Thoughts on Merrowfins? "New" Tailmaker

[VanoraSirene]

I don't want to sound rude, but I am the only person who contacted Matt and resolved the issue of the fluke.

[AniaR]

If Matt physically sculpted that fluke with his own two hands then it automatically belongs to him. He never signed anything handing his work over to Eric or Mertailor. Meaning, all those sculptures belong to him.
Actually legally that's not how it works. Matty actually detailed his work terms with Eric in a video.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[AniaR]

36029
I wish someone would get the whole story before pointing fingers. Here you go, from Matt himself.
You didn't say that. You said if he sculpted it with his own hands he owns it.

I get you're a happy client but that doesn't give you the right to invalidate Lorelei for a well documented issue long before your time.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[Saelyyia]

I don't want to cause anymore ruffled feathers here, but this is suppose to be a safe place to voice our thoughts, opinion, concerns, and experiences in the world of mermaiding. Lorelei was completely within her rights to voice a concern here and we do not know if she may of been planning to contact Matt herself at a later point when she had some free time to sit down and write out her thoughts in a more calm manner. It is not fair to just assume that no one planned to give him a fair chance. We want to see him succeed as a tail maker, so please give the community some breathing room before trying to tell others to keep their opinions and concerns to themselves.

[AniaR]

I don't want to sound rude, but I am the only person who contacted Matt and resolved the issue of the fluke.
You are being rude. You jumped the gun and made assumptions and invalidated someone else.

Personally I think Matty is great and I support him, but in this instance he knows the design was already stolen. It would be better for a better working relationship with the community to not use it. Don't just repeat Eric's bad habits.

I think most of us think Matty has a lot of potential but would like to see him fully separated from Mertailor. With new designs.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[VanoraSirene]

He owns the sculpture. Its his.
The design is Loreleis.
Matt is not offering anything that has to do with this fluke and is not claiming it as his own original design.
I think its unreasonable for people to be frustrated for something that isnt happening. So if no one wants to go to the source, I will. And I did. And I resolved the issue.

[Saelyyia]

No one is saying that the physical sculpture does not belong to him. And at this point we aren't frustrated over the design we are frustrated with how you are behaving.

[VanoraSirene]

"If Matty is saying he designed that fluke (the one in the back), then I have some serious issues with him."
Thats Loreleis exact words. So I was only trying to help and let her know that hes not saying he designed it. She didnt even ask if hes offering it. So I figured I'd help ease her mind and ask Matt. I posted his response. I cant understand why everyone is being rude towards me when I was trying to help an issue since Im close to Matt. I apologize for trying to settle people down. I did not discrediit anyone except for Eric.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Well hell, this turned into a shitstorm while I was a work...


I don't want to cause anymore ruffled feathers here, but this is suppose to be a safe place to voice our thoughts, opinion, concerns, and experiences in the world of mermaiding. Lorelei was completely within her rights to voice a concern here and we do not know if she may of been planning to contact Matt herself at a later point when she had some free time to sit down and write out her thoughts in a more calm manner. It is not fair to just assume that no one planned to give him a fair chance. We want to see him succeed as a tail maker, so please give the community some breathing room before trying to tell others to keep their opinions and concerns to themselves.
This basically sums up my feelings. (And a big thank you to everyone who understood I was literally just asking a question because I was confused and didn't want history to repeat itself.)


I wish someone would get the whole story before pointing fingers. Here you go, from Matt himself.

He owns the sculpture. Its his.
The design is Loreleis.
Matt is not offering anything that has to do with this fluke and is not claiming it as his own original design.
I think its unreasonable for people to be frustrated for something that isnt happening. So if no one wants to go to the source, I will. And I did. And I resolved the issue.

Vanora, you need to calm down. You are being very rude, as other's have pointed out (and nicely at that).
I get that you are happy with your experience and your product from Matty. That's great and I'm truly happy for you.
That does not give you the right to ASSUME anything about me. As Raina and a couple of others pointed out, you didn't even ask if I was planning to talk to him. You literally posted once before running to Matt and not so subtly suggesting that I was pointing fingers without any information. If I'm correct, you weren't even on Mernetwork when the debacle with my design went down originally. What gives you the right to decide what information I do or do not have about a topic that clearly doesn't involve you in the way that it involves me?

As for me being unreasonably frustrated... just stop. You have zero history with me or this situation. This is an issue spanning YEARS. It has literally tainted my mermaiding experience from the beginning. I have every right to be damn frustrated that my design keeps popping up.
Next, you assumed I was trying to throw mud. I'm not. I WAS AT WORK. I was going to wait until I got home and had a chance to really sit down and engage with him on the matter. Instead of giving me a chance, you decided that I just wanted to be monstrous and basically assumed the worst from me. Thanks for that.


"If Matty is saying he designed that fluke (the one in the back), then I have some serious issues with him."
Thats Loreleis exact words. So I was only trying to help and let her know that hes not saying he designed it. She didnt even ask if hes offering it. So I figured I'd help ease her mind and ask Matt. I posted his response. I cant understand why everyone is being rude towards me when I was trying to help an issue since Im close to Matt. I apologize for trying to settle people down. I did not discrediit anyone except for Eric.
Ugh. I will start by saying this entire post is incredibly rude and I don't think you even see it. I didn't see you trying to help me in any of your postings. I saw you point fingers at me accusing me of being mean to Matty, but I don't see where you're trying to help me out.
And hun, we aren't being mean to you. We'd simply like you to take a step back and let people make their own decisions. If you had approached this without thinking everyone was trying to 'Take Matty out', maybe we would have had a constructive conversation.
Finally, I can't help but laugh at your last sentence. You DID discredit other people, myself especially, in your haste to defend Matty.



I'm not going to say anything else on this matter, and I personally will not be revisiting this thread anytime soon. Thank you to everyone who tried to see the situation from my point of view. I appreciate it.

[AniaR]

He owns the sculpture. Its his.
The design is Loreleis.
Matt is not offering anything that has to do with this fluke and is not claiming it as his own original design.
I think its unreasonable for people to be frustrated for something that isnt happening. So if no one wants to go to the source, I will. And I did. And I resolved the issue.

Just wanna say, apparently when I made my replies, a good 12 messages were not showing up in the thread for me so I missed a huge chunk.


If you are a paid contractor, paid to sculpt it by a parent company, you don't own it. http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/faqs/copyright-ownership/ Your being paid transfers the rights, unless you make the employer sign explicit forms naming you will still be rights holder.

I know this because I literally just went into a legal battle over this exact thing and the laws are the same across North America.
If a work is created by an employee in the course of his or her employment, the employer owns the copyright. - See more at: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/faqs/copyright-ownership/#sthash.BOzU0i7M.dpuf


I feel as if though this issue should not have been brought up on a Merrowfins post. I understand your concerns Lorelei, and I could only imagine how frustrating it must be to have your design stolen. My only concern was that it seemed like Matt was getting negative reaction for something that he had no control over, it might have been better to contact him personally and ask if he was offering that design before posting on here. People might have mistaken your post as a shot at Matt for something that was not even true. I apologize if my posts seemed harsh, I was not meaning to come across as rude. But all in all, your design was stolen by Eric of Mertailor. And your design is not being offered by Merrowfins.

He knew it was stolen, he may not have control over it being stolen, but he has control over whether or not he uses it. And this is the merrowfins thread. Perfectly acceptable place to bring it up.

[AniaR]

mernetwork is messing up for my tonight guys, I apologize for the same sentence being repeated that wont delete regardless of how many times I try to edit.

[AniaR]

A perfect example of this is as follows:

Thom SHouse was a subcontractor (like Matty) on the splash tail. Robert short got the movie credit at he was the lead and the contractors worked under him. Neither of them could recreate the splash tail as it was owned by touchstone pictures (they paid for it and bought it therefor transferring those rights) and had to sign papers saying they would not make replicas of that EXACT tail. (Thom has made variations) Even though Thom physically did sculpting etc, he does not own it.

Similarly If I hire my mermaid contractors as photographers for our mermaid events, I pay them, the rights transfer to me, unless I explicitly say they do not.

This is how contracting works in the art and business world. It's not opinion.

[Mermaid Momo]

Vanora, I've noticed a few times how quick you were to jump to defend matt (like when members commented on how we didn't like the scales or the untextured flukes and you made it a point to continously tell us that you liked it and matt is doing X, X, and X) yes, you can be a happy customer and still critique and let others critique his work. I think you need to assess how you come off when you jump on other people for an opinion. Just because you like something doesn't mean everyone else has to.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

Merrowfins is my company's tail maker and I am beyond happy with him :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[UtahMermaidPearl]

I made half the payment already and i haven't even received a sketch yet that I was promised. Should I be worried?

[PearlieMae]

Have you emailed him and asked, yet?

[UtahMermaidPearl]

Ya I've been texting hin

[UtahMermaidPearl]

Everyone else said that he is very responsive and good at communicating but I'm afraid of happening to me what happened to other people with mertailor. They pay and then never hear from them again

[UtahMermaidPearl]

He has iMessage so I know he's seen it

[PearlieMae]

He could be busy. I know I check my messages while working but can't respond right away.

Send an email and give him a few hours. Maybe post on his facebook page?

[Ariel-Starfish]

Do you remember the giveaway Merrowfins did a while ago? I posted a link in our Belgian mermaid group and guess what? Someone in our pod won a full silicone tail from them! :D

[UtahMermaidPearl]

Ya so did i

[LouLouBelle]

Given he seems to have been so good with everyone else, I wouldn't worry - although I know that's easier said than done! Hopefully you'll hear back soon. I love the colours of the fish you posted, and can't wait to see what Matty does with it! You'll make one gorgeous tropical mermaid!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

Guys my company put in a huge order for tails back in January and also a custom tail he's making new just for me as a performer. This could be taking up amor of his time and back order. Just saying.. Sorry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

A lot oops haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Mandi]

Matt is an awesome tail maker his work and tails seem to be going far good for him hope he gets more success along the way.

Sent from my Z936L using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Julianne]

I wanted to bump this thread back up because I noticed that Matt has posted quite a few tails recently onto instagram (including what I believe is Vanora's). Has anyone else seen them? If so, what do you guys think?

[VanoraSirene]

One of them is mine. Here's a quick video of what it looks like.
https://youtu.be/hQ-FkhvPazU

[Mermaid Mystery]

oh man! that's beautiful Vanora!

[VanoraSirene]

Thank you!

[Mermaid Alea]

Wow I am soooo glad you got such a nice tail! Congrats! :D

[VanoraSirene]

Thank you. It's beautiful!

[VanoraSirene]

37347 37348

[kellygracee]

Great photos :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

Hey guys. Looks like some people have had not-so-great experiences with Merrowfins. It's been brought to light in this thread: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?13408-Merrowfin-Tail-HELP

In the interest of preventing anyone else from having the same experience, I hope everyone will read through it before making any decisions about purchasing from Merrowfins.

[UtahMermaidPearl]

Here's a link to their mernetwork review page MerrowFins

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmernetwork%2Ecom%2Finde x%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D12853&share_tid=12853&share_fid=53279&share_type=t

[kellygracee]

Do either of you own merrowfin tails?

Just saying if your going to write or lead people into bad reviews I feel you should personally own one before placin an opinion. This is people's livelihoods and also sometimes only means of living. I understand having issues with a tail of being a happy customer are valid points but if you haven't been the one effected I feel only placing negative feed back focus is kinda bias.

I kinda speak for myself but I probably own the most single tails by the company since he is my companies Tailmaker... I own about 12 total.

About the only issue I've had is them being too high but that was made that way for a good reason. I put many different clients in tails so I need them to range in height. ( I'm also a tiny 5'2 girl so not the average client is my height.)

I've been happy with he work and offer suggestions to help Matt along his way in his New Business.

That's my option and I feel I have valid reason for speaking since I Actually Own many of tails made by the company :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

Excuse the typos... Was typing a bit too quickly. But the point is shouldn't one own a tail before placing a good or bad review.

Pointers and suggestions are great but placing a business in a negative light before actually owning one for yourself is kinda horrible.

It's like someone writing a bad review about your mermaid business if they've never even hired you.

No one likes bad reviews try to be careful in how you write things... That's all :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Lorelei]

The thing is Kelly, there is a terrible reputation in the mermaid community of people being ripped off by tailmakers and being given shoddily made tails. We have tried the 'be respectful and quiet and let those who have tails make reviews only' route, but it only ends up prolonging the issues. The concerns being raised and addressed about Merrowfins and his tails are valid and need to be looked into. I'm very glad you've had a good experience with Matty and his company, but not everyone appears to be having the same luck, and considering his past behavior, actions, and acquaintances, we're trying to be cautious.

[Theobromine]

No need to be condescending, Kellygracee. No one was trashing you and if you're happy with your tails, we're happy for you. But the customer who started the thread I linked to is having an absolutely awful experience with her Merrowfins tail and if you haven't looked at the photos she posted, please do. It doesn't take a genius to see that her tail is of extremely sub-standard quality, and she was desperately asking for help. Telling us that we can't have an opinion unless we own one of those tails ourselves is complete hogwash. That's like telling someone who doesn't have children that they're not allowed to have an opinion on crappy parenting; I may not have kids myself but I can certainly tell when I see someone abusing their kids, or overindulging them or encouraging ignorance. I have a lot of knowledge in this area and everything I said in that other thread was based on very close observations. That's not bias, kiddo. That's attention to detail and an understanding of how these things are made. I've spent close to two years now working with silicone and molding/casting materials (as well as having spent most of my life sculpting), testing a wide variety of different materials and techniques, so nothing that I said was wild conjecture or guesswork. I also have two degrees in biology and many years of experience working with fishes, so while my comments on the realism/reference image aspect may be a bit on the nitpicky side, they are still 100% accurate. I am extremely well qualified to comment on this subject.

I have nothing to gain from bashing a tailmaking company. I'm not being petty, I'm trying to help back up someone who has a WELL-DOCUMENTED ISSUE with her new tail, as well as provide some further info and knowledge as to why this is happening, AND help spread awareness of the issue so that no one else suffers a similar tragedy. This community means a lot to me and I despise seeing fellow mermaids get scammed again and again because no one speaks up. Honest mistakes are one thing, deliberate dishonesty is another, and I really fail to see how you can defend dishonest business practices. So yeah, I'm gonna bloody well speak up when I see someone doing something crappy that's causing people misery.

Would I have been happy if I could have given some constructive criticism and see it being honestly taken on board so the guy could actually improve himself and his business? Absolutely. Is that what's happening here? No. Matty's clearly demonstrated that he doesn't think he needs to learn any more or take suggestions from anyone, so I don't feel sorry for him. You're darn right no one likes bad reviews. Don't want bad reviews? Don't make bad products.

Edited to add: Also, please note that I did not write a review. I wrote comments in a thread that was started by someone else. Who was asking for comments. On her tail. This is a forum specifically for sharing this type of information so that people do not get scammed. So no, honey, no. Nothing I said was "kinda horrible". You know what I think is kinda horrible? Scammer apologists and people who refuse to let actual facts get in the way of their pre-formed opinions.

Theo out.

[kellygracee]

That's understandable. Just giving my personal experience since I actually Own a product made by him. On the other hand if I was buying a tail or shopping around, yes I too would want to know good and bad on each Tailmaker. It's just a personal experience since I know he's been doing this as Merrowfins for about a year and a half now and many of those orders I probably own. There might not be too many out on the market under "just Merrowfins" at the moment. So wanted to at least shed light on the fact that it is a new company and chances are j might own majority made right now... My experience has been a good one thankfully.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[VanoraSirene]

Theo, it's very disrespectful to call Kelly kiddo, as she is not a 4 year old child and condescending, as she was just stating her experience. Kelly is a friend of mine and she owns a successful business which has a lot of MerrowFins tails. I'm really disappointed that the tail the mermaid got was not well made. It's very unlike Matt. And I Am pretty positive it is Dragonskin. I have been to Matts house, I've video chatted with him while he's working, and I've seen many of his tails in person. I've also seen him pour flukes and bodies and what not using Dragonskin. I don't know why he would switch, wouldn't make any sense. I also own a tail from him which is a full silicone one and it is lovely. Amazing fluke, great fins, easy to swim in. The mermaid who has the tail on the other forum has a basic tail which stretches only so far because it's not all silicone, it's a thin layer of silicone attached to fabric. So the tail can stretch as far as the fabric allows. I agree those seams are quite terrible but it might cause it's too tight on her and the material is loosening causing stress. And the sizing issue is a hard one to deal with. I had that with my first silicone tail from Mertailor, I know how painful that is. That's why I drove 20+hours from CT to FL to visit Matt so he could measure me himself. There's always the chance the sizing won't be spot on when ordering online. That goes with anything. Even buying a dress online. Might not fit the way you want it and it's better to try it on in stores.

[kellygracee]

I speaking in regards to having both opinions to the company.

I have been a professional costumer in the Electric music industry and have had experience with similar if not the same products tails are made with. Most tails I fix and replace myself since I live on an island in the Caribbean. Very difficult to not only buy product but to ship things to and from. (I'm sure the same issue most European mermaids deal with too).

I'm just stating the fact that I've had a good streak with tails and am lucky. I hope the woman who is having issues can fix the problem or maybe find a solution to help her continue in her mermaid career. I personally suggest options or offer my issues with products I've been testing to the companies I use for tops, tails and props. Personally haven't had an issue offering suggestions or "questions how to fix issues" when I spoke to Matt.

:) I was being polite I am just sensitive to certain things since I too own a business and make costumes as well and have been there before.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160617/b72325cc3721792ea290b0d94f20c05c.jpg testing out the new tails (first swim in the new Merrowfin tails with the Trainers)
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160617/6a7a76df6f781e72c9c5d5598ac67a73.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160617/0d973fb645edc2b3ec41c638489e8281.jpg

Our newest order.

Honestly only issue was the height of the tails. Might fix a few blending paint jobs for my personal taste but was a happy customer and my team was as well. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dancing Fish]

Honestly the best thing you folks who are happy with your tails can do to support Merrowfins is post reviews with lots of pictures!

ETA like you did as I was typing this, lol. But also in the moderated reviews section, where you can only post if you have proof of ownership.

[UtahMermaidPearl]

Since you are so happy with his tails that you bought you should post review on the MerrowFins review page so everyone can get both sides

[PearlieMae]

Kelly, I think it's completely fair to lead potential tail buyers to good and not so good reviews, especially in a thread that is titled 'Thoughts on Merrowfins?..."

However, even though you own the bulk of Matt's products, I see you haven't written a review on any of them. Nor you, Vanora, and you seem to be Matty's biggest fan. What's up with that?

As for calling someone 'kiddo', please...you're gonna get butthurt over THAT?

[Mermaid Momo]

Personally, I find it necessary for the bad review to also be posted here because in this thread there has been nothing but the good (and some fans who jump to the defense waaay too quickly with someone simply saying they don't like the way something looks) It's a necessary part of the tailmaking process.

Also, just because you are happy customers doesn't mean nothing hasn't changed since then, look at all the other scam companies, they all started out with glowing reviews right, and then the reviews got worse and where would we be if NO ONE stepped forward with their experience? Where would other mers be who know no better if mers in the community didn't step forward and tell them they may want to research into their tailmaker choice if the tailmaker has a history of bad reviews.

I own a costume business and I haven't had ONE customer who's measurements I've gotten wrong on my fault because my customers send me measurements and with those measurements I make their item. BUT if I did make a costume that didn't fit or had something wrong with it? I would want to know, that's one of the reasons I encourage my customers to leave reviews whether good or bad and link me to them so I can learn more about improving my craft.

[VanoraSirene]

I'm not butt hurt. I simply think it's uncalled for as Kelly is a grown women and was trying to have a civilized discussion. Also writing a review isn't on the top of my to do list. I have a review on Matts FB page of that interests you. Instead of writing a novel about how I feel about my tail and tail maker I was going to make a video, which takes time to actually make and edit. I also live in CT where it's usually cold so when there are warm days and I free I try to take my tail out for a swim. I feel like I should have owned it and used it more than 4 times to make a detailed review instead of trying it on once and making a decision. But so far with my swims, and photos I am pleased. I too have had very minor issues with my tail but it's nothing I got "butthurt" over and nothing that I couldn't fix in 5 minutes. And I do believe that bad reviews are necessary. It's part of being an artist. Sometimes you do amazing works and sometimes you drop the ball. That's just how life is. And I really really hope that mermaid can find a solution for her problem because it must be heartbreaking. I just feel like the second something goes wrong everyone here starts a riot. But when something good happens it's just kinda passed over. I feel as if good and bad reviews should be taken into consideration before everyone screams "Mertailor 2.0". I have a great tail, Kelly had multipal, another mermaid with a white and gold tail loves hers, and another with a blue one also loves hers. So I simply just ask you do your research before starting an apocalypse.

[kellygracee]

Good idea I will :)) thank you


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Momo]

People dish out major money for a tail, being "butthurt" (i.e, unhappy) with a less than perfect item is 100% acceptable and understandable. If I dished out that much money to someone I trusted who told me it would be perfect then I would expect nothing less to arrive at my door. Also reviews on facebook while nice aren't accessible to everyone on the forum since some people here don't have a facebook while others are blocked (I know I'm blocked by a ton of people lol)

Also, if writing a review isn't a priority, then you can't exactly get mad when a bad review out glows the good since you know.... there aren't many ppl who have his tails posting reviews here that are that detailed as the bad review.

And another thing I've noticed is that you are a bit quick to tell anyone who says anything but showering praise on Matty about how happy YOU are with what you got, or how happy YOU are with the way something looks but you have to remember that you aren't his only audience, there are other people his products need to appeal to and someone saying they don't like the way scales, fluke, coloring, etc looks on his tails are not only valid criticism but also their opinion since everyone has different tastes in tails.

[Moongazer]

I love how when someone has a bad review or a bad product people instantly jump at anyone saying, it MUST be their fault!!

Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially responsible for the harm that befell them. The study of victimology seeks to mitigate the perception of victims as responsible.

We have enough of this happening in the world as is! Why do we need to do this in this community?!

[kellygracee]

Been pretty busy with catching up on shoots and usually don't come on the forum unless I see a few things I getted flagged on. This is actually one I follow seeing how I was curious how everyone's tails where coming along.

My point was just giving a review on this forum if one doesn't personally have a hands on or personal experience. That was my point for responding.

I do agree with the fact that having good and bad comes with the business and I too would want to know customers experiences. But real customers who swim, have had hands on seen them at shows or conventions... Just some type of prof of owning it and making an option. :)

So I just spoke up seeing how I happen to be one of the few who owns one and might help give a balance to the company.

I will gladly post video and pictures on the review page and will hope to help anyone with any questions before buying if they want. Just want us all to be happy and hope everyone can enjoy what we do best... Making people happy and teaching them about the ocean conservation and ecosystem. I know that's what my business stands strong by.

I'll be posting pictures and reviews soon :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Momo]

Oh, Kelly, I always wondered who's tails those were. I figured those were just tails made for his team and that you all weren't a separate company but just hired by him (like the Mertailor's mermaids are hired by him) Are yours the basic tails?

[Moongazer]

"My point was just giving a review on this forum if one doesn't personally have a hands on or personal experience. That was my point for responding" The only place to make A PROPER REVIEW is here http://mernetwork.com/index/forumdisplay.php?74-Tailmaker-Reviews ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE FORUM ANYONE CAN POST AND COMMENT HOW THEY LIKE. I don't understand what's so hard to understand about that. No one but Cat has posted a review about HER TAIL regarding her experience. a REVIEW goes in the REVIEW section.

[kellygracee]

I will say however that he made this sick glow in the dark tail for my night kayak tours that I am in love with!!!!! http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160617/f1662eafa4f19de21754221ff61af277.jpg

It has an 8hour glow charge and has the same huge fins Val's tail has...

Matt had complete free artistic freedom to do whatever he wanted on this tail.

The only guidelines where to be in my company colors (green) and glow for my night swims.

Final product :) happy and it's amazing.

Only down side is I need to be able to now swim like a "beast" and be able to swim in a tail about twice as heavier than my current tails... But I'm ok with that. Beauty is pain haha

:) hope everyone has a good day tho and hope this didn't ruffle too many feathers. I'm usually the quite one on this forum been on here for years hardly ever posted or said anything ever.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

Hi momo :)) I've seen a few of your costumes and wow! Do I love them by the way...

Yes we are a completely separate company who uses Merrowfins as our Tailmaker. I do however but old tails of mermaids and give them a home here :) I own about four tails from previous mermaid performers who either had an issue with their old tails or where ready to retire the tails to move on to a new one. I've bought tails from Tatiana from dive bar, Val who actually was a doll and did speak up on her good experience too ( I've bought two tails from her since she is my same shoe size) coral Beth and also treasure coast mermaid. All who are now friends of mine :) do to buying their old tails.

Merrowfins makes all our New tails and also flys in to train my girls and fit them in person. He also does repairs, paints our tails and is involved in all our instructor programs our trainers and performers follow. Most mermaid trainers are sea lion trainers at the local park and are marine biologists so we try our best to be well rounded in the program. Matt has been amazing with us and worked with us to provide tails for our customers and also our performers.

I guess that's why I spoke up to say I was happy. We own a few of his and other tail makers works and been happy all around.

:) maybe I'll post a few more things about the company but we are very new and still molding our brand at the moment. But been following this forum for years... Never made an account but been admiring the costuming for a long long time before we opened.

About 9 years ago I started researching tail making and costuming and making stuff myself so I'm happy to be apart of the Merfamily officially now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

Sorry so off topic. Momo ours our basic and full silicon. My trainers use basic for our school and for performances and night kayak we use full silicon. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

Theo, it's very disrespectful to call Kelly kiddo, as she is not a 4 year old child and condescending, as she was just stating her experience.
Correct. I don't have much respect for anyone who tries to use their own experiences to invalidate others' or for anyone who claims that informing people about poor quality products is "kinda horrible". If you're so concerned with people who are just stating their experience, you need to give equal consideration to the negative experiences as well as the positive ones.


Kelly is a friend of mine and she owns a successful business which has a lot of MerrowFins tails. I'm really disappointed that the tail the mermaid got was not well made. It's very unlike Matt. And I Am pretty positive it is Dragonskin. I have been to Matts house, I've video chatted with him while he's working, and I've seen many of his tails in person. I've also seen him pour flukes and bodies and what not using Dragonskin. I don't know why he would switch, wouldn't make any sense.
You don't seem to have any experience actually working with silicone, however. I do. I can tell from photos that yours looks like full dragonskin silicone, yes. That doesn't mean that all his tails are. I'm sure you've seen him working with dragonskin, but that doesn't rule anything out. He could very easily be using the tin-cure mold rubber for partial tails when and where you can't see. No, it wouldn't make any sense if you want to make high-quality tails. If you want to make CHEAP tails, however...


I also own a tail from him which is a full silicone one and it is lovely. Amazing fluke, great fins, easy to swim in.
Good for you. Not relevant to the current discussion, however.


The mermaid who has the tail on the other forum has a basic tail which stretches only so far because it's not all silicone, it's a thin layer of silicone attached to fabric. So the tail can stretch as far as the fabric allows. I agree those seams are quite terrible but it might cause it's too tight on her and the material is loosening causing stress. And the sizing issue is a hard one to deal with. I had that with my first silicone tail from Mertailor, I know how painful that is. That's why I drove 20+hours from CT to FL to visit Matt so he could measure me himself. There's always the chance the sizing won't be spot on when ordering online. That goes with anything. Even buying a dress online. Might not fit the way you want it and it's better to try it on in stores.
This is victim blaming, as Moongazer has pointed out and explained very well. Don't do it.

As for the "it's a thin layer of silicone attached to fabric" bit, dragonskin silicone layered over spandex or scuba knit (same material as spandex, just a bit thicker) would still be extremely stretchy. I know, because I have done it multiple times and the dragonskin retains its stretch. The fabric cannot be what's causing the stretch to be so vastly reduced. It's the silicone itself.

Kellygracee, I don't even know where to start with you. You keep making multiple posts trying to take over the discussion repeating over and over again what you've said about how great your own experience was but you're not even listening to what anyone else is saying about negative experiences. Stop. People have just as much right to discuss bad experiences as good ones, but you're trying to overwhelm the discussion with your own and it's extremely unhelpful. You also keep saying a lot of things that aren't even relevant to the discussion at all, while completely ignoring everything that people are trying to tell you. You're not being polite, you're being passive-aggressive, and you're certainly not being sensitive to the concerns that many other people are voicing.

[kellygracee]

Just like to say that we all have the right to express our feelings and personal experience.

These type of topics are always harder expressed accurately online and it is in person.

Was expressing my own experience. I understand good and bad experiences happen. Was sharing photos as a point of reference to back up my point. Which is my personal experience.

Not trying to stray away from what was mentioned before but since this is a Merrowfins post I figured I might put a few photos I currently have on my phone.

Hey I guess i need to figure out how to properly post on this forum a bit more formally than how I've been. Like I said I never really post anything. ;)






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Moongazer]

Just like to say that we all have the right to express our feelings and personal experience.

These type of topics are always harder expressed accurately online and it is in person.

Was expressing my own experience. I understand good and bad experiences happen.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So you get to just say what you want and then ignore everyone else's responses to yours while adding pictures and post after post of your own. I'm sorry but that's not really how the world works. Guess I'll be ignoring everything you say now, just as you've ignored mine and others from trying to have a discussion with you and your WRONG points.

[kellygracee]

I just don't like to argue really. :) that's all


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Moongazer]

This is not arguing. This is a discussion. If you don't know the difference, don't comment or start something you don't want to finish.

[kellygracee]

:)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

Wayy too aggressive for need on a topic.

Come on now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Saelyyia]

Can we please consolidate posts instead of posting several back to back. It makes the threads very frustrating to read and even more frustrating notification wise.

[Mermaid Momo]

Hi momo :)) I've seen a few of your costumes and wow! Do I love them by the way...

Yes we are a completely separate company who uses Merrowfins as our Tailmaker. I do however but old tails of mermaids and give them a home here :) I own about four tails from previous mermaid performers who either had an issue with their old tails or where ready to retire the tails to move on to a new one. I've bought tails from Tatiana from dive bar, Val who actually was a doll and did speak up on her good experience too ( I've bought two tails from her since she is my same shoe size) coral Beth and also treasure coast mermaid. All who are now friends of mine :) do to buying their old tails.

Merrowfins makes all our New tails and also flys in to train my girls and fit them in person. He also does repairs, paints our tails and is involved in all our instructor programs our trainers and performers follow. Most mermaid trainers are sea lion trainers at the local park and are marine biologists so we try our best to be well rounded in the program. Matt has been amazing with us and worked with us to provide tails for our customers and also our performers.

I guess that's why I spoke up to say I was happy. We own a few of his and other tail makers works and been happy all around.

:) maybe I'll post a few more things about the company but we are very new and still molding our brand at the moment. But been following this forum for years... Never made an account but been admiring the costuming for a long long time before we opened.

About 9 years ago I started researching tail making and costuming and making stuff myself so I'm happy to be apart of the Merfamily officially now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oooh, I think my favorite one from the group tail shot is the blue tail with the purple accents, I've always loved blue tails but a lot of them seem to disappear in the water because of the color, How does this tail color look in photos/the water?

Are any of those in the photo basic? Because I thought the basic tails didn't have textured flukes (one of the main things that turned me off the basic tails because even though I love his paint jobs, I also love textured flukes)

[VanoraSirene]

No one is victim blaming, I think we can all agree that the mermaids tail isn't perfect and has issues. I do think it is fixable though and I hope she contacts Matt and hopefully he can fix it up and give her a better product. She had a not so go experiance while me and Kelly had a good one. That is all. No one is blaming anybody. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I do not think that any ones experience should be invalidated.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I hate pulling the Moderator card, but please keep this calm and respectful.

Mernetwork is an open forum for opinions on many different topics, including opinions on tailmakers. You don't all need to agree with each other, but be polite and respect the fact that others will think differently than you. I'm not pointing at anyone directly at the moment, but I will if necessary. Please don't take it that far folks.

[Theobromine]

Vanora, please stop. You were absolutely victim blaming. You were implying that Cataleya's tail is falling apart because she didn't know how to look after it properly. That is not only super insensitive, it's really destructive behavior and people on this forum don't stand for that kind of thing. Saying super passive-aggressive, victim-blamey things and then acting like you don't even know what we're talking about when we call you on it? Saying "I do not think that any ones experience should be invalidated." after having JUST INVALIDATED everyone who disagrees with you? Not cool at all. You're just digging yourself a deeper hole. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself, because we're not falling for it.

[VanoraSirene]

I have never ever said she didn't know how to take care of it...? I have not blamed her for anything? I agreed her tail was not well made and I hope there is a way to fix it, and all I did was agree with Kelly when she said she had a good experience.

[Mermaid Alea]

Does this need to move over to the Drama Bubble thread? I mean, we get the point that some have had wonderful experiences with their tails from Merrowfins and are happy customers but there are also those who have not had such a good experience. As said earlier the best thing to do is post your honest review with photos for Merrowfins in the tailmaker reviews section so that people can see both the good and bad reviews and make up their mind.

[kellygracee]

Hi MoMo, the basics now have texture on them since I suggested I would prefer that before I had him fly down with our orders.

I'm happy you like the The purple, green, and teal tail! That is actually going to be our final product for our paint jobs on or "trainer tails" which is Merrowfins his "basic tails" that can be purchased.

If you ever have any questions about it or wanna see how it swims I can keep in contact with you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

Also Cataleya if you'd like to ask me about some come pointers or ways I fixed a few tails id like to help. I repainted mine and I would love to help in any way can.

I once had an issue with a tail being too small and I know how awful it feels when you need a tail for your mermaid business and it can't be used :(


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

Vanora and Kelly,

Both of your attitudes throughout this entire thread have been extremely dismissive toward anyone who has a different viewpoint than you do. You can't do that and then act all innocent and pretend to have no idea what we're talking about that. You've stated you both had good experiences and that's fine. No one is disagreeing with you there. We all agree you had every right to say how happy you were with your tails. However, you then both proceeded to repeat, again and again, what you had already said AND very strongly implied that your good experiences outweigh anyone else's bad experiences and/or that because you own Merrowfins tails, you know everything there is to know and the girl who got the crappy tail must somehow be mistaken or have just had her expectations set too high. Are you freaking kidding me? That is ALL that either of you have been contributing to this thread. Are you telling me you really can't see that, even though it has been pointed out to you by multiple people in a variety of different ways?

Vanora, you said "The mermaid who has the tail on the other forum has a basic tail which stretches only so far because it's not all silicone, it's a thin layer of silicone attached to fabric. So the tail can stretch as far as the fabric allows. I agree those seams are quite terrible but it might cause it's too tight on her and the material is loosening causing stress. And the sizing issue is a hard one to deal with. I had that with my first silicone tail from Mertailor, I know how painful that is. That's why I drove 20+hours from CT to FL to visit Matt so he could measure me himself. There's always the chance the sizing won't be spot on when ordering online. That goes with anything. Even buying a dress online. Might not fit the way you want it and it's better to try it on in stores." This is DISMISSIVE AND CONDESCENDING and implies that the fit issue couldn't possibly have been Matty's fault so therefore it must have been Cataleya's, for not driving all the way to Florida to get sized in person, or for assuming that a custom-made item would shockingly FIT THE MEASUREMENTS PROVIDED TO THE TAILMAKER. If she provided all the measurements Matty asked for and the tail still fits her terribly, that would be Matty's fault entirely. And also, I can assure you, that if the tail had been properly made, even if it was way too tight, the seams wouldn't be splitting like that. How do I know? BECAUSE I HAVE DONE IT MYSELF. It's not rocket science. Seriously, it's not that freaking hard. If Matty can't even figure out how to make durable seams that don't split open the first time they're stretched, he shouldn't even be making tails. I have zero respect for workmanship that shoddy and I don't feel the slightest bit bad about saying so. There IS NO REASON for a tail to be that poorly made. And honestly, I would be mortified if I ever made something that looked half that terrible. If I were him, I would never have let that tail see the light of day. I sure as hell wouldn't be defending it.

AND HERE'S THE THING: the fact that he's put out a tail THIS bad and hasn't already apologized profusely for the mistake and offered to fix it for free (as any halfway decent tailmaker would), just goes to show that it wasn't a mistake. He made that tail thinking it was a pretty good tail! That does not inspire confidence! I would be ASTOUNDED if it were an isolated incident, and if there's a chance that Matty will produce more tails like that in the future, people deserve to know about it so they don't waste their money.

Vanora and Kelly, the tone of your posts continually suggests that you really just want to defend Matty no matter what and you don't care what anyone else says/aren't listening/don't understand/can't read. So, which is it?

[kellygracee]

Actually that isn't what's happening at all. I personally just contacted the woman who is having issues with her tail to help assist with maybe finding a way to help guide her in fixing the issue.

I think what your doing is being rude for no reason and making this a personal issue which its not.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kellygracee]

Maybe you should focus on helping people and making mermaiding and owning tails a good experience rather than trying to personally attacking people. I don't know your name.... But I think your being extremely childish on your responses and how this isn't about focusing on issues away or towards our views on this topic

Maybe I should ask you, do you own a Merrowfins tail? You seem to be involved in this thread.

[VanoraSirene]

I think that you are being rather rude for no reason. We all agree her tail needs fixing. And that hopefully find a way to fix it. Thats it.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Maybe you should focus on helping people and making mermaiding and owning tails a good experience rather than trying to personally attacking people. I don't know your name.... But I think your being extremely childish on your responses and how this isn't about focusing on issues away or towards our views on this topic
Maybe I should ask you, do you own a Merrowfins tail? You seem to be involved in this thread.

The thing is Kelly, this whole debacle started with a couple of people attempting to help a customer who got a tail that was not as advertised. There was no personal attacking going on. There was no issue until mention of the poor quality tail was made in this thread. To be completely fair, it was not until you and Vanora stepped in to say that Theobromine, Moongazer, and others shouldn't be so opinionated about Merrowfins that we had an issue. Members of mernetwork are allowed to state their opinions in the open forums even if they do not personally own a tail by a specific tail maker. The only place you HAVE to have a tail/item in order to state an opinion is in the REVIEW section.


I will ask that everyone please step away from this thread for a while to calm down. I don't believe there is anymore that needs to be said THIS VERY MOMENT, so please take some time to cool off or I will temporarily lock the thread. Thank you everyone.
If you have issues that you believe are not being addressed, please private message me.

[Theobromine]

It seems I may have to explain a few things more directly in this thread that I spoke about in the other thread already (the one I linked to that set off this firestorm) so people can get a better idea of what's going on that has tipped me off to Matty's shady behaviour.

I think we can all agree that art theft is bad, and image theft is bad. They are also illegal but very difficult to police. Many of us in the community are hypersensitive to art and image theft, as it has happened to so many of us so many times. A week or two ago, one of my friends sent me the link to this photo on the Merrowfins facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MerrowFins/photos/a.1699310503634095.1073741829.1674003116164834/1787678328130645/?type=3&theater

It is a close-up monochrome photo of a pinecone with the caption "Who's ready for a new scale pattern???? :) I know I am! But the new scale pattern will be an exclusive scale pattern for the most realistic tails!" There was no photographer credited, and the caption seems to imply that this is an actual scale pattern made by Matty. Several comments left on the photo demonstrated that people did actually believe it was a picture of an actual Merrowfins creation, and Matty hadn't given any clarifications or said anything to disabuse anyone of that notion. This immediately set off alarm bells in my head, so I did a reverse image search and found the original photo on the photographer's Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/28225102@N05/6298441686/ My husband is a nature photographer and has a Flickr Pro account, so I had him check it out for me and he confirmed that anyone using that photo would need direct permission from the photographer. He also sent the photographer a message to let him know someone was using the image, apparently without his permission. I then left a polite comment on the picture, not accusing him of anything but linking to the original image *just in case* he wasn't aware he needed to credit it, and giving him a chance to rectify the situation before anything got out of hand.

Nothing at all happened for several days, until last night when the original photographer left a comment on the photo:
37431

Since then, both my comment and the photographer's comment have been removed, and still no mention of photographer credit or any sort of clarification whatsoever.

This is not innocent behaviour. Matty was given a chance to fix the error without being accused of theft, but instead of doing the right thing, he's chosen to delete the evidence and ignore it. He's taking credit for someone else's work and lying by omission. This is not acceptable in any situation and the fact that I noticed it means I feel obligated to point it out. If I didn't, I would be just as guilty for keeping silent. Coupled with the fact that he just sold someone a tail that he claimed was made from Dragonskin when it was very clearly not, I feel that this guy is very untrustworthy (even though he has been given a massive second chance by the community after everything he was involved in with Mertailor stuff). I don't want to see anyone else get burned by him. And I reeeeeeeally don't think there is any reasonable explanation or excuse for his behaviour!

Edit: the pinecone photo is on his Instagram as well, also uncredited. https://www.instagram.com/p/BGJL6A3TKJs/?taken-by=merrowfins_by_matthewquijano

[LouLouBelle]

The photographer commented telling him to remove the photo. All he's done is deleted that comment along with several others mentioning it's a pine cone. He's then claimed he responded to the photographer and offered to credit him... But there's still no credit and the photo hasn't been removed, despite the photographer saying he would report it otherwise. And he's saying he's being harassed...

You're right, that's not innocent by any stretch of the imagination. Posting that pic the way he did was deliberately misleading and therefore dishonest. And as for deleting the photographers request to remove the photo and then claiming he's responded and offered to credit... Without any credit appearing... Where do you even begin??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

I'm really glad I'm not the only one noticing this. It's unbelievable. Thank you to everyone else who has spoken up so far.

[Dolphin Man]

At first I was hesitant to publicize my worry just in case it was unfounded. I haven't received my Merrowfins tail yet. It was ordered Oct. 31st, but I do understand silicone tails take some time to make. The design called for specific details as this to look like a dolphin tail. Of course, I'm getting antsy. He emailed photos some months back, but I haven't gotten an email recently. Should I be concerned? His earlier emails showed photos of the fluke tail. Looked like a wood carving. He was talking about it having been poured and molded and the anatomic details put in. That was several months ago.

[Dolphin Man]

The last time I emailed and got a reply back was May 3rd. It's not that long ago. I emailed for an update on June 14th. No reply yet. These are the photos he sent way back in Nov 10th.

[Dolphin Man]

37434

[Dolphin Man]

37435

[Dolphin Man]

Jan 12, he was finishing up the sculpture. By Feb 19, the fluke had been molded and body was poured. He was about to work on the mono fin. In March, I sent over pigment colors. Then in May 3rd, I asked if he could attach the dorsal fin. No photos except these two above sent Nov. 10.

[LouLouBelle]

Looks like the photographer has finally been credited. I can't help but wonder if the photographer did change his mind and give permission. Sadly I doubt it.

Oh well - things like this make me glad I'm able to make my own tail. I only hope everyone who has ordered a tail actually gets what they're expecting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AniaR]

*doesn't care if she catches hell and once again gets the "Raina is so mean" facebook statuses for saying it like it is. **

Vanora are you really going to go there again? Last time someone complained about Merrowfins you threw a fit, got Eden involved, and the next thing we knew there were multiple callout posts on FB, and ‘someone’ had tried to spam bot take down mernetwork.

Don’t you remember how hurt and disappointed you were when you had your bad mertailor experience? How everyone here supported you, rallied for you, and empowered you? The reality is, not everyone’s going to have a great time with your tail maker, and you just need to learn to deal with it. I don’t like seeing bad things about Raven. But when someone posts legit concerns or complaints, I can sometimes give context but I never tell them they’re wrong or give them grief, or shame them. (mind you, waiting a long time for a tail isn’t the same as getting one you can’t use) cuz guess what? Shit happens. I make it worse for Raven if I stick my nose in, something I had to learn the hard way.

The fact of the matter is, to both Vanora and Kelly Grace, this is the whole dang point of mernetwork. To be able to talk about this stuff, and post reviews, so people can make INFORMED choices. The best thing you can do if you support someone, is give them a fair review, not argue with everyone who doesn’t. That just makes you, and the tail maker, look bad. Linking to another place on the forum for people to find information is literally the whole point on the dang forum. Don’t give someone shit for saying “hey you can find reviews here”, they absolutely do not need to be customers, to point out where you can find info on mernetwork. It really seems like you're trying to deflect to try and justify not liking one post.

Now Vanora, even though you were really rude to a lot of people about merrowfins previously, I see those SAME PEOPLE clearly gave you a second chance and congratulated you on your new tail. If you find it too hard to see stuff you disagree with, self regulate, and don't read it.

[AniaR]

At first I was hesitant to publicize my worry just in case it was unfounded. I haven't received my Merrowfins tail yet. It was ordered Oct. 31st, but I do understand silicone tails take some time to make. The design called for specific details as this to look like a dolphin tail. Of course, I'm getting antsy. He emailed photos some months back, but I haven't gotten an email recently. Should I be concerned? His earlier emails showed photos of the fluke tail. Looked like a wood carving. He was talking about it having been poured and molded and the anatomic details put in. That was several months ago.

I'm really sorry I saw your email but I have just been too busy. Pretty much everything you see in this thread is all I can offer on experiences with merrowfins. I have never worked with him and unlikely to ever do so.

[Theobromine]

3743637437

After this I was blocked from commenting any further (and my comments were once again deleted) but I was able to watch this glorious exchange unfold:

37438374393744037441374423744337444

[LouLouBelle]

Oh dear...

I don't know why he didn't just remove the photo when the photographer asked...

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160619/5b13c8d5eefe109018e4d3460fe1ba9f.jpg

... instead of deleting that comment, along with all other references to the original image... Then blocking anyone who had mentioned it (I've been blocked for my comments too, one of which you can see in Theo's screen caps. The other was simply replying to another persons comment saying nothing more than 'it's a pine cone'... Only a guilty conscious would consider that harassment!) and continuing to delete comments while claiming to have contacted the photographer and be waiting on his name(?!?) so he can finally credit the photo.

Really?? Come on...

I've got to say, though, the fact that the image was stolen isn't what bothers me most. It's the fact that he posted the photo as if it were his own work, and didn't correct those who thought it was until a good few people had called him out. That's deliberately misleading and dishonest.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Alea]

The pinecone photo does remind me a lot of his other scales, so I see why it would seem like his own work. Saying that Google didn't provide the credits to the photographer isn't a good excuse. When I find an image using Google I click to view the page the image is from and ta da you can then find who took the photo and contact them to ask if you can use their photo.

At the end of last year I became the Editor of a magazine. I have used several photos from people off of Flickr WITH THEIR PERMISSION. It is so very easy to ask people for permission to use their photo. It is also very easy to credit them.

[Mermaid Momo]

So I think I'm blocked now 😂😂

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

I've got to say, though, the fact that the image was stolen isn't what bothers me most. It's the fact that he posted the photo as if it were his own work, and didn't correct those who thought it was until a good few people had called him out. That's deliberately misleading and dishonest.

THIS.


Saying that Google didn't provide the credits to the photographer isn't a good excuse. When I find an image using Google I click to view the page the image is from and ta da you can then find who took the photo and contact them to ask if you can use their photo.

This too. It took me less than a minute to reverse image search that pine cone photo and find the photographer's Flickr. Matty was either blatantly lying or lacking enough brain cells to rub together.

Also, Momo, you are my hero right now.

The one thing that still really bugs me that no one has been able to figure out.....WHY IS HE USING A PINECONE AS THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS "MOST REALISTIC" SCALES????????????????????
In case you missed what I said in the other thread about pinecone scales on fish, the ONLY time a fish ever has pinecone scales is when it has dropsy and is about to die. Google it if you don't believe me. Gross.

[Theobromine]

Oh also, something else that should be pointed out: Matty, that's not how copyright works. Just adding the photographer's name to the post doesn't give you permission to use the photo. You need EXPLICIT PERMISSION FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHER TO USE THE PHOTO. Perhaps he's gotten that permission privately by now, but I'm not positive that he has, and the edit he made to the photo caption sounded more like a whiny five-year-old bowing to peer pressure than a professional actually giving proper credit.

37446

[Merman Arion]

Thank you for the tea girls, it was quite enjoyable to read so far

https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6gbeW79zrP9lUAjC/giphy.gif

As for Matthew..

http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/3776/41/original.gif

http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/0964955c-a578-4613-87d0-3bd683b391e0/e9960a8e-12b7-447a-86ea-0d6e7fd288f3.gif

[LouLouBelle]

Purely out of interest... Is there anyone else who can't wait to see what the new scale design looks like now?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mer-Crazy]

Well I don't think he'd be so lax about not giving credit if it was HIS photos. How do you think he'd react if I took a photo of his, posted it here and went "working on something new! So excited! :D" Pretty sure he'd rage and say how dare I take his photo. "But Matt! It's just inspiration Matt! I didn't claim it was mine Matt! I got it off goggle and google didn't provide me with a name Matt!" that's basically what happened here.

[Theobromine]

Just as long as it doesn't look like this! BLEH

http://mernetwork.com/index/attachment.php?attachmentid=37448&stc=1
(source) (http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/freshwater-fish-disease/106956-platty-scales-sticking-out-photo.html)

[kellygracee]

I'm understanding where both sides have valid points now that I've gone and read through a lot of other threads regarding the tail issue and people having issues stated above.

I completely understand where everyone is coming from.

I actually reached out to the lady with the tail issue and am trying to see if I can help assist in any way seeing how I choose to make a statement a few days ago. I hope I can help her or maybe offer to even buy her old tail. I've bought a few bad tail experiences off other mermaids and hope she just gets something nice, she likes and feels comfterble in and can continue in her business.

Sorry if I happened to come off in any way rude or maybe passionate about my own personal experiences. I do hope everyone gets a good final product and/ or can fix the issues they are experiencing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

....he still hasn't credited the photographer on that picture on his Instagram page. I know he's aware that he SHOULD because he deleted my comment linking to the original. Is it really that difficult for this guy to be honest? Seriously.

[Mermaid Cataleya]

So I think I'm blocked now [emoji23][emoji23]

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

U shouldn't be tho on a business page other possible buyers of his product to see someone blocked doesn't really look good. I know if I would block someone on my page I would get hacked from everyone else on the page for it


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Cataleya]

I'm understanding where both sides have valid points now that I've gone and read through a lot of other threads regarding the tail issue and people having issues stated above.

I completely understand where everyone is coming from.

I actually reached out to the lady with the tail issue and am trying to see if I can help assist in any way seeing how I choose to make a statement a few days ago. I hope I can help her or maybe offer to even buy her old tail. I've bought a few bad tail experiences off other mermaids and hope she just gets something nice, she likes and feels comfterble in and can continue in her business.

Sorry if I happened to come off in any way rude or maybe passionate about my own personal experiences. I do hope everyone gets a good final product and/ or can fix the issues they are experiencing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am very grateful for your help can't wait to do touch ups with the pigments :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Cataleya]

I am very grateful for your help can't wait to do touch ups with the pigments :)

Plus doing fix ups on this tail and getting use to this tail will help me be ready for my top of the line full silicone tail haha
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

So this:
37472

Led to this:
37473

Which thankfully an awesome friend screencapped just seconds before the whole thing got deleted. Now the photo is gone from both the Merrowfins Facebook and Instagram pages, but I think it's already too late for Matty to pretend that he has any integrity. He's shown his true colors pretty unequivocally now. He's a liar and a thief as well as a terrible businessman and artist. I don't feel the slightest bit bad about saying so because it was his own actions and words that got him into this situation. He did it to himself.


....the only thing I am still confused about is why the heck he was even using a photo of a pinecone as a stand-in for fish scales in the first place.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I usually try to be pretty unbiased and partial about these sorts of things, but wow. There's no hiding the fact that Matty stole a photo, lied about it, was busted, tried to cover his traces, and then tried to pin the lack of credit on the artist. To say 'bad form' is an understatement. Not to say anything about the poor quality tail.

And I must agree about the scale design. Why would you want your tail to look like you have dropsy?

This whole thing is a mess. A part of me hopes Matty will turn around, but I, personally, finished giving him chances a long time ago.

[LouLouBelle]

Deleting the photographers original request to remove the image and then lying about getting permission was pretty stupid...

Sad, and infuriating at the same time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dolphin Man]

Actually, I forgot. There's one more photo I found on his Facebook timeline that I think is for my tail, but that's the third and only other photo I've seen. It's likely the underside with two slits a male dolphin would have. 37481

[Mermaid Momo]

Are they making you a tail like mertailor's tail for the adult entertainer ?

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

[Dolphin Man]

Are they making you a tail like mertailor's tail for the adult entertainer ?

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

No. Not the adult entertainer. This is the ventral side of the dolphin tail I want, anatomically correct. Fortunately, I saw photos of a similar one done by the artist now heading up Merrowfins.

[Mermaid Momo]

No. Not the adult entertainer. This is the ventral side of the dolphin tail I want, anatomically correct. Fortunately, I saw photos of a similar one done by the artist now heading up Merrowfins.
Her tail was anatomically correct too but with only one hole

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

[Dolphin Man]

A male dolphin has two holes, one for... well storing his maleness and the other for excretion.

[UtahMermaidPearl]

But are you going to do anything with them or is it just for accuracy? I think that's the question.

[Dolphin Man]

I'm glad you asked. If you're going to spend a lot of money, I think, you should go all out and make the design be the best it can be. Besides going to conventions or swimming recreationally, I've thought about doing it professionally, thus the Barnum and Bailey like name "The Dolphin Man". I don't know how much calling there would be for mermen. it would be interesting to perform in a sideshow. I've been intending to practice my clicks and whistles. So, the simple answer is... it's just for accuracy. It's to fool people into thinking that's a real tail.

[UtahMermaidPearl]

Oh well that's really cool!

[AniaR]

I don't want this to come off in any way insulting, but are you concerned people MIGHT think it's a sexual thing? I'm not really getting the benefit of adding the slits it kinda seems like adding nipples to a mermaid top, or but crack on the tail or something. I just find people think this whole merfolk thing is pretty weird, and seeing something like that on someone I think many people would automatically assume it's a sexual thing. I mean honestly, if you didn't specify it, I think many of us thought that. Realism is fun and all, but we're still people in costumes and merfolk aren't real. I can't say I've ever noticed the slits on a dolphin. So I'm not sure people would make that connection. Nothing intended to offend you at all, it's your choice and your tail, but I have to admit it would make me uncomfortable if I randomly saw it out at a pool. I think men also have a much harder time being accepted as mers, and are often lumped in with predators etc when they're around kids and we know mertails draw kids.

Whatever makes you happy I guess. I'm just not really seeing the benefit. The Vagina tail made a huge amount of people uncomfortable at merfest 2 (for which I witnessed personally) and there were several complaints about it.

[Mermaid Momo]

Yeah i second thinking about using the tail professionally or around children. This is more of a tail for a personal collection imo. But like raina said, it isn't my tail and if if's the tail of your dreams then have at it

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

[Dolphin Man]

Yeah i second thinking about using the tail professionally or around children. This is more of a tail for a personal collection imo. But like raina said, it isn't my tail and if if's the tail of your dreams then have at it

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

This has been the tail I've wanted, but it's nice to get a heads up on possible reactions. Thanks.

[Imogen Finnly]

You could always wear a decorated fish net wrap if youre going to be around kiddos?

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[Scarneko]

I've heard a lot of bad reviews on merrowfins so it's making me not want to buy a partial silicone tail from him <_< Unfortunately i'm on a budget to buy a tail, that's why I wanted to get a partial instead of a full silicone tail now but his work has so many negative review especially on customer service o.o

[UtahMermaidPearl]

There have also been a lot of happy costumers but they have not posted reviews which is unfortunate. All tailmakers have good and bad qualities. Maybe you should talk to him or people who have ordered individually

[Scarneko]

There have also been a lot of happy costumers but they have not posted reviews which is unfortunate. All tailmakers have good and bad qualities. Maybe you should talk to him or people who have ordered individually


Yes I haven't seen many positive reviews from him but thank you I will do this. I've emailed him before but only once and never got a response back but I'll start talking to more people who've gotten it from him instead c:

[Mermaid Julianne]

Check the review thread, some more were just posted

[Mermaid Cataleya]

So true a lot haven't posted reviews

[Mermaid_Namaka]

Omg I'm so glad someone else said it, I only just joined Mernetwork but I've been following this Mertailor thing for years and Eric seems to be a classic narcissist playing the victim with this. Also, the rape comment was incredibly disgusting, idk how he thinks that having business competition is in any way comparable to rape. I've lost any remaining hope for him to change.

^In response to Winged Mermaid's comment from 10-20-2015, 02:58 AM (#117 on this thread)

[AniaR]

that comment is over a year old. lol so let's not worry about old drama.

For those saying there's not many reviews I think they're sitting in the queue waiting for an admin to approve them? The forum had to institute an approval process because certain tail makers used to just make loads of alt accounts and post fake positive reviews for themselves lol

[Hydra1337]

Is the approval system the reason why some reviews can't be read yet but the username still appears on the side of latest post?

[AniaR]

yes. I suspect the admins are all just busy with the holidays

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

Does anyone else feel like Merrowfins copies aLOT of their tail designs? I feel like every other time I see a tail from them it leaves me thinking "well that looks just like ___"

[Hydra1337]

I don't see it. Can you give specific examples?

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

I mean, there are a few that seem unique, but other then that... take your pick. It also seems like almost all of their flukes, like 75% are based off other shops. I just feel like nearly everything they do is a remake. *shrugs* maybe It's just me? but that many flukes can't be a coincidence.

[Hydra1337]

Again, I don't see it. Could you please show me comparison pictures of Merrowfins' and other shops' flukes that look so similar? As far as I could tell from what I've seen on the Merrowfins Facebook page there haven't been any remakes.

[Mermaid Momo]

I don't really see it fluke wise either, most of their flukes aren't copies but are instead very basic stereotypical mermaid shaped. I do think however that he is obsessed with the past a bit instead of moving forward. He has made a few posts about " i actually made this not mertailor"

Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk

[Hydra1337]

Those kinds of posts I have seen. Every once in a while he'll post selfies too that are vaguely mermaiding related which are kind of a turn off for me personally. I feel like stuff like that should be on a personal page not a business one.

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

So, I didnt really want to take the time to do this XD but I had a little extra time on my hands so I thought why not. I'm personally most familiar with mertailors work, so I used him as my main example, but there've been a few times where I've seen a merrow tail and thought "Merbella", and theres another company I've thought of too but I can't remember.

At first it was easy enough finding some pretty interesting examples.
41435
41436

And I'd even oddly find posts like...Merrow made after mertailor like "hey check me out I did this first" type things.....Then....I found these?? And now I'm waaay confused... The right column is "mertailor" and the left is "merrow"?? These pictures are posted to both pages with no mention of the other, each claiming them as their own?? Did these two like...have a bad break up or something? Cuz I'm legitimately confused now.

Regardless, I stick to my origial comment that it seems Merrow in general seems to rely too heavily on "inspiration" from other shops. Again, Mertailor is just the example I could easily pinpoint off the back, but it isn't the only one I've thought his tails resembled.
41437

[Mermaid Momo]

oooh I get your confusion now, you don't know the history between the two of them. They used to be work partners and in a relationship and then broke up, Matty, the owner of Merrowfins worked on a lot of the sculpts and tails for Mertailor when they were together and as such posts the sculpts and tails he made onto the Merrowfins page also, so what you're thinking are replicas aren't replicas, it's the exact same tail. For example the adult film tail was made by the mertailor company except Matty was the one who sculpted it I believe, same with the lobster tail.

Most of the flukes that are similar are to be honest, quite blah flukes because they're basic mermaid flukes that almost every tailmaker out there has or has had before they began making their customized fluke sculpts.

So basically: Merrowfins is claiming the work they did when they were part of Mertailor which means the post the same tails Mertailor does, since Merrowfins was the sculpter for mertailor a lot of their flukes will resemble the work they did before but a lot of the flukes are very basic shapes which can be seen in other tailmaker's works too because they're basic mermaid flukes.

[Marinus Mortimer]

Actually, I forgot. There's one more photo I found on his Facebook timeline that I think is for my tail, but that's the third and only other photo I've seen. It's likely the underside with two slits a male dolphin would have. 37481

Glat to see im not the only one that wants to include sexual or genitalia area to the tail, i for one never planned to work with kids so i think it wont matter.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Momo]

Whatever happened to that tail anyways? They posted a dolphin tail recently but no slits in sight.

I do still wonder about the appeal of having sexual organ slits on a tail though, purely for looka or is it something more? Like a yiff or murr suit in the fur fandom? (Don't goggle image those kiddos)

Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk

[Marinus Mortimer]

Whatever happened to that tail anyways! They posted a dolphin tail recently but no slits in sight.

I do still wonder about the appeal of having sexual organ slits on a tail though, purely for looka or is it something more? Like a yiff or murr suit in the fur fandom? (Don't goggle image those kiddos)

Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk

Lol i googled it [emoji23], my answer is yes ive always wanted a tail for a more "personal" type of thing ive drawn out design concepts for how i would achieve it for both males and females while still looking modest and kinda hidden by fins. But that wont happen for me until i finish my current tail project plus i wont be able to show it off as much lol cause of its sexual nature

[Mermaid Momo]

Lol i googled it [emoji23], my answer is yes ive always wanted a tail for a more "personal" type of thing ive drawn out design concepts for how i would achieve it for both males and females while still looking modest and kinda hidden by fins. But that wont happen for me until i finish my current tail project plus i wont be able to show it off as much lol cause of its sexual nature
I warned you!

See that i can see, i just can't imagine it in use outside of that purpose on a " normal" tail. To me that's like making a hole for my mergina on an everyday swim to take to my local pool tail lol. (And i bet $2 that if i had a slit there someone would attempt to insert something or touch it sexually)

If you are in the kink scene a tail like that would probably see some action. Have you seen the one mertailor/Matty made for the adult actress with rear access to her lady bits?

There was also a video of a merman with a cut away in his tail over his tush (i can't remember if they actually used the tail or if it came off though)

Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk

[Marinus Mortimer]

I warned you!

See that i can see, i just can't imagine it in use outside of that purpose on a " normal" tail. To me that's like making a hole for my mergina on an everyday swim to take to my local pool tail lol. (And i bet $2 that if i had a slit there someone would attempt to insert something or touch it sexually)

If you are in the kink scene a tail like that would probably see some action. Have you seen the one mertailor/Matty made for the adult actress with rear access to her lady bits?

There was also a video of a merman with a cut away in his tail over his tush (i can't remember if they actually used the tail or if it came off though)

Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk

Yes ur right especially if ur a female in today's society it would feel weird but in my design for boys its more like having a sleve to cover "it" and a slit to tuck it into kind of like this statue its a penis within a penis lol (WARNING, NSFW IMAGE, genitalia depicted: http://hifructose.com/2014/08/20/cameron-stalheims-sculptures-indulge-dark-fantasies/)

Personally i would use that tail anywhere (i dont and wont be working with kids) so by anywhere i mean beaches and or freshwaters ive always been confident nude high school lockers though me how to, plus im a guy so there will be wayyyy les pervy stuff that could possibly come my way. I think...

Also if any one was to make this functional they would need to add a support system inside like tight undies merged with the tail to keep everything aligned, but thats just me [emoji23] being technical.

Yes i was in love with that tail i thought they made it for playboy or something cause i never saw it again
That merman tail i think was used in a gay movie but i never saw the movie so i wouldn't know more.

Lol that would be considered a kink? Lmfao i didn't consider that [emoji848]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

hahaha wow....I can't believe I was right when I said "bad break up", and here I was thinking I was making a bad joke. Well someone is definitely still butt hurt about it in any case XD Merrow seems to reference mertailor at every turn, while mertailor seems to be the picture of professional.

I'd love a "sexy time tail"! Personally, I think the way our society lashes out against genitalia is ridiculous. I'd absolutely want a tail that is more anatomically correct, and I don't think theres a damn thing wrong with it. If mermaids were real, they'd NEED those area's, especially considering we tend to depict them as mammals rather then fish (Which, btw, I've never understood why we model them after fish, and not dolphins or sharks? Like not just in practice but in Media and art? It doesn't make any sense that their fluke would be horizontal but they'd have scales. Thats not how mammals work XD why doesn't art depict them with a vertical fluke if they want them to be so called "fish people". other wise Their just.... incorrect lol They're a mixture of three species instead of two which is super odd, but I digress." So why not incorporate it? It'd be a powerful statement to social norms in any case, and technically not nudity X3 so long as you're very careful where you choose to swim.

[Echidna]

I've never understood why we model them after fish, and not dolphins or sharks? Like not just in practice but in Media and art? It doesn't make any sense that their fluke would be horizontal but they'd have scales. Thats not how mammals work XD why doesn't art depict them with a vertical fluke if they want them to be so called "fish people"

well, mermaid myths/depictions are VERY old.
While there are depictions of merfolk which are very different from what we are used to nowadays (tritons, nereids, ancient deities like Oannes which seem to have a vertical fluke indeed), people in the medieval ages didn't have much clue about life in the ocean (or water, for that matter).
They regarded everything living in it as fish.
(That's where terms like "jellyfish" and "whalefish" come from).
You can find old depictions of dolphins with scales and such.

And then there are a variety of merfolk like those with two webbed feet, two-tailed mermaids, and so on.
It's just the "modern" image of mermaids which is so invariable.
Blame Disney :p

[Marinus Mortimer]

hahaha wow....I can't believe I was right when I said "bad break up", and here I was thinking I was making a bad joke. Well someone is definitely still butt hurt about it in any case XD Merrow seems to reference mertailor at every turn, while mertailor seems to be the picture of professional.
That i cant agree with cause Matty is the one who did most if not all scupts for Eric so its only natural that Merrow's style reflects Mertailor's style cause its basically the same sculpter



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Peridot]

well, mermaid myths/depictions are VERY old.
While there are depictions of merfolk which are very different from what we are used to nowadays (tritons, nereids, ancient deities like Oannes which seem to have a vertical fluke indeed), people in the medieval ages didn't have much clue about life in the ocean (or water, for that matter).
They regarded everything living in it as fish.
(That's where terms like "jellyfish" and "whalefish" come from).
You can find old depictions of dolphins with scales and such.

And then there are a variety of merfolk like those with two webbed feet, two-tailed mermaids, and so on.
It's just the "modern" image of mermaids which is so invariable.
Blame Disney :p

Even though my tail is definitely fishy, in lots of my art I like to opt for more mammal or shark based mers. I don't know, I guess I figure if mers were real they would have evolved more like dolphins or such, so like all their skin the same type, no fused legs (either they'd turn to flukes and the spine would elongate or they'd have the twin tailed look)... I have put too much thought into this.

[deepblue]

hahaha wow....I can't believe I was right when I said "bad break up", and here I was thinking I was making a bad joke. Well someone is definitely still butt hurt about it in any case XD Merrow seems to reference mertailor at every turn, while mertailor seems to be the picture of professional.


That i cant agree with cause Matty is the one who did most if not all scupts for Eric so its only natural that Merrow's style reflects Mertailor's style cause its basically the same sculpter


And even if it were the most congenial break up in history, Matt has a right to claim his own work, to make it clear, and to repeat it as often as necessary as the artist. I've been following Merrowtails since its start, and I haven't even once thought he was living in the past, or doing anything unprofessional at all. I've been following many tail makers for years, new ones as they emerge, watching some fail and disappear, some thrive. He's not a stupid man, he knows how it is out there, on this forum, and in the FB mermaiding world. He knows how people talk and gossip and make judgments.

Meanwhile, the idea of Mertailor as nothing but professional is hard for some of us to swallow since this is a more recent turn of events. He's gotten a lot better recently, but he gained a horrid reputation for a reason. Not going to bring up everything about it, but anyone who's been following tail makers for long enogh or has been in the community (online and off, here or on MerYuku, which I wasn't a part of because I really disliked Yuku) is very aware of his overall, longstory rep, and also, that he's been doing better recently. Then he had his second reputation among the general public who just did not know at all what was going on in the community, for years, and the history there. I'm just glad that things seem to be improving overall when it comes to the crap that was so often going on. It's just better for the community in general that things are better, no matter who the tailmaker is.

It's gotta be tricky for Merrowtails... or anyone in a similar situation. Someone responsible for most of the a company's designs, who helped build that company, and then for whatever reason (since the reason does not really matter when it comes to breaking off and leaving the place you helped build), he started his own company doing the same type of niche market product, and to start, you have none of the reputation that former does- good or bad, people know about the one and the other has, as we have seen here, people assuming that he's copying and all sorts of other assumptions based on partial information.

No wonder the guy feels the need to reiterate time after time. The posts here and elsewhere (which I imagine are happening, since Mernetwork is but one microcosm of the mer world) questioning is authenticity are exactly why.

Anyway, I wish him happiness and success, he too is only human, and as long as he's not screwing people over, good luck to him. Good luck to anyone who makes the effort to make a good tail, stand by it, and respond with decent customer service, no matter who they are. I've heard/read nothing but glowing reviews of interactions with Matty/Merrowtails, he is really making people happy, and that's the most important thing.

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

Well If Merrow fins made the molds I'd argue why their flukes aren't nearly as consistent or detailed as Mertailors? Mertailor seems to be more then capable of making flukes and molds without them, where as merrowfins' flukes look kind of... messy idk. In comparison anyway. but it looks like I'm not the only one who's seen that they take a bit too much "inspiration" from other shops. I've also heard they are more then willing to remake other shops designs. Like I said, it isn't just mertailor I feel like I've seen them be a little too similar for my taste too. But really I don't care, I'm just making observations. Regardless I don't know the history, but I'll say that as someone newer in the community looking in mertailor has a much better image then merrow fins, and looks better in comparison, So I'm kind of doubting merrowfins could have made those great tails without mertailor, since their most recent work is not really all that impressive, and seems repetitive , where as Mertailor comes out with great new things often. But again, I'm not interested in being involved in drama I'm just stating my very humble opinion since I don't know much about much X3

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

41505

Now I'm not going as far as to agree they "copied" this fluke, all I'm saying is nothing they do seems to be very unique, or all that well done if they're trying to compare themselves to mertailor. I don't have any personal vendetta against merrow fins or anything XD sorry if it's coming off like that. this is just something i'venoticed time and time again when they pop up on my feed, and I've always just kind of thought ".....huh."

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

well, mermaid myths/depictions are VERY old.
While there are depictions of merfolk which are very different from what we are used to nowadays (tritons, nereids, ancient deities like Oannes which seem to have a vertical fluke indeed), people in the medieval ages didn't have much clue about life in the ocean (or water, for that matter).
They regarded everything living in it as fish.
(That's where terms like "jellyfish" and "whalefish" come from).
You can find old depictions of dolphins with scales and such.

And then there are a variety of merfolk like those with two webbed feet, two-tailed mermaids, and so on.
It's just the "modern" image of mermaids which is so invariable.
Blame Disney :p
That is.....SO interesting.... You have really given me something to think about hahah i like everything you just said

[Hydra1337]

41505

Now I'm not going as far as to agree they "copied" this fluke, all I'm saying is nothing they do seems to be very unique, or all that well done if they're trying to compare themselves to mertailor. I don't have any personal vendetta against merrow fins or anything XD sorry if it's coming off like that. this is just something i'venoticed time and time again when they pop up on my feed, and I've always just kind of thought ".....huh."

...Wow. Now I totally see your point. I'm not on Instagram or anything so I've never seen that before now. It may not be a straight up copy but that's a little too similar for my tastes. My husband disagrees saying they're different enough and there's only so many fluke shapes someone can make. To each their own though.

[AniaR]

you gotta remember though it's 100% normal for these types of company to hire contractors to do things like sculpting, or painting, or assembling. Matty was hired and paid for his service, and there's no way for anyone to really verify his claims of how much he did or what he did besides him. He makes a lot of claims about that lobster tail but you can see on his page that Robert Short who also helped with it, contests that.

So take it all as a grain of salt.

I do personally think Matty focuses way too much on mertailor. I have known them both for ages. I think he holds himself back by constantly trying to prove his worth next to mertailor, and instead of trying to offer what eric does, he should focus on making his line of tails more his own and innovate.

[Mermaid Momo]

I do personally think Matty focuses way too much on mertailor. I have known them both for ages. I think he holds himself back by constantly trying to prove his worth next to mertailor, and instead of trying to offer what eric does, he should focus on making his line of tails more his own and innovate.

100% agree! He has this sort of tunnel vision set of always competing with mertailor, not on a business competition level but more of in a personal level, like a bitter rival who has no other objective but to beat one particular person for revenge or to prove something.

It seems so harsh to type it out but it's what stands out to me after following him for so long. I think he should stop focusing on what mertailor is doing and on upping him and work on creating signature products and styles to his tails. (For example i can tell a merbella, mertailor, finfolk, etc tail just from looking at it but it's hard to do that with merrowfins).

I feel like he has so much potential but is being held back by the past.

As for the copying, that is clearly a copied fluke to me, i didn't notice it at all to be honest because i never saw the original fluke. I hope he starts sculpting his own designs more.

Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

Something else merrow did that really rubbed me the wrong way. they recently posted 3, not one, but 3 photos of the same silicone starfish with fun captions, like look at these star fish! join the merrow family! When, in actuality all they did was repaint someone elses work. I don't care what the circumstance is but to me thats extremely misleading. It's extremely unprofessional not to give out right credit to someone elses work. What do you mean you "think" thats what the company was called? If you're in agreement to use and repaint someone elses work not only should it state somewhere that all you did was paint, but you should have known and mentioned the company that did the main design. If he gets upset when Mertailor doesn't credit him, why do the same to someone else?
41528
41529
41530
41531

Idk, i think it's safe to say that something about them just doesn't add up to me. I think I'll just leave it at that X3

[Arking]

My take away from the starfish is that he's got the ability to work off of others peoples ideas and make them work for his own vision. That said, this particular instance is a bit silly, credit where credit is due chum, I mean if he really believes art is a community than please pass the acknowledgements on and build up those you build from.

I definitely think he's incredibly talented and probably flounders from time to time in uncertainty on where to go next in his skills. I could also see the lack of shared credit stemming from insecurity in the face of competitors. If he's as really fixated as he seems against mertailor than perhaps he feels safer saying he alone is coming up with the work he sells as it makes himself look more desirable in the business. There is also the chance that he's subconsciously or deliberately protecting his sources of inspiration and collaboration. If your sources remain unknowns they remain accessible, exclusive, and in turn affordable so there's a benefit to keeping them uncredited really. It's all conjecture though. I hope he continues to collaborate and explore that community art idea, he can only stand to benefit from working with minds like his own.

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

Very well said. Though I'd hope he isn't keeping them under wraps for selfish reasons. If we're really all one community like he said he believes we are then he should be happy to promote a reliable source.

[AniaR]

there's simply no reason for him not to credit. Why can't he make his own starfish??

[Arking]

He does seem to indicate in one response that his own sculptures weren't ready in time for the client which tells me this was time sensitive and a custom request. Not that it's any excuse at all. On one hand props to him for trying to deliver quality in a timely fashion, but it would have also made sense for him to negotiate with the client on expected work time and deliver a completely original work. I know I've over estimated my own abilities before, so this could be a case of him promising something by a certain date and realizing he's no other choice but to borrow from someone else to honor that arrangement.

As an artist it's frustrating to see someone gifted and with a wider social platform benefit from someone elses work by simply snapping a photo and hash tagging it to death. I mean he's done the bare minimum here with painting over a pre-made sculpt, it's only one step further than the product he purchased from FancyFish. I still think it's a means to protect himself a little bit though, if he indicates you too can get these unmodified silicone starfish for as low as $25 bucks he loses potential clients whom may pay a premium for something with his name on it. Ah, now I sound mean. :(

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

I'm not sure...what the message is here? what Business was started? I'm sorry I'm just not understanding what the message is you're trying to get across? Where does Merrowfins play into what you're mentioning here?

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

Ah, ok. Sorry haha I'm new to mernetwork!

[EdenSirene]

That's ok Mermaid Quintessence .. welcome to the Mermaid Network. And most of all Good luck.. I see
you are in the Cali pod those are my Mer buddies I love Luckie she is my Mer Sis ��

[RiverDragonKaringan]

Currently in conversation with Matty discussing my River Dragon ensemble. I do appreciate his enthusiasm!

PDX River Dragon!

[MermaidBrandie]

Well If Merrow fins made the molds I'd argue why their flukes aren't nearly as consistent or detailed as Mertailors? Mertailor seems to be more then capable of making flukes and molds without them, where as merrowfins' flukes look kind of... messy idk. In comparison anyway. but it looks like I'm not the only one who's seen that they take a bit too much "inspiration" from other shops. I've also heard they are more then willing to remake other shops designs. Like I said, it isn't just mertailor I feel like I've seen them be a little too similar for my taste too. But really I don't care, I'm just making observations. Regardless I don't know the history, but I'll say that as someone newer in the community looking in mertailor has a much better image then merrow fins, and looks better in comparison, So I'm kind of doubting merrowfins could have made those great tails without mertailor, since their most recent work is not really all that impressive, and seems repetitive , where as Mertailor comes out with great new things often. But again, I'm not interested in being involved in drama I'm just stating my very humble opinion since I don't know much about much X3I will say, having seen multiple Mer tailor tails in person, they looks terribly messy as well. Not a look I like at all. On any tail. Lol

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

Thats interesting. Mine, my mer sisters, and mermaid ginger's Mertailor tails all have really nice flukes. I absolutely love their detailing. I think his molds are stunning, especially compared to some of the other tails I've seen.

[MermaidBrandie]

Thats interesting. Mine, my mer sisters, and mermaid ginger's Mertailor tails all have really nice flukes. I absolutely love their detailing. I think his molds are stunning, especially compared to some of the other tails I've seen.Every single one, old and new, have had messy seams and sloppily done scales. I can forgive the old ones but the new? Nope.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

[TheMermaidQuintessence]

Well clearly not every single one, since I just listed three that don't X3 all of ours have blended seams and those along with the scales and the flukes are very nice! Ginger likes hers more then her finfolk tail. I prefer these scales to the finfolk ones as well personally.

[MermaidBrandie]

It's a personal preference. But they've all looked shoddy to me (though I haven't seen yours in person). And as someone who works with silicone I'm very picky. It's why I'm making my own tail.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

[AniaR]

my new mermaid just got a mertailor tail and it's amazing, I've been here for the majority of mertailor's time as a tail maker, and I 100% think he's majorly improved. the messy ones were made by merrowfins and aren't used anymore.

[Marinus Mortimer]

Mertailor knows who's to actually put effort on because if he would have sent Ginger a sloppy tail it would have been hell cause she has thousands of followers and her voice is heard by most in this community and if her review would have been negative it would deff have an impact, u girls got some clout (followers) as well so you got a decent product but everyone knows that not all of his work is impeccable he is sometimes more than sloppy thus said he is a good Tailor just not 100% all of the time but if he wanted he could rock the Mermaid world he has plenty of skill all he needs is consistency.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Mystery]

[emoji849]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid_Auquita_123]

Hello let me introduce Merrow Fins.. We are a company that will put our customers first and our options will be limitless.. We want to be able to reach everyone's budgets and will not be copying Eric.. This is a Right To Work State and we have the right to create beautiful art and make mermaids and mermen's dreams come true. We will have many new authentic exciting new flukes with many new fin options.. We will also have many other artistic pieces to buy so we can truly reach all your needs. Many people share the same job just as Raven and Eric, Erin (Mernation), and Jessica Mer all live here is Florida and create beautiful works of art. Each tail maker is different in their own art and should be able to embrace that. What we at Merrow Fins want is satisfied, ecstatic, Mers in love with their tails and we will do everything to deliver it. Nothing is copied from the Mertailor and Eric .. Even though some of the best pieces done like the lobster was by Mathew.. We as a company wish each tail maker the best of luck as we all continue thriving in this deep blue sea and I am most excited to see some of you in our tails . Yes we will have a beautiful leaf fluke and it comes in options for each individual Mer.. We look forward to serving this awesome community!!!
How long does it take for a basic tail for u guys to make

Sent from my LGL56VL using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Mermaid Mandi]

5-10 weeks but mines took 6 months and 4 weeks to get done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid_Auquita_123]

5-10 weeks but mines took 6 months and 4 weeks to get done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank u so much!!!! Show me a picture of ur tail

Sent from my LGL56VL using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Mermaid_Auquita_123]

5-10 weeks but mines took 6 months and 4 weeks to get done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank u so much

Sent from my LGL56VL using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Mermaid_Auquita_123]

5-10 weeks but mines took 6 months and 4 weeks to get done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Was yours a basic tail

Sent from my LGL56VL using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Mermaid Mandi]

Was yours a basic tail

Sent from my LGL56VL using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

Yes it was.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid_Auquita_123]

Yes it was.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
How long did it take for it to come in the mail

Sent from my LGL56VL using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[MissLunaBelle]

I'm so frustrated, I'm going on 7 months since ordering my tail and once after vying for an update for like 4 months, I got "I'll get pictures for you soon!". It's been 3 months since. Is it wrong for me to be upset even though he quoted me 10 weeks? I feel so left in the dark.

[AniaR]

Mertailor knows who's to actually put effort on because if he would have sent Ginger a sloppy tail it would have been hell cause she has thousands of followers and her voice is heard by most in this community and if her review would have been negative it would deff have an impact, u girls got some clout (followers) as well so you got a decent product but everyone knows that not all of his work is impeccable he is sometimes more than sloppy thus said he is a good Tailor just not 100% all of the time but if he wanted he could rock the Mermaid world he has plenty of skill all he needs is consistency.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

he actually employs a whole factory of people now to make everything, so it's not just him making the tails. I haven't seen a bad tail in a long time, but often measurement complaints which happen to all tail makers.

[AniaR]

you're comparing a partial silicone tail with a full one. I'm glad you like your tail, but matt was a contractor of mertailor, meaning mertailor hired him to make molds and do other jobs. and he no longer uses those molds. 2 years ago was merfest, and they were still working together. Since I've seen mertailors work since he first started making tails 12 years ago, I think I am a pretty good judge on his level of improvement :)

[Saelyyia]

Merman Dylan could you please be so kind as to condense your posts all into one giant post. It congests the "recent" feed when you essentially spam post. I do fine this conversation interesting from both sides as you both clearly have had different experiences, but by posting several posts back to back like this it is very frustrating to some of the other mers, myself included.

[Mermaid Kane]

Merman Dylan could you please be so kind as to condense your posts all into one giant post. It congests the "recent" feed when you essentially spam post. I do fine this conversation interesting from both sides as you both clearly have had different experiences, but by posting several posts back to back like this it is very frustrating to some of the other mers, myself included.

This? I keep seeing these spam like posts of yours on different threads.

[Mermaid Kane]

I promise you that there isn't any malicious intent behind it. My mind just isn't in sync with my typing.

Understood. In the future, maybe think about what you are saying before, so you have everything in one place.

[Mermaid Momo]

I second raina, mertailor has really improved, I've seen multipe tails of his over the years from mers in my pod.

Merrowfins' quality seems questionable to me, mostly because he only posts the same few tails over and over and over again on instagram (I'm still blocked on their facebook lol) to me he doesn't show he's been improving. The scales look sloppy and rushed, the paint jobs are usually extremely simple or repeats of either Mertailors or a tail he did before. All in all he jist isn't showing that he is able to produce high quality work or that he has much on the table for his fans.

I have also heard that people have been waiting long times for tails with no contact from him.

Sent from my LG-M210 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Mermaid Kane]

Can you guys just agree that your experiences and opinions are different, and move on? :v

[Nerdmaid Faith]

I'd have to agree. I liked the work of merrowfins, mostly the aesthetics over mertailor but it seems hard to trust him. I've heard of too many bad experiences with him recently. Mertailor of course has done bad work in the past, regardless of employees or moulds, but in the last little while things seem to be turning around. Many friends of mine have had amazing service with their tails and I'm pretty impressed with the work he's done. I can't say the same with merrowfins as I have no idea of what he's doing at the moment.
It's super frustrating to me that anyone has had bad tail experiences with either of them. The bottom line is that we all want a nice silicone tail and to be treated fairly. I think people forget that we are all on the same side.
For myself to be hypothetically be making a decision on a basic tail I am looking at their work and customer servive in the past, but more importantly RECENTLY!
Yes, many people have had terrible experiences and that breaks my heart. But continually bashing others for trying to form their own opinion is not helping anyone. This isn't directed at anyone in particular, just something I've noticed over the last few months.
To sum it up:
My understanding is that they have both done shoddy work in the past both together and independantly. Mertailor is notorious for a bad additude and customer service in general but at least people have gotten their tails. Merrowfins is a great artist and is capable of making excellent tails, but the amount of ghosting I've heard of scares me off. I'd rather get a slightly more simple tail from mertailor (not a fan of the seams and scales) than one that I need to wait FOREVER for that might not be 100% what I wanted.
[emoji111]

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Momo]

Dylan we get you're happy with your product butt that doesn't mean everyone has to like what he put out. (Didn't the same thing happen earlier in this thread too ?) This is a thread for discussing the work of Merrowfins and that's what we're going to do. Just because we haven't bought tails doesn't mean we can't comment on his lack of updates, poor commuunication , and look of his tails.

And just because Matt just started doesn't mean he gets a pass to ghost customers.

Sent from my LG-M210 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Mermaid Kane]

It does matter if you ordered from him. It is important to take into consideration what a customer asks for. He's only able to show people what everyone has asked for. By your logic, he should make tails just to show off variety for no reason but to do it for other people's opinion.

I do have to ask:

Do you think my tail looks bad? I'm asking because there is a fine line between sharing constructive thoughts and destructive thoughts. You can share your thoughts. I have not said that you can't. However, I am free to share my thoughts that just so happen to conflict with yours. The only thing that will make a comment wrong is if it has a malicious tone. I have seen a lot of people jump to the negative comments and prop up a business that is not Merrowfins in a thread about Merrowfins in those same comments, so I am sharing my experienice because, from my perspectice, the negative comments are not grounded in facts. They are the opinions of people who have never had his tails. Maybe even opinions of people who think too highly of themselves because they aren't sharing anything to back up their opinions.

Mermaid Momo. You are critizing a product someone paid for. Don't you think a blatant statement like the paint jobs are repetitive and copies of mertailor, which were likely the paint job and designs Matt created, might come off as insensitive to someone like me with a paint job you called repetitive.

All I'm saying is that if you are going to make comments that puts down someone's work. You should share proof to back yourself up.

It's also important note that if you have a reputation in the Mercommunity with influence. It is wrong to share negative opinions and think your reputation by itself is enough to back up those words.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm it down there. You are acting like she was hurting you personally, and she's not. Momo doesn't have a bad ''tone'' in her messages either. Using her ''popularity'' as a meat-shield is wrong on so many levels. You are the one taking in to a personal level, now. No, we don't think your tail is ''ugly'', and even if we did it doesn't matter at all.

I'd listen to Faith. She just gave a intelligent and non biased approach and you just skimmed over her to attack Momo.


I'd have to agree. I liked the work of merrowfins, mostly the aesthetics over mertailor but it seems hard to trust him. I've heard of too many bad experiences with him recently. Mertailor of course has done bad work in the past, regardless of employees or moulds, but in the last little while things seem to be turning around. Many friends of mine have had amazing service with their tails and I'm pretty impressed with the work he's done. I can't say the same with merrowfins as I have no idea of what he's doing at the moment.
It's super frustrating to me that anyone has had bad tail experiences with either of them. The bottom line is that we all want a nice silicone tail and to be treated fairly. I think people forget that we are all on the same side.
For myself to be hypothetically be making a decision on a basic tail I am looking at their work and customer servive in the past, but more importantly RECENTLY!
Yes, many people have had terrible experiences and that breaks my heart. But continually bashing others for trying to form their own opinion is not helping anyone. This isn't directed at anyone in particular, just something I've noticed over the last few months.
To sum it up:
My understanding is that they have both done shoddy work in the past both together and independantly. Mertailor is notorious for a bad additude and customer service in general but at least people have gotten their tails. Merrowfins is a great artist and is capable of making excellent tails, but the amount of ghosting I've heard of scares me off. I'd rather get a slightly more simple tail from mertailor (not a fan of the seams and scales) than one that I need to wait FOREVER for that might not be 100% what I wanted.
https://emoji.tapatalk-cdn.com/emoji111.png

Please calm down.

[Mermaid Momo]

https://media.giphy.com/media/pSauCNBp1DcOY/giphy.gif

Okay but in all seriousness I'm gonna break what you said down. Firstly though I have to thank Mermaid Kane for speaking up, and also state that nowhere have I attacked YOU or matty personally, the fact that you took critique on a tail maker personally is your own perogative.


It does matter if you ordered from him. It is important to take into consideration what a customer asks for. He's only able to show people what everyone has asked for. By your logic, he should make tails just to show off variety for no reason but to do it for other people's opinion.

Actually yes, he should. As an artist I am always creating things to add to my portfolio and show I am capable of producing something like it. If I just posted somewhere saying I could make a top with neon lights and color changing flowers, people would expect that I have produced work similar to what I was claiming. Same thing goes for mermaid tails, in order to show that he can produce work he should be putting out examples of that work for his portfolio.


Do you think my tail looks bad? I'm asking because there is a fine line between sharing constructive thoughts and destructive thoughts. You can share your thoughts. I have not said that you can't. However, I am free to share my thoughts that just so happen to conflict with yours. The only thing that will make a comment wrong is if it has a malicious tone. I have seen a lot of people jump to the negative comments and prop up a business that is not Merrowfins in a thread about Merrowfins in those same comments, so I am sharing my experienice because, from my perspectice, the negative comments are not grounded in facts. They are the opinions of people who have never had his tails. Maybe even opinions of people who think too highly of themselves because they aren't sharing anything to back up their opinions.
It doesn't matter if I think your tail looks bad, it isn't on my body it's on yours BUT that doesn't mean people can't critique the construction and image of a product and critiquing a product IS NOT destructive. It's called concrit for a reason. Yes, you're sharing your experience but you're also trying to shut down discourse on the thread about a tail maker, just because you like your tail doesn't mean your opinion is more valid than anyone else's, and you are sharing just that, an opinion.


Mermaid Momo. You are critizing a product someone paid for. Don't you think a blatant statement like the paint jobs are repetitive and copies of mertailor, which were likely the paint job and designs Matt created, might come off as insensitive to someone like me with a paint job you called repetitive.
I'll say it again, he posts nothing but the same tails over and over and over again on instagram, he does not show any variety in the tails and showcased and if I went off of his instagram I would believe he's only made about 10 or 12 tails because those are the only ones he ever posts. and yes, a few of those are replicas of mertailor tails (Which he said himself in the caption!)


All I'm saying is that if you are going to make comments that puts down someone's work. You should share proof to back yourself up.
"put down someone's work" no, I didn't tell him to stop making tails, to throw them all in the trash. As an artist I sure hope Matty is used to concrit and grew a thick skin like the rest of us do.


If everyone is going to keep sharing negative opinions. You can at least have courtesy to share examples. What if Matt is reading these comments? What is he supposed to take from everyone's comments? I will not speak for what he thinks, but I know that it would be morally crushing to read comments like these, about my writing, without any examples of my work. If you want examples look at his instagram, which I've discussed multiple times and even laid out why it leads me to my beliefs. and if Matty is reading this? GOOD! Hopefully he'll step it up then and want to put out the best f*cking most original tail ever, and actually post new things on his social media.

Just because you think constructive criticism is a personal attack doesn't mean it is. Matty has a thick skin, he can take it, heck I've even commented such on some of his instagram posts and he has responded to me about it.

Also :
awwwww I'm glad I'm known as a shit starter apparently. I'm making the mergods proud lmao.

[Mermaid Kane]

I will say that I got caught up in the feeling I had that people were only pointing out negatives. I shouldn't be sticking my nose into this anyways. I've shared my views. I can't continue talking without repeating myself.

Good choice.


Also :
awwwww I'm glad I'm known as a shit starter apparently. I'm making the mergods proud lmao.

Aw, don't say that! In my mind, you've always seemed like a pleasant person to me. :)

[Mermaid_Auquita_123]

I disagree Mermaid Momo I looked on there Instagram some of there basic tails are beautiful I mean yeah he as some problems but he does a pretty a paint job and the scales look okay to me for what I'll be looking for swimming in

Sent from my LGL56VL using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[AniaR]

You can disagree if you like Dylan, but facts are facts. If you have Matty on facebook or even his fan page, you can very easily double check dates by simply looking at his announcements on the matter and their time stamps. And your tail as you say, several years old now- a lot has changed since then. I am not bashing Matty, simply putting forth I believe mertailor has improved and I may have more experience than others in order to make that opinion. I think there's a lot of information that gets past around about the two of them, and it's easier than just taking someone's word for it, to look it up to see the actual facts in the matter. If you're happy with your merrowfins purchase I am very happy for you :)

[AniaR]

that would be nice but since Matty continues to make claims about mertailor, use mertailors photos, and seemingly takes a lot of "inspiration" from him, people are still going to talk about the comparisons. This is a "thoughts on merrowfins" thread, perhaps there needs to be a specific merrowfins thread like there are for other tail makers. But as people are observing these behaviours, they're going to have thoughts.

And to your question why, I was replying to a comment comparing the two.

[Saelyyia]

:bulldozer::bulldozer::bulldozer::bulldozer:
I think everyone has made form valid points in stating their opinions on the matter. But that perhaps it is best Dylan to agree to disagree and walk away. It is no longer contributing anything helpful to the discussion to continue to beat-a-dead-seahorse. At this point it is becoming redundant, tedious, and tiresome to read and feels like you are trying to drown out others opinions and thoughts which is what this thread was about.

However, in the spirit of the thread. I can see both sides on the quality debate. I stopped focusing as much when it appeared that Matty was spending great amounts of energy focusing on showcasing his previous work with Mertailor and not on showing exciting new designs or plans for his company. I was in the market for a tailmaker and as personal preference I like people who are moving forward not dwelling. Yes, he has every right to say "look at the cool things I have created" but it started to feel like he was clinging to the past.

In regards to his newer sculpts, I had high hopes to see what he was going to next. I have seen some very pretty paint jobs and tails from Merrowfins and I have seen some that in my opinion looked half-thought through. They may have been exactly what the client wanted and I wouldn't know that because I am not the mer who was lucky enough to get that particular dream tail made so I don't want to judge individual tails. Each one is someones dream. However, I will say that in personal preference I find his signature scales to look a bit sloppy and "unfinished" and tend to notice that in recent months there seem to be more and more anxious mers who seem to be concerned about their tails in production. That is a bit of a red-flag to me personally. Also while he has some beautiful pieces showcased on his social media, i can't help but notice that there seems to be a focus on the same 5 or 6 tails with a random new one thrown in. I would like to see him work on new tails for his personal marketing team to show his new and improved techniques as he develops his craft and grows as opposed to the same couple of tails he made right at the start of his company.

**Disclaimer: These are simply my opinions and thoughts. My intention is not to make anyone feel personally attacked or to take away from a tail that was made to any mers dream specification by Merrowfins that incorporates any elements I have referenced in my post.

[MermaidAnnabella]

This is a very ironic thread for me to stumble upon as I'm looking to make a large order (bulk) from Merrow Fins and I keep being quoted a ridiculous price for shipping ($125) for a single basic tail. I've shipped things worth $1,000, insured, all over the world and I've never had to pay more than $65 for a single tail.

I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt but this experience alone is making me really uneasy and not wanting to work with Merrow Fins. According to past customers he likes to 'make up prices' for shipping costs too.

[Merman Dylan Zalrian]

You can disagree if you like Dylan, but facts are facts. If you have Matty on facebook or even his fan page, you can very easily double check dates by simply looking at his announcements on the matter and their time stamps. And your tail as you say, several years old now- a lot has changed since then. I am not bashing Matty, simply putting forth I believe mertailor has improved and I may have more experience than others in order to make that opinion. I think there's a lot of information that gets past around about the two of them, and it's easier than just taking someone's word for it, to look it up to see the actual facts in the matter. If you're happy with your merrowfins purchase I am very happy for you :)

Raina,

I have a tiny critique. I got my tail two or three years ago, maybe four, from the Mertailor. I had a pretty big struggle to finally get a tail with quality. I have spent at least 2 or 3 years working on trying to get something of quality. I ended up just paying for a new tail because the Mertailor tail was unfixable after less than 2 years. I just know Merrowfins has been very helpful as far as customer service goes. I think going to Matt ended up being better for me than sticking with a mertailor tail. The funny thing is that I thought the Mertailor might have improved 3 or 4 years after the last issue was mentioned on here. I trusted him in a lot of ways with how my tail would look and etc. I honestly thought the Mertailor improved. And as you can see in this picture:
picture.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171010/85f54d2a1ce84b986b7eb51816518314.jpg

I was not unhappy to finally have a tail from the Mertailor. It's just that my mertailor tail was not the quality I hoped for. And it's because of how things progressed with my Mertailor tail that I would suggest caution after 3 or 4 years of improvement. I went to the Mertailor knowing he had issues in the past, but I thought that 3 or 4 years was long enough for those problems to be history.

As time went on, I ended up needing to get a new body of my tail made because of it was stretching out and staying stretched out while I lost weight.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171010/a5247eeaebfc0d850eabe7a206a70f29.jpg

That's when Matt showed me how the patterns did not line up. The Mertailor was going to charge me to fix the body which is why I went to Matt the year after anyways. After sending it back to the mertailor one or two time with very very little time in the water, the fact that I would have to pay more money to fix it made me decide to go to Matt. Also, the reason the pattern didn't line up was because the Mertailor resized it while neglecting to do anything with the pattern that was messed up because of the resizing.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171010/b638f03700043124b76590db0822fdc8.jpg

And finally after less than two years of struggling with the mertailor tail. I was happy to have a new body for my tail. The monofin in this picture was from the old mertailor tail.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171010/d9ab6b88f4be03b502fa218e2c968548.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171010/28ffbae6a91be6cf214f3af405c81a19.jpg

It was not much longer than a year that the mertailor monofin fell apart piece by piece. The above pictures are comparisons between what my tail was to what it became.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171010/96654a590deb963c71848725ba1792d4.jpg

I have only recently had a chance to swim in the finished tail. After the first swim, it was amazing. So far, I have not had any serious problems with my tail.

If I do have a problem, I will share it in this thread.

So, I have had an exhausting struggle with my tail, and I have not had very many chances to swim with it. My tail has been a work in progress starting with when I got it. If there is anything I am upset with the Mertailor over is that I paid them over 1000 dollars for something that did not last as long as expected. I can be rough with things, but I did not have many very chances to swim with my tail and it literally fell apart in pieces. I adamantly support Matt because he fixed what the Mertailor gave me even though I ended up getting a brand new tail after things were send in done. This new tail was like paying for the Mertailor tail twice.

I feel like this post adequately explains why I support matt and why I like Merrowfins over Mertailor. We do not have to agree, but this is more than just an opinion this is my experience.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Merman Dylan Zalrian]

This is a very ironic thread for me to stumble upon as I'm looking to make a large order (bulk) from Merrow Fins and I keep being quoted a ridiculous price for shipping ($125) for a single basic tail. I've shipped things worth $1,000, insured, all over the world and I've never had to pay more than $65 for a single tail.

I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt but this experience alone is making me really uneasy and not wanting to work with Merrow Fins. According to past customers he likes to 'make up prices' for shipping costs too.
I wonder why the prices are the way they are. I know from the classes I took to get my Finacial Operations Certificates that prices don't come out of thin air. Did you ask him about it? I'm actually curious about learning more about this.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[MermaidAnnabella]

I wonder why the prices are the way they are. I know from the classes I took to get my Finacial Operations Certificates that prices don't come out of thin air. Did you ask him about it? I'm actually curious about learning more about this.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

He said he has to pay these prices as UPS has never been reliable in pricing, but I've talked to others who have ordered and returned orders from/to him and they said they paid only $40 for an insured package for a basic silicone tail. I've reiterated that I've shipped items all over the world and have never had to pay more than $65 for shipping a tail, and he was pretty evasive.

[Merman Dylan Zalrian]

He said he has to pay these prices as UPS has never been reliable in pricing, but I've talked to others who have ordered and returned orders from/to him and they said they paid only $40 for an insured package for a basic silicone tail. I've reiterated that I've shipped items all over the world and have never had to pay more than $65 for shipping a tail, and he was pretty evasive.
I know that the US economy is facing an issue of inflation because the circumstances are not good for more economic growth. So, prices are getting forced up especially with the rise in interest rates. It's possible that economiclly prices are going up. I mean, I've known that prices were headed upward for a while now which is why I'm focusing on bringing my debt down.

Have you PMed Matt. I read through this thread, and I believe a moment of communication with Merrowfins could be helpful. UPS also has a calculator for the cost of these things.

I think the negativity I noticed started as far back as the Lorelei issue.

Raina, I am extremely sorry about my attitude as I now know you have been replying to keep the peace.

https://www.ups.com/mobile/ratetnthome?loc=en_JP

This link is a calculator.

I hope it helps.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Merman Dylan Zalrian]

Dylan we get you're happy with your product butt that doesn't mean everyone has to like what he put out. (Didn't the same thing happen earlier in this thread too ?) This is a thread for discussing the work of Merrowfins and that's what we're going to do. Just because we haven't bought tails doesn't mean we can't comment on his lack of updates, poor commuunication , and look of his tails.

And just because Matt just started doesn't mean he gets a pass to ghost customers.

Sent from my LG-M210 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

I think the most simple way to reply to this as it seems to be a repeat in this thread.

I would say that you can agree to disagree just like I can. Not everyone has to like it. I'm not saying they have to. But, someone who jumps to support Matt has as much a right to voice their opinions as you do. Reading the replies to older post. You seem to be the one that is very quick to denounce someone that supports Matt as someone trying to say everyone needs to feel that way when those words were never written by the person you reply too. I may be quick to disagree, but it is not because I think we can't disagree.

Mermaid Momo,

One thing we disagree on is the scales. I love the unique design because every other tailmaker has done the redundant elegant design. I have never felt like the scales are less streamline in the functional sense. I also love how they look rough and rugged. As a MerMAN, it gives it a more masculine look in my opinion. It just looks tougher and stronger. If our preferences vary, that's okay. You say rushed, and I say Awesome! The important thing is that you don't put words in my mouth by assuming that my frequent replies were to put down someone else's view. As proof of this, I have deleted my posts to reduce clutter and condense them into one post.

Mermaid Kane,

I have to give you a lot of credit. Your words have probably done a better job at diffusing a tense situation than what I tried to do. You helped me get my head back on track, and I'm still trying to figure out the right balance for posting and commenting. I'm a work in progress.

Raina,

I want to apologize again for my attitude. I mistook you for something that you weren't.

To everyone else,

In my opinion, even if Matt doesn't have the right to his sculpts, we can all agree that the way the Mertailor didn't give credit to things ten years ago wasn't nice. Just because something isn't legally something does not make it wrong. I'd imagine that if anyone here made a significant contribution to a business, but that business did not give credit because legally they did not have to you would be upset. Legally or not, I think it's only right that Matt gets recognized for his part to play in the Mertailor Design. I would like to think that we can all agree that if anyone used us for our designs or sculpts or whatever and did not give us credit because of something as simple as they legally did not have to. We all might be a little upset. Especially if people generated a large sum of money and success off those creations while paying you below what was livable. And this, this is where I think this thread went from relaxed and respectful to just arguing and frustration. I got involved here because of the rift that formed.

[AniaR]

so was it 2 years ago or 4??? either way, matty worked there.

It's great you've had a good experience, I am happy for you. But some advice, you can't debate every single person who raises a concern. you'll drive yourself crazy

[Merman Dylan Zalrian]

so was it 2 years ago or 4??? either way, matty worked there.

It's great you've had a good experience, I am happy for you. But some advice, you can't debate every single person who raises a concern. you'll drive yourself crazy
I agree. I'm actually trying not to debate if I can help it. Trying to understand my own behavior is enough to make my own mind spin.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[Mermaid Kane]

I agree. I'm actually trying not to debate if I can help it. Trying to understand my own behavior is enough to make my own mind spin.

Then just drop it. It's in your hands.

I wouldn't even bother replying to me.

[Merman Dylan Zalrian]

How do I stop following a thread? If I keep getting notifications I might have trouble walking away.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[The Water Phoenix]

I'll just jump in here for a bit. I like all you guys but I think we all need a break from this thread. Go and have a walk or a swim :)

[Slim]

If you're on the full site, go to thread tool within this post and unsubscribe the thread.


How do I stop following a thread? If I keep getting notifications I might have trouble walking away.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)

[MissLunaBelle]

Guys I'm on month 8, almost 9 of wait time for my BASIC silicone tail from Matt. Any advice on how to not lose my mind? I'm honestly getting furious at this point..

[Magi]

Any news from any mers who have had a tail made by him recently? I was curious if his customer service or quality control had fluctuated any and hadn't heard anything. I was looking at some of his current work and he has a betta fish style that is just rocking, but his reviews on facebook are still a little all over the place and there's not photos there to kinda see what other people's tails are looking like. Any new experiences good or bad to tell about?

[MissLunaBelle]

I got my tail recently, like 2 months ago. The 9 month wait with no communication for a basic tail is not worth it.

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

[Magi]

I got my tail recently, like 2 months ago. The 9 month wait with no communication for a basic tail is not worth it.

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app (http://MerNetwork mobile app)

Well it sounds like his customer service is still shot... How is the quality? I know some other mers have shown some pretty poor seams and such.

[MissLunaBelle]

Well it sounds like his customer service is still shot... How is the quality? I know some other mers have shown some pretty poor seams and such.The seams aren't terrible, but the paint job is 100 percent junk. I don't know if it's supposed to be lighter (like a yellow) at the base of the scales or if it's a shitty paint job, because that's not what I had hoped for when submitting my colorscheme. The paint will rub off if you touch it in the right spot like on my dorsal, and it looks like there's lots of human hairs embedded in the silicone. Like long hair, enough to leave a raised ridge on the surface of the silicone.

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

[Mermaid Kane]

T\The paint will rub off if you touch it in the right spot like on my dorsal, and it looks like there's lots of human hairs embedded in the silicone. Like long hair, enough to leave a raised ridge on the surface of the silicone.

Thats ... gross. :c

[Magi]

Thats ... gross. :c

Seconding... that is utterly disgusting!

[Ransom]

My word @_@. For his sake, I hope he has a really good explanation -_-

[Okeanos]

I was considering buying a tail from him but there are so many mixed reviews, here and on Facebook. Should I be wary?

[Sammi_Ray]

I placed my order for a basic tail, communication was great when asking questions but now i have nothing. I don't really no how this works and when they send you updates. I was given a 6-12 week wait time. I am very nervous. I was crippled with paying shipping up front and i live in the UK aswell.. can someone give me some advice and calm my nerves? :-)

[Mermaid Kane]

I placed my order for a basic tail, communication was great when asking questions but now i have nothing. I don't really no how this works and when they send you updates. I was given a 6-12 week wait time. I am very nervous. I was crippled with paying shipping up front and i live in the UK aswell.. can someone give me some advice and calm my nerves? :-)
Several users here bought a basic tail from Merrowfins, and you can look through this thread for a clue if you haven't already. Earlier on this page, Belle mentions she had a 9 month wait with no communication, but not everyone has that issue.

[Ransom]

I'd say the single hardest thing for a new tailmaker to get right isn't quality (don't get me wrong, that's hard enough) but consistency. I don't think Merrowfins is at that level yet, but you might get lucky.

If you're interested, I started a discussion on the issues in a thread under the Tailmaking section.

Bottom line -- I'm sure you'll get it eventually, hopefully soon... though lack of comms and progress pics remains an issue he needs to fix. All the best!

[Sammi_Ray]

So its been past the min quote time of 6 weeks. So i sent him an email asking if it was more like the 12 week deadline and i have had nothing back at all... so i got my friend to send an email asking for a tail and got a response within a few hours..
So far...i am very anxious.. i've not asked for the moon on a stick, just a yes or no question... really don't no what to do.

[Mermaid Momo]

So its been past the min quote time of 6 weeks. So i sent him an email asking if it was more like the 12 week deadline and i have had nothing back at all... so i got my friend to send an email asking for a tail and got a response within a few hours..
So far...i am very anxious.. i've not asked for the moon on a stick, just a yes or no question... really don't no what to do.Email him and force him to respond by threatening to file a paypal claim and a claim with the BBB that will kick his ass in gear. Ask for progress photos and make sure you give a deadline by which you want the photos (ex: Tuesday April 3 or i will file a paypal claim for a full refund) that way if he can't supply the photos you know he hasn't even started work on it because he should have at least something done on the tail that he can send a photo of immediately.

I hope you get a response back and the tail is what you wanted, i just saw a tail he put out with a very upset customer review.

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

[Mermaidtanya]

It’s been 8 months since I placed my order with Merrowfins. I’m getting so much anxiety because I’m supposed to go swimming in San Marcos, Tx this summer and I can’t even get progress photos from Matt. He claimed that he is almost done with my tail back in January. It’s April now and he hasn’t answered any of my messages. I’ve been messaging him politely for months now and he still haven’t responded with progress photos. I really hope I’m not getting scammed because that is alot of money for my tail to not be produced.

[Dolphin Man]

Wow! Eight months is a long wait. I don't remember how long it took for Matt to send mine, but it was quite a while. He seemed sincere when we were talking. That was in 2015. My guess is he may be overwhelmed. That's only a guess.

Keep at it, though.

[Mermaidtanya]

I want to give him the benefit of a doubt. It's possible he could be backlogged or overwhelmed, but I would still appreciate him taking a minute to reply to my messages. I send maybe one or two each month to see how things are with my tail. It says, "Seen" but he wouldn't respond. It makes me wonder if he haven't even started on my tail yet. He also would never respond when I ask for progress photos too. If I don't hear anything by the end of the month I'm considering filing a dispute through BBB or paypal.

[Mermaid Momo]

I want to give him the benefit of a doubt. It's possible he could be backlogged or overwhelmed, but I would still appreciate him taking a minute to reply to my messages. I send maybe one or two each month to see how things are with my tail. It says, "Seen" but he wouldn't respond. It makes me wonder if he haven't even started on my tail yet. He also would never respond when I ask for progress photos too. If I don't hear anything by the end of the month I'm considering filing a dispute through BBB or paypal.Why are you waiting to file the pp dispute? File it now and let him know you've done it. You've given him more than enough time and haven't even gotten progress photos. The longer you wait the closer you get to the claim cut off point

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

[AniaR]

Agreed

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

[Mermaidtanya]

Why are you waiting to file the pp dispute? File it now and let him know you've done it. You've given him more than enough time and haven't even gotten progress photos. The longer you wait the closer you get to the claim cut off point

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

You got a good point. I could have filed a dispute a long time ago. However, he just messaged me last night stating he’ll finally have progress photos next week. Cross our fingers he’ll actually do it.


Sent from my iPhone using MerNetwork

[MissLunaBelle]

It took 9 months to get my tail from him, it didn't have it's glitter top coat and it wasn't blacklight reactive (both of which were agreed on). I wish you the best of luck with your tail...

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

[Mermaidtanya]

It took 9 months to get my tail from him, it didn't have it's glitter top coat and it wasn't blacklight reactive (both of which were agreed on). I wish you the best of luck with your tail...

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app

Thanks. I’m trying to stay positive and hope for the best. Sorry that your tail didn’t work out. :/


Sent from my iPhone using MerNetwork

[Mermaidtanya]

I just got my progress photo today and I wish I could post it here! It’s so beautiful. All I can say is, the paint job looks like water colors and it has big side fins on the hips and medium side fins near the ankles. I’ll post it whenever he finishes the tail.


Sent from my iPhone using MerNetwork

[Khaleesi Daenerys]

Congratulations! It sounds lovely, I'm excited to see it when it's finished.

[Mermaidtanya]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180527/799b89753596506da83a5fe517f06b05.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180527/ae5b8c8b19a4f659ab31b5640a9446f5.jpg

Just got my tail last last and unboxed it today! Here I have my watercolor themed tail. It’s beautiful and it fits! Thank Neptune I measured correctly especially since I’m a seamstress.

As far as customer service goes, yes he takes a while to get back to you. It also took a bit to finally get progress photos. He has alot of backorders as far as I know. Overall, he is really kind whenever we speak to each other. It’s also nice that he takes payment plans because I couldn’t pay all at once due to other bills. I waited since September 2017 to get it and I wondered if I would ever get my tail. Now that I have it the wait was worth it in my opinion. Would I recommend his service? It’s hit or miss based on the other customers. If you’re willing to wait many months to get a tail from him, I suggest ordering in the fall/winter because I did that and got my tail this summer. I’m in love with my tail and I don’t see any problems with my tail.

[Ransom]

Glad it came and you liked it, Tanya! Let us know how it swims, and hopefully he sorts that issue out.

[AniaR]

I just saw a few of his tails in person and I was not impressed. (I don't want the mermaids who own them to feel ashamed so I will not be naming names etc, just my general observations)

Seams were super sloppy, scales coming apart, did NOT look like dragonskin and some of these tails WERE older and some were new. Drastically different color underneath than the painted tails (so when silicone on top split, there'd be a totally different color showing through underneath)

I am glad some people are having good experiences, but I felt really bad for the mers I saw with them.

[BlueCorvidae]

I went to the Mertailor's shop a few weeks back and I remember seeing the lobster tail and the orca tail on display in the store. Now I see their photos on the merrowfins website. Why do they have pictures of tails that Eric physically has?

[Ransom]

I went to the Mertailor's shop a few weeks back and I remember seeing the lobster tail and the orca tail on display in the store. Now I see their photos on the merrowfins website. Why do they have pictures of tails that Eric physically has?Check the beginning of the thread -- they used to work together. Rightly or wrongly, the Merrowfins guy probably feels his contributions to the lobster and orca tails were enough for him to take credit.

[BlueCorvidae]

Check the beginning of the thread -- they used to work together. Rightly or wrongly, the Merrowfins guy probably feels his contributions to the lobster and orca tails were enough for him to take credit.

That's fishy. Eric's mom (I forget her name) said that the orca was Eric's own personal tail that he made for himself. :confused:

[AniaR]

Eric = robert short
matty = thom shouse

lol

Matty was a contractor for Eric and worked under him. He was hired to help with tails, but he makes all these claims that he totally made them. Yet years later still cna't make anything at that quality level. So draw your own conclusions.

Just like the Robert vs Thom stuff, Thom would have you believe he's the mastermind behind splash when he actually doesn't even have a credit on the film because he was a contractor under Robert's company. Meanwhile Robert did the majority of the work and Thom was just one of several people hired to help get it finished.

[BlueCorvidae]

Eric = robert short
matty = thom shouse

lol

Matty was a contractor for Eric and worked under him. He was hired to help with tails, but he makes all these claims that he totally made them. Yet years later still cna't make anything at that quality level. So draw your own conclusions.

Just like the Robert vs Thom stuff, Thom would have you believe he's the mastermind behind splash when he actually doesn't even have a credit on the film because he was a contractor under Robert's company. Meanwhile Robert did the majority of the work and Thom was just one of several people hired to help get it finished.

I was definitely getting that impression, but wanted clarification. This guy's tails look like cheap knock offs made with Mertailor molds that he took with him. (That's grounds for a successful lawsuit, by the way.) I don't know if he lacks artistic talent or if he's just lazy, but it seems like the only thing this guy knows how to do is use silicone correctly. ...Which takes as much artistic vision as sealing a bathtub.

[AniaR]

Matty did make a public video explaining his versions of events and explains very specifically that he was a contractor. (just for anyone wondering if I am making this up- lol it's form his own mouth)

Eric has at times in the past had contractors. He had someone doing airbrushing on the premade spellbounds and then when he transitioned all of that he decided he wanted to do back to doing it all himself.

[deepblue]

Matty did make a public video explaining his versions of events and explains very specifically that he was a contractor. (just for anyone wondering if I am making this up- lol it's form his own mouth)


I was actually looking for that video last night to post here as an FYI, but I could not find the thing.

Edit- Oh, I just found the public clarification video. This is the one, isn't it?

https://youtu.be/R-Bj7h3hzoE

And the one he posted of when he was working on the lobster.

https://www.facebook.com/MerrowFins/videos/1725695364328942/

[AniaR]

hmm that youtube video looks like a follow up one to the one I originally saw. I'd have to go check on FB but I think he has me blocked anyway so I probably can't find it. lol

thanks for tracking the links down
!

[BlueCorvidae]

Matty did make a public video explaining his versions of events and explains very specifically that he was a contractor. (just for anyone wondering if I am making this up- lol it's form his own mouth)

Eric has at times in the past had contractors. He had someone doing airbrushing on the premade spellbounds and then when he transitioned all of that he decided he wanted to do back to doing it all himself.

That makes sense, Mertailor is a large company and would likely need extra hands to meet all of the demand. But in most fields of labor, contractor=/= architect. It's one thing to have a credit given in some fields of work, but it's another to try to pass your employer's designs off as your own.

[deepblue]

Matt describes which designs were his, as well as being clear that he's not attempting to discount anything Eric did, or his talent. Anyone who was watching after Matt and Eric broke up and then as Matt started his company, could see how really above board, down to earth, and pretty cool he was about something he could have gone full drama on and didn't, thank goodness. No one needs that.

But another thing Matt describes in the video that I hope people will realize, even if they don't watch that, when designers work for a company, it's more common for the public to believe the owner/head of the company is the one behind it all, when it's actually pretty normal for a designer under that kind of system to never get credit for their own work, because they're contracted out. Every recipe, craft, and project you see on a Martha Stewart website wasn't designed by her, but most of them were for her company by designers and crafters. So, he's not taking credit for his employer's work at all.

Anyway, those were the only videos on his YT or his FB page related to the tails in question.

[AniaR]

Matt describes which designs were his, as well as being clear that he's not attempting to discount anything Eric did, or his talent.

he has a huge history though of posting all over social media taking full credit, to the point Robert Short intervened because Robert Short also did contracting work on the lobster tail.


and pretty cool he was about something he could have gone full drama on and didn't, thank goodness.

huh i'd say pouring bleach in Eric's koi pond and killing all his fish was drama... I saw a LOT of drama (I mean this guy put me and another mermaid on a female extortion site so he has no issue with drama)


So, he's not taking credit for his employer's work at all.

again he says that in his videos but contradicted it all over his posts.

[Ransom]

I mean this guy put me and another mermaid on a female extortion site so he has no issue with drama



What in the fresh hell? Didn't hear about that, I hope nothing came out of it.

[AniaR]

I noticed his reviews are gone so he turned off that function on FB. there was lots of interesting stuff there

[AniaR]

What in the fresh hell? Didn't hear about that, I hope nothing came out of it.

well not for me. he just posted a picture of me WITH KIDS on the site, and my email so i got a few guys harassing me via email. He and another user did it- chris lapointe, they took full credit for it. But the other mermaid was stevie from fishbutts. Granted, at the time stevie was having her own downfall but they got into her cloud account and posted nude pics of her with all her contact information and she started getting majorly harassed. (Iona was sent all this stuff back when it happened. The website was taken down because it was all mostly revenge porn and the guy running it was actually arrested- it's all archived on here somewhere) This was all around the time when he joined forced with a few other banned mernetwork people and tried to start their own forum lol. it didn't last.

There's a reason he was banned from this forum guys. I just guess I forget that so many people who are active on the forum now, weren't around for all this stuff. Such a high turnover in the community stuff gets forgotten.

I personally met Matty at merfest 2 and decided to be a grown up and put the past behind despite what he did to me. It really had no affect on me but I was upset he'd put kids on a site like that. I watched his videos, tried to give him a chance/ so i tried to just be neutral but after the koi killing? and all the shit posts I saw everywhere? not so much.

I used to think it was all mertailor but now I think it was a case of him dating a toxic person and that person taking over.

taking the personal out of it, and just looking at it professionally, it seems he's still riding mertailor coat tails years later. He'll even word posts that look like passive aggressive replies to eric's promotional posts. his designs follow so closely to Erics often, eric releases those scales then Matty is right there. And he clearly doesn't have the skill level for what he's promoting. All these tails I see in person are splitting along the scales. there's loads of negative reviews and experiences out there if people dig.

I never want someone who buys his tails to feel shamed, but I do wish people would speak up more so there is a record. so others can make informed decisions.

edit to add: you only have to look at the first few pages of the drama thread to see screen shots of Matty making actual threats to people, and documenting him stalking

[Ransom]

Wow, glad that site got taken off the Web. Mers really do need a thick skin for this.

[user76213849809]

is there more info about the koi incident (i'm just curious as to what happened)

[Arking]

is there more info about the koi incident (i'm just curious as to what happened)

Doesn't really mention alleged culprits or suspects but it did happen, recently too back in Feb 2015 (https://www.facebook.com/mertailor/photos/a.706521506032101.1073741825.130816216935969/1047188751965373/?type=1&theater). This is still after the documentary "my crazy obsession" TLC put out about him and other various interviews so the assumption seems to have been it could have been anyone at the time. Even I would have assumed it was more of a targeted hate crime type thing but that's because I would consider him a high profile unapologetic homosexual, that and considering I had someone do the same thing to my pond and poison/kill my dog. Just seems to be a tactic people use when they know its hard to trace.

Salting the earth is a whole different level of well...salty though. Florida's soil is incredibly poor sandy garbage to begin with poisoning what good garden and soil someone has is definitely something you do knowing you want to hurt someone financially.

That's unfortunately the only mention of it I could find that's written. Raina probably knows of some videos, if there were solid proof though you could bet Eric would have pursued legal action against him.