Casting Sites: Links, Info + Alerts

nacho

nacho

"Big Guns"
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
11,190
2,079
113
Greenest state in the land of the free...
www.teletraanone.com
I have always known that my order will take forever, but I simply never order anything from him that I need quickly, mostly just interesting parts I might need eventually or haven't seen elsewhere. So on that basis, I've placed an occasional order and happily waited the eternity to get them.

But I placed an order last April, and in early November(wtf!) I finally got an email saying that the order was completed and would ship out the next day. Alas, my name has never appeared on his forum's shipping list in any of the subsequent updates, yet the order is marked "completed" on his site. I've emailed twice, and to no surprise, I have not heard anything.

EDIT: Glory be, my order shipped this week apparently. I pray it's correct. Fingers crossed.
 
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M

Mswi

Teabagging Ninja
Feb 16, 2012
333
0
0
48
nacho said:
I have always known that my order will take forever, but I simply never order anything from him that I need quickly, mostly just interesting parts I might need eventually or haven't seen elsewhere. So on that basis, I've placed an occasional order and happily waited the eternity to get them.

But I placed an order last April, and in early November(wtf!) I finally got an email saying that the order was completed and would ship out the next day. Alas, my name has never appeared on his forum's shipping list in any of the subsequent updates, yet the order is marked "completed" on his site. I've emailed twice, and to no surprise, I have not heard anything.

EDIT: Glory be, my order shipped this week apparently. I pray it's correct. Fingers crossed.
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hahaha, thats almost exactly my last story with him too! Ordered 2 small " in stock" items last april. Should have known better from my own expeiriences with him and all the negative ones others have had.

any ways got a ship notification around august, whatever. checked every ship notification from then till december. Nada, Checked my order status and after months of say processing it some how said completed with a date 3 weeks after my order???

never bothered to send an email, I knew I should have never placed the order in the 1st place so shame on me. But Never again.
 
Mandingo Rex

Mandingo Rex

★★★★★
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
14,392
7
38
42
Gone Baby, Gone
I think I'm the only person who's ever had a good experience with Alyosha. I've had 3 orders, none of which was of any important size, really, and besides the Post Office losing one order, things went swimmingly. He responded fast and replaced the items that were lost in the one order without any hassle.

He's still in business because he's got some of the best cast items in the business as far as "factory grade" is concerned, maybe challenged by only Jesse as far as someone coming as close to matching that quality. He also casts great flexible webgear, too.

Not discounting any of the other casters who I haven't purchased from, but that's my experience with Aly.
 
M

Mswi

Teabagging Ninja
Feb 16, 2012
333
0
0
48
Mandingo Rex said:
He's still in business because he's got some of the best cast items in the business as far as "factory grade" is concerned, maybe challenged by only Jesse as far as someone coming as close to matching that quality. He also casts great flexible webgear, too



Your probably one of the few people who hasn't had an issue with him yet but odds are........wholely agree, his casts are probably the best out there no doubt, but with the incredible amount of bad blood hes put out there in the community over the years I just find it baffeling. Most of which he has in the store are recasts of existing parts, save for a some original pieces and Giga Bread's sculpts.
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M

Mswi

Teabagging Ninja
Feb 16, 2012
333
0
0
48
Mswi said:
Mandingo Rex said:
He's still in business because he's got some of the best cast items in the business as far as "factory grade" is concerned, maybe challenged by only Jesse as far as someone coming as close to matching that quality. He also casts great flexible webgear, too



Your probably one of the few people who hasn't had an issue with him yet but odds are sooner or later he'll get you too. Wholely agree, his casts are probably one of the best out there no doubt, never had an issue with the orders I actually DID get. but with the incredible amount of bad blood hes put out there in the community over the years I just find it baffeling?
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Cloud Strife

Cloud Strife

Mako Infused SOLDIER
Apr 16, 2011
3,394
4
38
Midgar
Mandingo Rex said:
I think I'm the only person who's ever had a good experience with Alyosha. I've had 3 orders, none of which was of any important size, really, and besides the Post Office losing one order, things went swimmingly. He responded fast and replaced the items that were lost in the one order without any hassle.

He's still in business because he's got some of the best cast items in the business as far as "factory grade" is concerned, maybe challenged by only Jesse as far as someone coming as close to matching that quality. He also casts great flexible webgear, too.

Not discounting any of the other casters who I haven't purchased from, but that's my experience with Aly.
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I think both TofuJesse and the Angel Forge have much better quality casts than Aly. Every order that I actually received (I still have an order I've been waiting on going on 3 yrs now)has had pits and/or holes in it. I've yet to receive anything with pits or holes in it from TJ or Angel Forge. Heck, mswi is a better caster than Aly and he just taught himself how to do it last year. I should mention I've received better quality work from raginspoon as well. Honestly, Aly is at the bottom in both quality and service as far as I'm concerned.
 
G.I.*EDDIE

G.I.*EDDIE

gobbles a LOT of cock
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
43,432
428
83
S.E. Mich :(
Not to mention his high costs for parts...much higher than any others I've seen...unless he's lowered them in response to the new competition
 
M

Mswi

Teabagging Ninja
Feb 16, 2012
333
0
0
48
Besides some original work from outside artists, everything else one could find elsewhere, Ebay etc, and mod yourself. ya his cast head might be cheaper than buying the whole figure off ebay, but A) you get those extra parts and B.) most importantly you'll actually get it.

After my last encounter I was so annoyed that I considered paying Krexx to sculpt the part I ordered and offer free casts to whoever wanted it! It wasn't a repo piece though, it was someone elses work that went into it and only out of respect for the artist who created it did I not go ahead with that thought
 
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darthdre758

darthdre758

Watsamattau?
Officer Club
Mar 14, 2011
3,991
12
38
I ordered from Aly once. Everything came just fine.

I entered one of his contests on his site where he sent people a grab bag of heads to make customs with. I made my first, and posted it on HT. Aly replied in the thread that I was disqualified from the contest because I posted it elsewhere. It wasn't in the rules that I initially read...so I was pissed for about....five minutes. Then I remembered that I got an entire bag of head sculpts from him for nothing. And that made me feel better.
 
Mandingo Rex

Mandingo Rex

★★★★★
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
14,392
7
38
42
Gone Baby, Gone
Mswi said:
You're probably one of the few people who hasn't had an issue with him yet but odds are sooner or later he'll get you too. Wholely agree, his casts are probably one of the best out there no doubt, never had an issue with the orders I actually DID get. but with the incredible amount of bad blood hes put out there in the community over the years I just find it baffeling?
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Yeah, I haven't had any issues. But I also don't really check out his site that often. If I do buy anything, I stay well aware of the order time and all the bad press he's gotten, and I don't order anything major.
Cloud Strife said:
I think both TofuJesse and the Angel Forge have much better quality casts than Aly. Every order that I actually received (I still have an order I've been waiting on going on 3 yrs now)has had pits and/or holes in it. I've yet to receive anything with pits or holes in it from TJ or Angel Forge. Heck, mswi is a better caster than Aly and he just taught himself how to do it last year. I should mention I've received better quality work from raginspoon as well. Honestly, Aly is at the bottom in both quality and service as far as I'm concerned.
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Jesse's stuff is pretty damn good. I did have a few bubbles in one or two items, but they were minimal and not on the outside where they were visible (on the foot of the wild boar that I got, and something else now that I can't recall).

Angelforge is also up there. What I like about AF's stuff is that he's carrying the torch of all the KREXX sculpts since Slayer closed up. Slayer used to have about the best combination of original parts and quality casting, but after his health took a toll on him, the "help" helping him out didn't do as clean a job of removing flashing, but other than that QC was pretty solid on most items except for some of the larger dio set pieces (my Star Wars consoles were pretty ass-y in areas, but I figured it was his first time casting such large items, and they did take a LOT of material. I'm just glad KREXX's amazing sculpts found a new channel to be bought. AF's shipping is also ridiculously fast.
G.I.*EDDIE said:
Not to mention his high costs for parts...much higher than any others I've seen...unless he's lowered them in response to the new competition
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Aly's shit is pretty pricy, all things considered. Raginspoon's stuff is expensive too, which is why I've not bought from him yet.
 
M

MAJOR BLOOD

Size matters
Staff member
Mar 13, 2011
13,592
8
38
Well I ordered one time and it took about 6 weeks to get in stock items. I e mailed at least once a week to see what was up and got a response usually at the end of the week. I was civil considering something in stock took so long to ship. No biggie, I did eventually get the stuff but the amount of time deterred me in the future.

Nice thing now is that there are so many options for stuff that nobody has a monopoly on the market. People like Giga and Falcone are making great scale weapons and other casters are stepping out of the woodwork and offering items. Each place has pros and cons about them but the fact that so many options are around is a huge plus for those that want to work on projects.

So a thread got deleted over there? Did he send someone an e mail or something asking to do so?
 
W

WVMojo

Mocha Viper
Jul 20, 2011
4,004
3
38
I just wish he wasn't such a no talent ass clown.

But alas if he was able to understand, he wouldn't be Alyosha.

Closed Thread - Sounds like they have an Arena area for members to have it out with one another.

Sounds like good fun to be had (or read).
 
nacho

nacho

"Big Guns"
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
11,190
2,079
113
Greenest state in the land of the free...
www.teletraanone.com
Our whole site is an arena. We don't have many uncivil conversations around here, but I'm glad we don't ban or quarantine sensitive topics. Let people get it out of their systems.

Besides, as much as we go off topic, it's a wonder we even have threads. The whole place could just be one big chat window.
 
Giga Bread

Giga Bread

Mega Calories!
Aug 20, 2011
6,368
20
38
44
His comment on Lody is spot on. I think I hate that guy about as much as Steelgrave. If someone has a legitimate claim, fine, rant away. But waaaay too many people who have never attempted a custom like to pile on when I know for a fact they haven't ordered shit from anybody.
 
Giga Bread

Giga Bread

Mega Calories!
Aug 20, 2011
6,368
20
38
44
nacho said:
Our whole site is an arena. We don't have many uncivil conversations around here, but I'm glad we don't ban or quarantine sensitive topics. Let people get it out of their systems.

Besides, as much as we go off topic, it's a wonder we even have threads. The whole place could just be one big chat window.
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The reason OG13 put in sections like Tainted Love was to monitor who was viewing the rants and then disciplining members at the His Stank. Since you have to request access, it protects the members who don't want to be banned over there. There was about a 2 week stint where just having a membership at OG13 got you banned at the Hisstank.
 
M

MAJOR BLOOD

Size matters
Staff member
Mar 13, 2011
13,592
8
38
So people were getting axed for being on another site? HA! Someone needs to pitch a reality show to TNT!
 
darthdre758

darthdre758

Watsamattau?
Officer Club
Mar 14, 2011
3,991
12
38
That's what happened over on Bantha Skull a few months after it was started up. 8/8/08. close to 50 members were banned from Rebelscum for 'partaking in a forum that's sole purpose was to disrupt the forums of other sites.'

coughbullshitcough
 
SE 55

SE 55

Rookie customizer
Aug 16, 2012
133
1
18
44
Tennessee
I've never really understood the desire to rip someone's ass to shreds on a forum about, well anything really. If you are frustrated that is one thing but I don't really understand some of the stuff that is said. I myself ordered from SDS at probably the worst possible time and I kinda put that on myself. Now, I reached out to Dave and tried to get my order shipped or my money back but I understand his situation and the fact that most of these guys that cast are doing it part time and probably because they enjoy doing it.

And I will admit that I recently took a chance and ordered from BrokenArrow because I have been wanting to get some of Giga's parts that he created on Shapeways and because Alyosha has them I ordered from him. I took that chance and hopefully he comes through but if he doesn't I know that I took some of the risk myself and subsequently will not blast him if I do not get my parts. Anyway, just my take on the whole situation.
 
nacho

nacho

"Big Guns"
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
11,190
2,079
113
Greenest state in the land of the free...
www.teletraanone.com
Well, no one likes to buy something and then get nothing in return. Human nature. It's all in the way it's handled. Some are more aggressive than others, some are more understanding while others are mean-spirited. Some of it may be predicated on how much was at stake. Person A might sit by an patiently wait for his $10 order, while Person B that spent hundreds with a supposedly-reputable guy might feel a bit more forward.

However, what we've seen time and again is that communication is always key. The people that get the most angry are the ones that feel they are being ignored, kept in the dark, or simply forgotten. Rarely does anyone come on a board and rip a guy who is behind but giving fairly regular updates, either to the general public or to individuals. People are generally understanding when they think issues are being addressed and that the channels of communication are open. When sellers go underground, people get uptight in a hurry, and that's when most of the anger comes out.

I've heard many casters say that their time is best spent putting out orders, not answering inquiries. While that may be true to an extent, a little time doing some PR goes a long long way, IMO.
 
M

MAJOR BLOOD

Size matters
Staff member
Mar 13, 2011
13,592
8
38
SE 55 said:
I've never really understood the desire to rip someone's ass to shreds on a forum about, well anything really. If you are frustrated that is one thing but I don't really understand some of the stuff that is said. I myself ordered from SDS at probably the worst possible time and I kinda put that on myself. Now, I reached out to Dave and tried to get my order shipped or my money back but I understand his situation and the fact that most of these guys that cast are doing it part time and probably because they enjoy doing it.

And I will admit that I recently took a chance and ordered from BrokenArrow because I have been wanting to get some of Giga's parts that he created on Shapeways and because Alyosha has them I ordered from him. I took that chance and hopefully he comes through but if he doesn't I know that I took some of the risk myself and subsequently will not blast him if I do not get my parts. Anyway, just my take on the whole situation.
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That's fine if somebody enjoys doing it but once they take money it is business. How one wants to run a business is up to them but when feedback or comments is left about them then they have as much of a right to speak up for themselves as the person does who left the feedback/comments. Like Nacho said, a little communication goes a long way and the way you do it speaks volumes of how you run your operation.
 
Riotheory

Riotheory

Enlisted
Jun 26, 2012
239
0
16
Wasatch Front, UT
Sounds like there was a lot of awesome inter-forum action before I started lurking. One of you veteran community members with nothing else to do should put together a best-of thread with links to the highlights for those of us who like to learn our institutional history.

R.
 
NSA

NSA

Brotherhood
Admin
Mar 13, 2011
28,622
968
113
Southern California
www.fighting118th.com
Haha most of it was on our old board before the crush of '11.

Basically, the people here with the "Founders" tag were expats from HissTank, we left to form our own community due to heavy handed mods (USAopoly really?!) and a desire to have 1:18 scale talk without rivets.

In the intervening years we've seen people come and go, but we've generally done our own thing and been fine without any of the other forums.

OG13 more recently sprung off of Hisstank for some of the same reasons.
 
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