[YES] Cholla Cat Cactus Partial by What’s Up Hot Dog The item being reviewed is 9 years old and may not reflect the makers current style, or work. General Information Please note that this review is from an older version of the site. The page layout differs slightly from the current version because of this. Reviewer Information Reviewer Cholla Twitter: Remmyzilla Instagram: kaiju_cactus Relationship With Maker The maker is NOT a friend Prior Experience Nope, this is my first fursuit! Informed Maker of Issues There were no issues Wear Time 50+ hours Maker & Project Information Maker What’s Up Hot Dog Commission Information Type: Fursuit > Partial Style: Toony Shipped From: USA Species Cactus Cat Found in Canidae (?) Made in Year 2017 Transaction Information 1700 USD paid in installments Filed under $1000 - $2999 as a Payment Plan. Estimated Completion Time (ETA) Accuracy YES - the ETA was accurate Date of Review 15 June 2018 Project Timeline Contact Date October 2017 Completion/Ship Date December 2017 Item Completion Time (?) 1 - 3 Months Item Being Reviewed Cholla, Partial Fursuit with no padding in a toony style. Photos of Completed Product Head Wear Satisfaction Cholla’s head is very comfortable overall! The head is lined with lycra, which helps keep it a bit cooler, dry more quickly, and keeps my hair from getting caught in anything if I choose to wear the head for a brief period of time without a balaclava or skullcap. Nothing pokes, prods, sticks out, gets stuck, or becomes a nuisance in regards to fit. The large mouth positioned where my actual mouth is, and moderately large eyes provide decent ventilation and adequate circulation. Movement helps this, as the head can become fairly stuffy when just sitting still. I may consider adding a small fan in the future. Nothing about the head’s construction restricts airflow to my mouth or nose and I can breathe freely, and easily! The head was a bit snug against my nose initially, but after a few hours of wearing, the foam wore in a little bit and that was no longer a problem. The overall fit I’ve found to be a little bit loose, and I can’t swing my head around wildly and with reckless abandon without a bit of movement, but I don’t do that much, so it’s not a problem for me. If you intend to party hard, I suggest specifying this and accommodations can likely be made to ensure a more secure fit. Vision overall is pretty decent, and I am able to simultaneously look out of the eyes and the mouth if need be. The blind spot is roughly in the center of my vision, about the size of holding a navel orange close to the tip of my nose and slightly down. Visual Satisfaction The shaping of Cholla’s head is nicely symmetrical, with their spikes placed with enough difference to feel fun and natural. Their concept art and character design posed a significant challenge, and WUHD did a very good job of taking a complex, detailed character and turning them into a more simplified form more fit for a fursuit. Fur quality is excellent; extremely soft and fluffy, easily brushed, and has been holding up very well. Shaving is pretty consistent, with only a few small differences visible when examined up-close and carefully. Seams are smooth and easily hidden with brushing, and have been holding up very strong. The tips of their spikes are lightly airbrushed, and have yet to show signs of fading or discoloring. They are fitted with static eyes, with removable eyebrows, and I think they are very expressive through a variety of viewing angles; from cranky and grumpy to happy and cute! Special Attachments and Features The magnetic eyebrows generally stay in place for most wear, though the magnets are not super-strong, and are prone to shifting out of place during more active use, or falling off in the middle of very vigorous activities (Such as in the middle of mosh pits and headbanging metal shows). This has been rectified on all suits made since Cholla! Hands and Feet Wear Satisfaction Handpaws These are their “monster” style handpaws. 4-fingered handpaws which are puffy, well-stuffed, exceptionally “bappy”, and offer more dexterity than their shape and size would imply. The pawpads are so well-stuffed that they can pack quite a wallop if I really need to smack something. Gripping is a bit difficult, as cuddle minky is very slippery, and fingers are very very thick, but I had no intentions of a fursuit being a practical item. They are lined with lycra, which helps them dry quickly and wick away sweat. The lining stays inside even when sweaty, though it is loose enough that assistance can be required to put them on when still a bit damp. Have been machine washed on gentle cycles, but always air dried. Super comfy overall with a “semi-lobster” fit (pinky and ring finger together, all others apart). Footpaws Footpaws are indoor, sockpaw-style paws. They have thick, puffy pads, stuffed claws, and are lined with fleece. The pads are so well stuffed, that they actually lead to taking on a digigrade-like posture while wearing, and I’ve found they’re more comfortable when I walk on my tiptoes. (this led to very sore legs after my first convention with Cholla, where I ended up stomping around for 6-10 hours a day for 3 days straight, on my tiptoes almost constantly! Very glad I’d build up strong calves from mountain biking!) They’re very comfortable though, and throughout winter they completely replaced my need to ever wear normal slippers. The minky pawpads are a bit tough to clean, but that’s to be expected. No issues with durability yet! Visual Satisfaction Handpaws Couldn’t be more happy with how they look, honestly! Soft, very green, seams are tight, fur is floofy and easily brushed! Footpaws Same as the handpaws, though their mahoosive size (they’re about as broad as my torso) required a fair bit of “creativity” to make clothing proportionally fit them. Tails Wear Satisfaction Tail fits well, features double belt loops made of 1″ wide elastic webbing attached with reinforced stitches. The loop area is flattened to fit close to my waist with no visible sign of the loops. It’s very bouncy when walking! No sign of wear or damage yet, though I will keep my eyes on the elastic loops as I know those may eventually stretch out. Visual Satisfaction The character’s tail is supposed to resemble a dense cluster of spikes or a succulent, which didn’t really lend itself to being created from fabric and stuffing, but the way it was done is a nice compromise! It has a nice weight to it, but not so much that it pulls my waistband a ton. It’s made of the same long-pile faux fur as the rest of the suit, and as such, very soft, very brushable, and a consistent colour. Overall Product Satisfaction How well does everything fit together and match up? Colour is consistent across all parts, seams are tight & strong! Fit is good, and I have had no comfort issues even after prolonged periods of wear. Proportions are large and toony, which was exactly what I was looking for, though that does require a fair bit of modification to clothing worn specifically for use while fursuiting in order to make them appear to “fit”. Overall Project Quality Honestly, I don’t think I could be happier with the end results, or the commissioning process. What’s Up Hotdog was an absolute dream to work with, and a hands-down good human being. They gave me all the information I could have needed, explained stuff I wasn’t familiar with, and shared my excitement for the project, and remain easy to communicate with when I’ve had questions after Cholla arrived. I was able to have the utmost confidence in their work every step of the way, and am happy to recommend What’s Up Hotdog to anyone and everyone. If I’m in a position to be able to commission another fursuit sometime in the future, I may very well be a repeat customer! Purchase Process Initial Contact I was informed directly by WUHD when they were open for commissions, as I had been in contact with them on and off for a while, in order to see if Cholla was a project they would be willing to take on. They now use a google forms application for commissioning! Never once had any issues with communication! They were always clear and friendly! Maker Response Time Basic questions prior to commissioning occurred on twitter, whereas all communication throughout the actual commissioning process occurred via email. Responses always came within a reasonable timeframe, and I was informed ahead of time if they were going to be unable to respond for a while. Maker Professionalism WUHD was exceptionally friendly, professional, and helpful throughout the entire commissioning process! Everything they needed from me was clearly outlined, their TOS is in plain English, the contract I was provided and signed was detailed, but very easily readable, and showed clear signs of professional experience and work ethic! They treated me like a person, not just a customer. We did have a few email exchanges that were basically just “excited yelling” as Cholla neared completion, which yeah sure, not “professional”, but honestly I’m so glad I was able to be an excited dork and voice how excited and stoked I was about the project nearing completion, seeing my fursona come to life, and have that feeling shared by the person bringing them to life! Project Completion Time No hard deadlines were set, but a rough eta was outlined, and was completed well within that general time frame. I was told where I was in their queue, and they kept me updated as they completed slots ahead of me. Cholla was shipped from the USA to Canada via fed-ex. No issues occurred with shipping. Rating FursuitReview rates by asking the question: Would you recommend this maker? YES This review has been marked with a positive rating. This means the reviewer would recommend What’s Up Hot Dog. Final Comments I can’t say enough good things about my commissioning experience with What’s Up Hotdog, and I’m sure I sound like a bit of a broken record, but goodness gracious, everything went exceptionally well! Especially with Cholla being my first fursuit, I couldn’t have asked for the experience to have been better than it was. Heck yes I’m recommending them to everyone I know in search of a fursuit! Are you the maker of this item? Would you like to leave an official response? Click here. In case the button above doesn't work, you can click here to launch the maker response form.
