Shadowdale Creations First Contact Vest Review 12/26/07
In 2007 I placed several orders for Star Trek replica costumes with Shadowdale Creations, and with some time now on my hands I will be working through a review of each. In each review I will detail 3 parts: customer service plus detail and accuracy, and fit. Each will have an equal contribution to the overall score of the product
Customer Service: How smooth was the transaction? How was communication handled? How were potential issues resolved?
The First Contact vest was part of a lager costume order placed in February/March 2007. The online transaction was characterized by a quick and seamless migrating easily from their website to payment via paypal. Early questions on pricing were happily responded to within a day. As with any costume order that requires custom measurements, these projects typically take between 3-6 months regardless of who is producing the item. It’s been my experience in the past, if the production times are significantly shorter, than the costumer may be new, might be cutting corners, or is in lower demand to name a few reasons I have come across. Longer waits are often reflective of high demand and quality of the product. With Shadowdale, the latter certainly is the case, as their reputation for quality and customer service have built to a critical mass in the past couple years. Leading to longer lead times and ques.
With Shadowdale my experience was very timely email exchanges all within a day or even less. They do a great job staying in touch despite the heavy demands on their time. Questions are answered about orders in a very positive fashion. My only constructive criticism I can offer is I’d love to see proactive emails, not only responded to my emails. So, if a project is due in 3 months, make it a habit to throw in a 2 line email as a check in with the customer perhaps a month or so before the due date just to let everyone know where the project stands. That gives customers a great sense of attention and would allow them to surface any delays that might be occurring before the deadline is past.
With my First Contact vest we did have a delay in securing the correct fabric, an issue that ultimately negatively impacted our first deadline. The issue surfaced when I did a check in, but they do get positive marks for explaining the situation. Many merchants would simply go silent and not even respond. Happily, the team did stretch themselves to meet a second (convention) deadline.
RATING 4 out of 5
Detail and Accuracy: How close is the replica to the screen accurate or screen seen?
This is of course what every purchaser is looking for. If not, we’d all just plop down our $$$s for Rubies costumes and black sweat pants. One of the greatest talents of Shadowdale is their custom production skills. If you don’t see something on their sight, they want to know about it and are willing to take on new things. In the case of my First Contact vest (I believe) mine was among the first produced and you can see pics of it on their site as well. For a costumer in high demand to take the position such as this, to go out and figure it out for their customers is virtually unheard of in the industry. It talks to their skill and abilities, as well as their desire to deliver over an above for their clients.
The vest detailing is fantastic and although it’s just a vest, it’s not an easy product with all the “quilting” that goes on in this vest. Materials are beautiful, visually identical to screen seen, and in my case very close to a swatch of screen accurate material I had in my possesion. The gray custom dye job is rich and full, stitching high quality. A top the zipper has a hook and eye closure for a tight fit, which is paramount for this vest to look its best, tight and form fitting.
RATING 5 out of 5
FIT:
Although seemingly simple to create, the FC Vest requires a couple key points for a great fit. First, the vest needs to be the proper waist length, not too long, with a short vest feel to it. It’s easy to go longer, but that wouldn’t be accurate. Shadowdale hit it perfectly here. Second, the vest needs to fit tight on the body to give the visual of a one piece when combined with the pants. This FC Vest is in full warp mode, scoring on both, something difficult to deliver in a custom measured project.
RATING 5 out of 5
Overall
The value of the FC vest is a combination of customer service, accuracy, and fit. The product is phenomenal, and my vest solidified my existing opinion about the accuracy and quality reputation of Shadowdale. My FC Vest was so well put together I certainly intend to purchase the full First Contact uniform in the future. Delays, as in any custom service operation are to be expected, although certainly not welcome, they are understood. Positive customer service along with high quality of the product is certainly the defining attributes of Shadowdale. As said, the only improvements might be directed into more proactive customer emails, which would only propel them to another level.
OVERALL SCORE 4.7 out of 5
NEXT UP: THE CAGE UNIFORM REVIEW!!!
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