[NO] Pepo the Caprigon Partial by Melcaara ❖

❖ This review has an official response from the maker. Jump to it? ❖

The item being reviewed is 6 years old and may not reflect the makers current style, or work.




Maker Information

Kemoyagi (KMOYAGI) Based in Washington, Cosmopolis. Crafting since Oct 2018. Formerly known as Melcaara.


Year of Project2020

Completion Time (?)13 - 23 Months

ETA AccuracyNO - MULTIPLE ETAs were passed
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 Date3 June 2021

RelationshipThe maker WAS a friend when the item was purchased, but they are NOT a friend now
This relationship was indicated by the reviewer at the time this review was written.


Review Information
Reviewer

Prior ExperienceYes, I own multiple fursuits and make some myself

Wear Time<1 hour

Informed Maker of IssuesI communicated about the deadline issues but I did not tell the maker about construction issues, because I did not trust the maker to adequately fix the issues (and chose to fix them myself)


Pepo the Fursuit

Negative

ProjectThis item was a commission

Paid: A Payment Plan of $501 - $999

Initial Contact: July 2019

Completion/Ship Date: October 2020

Shipping Origin: USA

Type: Partial

Style: Kemono

Padding: None


SpeciesName: Caprigon

Found in: Euungulata, Original Species(?)

Features: Horns or Antlers, Wings


Concept Art


Photos of Completed Product



Overall

Initial ContactI was friends with melcaara so I just DMed and asked for a quote, was very easy to approach and get that information and communicate.


Maker CommunicationResponse time was very quick, though I did have to approach for updates and rarely got updates w/o asking. I was treated as a friend but that made sense. I was also given details about personal life but again we were friends so it did kinda make sense, although they were often used as excuses (they were working on lots of personal costuming at the same time and posting on instagram).
We began the transaction through discord DMs but at the end it moved to instagram so they could send me videos of the suit (hard to send videos in discord).

Project Completion TimeThere was a queue, and I was aware of my place in the queue. The issue was no suit was being worked on at all.
I commissioned the mini partial (head, hands+armsleeves, tail, and wings) in July 2019. The initial due date was ANW 2019 (November 2019), but things happened IRL and Mel was not able to finish before ANW, but said he should be done by January (2020). January passed, so I contacted them again and asked if he would be done by Furlandia 2020 (May 2020), and they said "I hope so." A month later there was still no progress so I suggested a partial refund and send what had already been completed- they declined and said they still wanted to try and finish him. By the end of May 2020, they made a deal that they'd work on him for 2 more weeks, and finish as much as possible within that 2 weeks, and send what was finished afterwards. 2 weeks later, they sent me more updates, refunded me $150 for not finishing the other promised parts, and that they'd ship him out by July.
At the end of August, I was sent a WIP photo of the eyes, and they said they would refund me an additional $100 for making me wait so long (they did not refund that $100). End of September, they said he (the head) would be done by the end of the month, and "possibly be done this week." He was finally shipped out and I received him end of October 2020, head "finished", handpaws unfinished, and extra fur/fabric to finish the rest myself.


Overall Project QualityOverall, no, I was not satisfied with the final product. There were lots of things that were unfinished or felt unfinished. The maker did say the head was complete, but it feels like there were still things that needed to be done or fixed. In the end I paid a total of $650 for the head, hands, and extra fur (to be used to finish the suit myself). While the suit looks cute from afar, there are too many construction issues to be worth the cost.
As an additional side note, the way he was shipped was worrisome- no protections from water damage, and the box opened very easily (not much tape, and holes from before shipping in box)- luckily everything stayed intact, nothing fell out or fell in, nothing was damaged, but it's mostly luck at that point.


Components


Head

Wear SatisfactionThe head is very snug, and fits my head fine, the head doesn't flop around if i move a lot, which is good. Head takes a lot of adjusting to get to a comfortable spot but once it's there, fit is good. It's mostly lined with a normal cotton fabric, though the mouth area is not lined, and foam/fur is exposed. I have not worn the head long enough to sweat in it nor have I tried cleaning it.
Ventilation is fine, the mouth is open enough to breath through so the eyes don't fog up, and the back is only fur so there is no foam in the way which helps. Since the fit is snug the air does not circulate through the head, but from when I've worn it, ventilation wasn't terrible, though I can't say how it'd be for long periods of time.
The vision is the biggest issue with the wear. The vision is nearly nonexistent. Kemono heads typically do have larger blind spots, but the construction of the eyes makes all of the colored part of the eye opaque and impossible to look through. Unfortunately that is most of the eye, so you only look through a couple of small slivers.


Visual SatisfactionThe symmetry is okay, markings are mostly symmetrical, though the ears and all parts with the red minky are not symmetrical. The suit does match the concept art, and the character design is accurate. The expression is cute, the eyes are big and follow well, and the mouth is smiling and cute. The base shapes (foam base) are good and match the character species.
The shaving is very choppy and inconsistent. There are random areas with long fur (that should've been shaved, not because of a stylistic choice). There is one small spot that is shaved too close, but mostly the shaving is not smooth and clean. The fur and minky are soft, and not crunchy, there is no airbrushing, everything feels good to the touch. But the minky around the eyes and in the ears is very wrinkly.

The inside of the mouth isn't lined, so foam is exposed and the fur from the top jaw is just folded and glued in. The felt of the nose, eyeliner, and lower lip are pretty sloppily glued on, and glue is visible from the outside without moving the felt around. Glue is also visible inside the eyes, and there is a lot of holes / extra space around the eyes. There is a hole between the teeth and the minky "gums" fabric that exposes foam (there is no thread or glue there either so it was never covered). The red horns are sewn on solidly, but the large white horns are attached only with a loose ladder stitch. The ears are attached solidly as well, and I can hold the head by them, but there are large holes at the bottom of both ears that expose foam as well.



Hands

Wear SatisfactionThe paws are unfinished, so basically only one is wearable. The one that is wearable is comfortable, and I can move easily. The seams feel fairly solid, and no seams have popped. The hands are not lined, but they feel okay – though again they are not finished.


Visual SatisfactionThe pattern used is very cute, and shaving is done well, overall I do like them. They are missing the claws, but again the paws were unfinished.


Tail

Wear SatisfactionI commissioned a mini partial that was supposed to come with a tail but I did not receive one.
*I also was supposed to receive wings but did not receive them.


Visual SatisfactionI commissioned a mini partial that was supposed to come with a tail but I did not receive one.
*I also was supposed to receive wings but did not receive them.

RatingFursuitReview rates by asking the question:
Would you recommend this maker?

NO This review has been marked with a negative rating.
This means the reviewer would NOT recommend Kemoyagi unless they significantly change their practices.

Final CommentsOverall Melcaara has a cute style but I had a lot of construction issues and progress issues and so as is I can't recommend commissioning them for a fursuit.

Comment Rules Comments attempting to buy items are automatically deleted.
Comments with links are put into the moderation queue and may take a few hours to appear.
  • Do not harass, belittle, or attack ANYONE on any page due to content posted here.
    If you are found to be doing this, even if it is not on one of FursuitReview's pages, you will be blocked from commenting on FursuitReview.
  • No name-calling or blatant insults.
    Criticism is okay, but it is different from intentional offenses.
  • Content must be in English.
  • Avoid PII.
    Avoid personally identifying information (address, phone number, real name if it is not posted publicly elsewhere, etc.).
    Concentrate on the maker’s business and publicly-available information instead.Comments with PII may be removed.
  • Do not comment on the written quality of the review.
    For many reviewers, English is not their first language.
  • Do not criticize an item’s quality in relevance to its monetary value.
    This means any “you get what you pay for” or “you should’ve expected this at that price” are not allowed.
Comments may be disabled at any time for any reason, but commenting is still encouraged.

Comments

  1. It makes me smile looking at the more recent reviews for this maker and seeing they’re all positive. I’m glad the maker was able to use this as a learning experience and improve their work!

    Reply

Leave a Comment

← Previous: | Next: →