After acquiring Downvote and Upvote at Derpyfest 2018, I wanted to complete my collection commissioning the same artist, Bastler, to craft Comment and Favourite. I specifically asked to use the same old patterns as he used a year ago, an emulation of 4DE plushies. The plan was to pick them up at Derpyfest 2019, which got cancelled. The replacement event got cancelled too. Moon sighs. In the end there was no other option than getting them delivered by post.
And if you wonder about the convention: As two friends took holidays already and one of them had non-refundable flight tickets, there still was a meet-up between us three. I'm not a spontaneous person but somehow it worked out. We went to where Derpyfest took place in 2018 and should have taken place in 2019.Moon Flower Con, in memoriam Derpyfest 2019.
Anyways, some words about the plushies. I think there are no doubts that Bastler improved overall. Upvote and Downvote from back then still look nice, and so do Favourite and Comment.
The most obvious improvement is the embroideries, they look smoother and have less holes, even though Bastler still has no embroidery machine and does it with a sewing machine. Another enhancement is that the colour of the seams now match the coat; Upvote from a year ago has red threads, which clearly show at a few spots on the green coat. Additionally the new plushies have a stitched mouth now, before there were none. He also signs his works now by stitching his initials and the year under one hoof, just like the MLP:FiM logo being printed there on 4DE plushies. The two new plushies still have the magnetic hair pins and I like playing around with those. On top of that Favourite has a removeable bow tie on her tail and Comment has a removable bracelet on her leg.
So much for the improvements and positives. There are not as many downsides but I still want to mention them.
Obiously the embroideries would achieve an even better result with an embroidery machine. Even though Bastler using the same old patterns, Favourite's and Comment's height somehow got a tiny bit compared to his old and 4DE's plushies, a pity. The ears are still rather floppy and won't stay up as 4DE's works. And the last thing I want to mention is that Comment's muzzle ended up rather short.
Overall I like Bastler's results and he did a good job. Thank you for that!
Sorry for taking so long to upload the photos.
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01 Package (You are here)
02 Focus On Derpibooru Ponies
03 Moon Flower's Plushie Collection
04 Luna Patch