TDJ025 - Octi figure by Maqet.com

A couple months ago when I saw some tweets about the new Maqet.com site I instantly checked out their site and was pretty impressed with what I saw. Maqet is a site that allows you to choose a toy (or character), then pick what position they should be posed in, then you can choose things like facial expressions and small details before doing a color scheme and finally decide if you'd like a small (roughly 5") or large (roughly 7") depending on the character and pose.

All of this is done right before you eyes through a flash Maqet builder on the site that in itself is impressive. I appreciate stuff like this where you instantly get to see what you're designing. A lot of sites out there have incorporated this into their order process and I tend to lean toward re-ordering from these type of sites rather than one that doesn't. But Maqet.com does a wonderful job with their site and I have to give props to them for everything from their 360° view of the toys to the Maqet logo loading bar in the bottom right hand corner while you're waiting for the builder to load. Someone put thought and a lil bit of love into the design of the site and it shows.

So site aside, I was able to try out the site free of charge thanks to the fine folks at Maqet. And now I am the proud owner of Octi. I got the small version of the only "tentacles up" design for a very specific reason. I wanted something small to sit on my desk that could possibly hold my phone and/or ipod. Luckily he's able to hold my ipod just right, displaying what's playing as I listen to music. Unfortunately his tentacles aren't far enough apart for my bulky phone though.

For mine I got to choose the type of detail that's on top of his head and the body color going off of one of their predetermined color schemes but adjusted using a sort of hue/color adjustment tool. I went to a very light pink, trying to get it almost white. It might have just been my screen's settings but the figure turned out a bit more pink than what I thought I had it set on while on the site. However that's completely fine as I'm very happy with how the toy turned out.

From what I can tell, the toys are made using a sort of 3D printer that lays down very tiny layers of each figure going back and forth until all parts of the toy are laid out forming the final figure. If you look closely at your Maqet you can see the minuscule layers that make up your toy. Maqet has recently posted a couple pictures on their blog of the actual creation process of their figures. I was a bit surprised to see so many being "printed" all at once.

It should be pointed out that though these might be considered a toy, there are no moving parts and the site states that they are in fact, "collectibles". So more along the line of a designer toy than a figure you'd get off the shelf at TRU.

The fact that Octi has no moving parts hasn't slowed him down in the least in our collection. He made fast friends with most the other toys and only picked fights with those who disrespected him. That's about all I can ask out of an Octopus that has obviously lost three of his legs being too trusting of people in the past. I obviously would recommend him if you're looking for a starter toy... er, collectible from Maqet - but if and when I go back for another, I'm probably going to do the CatGirl as she's the one I was leaning toward when I went there for the first time, before making my Octi. The "backpack" and "gun" on CatGirl are definitely worth it.

So as their site grows, I'm sure we're going to see a lot of leaps and bounds out of the folks at Maqet. They're definitely on the right track with letting people create their own figures, I'm hoping that in the months to come that there are more choices both on character and design features.

Build & buy your own Maqet here.
_____________________________________________________________

Liz: That thing looks RAD! Sam. Bring it home so that I can take it to work!!

Sam: ...

Liz: WHY NOT?!?!?

Sam: ...

LIZ: ugh. fine.

Dear Maqet,
I write reviews of toys too. You may remember past reviews such as the one about GI Joes where I talked about how I broke some of Sam's GI Joes by accident. Or maybe...crap. Ok I don't remember any of the other ones. I'm usually drunk when I write these. Let's get down to brass tacks: I will make out with you for a free toy.

Sam: ...

Liz: WHY NOT!?!??!

Sam: ...

Liz: UGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! FIIIIIIIIIINNNEEEEEEE!!!

_____________________________________________________________

Plastic/Material – 4/5
Poseability – 1/5
Packaging – 3/5
Design – 5/5
Playability – 2/5
Price (value) – 3/5
Overall – 3/5