[YES] Ember the Jackal Partial by ArgetAndLazuli




Maker Information

ArgetAndLazuli (ARGET46) Based in Kadaň. Crafting since 2021. Formerly known as Confused_Arget, Lazuli.the.dragon, ArgetandLazuli protogens.


Year of Project2024

Completion Time (?)4 - 6 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 Date5 July 2024

RelationshipThe maker is NOT a friend
This relationship was indicated by the reviewer at the time this review was written.


Review Information
ReviewerEmber
Twitter: MuskStoleMyData

Prior ExperienceNo; this was my first partial.

Wear Time30-40hrs

Informed Maker of IssuesYes; we had different idea of sleeve length and we didn't figure out the mismatch until the final product arrived. I'll be commissioning a second pair from them at different length/fit.


Ember, partial suit

Positive

ProjectThis item was a commission

Paid: A Payment Plan of $1000 - $2999

Initial Contact: November 2023

Completion/Ship Date: May 2024

Shipping Origin: Czech Republic

Type: Partial

Style: Toony

Padding: None


SpeciesName: Jackal

Found in: Canidae(?)

Features: None


Concept Art
“… we agreed on simplifying the arm pattern on the sleeve; so that’s a mismatch between the two but it’s intended.”


Photos of Completed Product



Overall

Initial ContactI found the maker as available on getfursu.it, and after looking through their Instagram and Trello board, I messaged them on Twitter, later on we moved to Instagram. In hindsight, we probably should have spent a little more time at the start hashing out all the details of the project; there were a few spots where we needed to make changes that undid some work. The price was agreed very early in the process and it was paid in installments – about a third upfront, half once materials + 3D print was done, and rest + postage at the end. We had made some alterations (e.g. fur source) after initial price was agreed, but I didn't manage to convince them to take extra to cover these costs.


Maker CommunicationThe maker was extremely responsive throughout the process, and provided lots of WIP pics and kept me in the loop. When unexpected delays happened (an event well out of either of ours control), I was informed promptly and knew what to expect – and even despite the couple delays, the whole thing was finished long before I expected it to be. The conversation was mostly kept professional. I would mention that you could feel maker's not a native English speaker, but it didn't cause communication issues.

Project Completion TimeI initially contacted them in autumn, expecting to have the partial sometime this summer – with upcoming October being latest I'd be happy with, and anything before as a plus. Even with multiple delays (one mentioned above, fur shipping from US, final product shipping to UK), it arrived in early May – so, months before expected.


Overall Project QualityAs a whole, I'm very happy. The suit looks great, feels great, and so far had next to no wear and tear issues. It managed to hit pretty much everything I could have hoped for: 3D printed headpiece, semi-toony look, high quality furs and matched patterns, great ventilation and hearing, dextrous paws, movable jaw – and all with a quick turnaround time and very reasonable price. It felt like hitting a jackpot; nearest alternatives I considered were either on year-long or unclear queues, much more expensive, or often both. My only gripe is the sleeve pattern placement – but given the quality of work from Arget and Lazuli, I'm be commissioning them for a second pair separately – especially since I'll certainly be happy to wear current ones until queue opens up.

The suit arriving was the most exciting unboxing in last 5 years if not more, and I'm just as happy with it as I was on the day.



Components


Head

Wear SatisfactionOverall, the headpiece is great, and the few shortcomings are expected given its style/design.

It's a 3D printed front half with foam used for rounding out cheeks and ears, while back half is only fur. It has bicycle helmet-style adjustable straps to hold it on the top/back; they're comfortable and so far there's been no issues with the mechanism. It's relatively light, on par with foam heads. The jaw is movable, fastened by elastic string; it doesn't mimic your speech, but is enough to strike a pose or stuff a fan in the mouth. The inside is unlined.

The visibility is decent – on par what you'd expect given slightly inset eyes and the style. Specifically, visibility down is limited, thanks to the nose and lower eyelid blocking the view. I did have a quick poke at the eye mesh with a needle to scrape a little of the paint off; it made no difference to appearance while giving a little more vision. While initially it felt limiting, after a little wearing and getting used to it (especially to the blind area right in front), I feel comfortable navigating in it and even juggling some; all in all, no complaints.

The hearing is perfect; better than in any other suit head I've had a chance to try, thanks to very little between your ears and outside. Voice is a little worse, but still enough to be able to hold a conversation in-suit as long as you speak up. Great in both regards.

Ventilation is good as well; between half of it being semi-open, 3D part having holes for lightness and airflow, large mesh eyes, and openable mouth, there's a lot of airflow. If you wear a balaclava, it adds quite a bit to the warmth, but even so I've worn it for well over an hour without a break in warm May weather while walking about.


Visual SatisfactionAll in all, matches expectations.

Quality wise, if you go through it in closely, you can find a couple spots which aren't ideal, but unless you know what to look for, it won't be noticeable.

The ears are a bit heavy and pointing more to the sides compared to how I imagined, but I don't think they can be much larger or more vertical unless they're changed from foam to a different material.

The fur is from Howl Fabrics, and is of great quality; so far no issues with it shedding unreasonably, bleeding colours, or any other issues. The colours and design matches spot on.

I would also mention that brushing the back of head is quite difficult as it doesn't have any frame to it; probably easiest to do either while already wearing it or on a mannequin head. However, that feels like an easy tradeoff for how light and adjustable it is.



Upper Body

Wear SatisfactionIn short, excellent.

The armsleeves are lined and sewn around on each end, and the wrist side has a few buttons – more on those on the paw part.

It's a fairly snug fit to get into, however, once you've got the sleeves on, they're extremely comfortable, to the point I could forget I'm wearing them at all, and have spent 10hrs in one go without much issue. There is an elastic band that goes behind your back to keep them in place. So far, in the 30+hrs of wearing, this has been the only part with any wear – one end of it has mild fraying; however, it's neither a visible area nor impacts comfort, and doesn't seem to be worsening in any way.

The inner lining isn't very breathable, but it doesn't cause issues; again, if I'm with them on for a long time, I'll probably first notice the dark fur soaking up sunlight than anything else.

The part by armpits has the fur slightly tucked in as it was sewn in, needing a bit more attention when brushing to avoid matting, but it's so minor it barely needs mentioning.


Visual SatisfactionAs a whole, okay, but not perfect.

This is probably the only piece I'm not fully happy with; maker and I had different idea of where the top of sleeves should be, so the markings that were supposed to be on shoulders ended up on triceps. However, neither of us caught the mismatch until the product shipped. Otherwise, the patterns look good and line up with what's expected (we agreed on the flame pattern swap to a stripe; no surprises there and I'm happy with how it turned out).

Just like the headpiece, it is made from Howl Fabrics furs, and the quality of both fur and how the colours change from one to another is flawless. I couldn't fault the craftsmanship side of things if I tried.

They are machine washable (in cold water), which is a big plus.



Hands

Wear SatisfactionAbsolutely perfect.

These are sergal-style four fingered paws, trading off a little artistic design for dexterity. My goal for these were to have enough mobility to juggle – and the maker was one of the few that don't default to poofy, padded bappers. As you can see from pictures, they are flexible enough for that. I can't stress their mobility enough; tasks like dealing with a door handle are no issue, you can hold a glass single-handedly, hell, I managed to get out my card out of the wallet with them on. I had some doubts about the four-finger design, but if doesn't impede anything at all.

Secondly, the buttons. Paws and sleeves come with a set of four buttons that let you connect them, and if I were to commission another set I'd insist on this. With all four popped in, the two look like a single piece, and feel as such. With one or two popped in, you still have the look and feel that you don't need to worry about your wrist being bare – but there's enough movement that you can take off the paw while it's still connected. That means that whatever task you needed a hand for, you won't need to look for someone to hold the paw. My only complaint is that the buttons are a little too small to close them with paws on, but overall – I didn't know I needed them until it arrived, and I wouldn't swap them for anything.

Otherwise, most info on sleeves applies; they're still a snug fit to get into while being very comfortable once in, the inside lining is not very breathable but not in a limiting way.


Visual SatisfactionLikewise, great.

Design choices for mobility aside, the colours and look matches what I'd have hoped for very well. The claws are made from fabric (felt? not certain), which unfortunately doesn't have the sound of resin claws, but instead doesn't get in the way at all.

The fur is still from Howl Fabrics, looks great, and is machine washable along with sleeves. There's a few spots on the shaved areas which longterm look like they'll need some maintenance (the fluff is balling up on the fabric), but so far no complaints.


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 ArgetAndLazuli.

Final CommentsAs a whole, I'm extremely happy with the result. Between the time it took and price paid, it feels like a steal, and most complaints I have feel like differences between virtual design and what's possible in reality, or unreasonable to ask for at the price tier. The suit looks great, the make quality is excellent, it's very comfortable to wear, and has excellent dexterity; it also came with a few things I was either hoping for but would have been OK to pass on (e.g. moving jaw) or not even expecting (sleeve/paw buttons). While Arget and Lazuli mostly work on protogen and sergal suits, I can confirm their jackals are also top notch, and hopefully will see more of their suits in my local meets.

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