I’m sure I am not alone in thinking to two names when Supergirl is mentioned, Helen Slater and Mandi Steele.
Mandi was one of the first quality heroine sites in terms of look and wardrobe in the genre and her popularity branched into a pseudo-franchise with the opening of sister site Adarasteele.com and Kendallsteele.com in later years. This site is packed full of pretty much all her photo sets from the start, that’s 7 years worth! In her beginning years she switched between heroine sets and modeling sets but eventually stuck to heroines almost exclusively. Eventually different models where brought in to trade off with “Mandi” who still does sets herself.
The site’s early years helped anchor it as one of the flagships for the genre along with the quality of the outfits and some of the best ‘heroine” looking models of any site. The early site suffered a bit from poor photography and eventually the “modeling photoset” format started to get a bit old for its viewers. Lets face it, after 3 years one really runs out of modeling poses. The site eventually started adding different outfits and models to shake this up a bit, as well as started the sister sites. They took also moved more from photosets to more photostory based sets. Unlike some other sites however they did not include (save for a few sets) captions or a text story with them. I know some didn’t like not having a written story with it but personally I liked creating the story I felt the pics were playing out in my own mind so I liked it. The site also offers a few short videos and has produced an armature movie that was done quite well with the budget and experience they went into it with. To top off the Mandiverse empire they have even developed an assortment of merchandise.
The biggest downsides to this site are that is suffered for a number of years due to lack of promised updates. I don’t fault people for missing and update as no one is getting rich off these sites but Mandi’s site went through a spell of continually promising updates that never came when promised. This left many members with a sour taste and created a hostile, now closed, Yahoo group in which it often seemed every second post was about the lack of met updates. The problem they created could have been solved simply by not giving promise dates for their updates or when they were missed them, making a better effort to inform members about the trouble. All that said, the update issues seem to be behind them for awhile now so all is safe on that front if you are thinking of joining. They use CC-Bill. I find it one of the mostanal payment systems on the net. They trumpet their security but to be frank its over the top ANAL. See my future article about “Is your billing system losing you customers” for the full details on this. The last negative is the site itself. It has not had a major upgrade for some time and still heralds a welcome to the “new & improved site” which has been like this for a long time now. Simply it could just use a fresh look and make over. I’d suggest they look into revamping their Adarasteele site first though as this one seems to suffer from worse lack of attention including ana contact link that sends you to a non functional email address among some other things I will cover in that sites review.
I wrote a lot, in words not topics, about downsides but wanted those out of the way before I discussed the upsides. The archive for this site is extensive and stretches back to the site’s start, something not offered by many sites of this age. The photos are high quality both in format size and presentation. They are certainly taken by a photographer who knows more then where to find the shutter release. Save for the occasional photo they are all in good exposure and offer a good verity of poses. The set often focus around an unscripted story that is a good departure from simple photo shoots. The models used are great not only in looks (Mandi of course still leads the pack here for me) and fitting the parts they portray but they know how to interact with a camera, which also lends credit to a photographer who knows how to work with models. They mix up the settings a lot more these days and this is wonderful. Costume variety is alright but the high quality of the outfits makes up for the lack of selection. I’d rather look at two outfits of high quality than twelve of poor quality myself. I make that comment as I know most fans like a good assortment, my personal view is that I enjoy the Steele sites for the quality of outfits, models and well I’m just a Supergirl junky!This site has had some criticism from genre fans for not having enough action and peril. Its true that in this genre the majority of fans like to see some peril befall their heroine. The site producers eventually became a bit more sensitive to this with their photo story shoots that we are seeing a lot more of over the last few years even if the level of peril is not there quite yet.Some fans go further and point to the lack of “skin” in this site as opposed to others. So why mention this in the positives section? Its simple guys! Its called differentiation and niche marketing. The Steele sites offer much better outfit quality than many competitors (more are catching up however) and the no bondage (the one real bondage set years back with Supergirl tied to a chair was removed from the site it was on. Not sure now if that was Mandi or Adara’s) not even partial nudity is their niche. I have heard, “who wants to see her never bound, suit torn, or partially stripped?” The simple answer is that there are obviously enough people who are to not only keep Mandi’s site growing but to expand the franchise. I like your bound heroine as much as the next guy but its refreshing and nice to see a strong heroine nearly defeated and comes back to win while keeping her clothes on. I actually applaud them for this as its something nearly no other producer would think of trying yet Mandi made it work.
Yes this was a long review but its an old site with many unique issues. It is one of the pillars of the genre and lastly one whose history I know a bit more about than other sites so it commanded the space.
For a website review the thing that really brings the overall rating down is the website itself, not the content. A bit of an improvement could easily lead me to giving it an extra half star rating.
4 / 5 Capes
(A side note to this is they can’t get complacent here as new sites are improving fast in costume quality, a few even if minimal or no nudity, and this will cut into their business a bit as well as raise the bar for the genre. Keeping track of fan needs, listening to feedback, monitoring trends will be key to keeping a 4 rating in the future. They have been around long though so do have a fairly solid base to rely on)
-- Edited by Alex on Friday 20th of March 2009 07:57:27 AM
I'll offer a counterpoint to this review. I was a member of MandiSteele awhile back and maintained my membership for two consecutive months. It was equal parts good and bad.
GOOD:
* Mandi herself is very attractive (although she has since quit appearing on the site and has actually not been on the site for several years now) and looks the part of a sexy superheroine. * Costuming is excellent, and they use a local costumer in Nevada that I also have been known to use from time to time as well that does costumes for Las Vegas showgirls and dancers. * Outdoor locations are very well done, and they use scenery very effectively. Lighting is also very good, very professional-looking. I like the fact they use vista backdrops and desert mesas in their shoots. Very original for this genre. * Special effects are good (they leave very little traces of their photoshopping work visible to the naked eye, which is always a sign of excellence) and their movies are above-average quality. I love seeing the models lifting a truck or soaring into the air.
BAD:
* The new models they are using are becoming increasingly less attractive. Most of the models from 2008 were average-looking, but more significantly have less modeling skills and fewer poses than their predecessors, which is not a good sign. The fact that the producers talk endlessly about how 'hot' the new models are only draws more attention to the fact that they have gone down from using 8's and 9's, and are now using 6's and 7's. * Sporadic updating and consistent billing only infuriates the average subscriber. In two months all I got from my membership were three updates. That's the main reason I discontinued giving them my money. The update problems have continued for years. * No written stories to speak of. The pictures are arranged in a way that it would seem like a story is being given, but the viewer is not given any direct correlation. It's all in your imagination if you see a story from the way they've arranged pictures. Or not. * Character stagnation. They used to do a variety of superpowered characters on the site, but for the last two years it is in repeating cycles of Supergirl, Evil Supergirl, Mary Marvel, and Evil Mary Marvel.
Overall I would give these producers a rating of three capes out of five(3/5). Their work is quite good, and I do love their small attentions to detail as I've pointed out earlier, but neither is it defining in any way. The weekly updating delays and the lack of actual stories are the number one reason that I cannot overly recommend them to people. Subscribe for a month, look around, enjoy what they offer, and then I'd say you'll be ready to move on to something else.
While I stick to my rating i don't think yours is unfair. Considering you are a competing producer you make fair points.
Mandi has not been AWOL for several years just yet. Summer 2007 was her last heroine set I can see and she did a modeling set a few months after that. Hey she lasted longer than AdaraSteele
When I rate the site it's on ALL the sets I can see (not just the most recent or the possible trend in them) and that averages out to fit into my rating. So the 5 or 6 of 7 years of shots will carry the site. I rate present content I have available and average it. I would agree somewhat about the models and other things. This is why I made my note after the rating. For sure if this site is rated again in a year or two it could drop. But on the whole, right now, with what is on there is what carried it.
Updates have been quite consistent in the last year and a bit. They had a bad spell, ok very bad, which I addressed. I also mentioned to make matters worse they made bad PR moves in handling it.
I commented on the lack of selection so I agree with you but it’s not quite as bad as you say. They also run a couple Wonder Woman sets, a couple commando type sets, and the other black outfit one that Raven uses in the latest update.
Wow! Both are very comprehensive reviews. A couple of points.... Mandi is retired.. Her last shoot was in December of 2006. Lack of updates.. Well, I see no one has forgotten 2006 2007 ( Or as I like to call "The Dark Years" ) We've been on track since Dec 2007. We'll stay there! And, in the event of delays, I'll be sure to post something on the site. Look of the site.. Ok, we've got something in the works now. More on that later :) I'm gonna try and get that 5th cape :)
As for Dawn Star's review... Less attractive models.. Ok, I can think one or two that we tried out, but by the responses we've been getting on our regular models, I think your comments are based from your own personal tastes. As for the repeating cycles, we'll work on that. Supergirl is THE favorite though. Personally, I want to bring back Tempest. But, so far, the best model for that Character is Kelli ( A solid 10 in my book). However, she's 2 months into her year tour in Kuwait. We'll find a new Tempest. No written stories... Yeah, that's just how we roll :) We prefer the viewer to imagine the dialog as they turn through the story panels.
Anyway, thanks to both of you for your reviews. I really appreciate the good marks, and we'll work hard to fix the bad ones. Here's to another 7 years.
And again, to be fair, I am a BIG fan of the site and still feel that it is a quality place to go. I just like to rotate out my memberships to two different sites a month because my budget allows about $40.00 to $50.00 per month on monthly subscriptions and about another $30.00 per month available for Clips4Sale, so I tend to 'visit' sites for a while, then move on.
If there is something interesting to lure me back, I'll resubscribe. Sometimes, when there is a photoset that catches my eye, I'll reup right away. Sometimes I'll reup when it's been a year or two, because I know there'll be a ton of new material that I have never seen before, and that's a lure all in itself.
I love the beautiful natural backdrops that you guys at MandiSteele and Adarasteele shoot against, and the quality work in photoshop. Your lighting (as I said in my review) is excellent. Your choice of camera angles is very artistic. I've studied many of your shots in Adobe, trying to break some of them down on my own.
It is fun to read this 10 years into the future. Clearly nobody looks at this anymore so I'm not expecting a reply. Mandi just popped into my head today and I did a search and ended up here.
I subscribed to this site for a few years, the reviews above are mostly fair. Not that it matters now because surely no one can sign up in 2019? The guy who ran it had a pretty long period of failing to get updates on time. He would have enjoyed running the sites much more if he had just sold each set individually. Sure, you risk making less money, particularly if your updates are erratic, but you're not pissing anyone off and you wouldn't have any anger to deal with.
It was a bit annoying that some sets would disappear from the members area without warning. No idea why this happened but there would be previews on the site for sets that were no longer available.
Costumes were really nice quality for that time period, even look fine by today's higher standards. Locations were very good I guess as they were in the desert they could expect sunny weather and drive 20 minutes and no one would bother them, great advantage. So anyway, what about the broads? I agree with above that they went from hot model quality to pretty girl next door types, with some exceptions. Eventually though, no one stuck around long enough to get too excited about.
Mandi - Good looking, good body, some exceptional sets, particularly when she had the silky ash blond hair. Could be a bit expressionless, quite a strong build.
Adara - Great figure, obviously attractive though less than Mandi in my book. Not really around that long when you look at it, I bet the guy running it expected more commitment after giving her character her own site.
Kendall - Huge tits, loved everything about her sets, gone way too soon.
Sonja - Huge tits, not quite as good looking as Kendall but I forgave her.
