from Mega Man 2, which is really worth seeing. Specifically, the exclusive version with lighting is really awesome and will probably attract great interests. Who had the idea for this design and why exactly Mega Man 2? There are so many Mega Man titles and possibilities for other designs. Why did you choose this exact figure? Is it the fact that Mega Man 2 is considered by many to be the best part of the series?

First4Figures: I`m a big fan of Megaman 2 in particular so for me it made a lot of sense. As for the Metal Man stage, that`s a personal favourite :).

NFans: This is also the first figure with the blue bomber, which expands your offer. Is there a special reason as to why you choose this character only now and not earlier?

First4Figures: We wanted to establish our core offerings from Nintendo and Sega before offering a wider range. If you look over our Nintendo and Sega lines, there are a lot of products already there so we felt it was time to expand.

NFans: There are many existing opinions to choose for the face of Mega Man. Some say (the one chosen does not suit him. In my opinion it`s something new and different and looks good. He does not look like most of the other figures of the Blue-Bomber range. He does not look as happy , but rather tense which is different. This also corresponds rather well the design and movement of Mega Man. Have you recieved any critisicm about that so far?

First4Figures: Yes, we received a lot of feedback on the face of Megaman and as we take feedback very seriously, we decided to make some tweaks to the eye painting. That has now been done and the production pieces will reflect this change.

NFans: Here is a general question regarding the lighting: When you look at the pictures it seems that the Exclusive-Figures are battery operated. Is this true or are they current-operated? (If they run on batteries, how long will they work for approximately?)

First4Figures: The LEDS are powered by battery in order to avoid regional voltage issues. LEDs can last for many thousands of hours.

NFans: How do you handle the limitation of the figures: Do you use a particular system or how do you decide about the limited number of figures?

First4Figures: There is no hard and fast rule. If it is an established line, we`ll have past data on the popularity of the line so will have more of an idea on what the edition size should be. For a new line, a lot of is making an educated guess.

NFans: As Mega Man fan, I`m personally interested in the question, if characters like Mega Man, Rush and Co. will enter the line up in the near future. Can you say something about that?

First4Figures: We have a 3 year license for Mega Man have plans for many different characters, initially we`re concentrating on Megaman (Classic) and Megaman X but can expand the range into others. As for individual characters, watch this space :)

NFans: We can`t wait to hold the Mega Man Exclusive-Edition in our hands. Thank you for your interest in this interview and we wish you much success!

First4Figures: Much appreciated and Merry Christmas!

official F4F-Website