Metroid Database.com

Last year, First 4 Figures, producer of high-quality scale models, announced they would be making statues of characters from the Metroid series. Well, it's been over a year and while these still aren't out yet, we keep hearing about more figures from the series on the way. In case you aren't able to afford Red 3183's one of a kind Samus figure, you may consider these alternatives.

The big news is, F4F officially announced the Samus Gunship model based on the Metroid Prime 2 design (which closely resembles the gunship from Metroid 2 and Super Metroid). This little baby is mounted on a stand and has LED lights, which make it look really awesome in the sample pics. F4F guarantees 17 days of constant LED shining, but doesn't say if that's battery hours or if the lights burn out. For $300 it better just be batteries. As cool as this looks, it's WAY too expensive for me, even though that price tag IS cheaper than Red 3183's Samus figure is currently going for ($582 last time I looked). The gunship will supposedly be out Q3 2008, but don't be surprised if you have to wait until 2009 for it.

Speaking of Samus, the Varia Suit and Gravity Suit figures are finishing production. I'm told the Varia Suit figures will be shipping sometime in January and the Gravity Suit figures (of which there will only be 250 made) in February - you may remember these were initially scheduled to come out in Q1 2007. Initially I'd actually placed an order for both, but due to financial constraints I cancelled the Gravity Suit (and who knows if I'll still order the Varia Suit), so I doubt we'll see too many exclusive here. You see, F4F, this is what happens when you decide to release things so far behind schedule.

F4F's other two figures, Zero Suit and Trace, are also slated for a Q1-2008 release. I know there's been some criticism on the boards from a few people about the Zero Suit figure, but she's not that bad, really. Check out the images and decide for yourself. The choice of doing Hunters figures was a bit odd, but we'll see if Trace becomes popular enough to warrant a second series.

As for what else F4F has in store, the Varia Suit description mentions a Light Suit, Dark Suit, and Phazon Suit, but we'll see if those enter production (and if they'll add a Corruption Suit to the mix). As the Metroid figures are priced at $80-$120 plus $20-$30 shipping, it's likely only the wealthiest of collectors will ever manage to secure a complete set. Most of the criticism I've heard on the boards stems mainly from this incredibly high price tag. They're a hell of a lot better looking than that cheesy Joyride figure - which by the way usually goes for $100 on B-bay these days. You may be able to get the Varia Suit a little bit cheaper through Play Asia, though.

If you're really into videogame figures, F4F also has a Zelda series and characters from DOOM and Assassin's Creed. However, the Metroid figure series is the largest at F4F at this point.

Please note: All images are from First 4 Figures. You can see more images on their website.

Until next time...
Captain Commando