Bloodborne Gear: Winner's Circle!
Jun. 29, 2015Bloodborne Gear: Winner’s Circle!
Hey ya’ll!Remember thatBloodborne Gear contestwe wrapped up about a month ago? Sure you do. Take a look at that section marked “Important.” We promised a blog article reviewing the winners’ prizes so the FextraLife community could see what’s what with the Bloodborne loot. We’re still waiting on one prize to come in, but figured the winners wanted to stop waiting and start wearing. And of course all the FashionBorne fans out there were dying for my opinion on the stuff. Please note we’re still waiting on one item for Alkaiser and will update this article when that arrives. Stay tuned!
All prizes were provided by thePlayStation Gear Storeand are courtesy of them and us.
You tell me. This is the logo from the hoodie. I didn’t zoom in as much as I could but you can easily note the tiny trademark symbol. Up close it’s easily legible. The designs on this (and all items) are printed on, no stitching or embroidering. All things considered, the level of detail is pretty high on this item.
The back sports the Saw Cleaver and the detail of the print remains high. With the chosen art work, there’s a lot of little things to take in and the cleaver holds up as well as, probably better than, the logo on the front. I’m more of an art nut than a clothing nut, and I came away quite happy with the design.
Speaking of it being clothes though, as much of a fashion expert as I’m not, it’s even worse with hoodies. My idea of “winter gear” is shorts and a shirt. The outfit I’ve described is rated to 20 below (Fahrenheit) in case you’re wondering what my standards are regarding winter. From my best guess at this, the material seems pretty heavy, and enough to be somewhat toasty. I felt I needed to to bring insomeone elseto weigh in and here he is trying on the hoodie and giving his impressions (note how deep in thought he is).
After some thought, he agreed that it seemed like it’d keep people decently warm. The fabric is soft, and the inside especially so. Overall, seems comfy.
For people who are into this type of clothing, it’s certainly a way to show your fandom and keep the driving wind and snow off your arms and ears. Again, if you’re into that sorta thing.
Now T-Shirts! Those I know. Without having put them on I can’t say exactly, but these again seem to be of the “comfy” kind. The material is thin (but not sheer or flimsy) and flexible. I said the hoodie comes in black and that’s still true. The shirts also come in black but as they’re a different fabric it’s a deeper black. This is not a knock on the hoodie at all. The fabric needs to be heavier and as such it seems natural that the really deep black might be harder to achieve. Also, the exterior is naturally a coarser fabric (leading to more difficulty in adding designs, kinda like it having bigger pixels to work with). Let’s examine this…
Here’s theLogo shirt. The first thing to note is that this was taken in the exact same light as the hoodie. The only pictures that aren’t are on the next tab actually. When I’m looking at the pictures side by side with the apparel, I gotta say the camera kept things pretty true to color. Now obviously the screen you’re using to look at them with will make a difference, but what I’m getting at is the VERY deep black of the shirt. That logo “pops” big time.
Of all the designs, the one I was most skeptical on was theBox art shirt. Even the official studio picture on the gear site shows the result of slapping a detailed picture on clothing. I was pleasantly surprised with the real world version, though. Yes, if you jam your nose into the shirt you’ll see the fact that it’s on a shirt and not the steelbox of the game or a poster, etc. Think of printed clothing likepointillism. If you get close enough you’ll see the dots. Make an especially complex design (like cobblestones, buildings, blunderbuss) and things usually get exacerbated. So the box art shirt does end up with the “worst” result from this effect. However, even the “worst” of the shirts is still really well done.
But there’s just gotta be a star of the show and theSaw Cleaver shirtis it. Just like the logo shirt, the deep black really makes the design jump off the shirt. I noted with the hoodie (same design) that the chosen art for this is incredibly detailed. The shirt does an even better job at showing this (again, the hoodie looks great, the shirt just shows the design off even better). Open that pic up in new tab and zoom in. I’ll wait a minute.
Yeah…that’s a cool shirt.
He chose theMessenger Bagaaaaaaaand…something that ran out before we could get our hands on it. I’m not going to go into any more details than this sentence, but we’re anticipating an update to this article once we have the other thing he wanted.
The good news is that he should be pretty pleased with the bag. This is another item where my amateur photo shoot pays off. Before I talk about why, let’s do a brief rundown. The bag is pretty spacious, and would be good for a whole lotta travelin’ needs. The flap actually closes via hook and loop fasteners (what most people call “Velcro” but that’s a brand name and I don’t know if they used that brand). This adds some easy functionality to the bag, but if you were hoping the leather straps were more than cosmetic, they’re not. The color of both the canvas and the leather was lighter than pictured, but that’s hardly a shock. The feel is likely more important and the canvas feels durable. The leather, while for aesthetics only, doesn’t feel like a cheap tack on and adds a lot of charm. Where the coarser fabric of the hoodie led to a slight change in print quality (compared to the T-Shirts), the bag takes that a step further. I don’t believe this is avoidable with the chosen materials, and I wouldn’t call this a drawback by any means. But just like the box art tee, anyone expecting the same detail as a steel book game case is going to be disappointed. Note: Don’t expect that
See what I mean? You can tell it’s canvas. Big whoop. Still looks nice. So the reason I say the amateur photos are a blessing, is because they show off a charm that I feel the studio pics missed. I wouldn’t go so far as to use the term “distressed” as we’ve seen in jeans or other items which usually means “beat to s**t.” I would say that there’s a look that it’s slightly “worn.” The metal accents aren’t high lustre, and subtle coloration in the leather and canvas give the appearance that, while it’s avoided the inferno of Old Yharnam, perhaps this bag still made a couple short trips into Byrgenwerth or something.
But most importantly, it’s a bag. So what can it hold? Lots of stuff actually. Here it is with tons of cool things (that Alkaiser isn’t getting) and it’s still able to close. It would have closed even better, had I placed the objects all the way in the bag, and not clearly halfway in to stage a gimmick shot. Speaking of that gimmick shot, what exactly is this bag holding?
Perhaps the greatest assembly of cool stuff ever. From left to right, we have: a sandwich, a Mogwai, an actual message since it’s a messenger bag, a graphic novel, and a clear dinosaur filled withbioluminescent dinoflagellates. You know, the normal affair.
IMPORTANT! The Mogwai was not allowed to eat the sandwich after midnight. It was close though, 11:55pm.
Don’t forget to try your hand at making your ownchain mail. This is mine. You can’t have it!
Here we are, a proper model to show it off
Will it hold a sword better than an ax? Perhaps not
Maybe TWO sword will work better? Probably should stick to Mogwais and books and stuff
Lookin’ good. Now to send it back to me, right Alkaiser?
HOLY S***, it’s finally here! Alkaiser may, or may not be receiving his long awaited lithograph soon. It very well may end up a focal piece on a wall at the Ol’ Skare Homestead. Alright, alright…I’ll be shipping it out ASAP.
First of all I want to assure Alkaiser and anyone watching that I tried to handle this with the utmost care. I can’t guarantee I managed zero fingerprints but I did my best. As you’ll see in a couple pics, I tore off some of the excess wax paper the lithograph was packaged in and tried to use that for any contact. Since I’m such a nice guy I even packaged those scrap pieces back in for Alkaiser.
One more thing to note, it’s pretty glossy so photography was difficult. I worked with a couple light sources to do it justice. Despite my best efforts I’d say the colors are slightly off to the tune of “more vibrant” in the pics than in real life. This is not a bad thing as regardless of color the detail in the print is unaffected. And I think most people would agree that a little darker tone is better anyway (and that’s the reality of the print). Here we go!
Bloodborne Wiki
skarekrow13
By reading this, you agree to the Skarekrow13 Terms of Service:
- I agree to read all articles written by Skarekrow13 and share them with everyone I know; 2. I understand that installing non-certified replacement parts on my Skarekrow13 will void all warranties, whether express or implied; 3. I agree that I will not leave my Skarekrow13 in corn fields unattended for prolonged periods of time
Not a bad choice from Walmart, eh?
That is an awesome frame indeed. This was a great giveaway, I love seeing how everyone’s goodies have found a great home!
Pics from Alkaiser are now up, as promised! Nice choice of frame too for the record.
Just got my litho a few hours agoI’ll send you some pics when I get it framed or something. My beloved litho only took nearly the whole summer to get here. So glad I got the 20th copy of 300! An odd number might’ve been awkward looking (unless it was numbers 1 or 3)
Pictures are UP! Lithograph might be the new star of the show too. I put the pics in their own tab since I wanted to show a decent amount. I’ll be shipping this out ASAP to Captain “Lucky Dog” Alkaiser. I’ll save a click or two and link to the article right about…
HERE
Stay tuned everyone. The long awaited lithograph has shipped. There’ll be new pics, new romances, new explosions!
Maybe just the first thing.
The new pictures are great. Thanks for sending them in!
Thank the Karekrow and the power of the belly badge!
He said “you’re welcome” by the way.
Got mah hoodie!
Thanks for the jellybeans Skare!
No probI tried to put in some textbooks, but then… item burden
Alkaiser sent a few pics of his own with the bag. Go check them out in the updated article (added to the “Moar Pics Naow” tab).
Thanks Alkaiser! Looking good
Sweet! Minimum of 33% success rate!
And also you’re welcome. Can’t wait to see your pics!
You did indeed! Thx for the jellybeans
Incoming pics very soon
According to my interwebz, two of the packages have been delivered! Oddly enough, the one closest to my location geographically and the furthest, but not the middle one. Anyway, now it’s time for the big question…
Did I manage to send the right things to the right people?
Sweet! Thanks for the info Skare! I’ll post again once I receive it but I don’t get off work till 10:30 CST.
My bag just wasn’t bottomless enough
Sweet article by the way; can’t wait for my beloved prizes! I will most likely show off some of my own pics, trying to fit in one of my toy swords as well as a katana (blunted blade because it’s meant for show).
Agreed. The third lithograph is my favorite so far too, so it works out great that it’ll be the one I get to see in person before (perhaps) sending it along to Alkaiser.
Speaking of Alkaiser, Aim_v_Here and kenkkoshi, item tracking is telling me that two of the three are “out for delivery” so they should be expecting their items at their normal delivery times. The third claims to be in the hands of the post office in the correct city. Due to time zones and whatnot, my best guess is that this person should also be seeing their item today.
I’d encourage all three winners to come here and give their impressions, post their own pics (I can add them into the article too if anyone wants) and just generally brag and show off how lucky they were
That bag looks awesome. Can’t wait to see the litograph!
