Big Shot or Big Flop?

[Onebigtum]

Well I did it, I gone and bought the Big Shot. Just spend an hour playing with it, and so far I'm soooo not impressed with the cutting mats...I am beginning to think I made a mistake with buying this instead of the Wizard - only decided on the Big Shot because I got a 10% offer, so paid a bargain price of £67.50....
Anyone else finding the cutting mats a pain in the bum? The problem is they get really marked by the dies and these marks then get embossed onto the next cuts - so annoying!!! That's just after an hour, so I can't see how they are going to last very long - they will either get too marked to work with (or break!) or I will end up chucking them out the window in sheer fustration!

I'm not a crafter, but there seems to have been a number of 'My BigShot has broken' type thereads on active conversations in the last few months. It would seem that you are not alone in your disappointment

I haven't noticed that the impression goes into the next die cut. I'm off to try be back shortly.

Get rid of the cutting mats and use two self healing cutting mats....they work a lot better and dont leave any impressions.

Im debating whether or not to buy a Big Shot or the normal sizzix, can anyone advise as im a bit confused.
thanks

TBH Jenk I would go for the sizzix teamed up with convertor to use sizzlits and Ellison thin cuts. Ive got a BS and although its great for cutting alphabets thats all I really use it for...and I can cut them on my sizzix....its just that the BS lets me cut six dies at once so its quicker.

well, i saw the biig shot in action at local craft shop. liked the whole turning round bit rather than pressing. but i have heard loads ofproblems about the mats on mn.

so im going to leave off buying anything for a few months at least. until as someone said, the teething troubles are over.

I've just noticed that the cutting pads are starting to warp too! I'm really scared they are going to snap! Does anyone know whether other die cutting machines with similar cutting pads (e.g. zipemate) have the same 'accidental embossing' problem?

JayzMummy, Thanks for the tip. I've read somewhere else about people using cutting mats after their cutting pads broke. Any particular type or size? I think you can get clear cutting mats too?

You'd think Ellison would have encountered this problem during the design process. I'm tempted to send Ellison an email just to have moan about this.

Judging from what I have read on here I would go for the sizzix. It's very very sturdy. Ok so it's old fashioned now, but it's a bit everything electical, the more technology used,the easier to break etc.

I would definitely tell Ellison. It makes sense, the more of you that moan, they will realise, they probably know already.