[YES] Arlet the Red Panda by Wild Dog Works ❖ ❖ This review has an official response from the maker. Jump to it? ❖ The item being reviewed is 3 years old and may not reflect the makers current style, or work. Maker Information Wild Dog Works Year of Project2023 Completion Time (?)1 - 3 Months ETA AccuracyEARLY - the item was delivered before the ETA 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 Date9 August 2024 RelationshipThe maker is NOT a friendThis relationship was indicated by the reviewer at the time this review was written. Review InformationReviewerTwitter: koda_wah Prior ExperienceI had a partial from another maker, but this was my first full suit. Wear Time300 Informed Maker of IssuesYes, there was something off with my DTD that was discovered late, and required sending the body back for some back and front adjustments. The magnets installed on my accessories weren't strong enough, so they got replaced too. Arlet full Positive ProjectThis item was a commission Paid: A Payment Plan of $6000 and over ◼️ Initial Contact: December 2022 Completion/Ship Date: January 2023 Shipping Origin: Canada Type: Fullsuit Style: Toony Padding: Digitigrade Specialties: None SpeciesName: Red Panda Found in: Musteloidea(?) Features: None Concept Art Photos of Completed Product Overall Initial ContactA friend recommended this maker to me, I contacted the seller via mail for the initial quote and payment details. He was very clear with the written instructions and with what to expect, but I ended up missing a detail in the DTD that caused a manufacturing problem that we had to fix later. I noticed that after the commission the instructions got improved. Maker CommunicationAfter the initial phase, we switched to telegram. The maker was very responsive, and helpful throughout the process. There was not a whole lot room for error, so we spent a good amount of time detailing most steps. It's important to realize that after confirmation, fur gets cut and there is no going back. Overall very professional, but friendly and understanding. Project Completion TimeThe maker was very fast, and on schedule. Unfortunately the suit was completed when I was away from home, and had to rent storage from him. Shipping was reasonable and only took a few days, with a low customs fee. Overall Project QualityThis is a high quality suit which is surviving a pretty intensive use with my cons and my travels. I'm the worst case scenario for a suit according to my boyfriend. The look and feel is great, it makes my character pretty identifiable while preserving the looks of a red panda with natural colors. I'd say it looks very close to the reference and I'm happy with the final product. Components Head Wear SatisfactionThe head fits well, slightly loose but very comfy. Pretty good airflow, through the eyes, and mouth and on the inside it is lined with a nice looking branded fabric. Overall it's light but very durable. Vision is incredible, there is only a small blind spot on the front, but it's very wide on the sides, and the mesh is barely noticeable. Visual SatisfactionThe head is immediately recognizable as a red panda, the markings are well balanced and symmetric, there is a good mix of short and long fur. Maybe the eyebrows are just a bit too thick. The shape of the head is perfect and the ears details and stripes immediately make the character recognizable. It comes with whiskers that have been holding out extremely well. One-Piece Body Wear SatisfactionThe body is comfortable, and easy to wear. Feels light and, despite 1 inch fur length. it does not get too warm. On the inside there is no lining and sometimes there is some lint building up that needs to be shaved away. I have been able to wash it multiple times in a washing machine (flipping it inside out) with no trouble, looking brand new every time. The body is a "semi-digi" style, meaning its not as bulky as a full digi, but keeps some animal look that I was aiming for: it does so by having two pillows that go on your legs and make you look a bit hunching over all the time. Visual SatisfactionThe fur shaving is uniform and the patterns are symmetrical, matching the reference pretty closely. Maybe just the middle pattern between the orange and the brown is a bit too wide, but no big deal. The seams are not visible and the fur blends well. Hands Wear SatisfactionPaws have removable padding (this is the only way offered) and are a bit loose – while generally comfy, sometimes the padding gets in the way when pointing at things. A small portion of the fur sheared off (luckily in a non visible area) due to some fur manufacturing problem, but the maker provided help and direction on how to repair it. I am happy with the choice of 5 fingers. Visual SatisfactionThe paws closely match the character design and despite being yellow-on-yellow the choice of material makes them pop really well. The claws are in fabric (even though I originally had requested plastic), but not flimsy, at most a bit jiggly: they don't line up that well with the finger on the inside of the paw when making some gestures. Tail Wear SatisfactionThe tail is fantastic, not too heavy at all, It has belt loops so that you can ensure a tight fit with a belt and then connects to the body with an invisible zipper. There is removable filling to facilitate cleaning. Visual SatisfactionI think the tail does a good job at being red panda-y and how it looks, falling down from the back and dragging on the floor. It's nice to kick it to make it move more since you can't really wag with it. It is very snugly, and it's long enough you can wrap it around people. Fur is shaved evenly and the stripes are symmetric with correct and uniform length. Feet Wear SatisfactionFeetpaws are moonboots style, to fit well with the semi-digi style of the suit, easy to wear, with a soft sole. Actually all around the feet and the ankles, up the knee almost, there is some soft filling material, removable to ease cleaning. They absorb sweat pretty well. There is black lining on the inside, that makes your feet slide in with ease, but every few months the glue holding it together with the sole dries up and need a bit of maintenance. Visual SatisfactionFeetpaws look a bit bulky, but very fitting, 4 toes. The solee have the same yellow-on-yellow style of the paws and they blend well with the rest. They connect to the body with an invisible zipper. The claws line up and stay put. Special FeaturesI got two pairs of detachable eyelids and two tongues, connecting with the head with magnets: * The angry eyelids are nice and with some care can be attached for a sad or drunk expression. * The closed happy eyelids look really fun in theory, but they are not see-through, making them useful only for pictures, and less practical, and they are single color, which in my opinion don't fit well on a muzzle with many colors * The tongues can make very good expressions, with one short and one long: the long one can be attached to the side of the muzzle with ease through magnets. RatingFursuitReview 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 Wild Dog Works. Final CommentsGreat suit, great community, and great maker, I would definitely recommend him to my friends, especially if they already have some experience with suiting. ❖ Maker Response ❖ The following is an official response from the maker about this review: Thank you so much for the review, Arlet! Your character was so fun to make, and I hope the suit provides you with many more years of entertainment!
