Discord, by MagnaStorm

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||| Review

:: Opening ramble

Here's where I think I was actually starting to assemble the plushie herd. I'd already gotten a rough idea of who I needed plushies from to create the collection I wanted, and I was beginning to solve the problem of which character I needed from each to best represent both character and artist. The main characters were still giving me some trouble, but Discord... Discord was easy.


:: The plushie

This is an interesting case. Normally, I'm a fan of show-accurate designs - the closer to the cartoon version, the better. In theory, I shouldn't really like this plushie... but, of course, it's in the collection, so I must, right?

Well, the thing is, Discord just... isn't very toy-friendly, in terms of design. There are a lot of interesting elements there, but they're put together a bit poorly. I think that might have been part of the point. This, I think, was a very good attempt to take those interesting elements and put them together in a way that actually does make sense. Sure, it's not quite like the show, but it's a lot better than the more direct snake-with-tiny-legs interpretation would be.

I think my first reaction on seeing this in person was "that is awfully adorable for an incarnation of chaos." I think I'm going to stand by that. I'm not sure how or why, but everything here just comes together to make for an unexpectedly cute plushie.

I've mentioned before that I'm not really a fan of synthetic hair, but it sort of works here - the tail tuft and eyebrows don't really demand a very defined shape anyway, and for the tail in particular I can see solid fabric being rather difficult to get the right look with. I might not have picked it for the mane, but it still doesn't really look bad, and again, it's not like it's ruining a normally complex shape there.

That extra-long tail gets to be a nuisance sometimes from a display standpoint - you'd have a lot of trouble getting the plushie to sit properly on a small table or stool without the tail knocking it off balance. In terms of appearance, though, it pays for the inconvenience by making the rest of the composition work; where the rest of the design uses more or less... teddy bear sort of proportions, I guess? ... the tail works to restore the illusion of an overall serpentine form, bringing it back to as close to a Discord look as I'd expect to really work.

All in all, I suppose I'd have to say this is probably the least by-the-book, standard sort of design interpretation in my collection, and it really seems to have come out the better for it. I've heard this pattern described as the best Discord anybody's made, and I'd be quite willing to believe it.


:: The artist

This section's a bit under construction, I'll get back to it. For now, I'll just use it to remind readers that the plushie featured here was made by *MagnaStorm, not me, and I won't try to pretend otherwise.


:: Other works

Well, here's where I start to get hate mail... to be honest, I'm not sure I can say I like *MagnaStorm's pony plushies. They're well-made, but there's just something I can't quite pin down that makes them look a bit off to me. That said, this is one of the sections I most expect to have to come back to and rewrite after I think I'm done with all this - she's still adjusting her patterns, and recent attempts have shaken a lot of that "off" feeling, if not quite all of it (yet.)

So, does this mean I'm saying this is an artist to avoid? Hah, no, absolutely not. If you want to look outside of basic pony plushies, you'll see a lot to love in *MagnaStorm's other works. Another of those plushcrafters who got swept up in the pony craze rather than taking up the craft because of it, she does a lot of work based on other sources as well, and a lot of it is just plain amazing. I don't play World of Warcraft, and am generally uninterested in anything related to it... and I still had to look at a plush rendition of one of the game's pets she made and say "wow, that's pretty awesome."

Of course, I'm not trying to do a general buyers' guide here, so back to pony fans... you might like her pony plushies; my position on them is a matter of personal tastes, not quality. However, you might find your hard-earned plushie dollars put to better use here asking for something a little different - I'm confident that you won't be disappointed if you go for, say, a griffon, or one of the show's many interesting one-shot monsters and villains.


||| Buyers' Guide

:: Commission Details

Commissions tend to be offered every few months, with a lot of advance notice given. A first-come first-served slot-and-queue system is used - generally, ten "sooner" slots are opened, with a thirty-space "later" waiting list. The waiting list has, perhaps unfortunately, replaced the older random spots, so you will need to be quick to get in!


:: Pre-made Options

It's actually pretty rare to see any of *MagnaStorm's work for sale; she offers plushies almost exclusively by commission. Generally, pony plushies end up going to eBay (look for draxia), where they don't seem to attract too terribly much attention; expect a little bit of a fight, but nothing terribly intense. Other plushies are more likely to end up on her Etsy shop.


:: Pricing

This is one of the lower-priced artists I'll be looking at; the difference isn't amazing, but the most expensive *MagnaStorm pony will still set you back less than a low-price plushie from some of the higher-profile artists in the fandom. For non-ponies, you'll probably still be pleasantly surprised by the quote you get.
Buying on eBay, should the opportunity arise, isn't terribly expensive either; due to the lesser exposure the auctions tend to get, you probably won't see huge price explosions and should be able to get a sane top bid.
Etsy sales seem to be a sort of discount clearance option, so you may find yourself walking out with an even better deal there than you might through commissions, though selection will naturally be a bit more limited.


:: Experiences

This was my first commission, and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I knew I was going to need to be quick, because all of the available spots would be spoken for quickly. I didn't, however, expect "quickly" to mean "within a second."

I figured that was the end of it, no Discord for me; while there were two lottery slots available, I'm one of those people who never seem to win things like that. When I saw my name come up as the fifth pony spot for the round... well, this was when I was still making custom figures, and the one I'd finished that day became my official good-luck charm for months.

The actual process of having the plushie made, paid, and delivered was pretty smooth; there was a small snag when the first attempt had a a design error, but I was offered the choice to take it anyway or have the whole thing remade. And considering that this meant that the plushie had to be made twice over, I have to say that it surprisingly quickly done once my turn came up. After that... well, I can't say my experiences with shipping are relevant to how it will go for most readers, due to the unusually short distance the parcel had to travel. It was, however, nicely packed, and came with a neat little tag. No extras, but those are typically only for auctions anyway.

Overall, a pretty good experience, and one that made me feel a lot better about pursuing commissions in the future.


:: Challenges

Getting into the commission queue is probably the biggest hurdle anyone seeking a *MagnaStorm plushie will face. With the introduction of the waiting list, this has been eased a bit, but with the usual volume of requests even forty slots fill up fast; if you can't be there the hour commissions are set to open, you'll probably be waiting for the next round.