Mostly Armless

So I walked into the AbbyShot Production room yesterday and saw a great-looking Stampede Duster that was JUST finished in time for Halloween. It was so nice I had to take out the camera, and the picture looked a little something like THIS:

Cool! Our sewing staff really does a wonderful job with this coat, the quality is top-notch as always, and I'm in awe. Unfortunately I'm easily distracted and I look away for a minute (I probably saw something shiny, or a kitty, or a 20-dollar-bill, who knows?). I looked back and saw THIS:


Something's very wrong with this picture. But WHAT?

SWEET LORD IT'S LOST AN ARM!

After some frantic moments, our sewing staff assured me that this was indeed SUPPOSED to happen. One of our very creative customers has a boyfriend dressing up like Vash the Stampede from Trigun for Halloween this year, and he wanted to look as accurate as possible with the crazy metal arm and all.

So they asked us: "Can you do a removable, zip-off sleeve?"
And we thought: "Great idea!"

Here are some close-up views of this cosplay masterpiece (click for the larger views):

So next time you have a customization idea or request: Let us have it! We'll be very honest so if we reasonably CAN do it, we will. We love cool ideas (like this one!).

If you want your very own Stampede Duster with a removable zip-off sleeve, then e-mail us for sure and we'll be happy to do it for you!

So what do you think of this particular idea? Any other cool cosplay ideas for our products? Let us know in the Comments! Finally, for everyone attending Halloween parties this weekend: have fun and be safe!

Sephiroth's Trench: AbbyShot Responds!

Wow, so many great Sephiroth comments!
Thanks everyone!
We figured it's better to address them in a whole new post to make sure everything is covered.

We'll start with: The Plan As It Stands Now!

VERY soon, we are going to release the coat (with minor tweaks) as a set-sized item only. The specifications are:

- Black Pleather (Fabric)
- Black Kasha (Lining)
- Highest Possible Level (of Awesomeness)

Now onto the excellent points that were brought up:

1. Shoulder Armour / Strapping:

As some have guessed, we are working "behind the scenes" on this one, using all the connections we have in order to find a company that can make shoulder armour that is up to our high quality standards.

We can't make any promises though; this is still in the discussion stages and will not affect the initial release of the coat itself.

2. Different Fabrics / Options

To us, offering the coat in our premium Pleather was the perfect balance of a quality look and great value for you, the customer.

However, if you want this design made in Stretch Twill or in real Leather (or even with a custom collar as someone mentioned), you can certainly feel free to e-mail us and we'll discuss a custom order with you. If there's enough demand, who knows, a Custom Sephiroth-inspired trench may become a full-time product too!

3. Collar details

Astute reader PSAOManga commented that our collar might need to be a little sharper on the ends (and he also gave everyone a link to an awesome video from Japanese PSP game "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII", to point things out. Watch the video for sure, it's great!).

We actually think our collar is pretty freakin' close, but we realized that our pictures didn't QUITE show it well enough. So here's a new close-up view of the collar.


4. Removeable Silver Cuffs

Sephiroth's silver cuffs would be a cool addition to his coat, but one that we will not be able to offer. Buying some silver (or silver-y) bracelets that snap closed around your wrists will have the same effect, with the added bonus being that you'll KNOW that they'll be a good fit for you!

5. Length of Coat

Some were concerned over the length of the coat, and we assure you - there's nothing to worry about! It's designed to be a mid-calf length coat that just looked shorter because we had it on a VERY tall mannequin (which we realized later). Ankle-length we feel would be too long for this particular design, but you can always e-mail us to discuss customizations as I stated earlier.

6. Buckles!

You guys (and ladies) were right: the buckles on our coat do start too high above the waist. The first buckle will be moved down to around where the second buckle is in our previous blog pictures (I hope that makes sense).

7. Back of the Coat

Wingtorn asked if there were any pictures of the back of the coat. Ask and you shall receive!


If you have any further questions, comments, or suggestions about this coat, please let us know as soon as possible here in the Comments! The release is coming VERY soon. Note the use of CAPS.

Don't forget to "Name this Coat" as well - we've had a TON of great name suggestions in the Comments to our previous post, so cast your vote now in the Comments below!

UPDATE (Nov-8-07): Our Sephiroth-inspired trench has now been released, check out our latest blog post for all the details!

Customer G-I-G Shrug Surprise Gift

Here's the report from one of our customers who surprised Ghost In The Shell voice actor Mary McGlynn (Motoko Kusanagi herself!) with her very own AbbyShot G-I-G Shrug. Read on to see how it went!

Hey Guys,

Just thought I would write to tell you how pleased I was with how everything went with giving Ms. McGlynn her little surprise. As you know I wanted to surprise Mary Elizabeth McGlynn with a GIG shrug because she is the voice actress that plays The Major in the series English version and won an award for the Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig season earlier this year. She is such a wonderful person that I thought it would be nice to surprise her with one. So I did so at this year's Anime Vegas.

She was so surprised and just blown away by the coat. I was too actually. It looked so good in the pics, but when I received it I was even more impressed with the jacket's quality. Lambskin leather is always a nice choice.

If anybody reading this has a girlfriend and they want to get something different that you won't find anywhere else, and I do mean anywhere else, this is the coat to get! I've had friends that don't even watch anime look at this coat and want it. Getting back to Mary's reaction it was as they say on the Visa commercial, "priceless". lol! Those eyes lit up like a Christmas tree! lol! I've attached a link for two pictures of Mary and myself.

I want to make it very clear that this was a surprise gift to Ms. McGlynn from myself and is in no way an endorsement on her part. She was certainly happy about it though! lol! She was twirling like a little girl in a new dress. lol! Mary is such a sweet person. If you ever see her at a convention I strongly recommend you go and talk with her.

I wanted to thank you guys for your help in getting the correct size for her. I was extremely pleased with the professionalism and knowledge of your team. A couple of other voice actors that were there also wanted one. lol! It's such a nice coat and I just wanted to share a little of the experience with you guys. A truly wonderful product.

Thank you again!

Sincerely,

Mark R.

Sephiroth Update Arrives at Last!

We know it's been a while.
But trust us, it's worth the wait.
Why? Because it's SEPHIROTH!

Made from our premium Pleather with awesome replica buckles specially cast from pewter, this is shaping up to be the "be-all and end-all" Sephiroth coat. And did we mention that all those buckles and straps are fully-functional? Click on the pictures below for larger views:

Now it's time for your voice to be heard! Give us your opinions, criticisms, and (hopefully) mountains of praise in the Comments here on the blog! The only way for us to make a PERFECT Sephiroth coat is with the input of fans like you! Just respond soon because this great new trench will be available before you know it!

On a final note: What should we name this bad boy?
You know what to do: comment below!

UPDATE (October 19, 2007):

We've responded to many of your excellent comments in a brand new blog post! Be sure to check it out!


UPDATE (Nov-8-07): Our Sephiroth-inspired trench has now been released, check out our latest blog post for all the details!