Category: Second Life Steals, Deals and Freebies

Blogposts about the best bargains and freebies in the virtual world of Second Life! Posts about steals, deals, and free items, including hunt prizes and lucky chairs.

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals and Freebies: Where to Get Both Versions of the New Free Male Mesh Avatar Head and Body by Altamura, Plus the Best Freebie Stores for Men!

UPDATE Oct. 20th: For a current, up-to-date list of options for free and inexpensive male mesh avatar heads and bodies, please see this blogpost. Also note that all the clothing freebies at the UniHispana Crea sim are now at the same spot as the Max vendor sign, instead of in a separate location. Also, the Max bodies at both Ajuda SL Brasil and UniHispana Crea are now FREE instead of L$1; just click the blue vendor panel and select Deliver from the blue pop-up menu.

Finding high-quality freebies for male avatars in Second Life can be a bit of a problem. There seems to be a LOT more freebies available for women than men. So today I am going to tell you about all the places I go visit when I am looking to outfit one of my male alts.

Did you know that Altamura has just announced that they are giving away two versions of their Max full Bento mesh avatar body and head package for FREE? (Actually, you’ll need L$1 to pay the vendor, and then the vendor automatically returns your Linden dollar.) This is a fully functional, fully adjustable, fully featured Bento mesh avatar body and head with a full set of alpha selections (but please note that you cannot hide the head using the included HUD, in order to wear another mesh avatar head with this body). Also, while you can turn the hairbase on or off using the HUD, each Max body only comes in the one skin tone. You cannot use Omega appliers with these freebie male bodies.

To pick up the darker skin tone version of Max, go to Ajuda SL Brasil. At the landing point, look for this large blue sign:

Freebies for Men 1 2 May 2018

When you click it, it will teleport you to the third floor of their large Freebies store, where you can pay the identical blue sign L$1 to buy a copy of your Max mesh avatar body and head package. (You will get your Linden refunded.) There are also many more freebies for men on this floor, of varying quality (some are mesh, some are older system clothing), so go and shop around!

Freebies for Men 3 2 May 2018.png

To get the lighter skin tone of Max, you need to go to another freebie spot, called the UniHispana Crea Community Gateway. This place can be a little confusing to navigate, so use the included SLURLs to find what you are looking for. The Max package is available here (again, just pay the blue sign L$1 and it will refund you):

Freebies for Men 2 2 May 2018.png

But the small selection of freebies for men (including the mesh dress suit and dress shoes my avatar is wearing) is located in another place on the same sim:

Freebies for Men 5 2 May 2018.png

Another great place for men’s freebies is the venerable Free Dove. They have a selection of high-quality men’s clothing and shoes, and a few hairstyles for men as well, located against the back wall from the entrance:

Freebies for Men 4 2 May 2018.png

Finally, there are some nice freebies by designer Giz Seorn (some unavailable anywhere else) that can be found at the New Resident Island freebie village:

Freebies for Men 6 2 May 2018.png

Note that many of the vendors at New Resident Island are restricted to avatars under a certain age in days, but the Giz Seorn freebies are available to anybody regardless of age.

So, there you have it! Only a few stops and you have not only a good-looking mesh avatar head and body, but also hair, shoes, and good-quality clothing galore! Here is a shot of my male alt, wearing the lighter-toned Max head and body, with free Chris hair from the Free Dove, and wearing the suit and shoes I got from the UniHispana freebie store:

Freebies for Men 7 2 May 2018.png

I forgot to mention that the Bento male animation override is also FREE, available from Tuty’s. So everything this avatar is wearing from head to toe, including the AO, is FREE!

Freebies for Men 8 2 May 2018.png

UPDATED: Second Life Steals and Deals — Altamura Jenny Bento Mesh Head For Only L$700 At the Expo Fair

I recently blogged about the fantastic deal that Altamura had at the recent Second Life Skin Fair, a complete Bento mesh avatar body and head package for only L$300. Well, if you missed that, there’s another Altamura deal coming up starting today!

If you’re in the market for a Bento mesh avatar head for your female Second Life avatar, and you don’t want to pay L$5,000 for a Catwa, Lelutka or LAQ head, head over to the Expo Fair, where you pick up the Jenny Bento mesh head by Altamura for only L$700! (You do have to become a member of the Altamura group to get the discount; the group join fee is L$50.)

Jenny at the Expo Fair 10 Apr 2018.png

The Expo Fair just opened today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time/SL Time, and I don’t know how long it runs for, so hurry down! Here’s a SLURL that should take you directly to the Altamura booth at the fair. (It’s not a large fair; there’s only 18 booths in a skybox.)

Neck ProblemI did come across one serious bug with this head. I bought it and set it up to wear with the Altamura Valentina body I had bought earlier at the Skin Fair. The neck seam on the Jenny head was noticeably wider than the neck on the Valentina body (see image, right). In order to fix it, you have to click the “OTHER” button on the included Jenny head HUD, and then CLICK AROUND IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIND THE INVISIBLE BUTTON that removes this neck seam, located somewhere above the ear removal button on the bottom!

I’ve already told the Altamura customer support people just how stupid this design decision is. Here’s an actual transcript of my conversation with their rep:

Me: I don’t understand.

Customer Service Rep: In that area are hidden buttons horizontally. Click in that area and watch the neck.

Me: I can’t find the hidden button. Wait, OK, I finally got it. That is a TERRIBLE PROBLEM with the HUD.

CSR: Well, we hid them because too many people were actually messing their necks up, and less people had issues, so…

Me: That’s wrong.

CSR: Since the new HUDs on the way, it’s a moot point…LOL

Me: That’s too confusing. And you are going to get a lot of people buying this head that have the same problem.

CSR: This way I have to assist 20 people. The other way was 200.

So, buyer beware! Perhaps Altamura will issue an updated HUD with a fix for this incredibly stupid issue. Invisible buttons?!?? I am not very impressed with this answer at all. Overall, I do find the Altamura HUDs and supporting documentation to be confusing already, compared to the HUDs and documentation for other mesh avatar bodies and heads. Maybe in some cases, you do get what you pay for.

However, if you want a good deal on a beautiful, fully customizable Bento mesh head, despite some problems and frustrations with its HUDs, I can recommend the Altamura Jenny head. At less than one-fifth the cost of the upscale models, it’s still a real deal.

Here’s a picture of one of my alts, wearing the Altamura Jenny head and Altamura Valentina body:

Altamura Jenny 10 Apr 2018.png

She is wearing:

  • Head and Lipstick: Altamura Jenny Bento mesh head, just purchased from the Expo Fair (L$700)
  • Body and Nails: Altamura Valentina Bento mesh body from the recent Skin Fair (L$300; no longer available at that price)
  • Hair: Chikai hair in black by Argrace (free gift)
  • Eyes: Look Into My eyes in brown by Exodi (no longer available for sale)
  • Earrings: Casual Pearls earrings by Miriel (no longer available for sale)
  • Clothing: Temis shirt and skirt by Scandalize (free group gift)
  • Shoes (not seen): Marquesse classic pumps in black (free; from the excellent freebie store at Ajuda SL Brasil)
  • AO: Tuty’s Lucky Girl Bento AO by Tuty (free; with additional Bento stand animations added from the dollarbie SEmotion Newbie Girl AO HUD available on the Marketplace; you do NOT need to spend thousands of Lindens on a Bento AO!)

Total cost of this complete Bento mesh avatar: L$1,001.

UPDATE April 11th: I’ve been told by someone in the official Second Life user forums that the HUD for the demo version of the Jenny head does have the buttons visible to adjust the neck, so here is a comparison to show you exactly what I am complaining about. Here’s a picture of the HUD for the demo version:

Demo HUD 11 Apr 2018.png

Now compare that with the same page of the HUD for the full version:

Full HUD 11 Apr 2018.png

See what I mean about invisible buttons? Stupid, stupid, STUPID, stupid, stupid…

UPDATE April 12th: I have heard back from Altamura on the official Second Life forums, and they say that they have corrected the problem with the HUD:

Hello, Vanity Fair :)

What you show is the neck size, it is not a seam. However the HUD is fixed on the sold version and not on the demo. We named this part “Neck size” and Now you can turn off the neck .So you can widely spread this news on your blog :). Neck size  exists to connect the mesh head with the second life body. It is not necessary on bodymesh, if the creator of the body has respected the canons of sl. Even if the body mesh creator has not respected it, the body will be provided with a fitting neck, you can use that.

Here’s an image of the updated HUD that apparently is now being offered with the sold version (I can’t verify this unless I actually purchase the Jenny head again, but I’m certainly willing to take their word for it.)

Altamura HUD 12 Apr 2018.png

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Get a Full Bento Altamura Mesh Avatar Head and Body for Only L$300 at the 2018 Skin Fair

Are you still wandering around Second Life in an old system avatar? Wishing that the more aesthetically pleasing mesh avatar heads and bodies weren’t quite so expensive? Well, have I found a deal for you!

Altamura is offering the Valentina model, a fully-featured, fully-adjustable, Bento mesh avatar head and body package, for only L$300 during the annual Skin Fair! The skin comes with five different built-in skin tones. In these pictures, my alt is wearing the darkest skin tone:

Altamura Valentina 1 11 Mar 2018_001Altamura Valentina 2 11 Mar 2018_001Altamura Valentina 3 11 Mar 2018_001Altamura Valentina 4 11 Mar 2018_001Altamura Valentina 5 11 Mar 2018_001

To get this deal, you must:

The body comes with a number of HUDs. The body HUD has complete alpha, skin and layers controls. The head HUD allows you to change or remove any of the many makeup options. There’s a second makeup applier which allows you to easily change your eyebrows and hairbase to white, blonde, red, brown and black. There’s also a separate nails HUD for controlling the shape and colour of your nails. There’s an extra animation override just for the Bento hands so you can use it with your older, non-Bento AOs (a nice touch!). And finally there’s a facial expression HUD. You get the whole package!

If you wish, you can alpha out the head using the body HUD and remove all the makeup using the head HUD, and then use your own head with it. (I have tried this body with an Akeruka Bento mesh head and it works perfectly.) You can also purchase an Altamura Omega installer/relay so you can use any Omega products (skins, makeups, tattoos, etc.) with it.

Even better, everything that my alt is wearing in these photos is FREE! The dress and earrings are 7Seas fishing prizes from Sn@tch (all you need is a fishing rod and some patience). The hair is called Evolve, and is a free Gimme Gacha group gift from Analog Dog at the Imaginarium event going on right now! It comes in a full fatpack of colours. And the black high heels are a freebie from Marquesse, available at the excellent freebie store at Ajuda SL Brasil. They come in a pack with four basic colours: white, red, black, and nude. The Altamura bodies have Slink-compatible feet in three heights (flat, mid and high). I have also found that clothing created for Maitreya Lara mesh bodies fits the Altamura mesh bodies well. And of course, you’ve got full alpha control with this body!

And, if you don’t even have the L$300 to spare on an Altamura Valentina head and body, you can pick up a free version at Ajuda SL Brasil! The free version is fully adjustable, but only comes in one skin tone and one makeup version. Look for the big red sign across from some gift boxes lying on the floor of the freebie store at Ajuda SL Brasil.

This special Altamura offer ends when the Skin Fair does, on March 25th, so hurry!