Things I liked about the fig: Apollo default looks much more realistic than Michael 3, modeled with an average distribution of fat, as opposed to Michael 3’s tight and built body. I also liked Apollo’s more fluid morphing capabilities; while Daz figures morph certain features in isolation, Apollo morphs much more smoothly, with more realistic interplay between, say, nose and philtrum if you’re making the nose longer. I also liked the fact that Apollo was free with a wide range of clothing guaranteed to fit him, no matter what his morphs.

Things I disliked about the fig: Well, mostly I disliked the female options, and this is what killed the fig for me. If a character has morph options like “Gender01” and “Gender02” on the head, as well as options to change width of hips and shoulders, as well as chest size and placement of fat deposits, it’s practically advertising its transgender capabilities. When I see a fig with such morphs available, I assume that I’ll be able to get a passably male fig out of it, if it’s female and a passably female fig out of it if it’s male.

For a little excursus about transgender figs… As I enjoyed creating them in 3-D, so I enjoy digitally modeling them. My latest digital iteration of Will is based on the Victoria 3 female mesh, heavily tweaked with the Rayne morphs. My latest digital iteration of Anneka is based on the Michael 3 male mesh, heavily tweaked with the Brom morphs. And you don’t necessarily need extra-fancy morph packs to transgenderize V3 or M3. In fact, V3’s standard morph pack includes “Male” and “Young Male” body shapes, “Male Chest Span,” “HeadMale,” “HeadMale2,” “HeadAlienMale,” et hoc genus omne, allowing you to approximate a male fig very well. [M3 is more of a challenge because of the flat-chest-to-boobs conversion.]

Okay, anyway, fresh from the transgenderizing abilities of Daz figures, I expected similar results from Apollo, perhaps even more impressive ones, since the Web site goes on and on pissing about how he’s new and sexy and improved and loads better than Daz models. I didn’t get anything close. I fought with the morphs for almost an hour, and the best I could manage was a short man with sloping shoulders and wide, fat, curving upper thighs. I could not narrow the shoulders appropriately without tearing the mesh; nor could I find any way to generate breasts on the fig. Furthermore, the only way to get rid of the penis involved making an obvious hole in the fig’s pubis through which you could see its butt crack. I was very sad.

In conclusion, Apollo should not be marketed as the super-duper fig to end all figs. A super-duper fig to end all figs would cough up a female shape if you asked it to. >_< Instead, Apollo should be correctly billed for what he is: an amazing super-duper MALE fig with extensive morphing capacity and free clothes for all your various MALE permutations, created by a guy who very well could be gay [a makeup artist/fashion designer who worked on Newbury Street in Boston for 10 years before hitting the 3-D scene — hmmm, my gaydar is ringing] and therefore more focused on the MALE body anyway. The morph dials should not imply transgenderization, but instead a young/old spectrum or a high fat/low fat spectrum. I erased him from my computer.