[OK] Soba the Sable Headband and Tails by Carmabella Creations The item being reviewed is 3 years old and may not reflect the makers current style, or work. Maker Information Carmabella Creations Year of Project2023 Completion Time (?)1 - 3 Months ETA AccuracyThere was no ETA given An ETA is the Estimated Time of Arrival for a project. In other words, an estimated turnaround time. An ETA is not a deadline. Review Date23 May 2024 RelationshipThe maker is NOT a friendThis relationship was indicated by the reviewer at the time this review was written. Review InformationReviewerAnonymous Prior ExperienceI've worn a tail before, but not ears on a headband. Wear Timeless than 10 Informed Maker of IssuesTold maker about magnets breaking off of headband. Maker suggested a fix. I have not yet made the fix. Soba headband and tails Neutral ProjectThis item was a commission Paid: A Lump Sum of $200 and under Initial Contact: December 2023 Completion/Ship Date: December 2023 Shipping Origin: USA Type: Other Single Parts > Tail Style: Toony Padding: None Specialties: None SpeciesName: sable Found in: Musteloidea(?) Features: None Concept Art Photos of Completed Product Overall Initial ContactI contacted the maker through Telegram after finding her listing on The Dealers Den. We talked concept for a bit before I checked the price on her website. The order, with shipping, exceeded my budget, but the maker was kind enough to provide a discount code to put me within the parameters I could afford. Maker CommunicationI cannot stress enough how good the customer service was. Despite a five hour(?) difference in time zones, the maker always got back to me in a reasonable amount of time. She was polite and professional and provided multiple WIP photos. We had to briefly switch to Discord so she could demonstrate features on a video call and discuss the winter morph (see "Special Features"). Project Completion TimeThe turnaround time was fairly quick! The materials took about a week to ship and the maker took a week or two to make the parts. I don't know if there was a queue, but she made sure I knew she was thinking about and/or working on my project whenever she was doing it. The order shipped surprisingly quickly through USPS (holiday season); I requested signature upon delivery because we have dogs who like to tear up packages. Through sheer bad luck, the package arrived the day I left for a trip. I wasn't home to receive it that morning and the post office couldn't take us in the afternoon, so I ended up not being able to take it to the convention I attended on that trip. Overall Project QualityUnfortunately, I can't use anything from this project as intended. While the ears are cute and I could probably keep pinning them whenever I want to wear them, they don't have the same functionality I hoped for with the magnet headband. I would need to modify the winter tail just to be able to use it. I could probably modify everything else for further optimization if I wanted to, too, but I don't really feel like it. (The materials are fine and I think they'd have standard durability aside from the magnet failure that already happened.) Components Head Wear SatisfactionI never got to wear the headband as intended. (See "Special Features.") I put the earless headband on for the sake of this review and it wasn't terribly comfortable. The maker warned me that it might be heavy because of the magnets, a risk I accepted. However, I don't know how long it would have stayed on my head. The grippy tape on the inside of the headband didn't grip to my hair all that well. Visual SatisfactionIt looks fine. The headband is a bit bulky, though I don't suppose it would have mattered since the plan was to wear it under a hat. Nobody's going to see the tiny strip of exposed hot glue either. I pinned a pair of ear covers to a baseball cap for a meet and got a few compliments on them. The minky feels nice and soft. The markings match the character. Tail Wear Satisfaction…Where do I begin? The summer tail is a bit longer than I anticipated. I don't know how long the thin elastic belt loops will last, even with the double loops. I didn't get to stress test them at the event I made this order for. The winter tail was unwearable out of the box. I cannot express in words how big this thing is, which is why I included pictures with other objects to scale. I made the yellow tail back in high school. It's a great size for my height and proportions; whether I meant to or not, the base (with the loops) is tapered so the part that connects to my body has somewhere to sit. The winter tail starts out thicker than my disproportionately large thighs, huge right off the bat. With a base like that, you'd think it would jut right out of my tailbone, but it's also so heavy I could feel it pulling down the shorts I tested it with. Visual SatisfactionI don't know if the tails were shaved, but there's a slight roughness to the fur's finish—not that it was a deal breaker or anything. The fur fabric itself feels as expected. The colors also match as well as we could make them match. I'm not satisfied with the shapes and sizes of the tails, though. I guess with the summer tail, my reference didn't make the shape I wanted terribly clear, so I can't fault the maker. With the winter tail? I don't know what happened there. Special FeaturesI asked the maker if she could make the ears attach to the headband with magnets. The plan was to wear the ears with different hats, so I could easily swap the ears out depending on the rest of my outfit. This wasn't listed as an option on the website, but she was willing to accommodate my request. The maker built plastic frames for the ears and glued the magnets to them. Unfortunately, the magnets broke off while I was testing the next feature I will describe. The magnets were worryingly strong, to the point where the glue couldn't hold them. (The maker's proposed fix? Stronger glue.) The other special feature was interchangeable ear covers for the character's seasonal morphs, which actually wasn't my idea! The maker just thought it would be cute. (She was so right.) They go over the ear frames and attach at the bottom with thin strips of Velcro. I think those would have worked pretty OK; if nothing else, the shape they make provided a more stable base for me to pin a pair of ear covers (without the frame) to a hat. I want to make it abundantly clear that I was aware that I asked for… experimental features. While we're talking accountability, a friend of the maker sponsored the winter set. Though both the maker and I were excited to talk about incorporating both seasonal morphs, I said I couldn't afford them. That friend heard about the idea, could tell the maker really wanted to make it happen, and covered the cost. Merry Christmas and whatnot. RatingFursuitReview rates by asking the question: Would you recommend this maker? OK This review has been marked with a neutral rating. This means the reviewer MIGHT recommend Carmabella Creations depending on circumstances that have been clarified in this review. Final CommentsI would recommend Carmabella Creations if you have a safer, more conventional order. She was wonderful to work with and the photos on her website look better than mine. If you feel like taking risks anyway, she seems willing to work with you. Just know you may not receive what appears to be her usual quality. I'm grateful I got what I did for the price I paid, but I wouldn't pay it again. 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.
