General Mecha Angel discussion thread!

Does anyone know how the FFD events normally work? I really want to order Antares before the site closure, and was going to order him in the August FFD but everything is still showing sold out! I posted in the Q&A but I'm still waiting for Soom to get back to me... Having the five days span a weekend is nerve-wracking. Such a small window to miss.

 

As it is written in their news feed :

Dear customer,

Good day !

Unfortunately, due to some circumstances, we were not able to open the FFD period as planned.

Instead, we will open it from Wednesday 21st to Monday 26th (closing at 9:00 am, Korea time).

We are so sorry for such an inconvenience... (_ _)

Best regards,

SoOm team

 

Okay, good. As long as it was an issue on their end and not just me. They replied to my Q&A with the same info.

Edit: And my boy's on layaway now

 

Just swooping in with a little Sabik love. This is my Lysander Bowie, trying out a different wig while I played with a plethora of phone photo apps...


dropping in to fix the broken link

 

Yay! I'm liking that sexy disinterest he's got going on - nice wig too!

 

Question: Male MAs - does anyone else have an incredibly shallow/possibly even slightly warped hip joint/torso joint? My Sabik can currently lean casually on stuff, but only with a rather Mick Jagger sway to his hips! Which takes off a good few cm from his overall height - I know I'll have to wire him, but I was wondering if it was common across the line?

 

So, I've been a MA fan for a long time, but finances and timing just haven't lined up so far (and other characters were higher up on the wish list). But it looks like I'll be doing my favourite maneuver of sneaking an order in at the last moment... So I'd love some opinions from current owners...

The jointed hands, are they worth it? I currently own zero dolls with jointed hands. I do have some friends with other dolls with other jointed hands, but they seem to spend more time snapping/twisting into weird poses than holding reasonable poses, even wired, and that would drive me batty.

And while I've been focussed on Sabik Elf since he came out (and Sabik before that, basically since Cyborg was released), reading through this entire thread today I started pondering Antares... So who do current owners think will make a better cat? (Character is from a race more advanced than humans, but is amused by closely observing humans, and said race is of feline derivation... not only will this MA be getting a tail, I'm thinking of painting him up like a tortoiseshell...)

Curse all you people with lovely Antares for making me doubt my decision at the last moment...

 

Some people really like jointed hands. Other people, such as myself, do not. I tried, I had four or five pairs from different companies at various points in time, but I hated them all. They just don't have the same elegant look as sculpted hands, they're difficult to get to hold a pose, and the thumb joint lacks the full range of mobility of a real hand which leads to very awkward posing at times. Obviously it's a personal preference, but unless you know you're going to be posing your dolls in such a way that they need the jointed hands, I'd pass. (And this from someone who's done over 100 photostories.)

As for Sabik vs Antares, I'm definitely on the Antares side. If I could come up with an excuse (and room!) for a third mecha, I'd be all over that guy.

 

thothep: i agree with tygati on the jointed hands. they definitely snap into weird positions and if you are not into that, then it is best to avoid them. that being said, i am a glutton for punishment and i buy them anyway. i think that the reason i buy them is to have 'odd' hands on my dolls. all of my guys have the fancy or jointed hands.

 

I'm one of the ones that loves jointed hands ^_^ I have them on nearly all my dolls! Soom's hands have a nice sculpted shape, but they aren't the best posers. I tend to like Loong Soul's best for posing because their thumb pad joint helps to add a bit more options. I blushed all my jointed hands so I think the sealant acts a bit like sueding, helping the fingers hold poses better or something. I seal with the fingers splayed and seal with them closed (knuckles all exposed).

hehe I'm on the Antares side too. Love mine. Never really got the lure of Sabik.

 

Hmm, sounds like I shouldn't bother with the hands. I know I love the MA hand sculpt (I've restrung a few for people in the past, and spent much of Ohayocon 2008's meet abandoning my doll here and there to follow a Sabik around like a groupie. And I'll probably be happier planning around static hands than getting a hand almost where I want it and having one finger not cooperate... even if that just the thumb limitations...

See, I like the look of the Antares, but I'm not sure he's a strong enough sculpt for the character of Kashak... a blend of wise old teacher and that old tom cat with the ear torn from fighting that every time you look at him you know he's only tolerating you because you can work the can opener. I think if Antares was a different size he'd be perfect for one of my other characters and would be on my wishlist immediately, unfortunately, the only character who can run to this height is Kashak (if I used Antares for the other character I'd need to find an 85cm Amazon...) Now, if anyone has a shot of an Antares looking distinctly mature Alpha male... (Soom's pics look too innocent.)

 

I'm reaaaally bad with photography, so don't know if my pics will help you out any, but I have a page with some shots of my Antares: http://www.dirili.com/dolls/socrates.html

 

I have yet to take the plunge on jointed hands. Over the years, the dolls seem to have done well with the regular hands they come with. (Or sculpted extra pose hands.)

Sabik. Definitely. Antares has a bit of a frown and could possibly be alpha male, but the cat-that-ate-the-canary smirk is what makes Sabik so loveable. imho He KNOWS he's the alpha, and is amused by those that haven't figured it out just yet.
I really have to play more with these guys, but my Sabik seems to just ooze character, while Antares waits for me to fill him in on who he's supposed to be.

Anyway! That's my $.02.

Oh and congrats! I hope you get the one you want, and that he gets made quickly, perfectly, and comes right home, with no sightseeing along the way!

 

Well, as lovely as Antares is, he is a kitten, not an old tom from the alley, so I've got my first payment in on an Elf Sabik.

And I'm gonna hope Antares gets redone at a smaller size because I think he's even better for that other character than my original, discontinued plan...

 

So, perhaps I'm out of the loop and this may be the wrong place to put it but..... is Soom discontinuing the Mecha Angels? I went to go on their site yesterday or the day before and the link to the MA page was gone. It's still gone now, but I can access the site through my browser history.

Very mysterious. Thoughts on what's going on? I'm biding my time hoping to get a WS Saiph at some point.

 

Wilson, they announced a while ago that they are closing the Mecha Angel page and moving the Mecha Angels on the Gem page. They haven't mentioned if they plan on still releasing them on any sort of regular basis or not though as far as I know. So it's possible that they will be effectively discontinued in the process for all intents and purposes. Think people talked about it a bit on the last page or 2.

 

Ahhh. I've been out of the loop for over a year, thanks for filling me in. Should've looked back a page or two!

 

Also worth noting is that they stopped making white MAs a long time ago, and have consistently said they have no plans to make them in the future whenever anyone has asked.
They devote more attention to the Idealian line now, and I can't really blame them since the body engineering is better. But I still love the Mecha faces more! I think it would have been fantastic if Soom had re-issued the MA heads in the Idealian line.

 

I knew about the white, but I thought they issued white during one of the kit specials on Christmas... I might be mis-remembering. I'm pretty bummed about it, I love the mecha angel body sculpt. I like Idealians too, but... they're not the same *sniff*

 

n/a