diff --git a/src/backends/pgfplots.jl b/src/backends/pgfplots.jl
index 145ae7fe..51b96a5b 100644
--- a/src/backends/pgfplots.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pgfplots.jl
@@ -145,7 +145,6 @@ end
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-
 function pgf_series(sp::Subplot, series::Series)
     d = series.d
     st = d[:seriestype]
@@ -173,6 +172,18 @@ function pgf_series(sp::Subplot, series::Series)
         d[:x], d[:y]
     end
 
+    # PGFPlots can't handle non-Vector?
+    args = map(a -> if typeof(a) <: AbstractVector && typeof(a) != Vector
+            collect(a)
+        else
+            a
+        end, args)
+    # for (i,a) in enumerate(args)
+    #     if typeof(a) <: AbstractVector && typeof(a) != Vector
+    #         args[i] = collect(a)
+    #     end
+    # end
+
     # include additional style, then add to the kw
     if haskey(_pgf_series_extrastyle, st)
         push!(style, _pgf_series_extrastyle[st])
@@ -216,9 +227,12 @@ function pgf_axis(sp::Subplot, letter)
     end
 
     # limits
-    lims = axis_limits(axis)
-    kw[Symbol(letter,:min)] = lims[1]
-    kw[Symbol(letter,:max)] = lims[2]
+    # TODO: support zlims
+    if letter != :z
+        lims = axis_limits(axis)
+        kw[Symbol(letter,:min)] = lims[1]
+        kw[Symbol(letter,:max)] = lims[2]
+    end
 
     # return the style list and KW args
     style, kw
diff --git a/src/recipes.jl b/src/recipes.jl
index 7ddbaea5..5b5b4779 100644
--- a/src/recipes.jl
+++ b/src/recipes.jl
@@ -444,6 +444,20 @@ centers(v::AVec) = v[1] + cumsum(diff(v))
     ()
 end
 
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# scatter 3d
+
+@recipe function f(::Type{Val{:scatter3d}}, x, y, z)
+    seriestype := :path3d
+    if d[:markershape] == :none
+        markershape := :ellipse
+    end
+    linewidth := 0
+    linealpha := 0
+    ()
+end
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Box Plot
 
diff --git a/src/series_new.jl b/src/series_new.jl
index 3893eeaf..203ed749 100644
--- a/src/series_new.jl
+++ b/src/series_new.jl
@@ -117,7 +117,10 @@ immutable SliceIt end
 end
 
 # this is the default "type recipe"... just pass the object through
-@recipe f{T}(::Type{T}, v::T) = v
+@recipe f{T<:Any}(::Type{T}, v::T) = v
+
+# this should catch unhandled "series recipes" and error with a nice message
+@recipe f{V<:Val}(::Type{V}, x, y, z) = error("The backend must not support the series type $V, and there isn't a series recipe defined.")
 
 _apply_type_recipe(d, v) = RecipesBase.apply_recipe(d, typeof(v), v)[1].args[1]
 
@@ -156,6 +159,24 @@ end
         SliceIt, nothing, y, nothing
     end
 end
+
+# if there's more than 3 inputs, it can't be passed directly to SliceIt
+# so we'll apply_type_recipe to all of them
+@recipe function f(v1, v2, v3, v4, vrest...)
+    did_replace = false
+    newargs = map(v -> begin
+        newv = _apply_type_recipe(d, v)
+        if newv !== v
+            did_replace = true
+        end
+        newv
+    end, (v1, v2, v3, v4, vrest...))
+    if !did_replace
+        error("Couldn't process recipe args: $(map(typeof, (v1, v2, v3, v4, vrest...)))")
+    end
+    newargs
+end
+
 # @recipe f(x, y, z)  = SliceIt, apply_recipe(typeof(x), x), apply_recipe(typeof(y), y), apply_recipe(typeof(z), z)
 # @recipe f(x, y)     = SliceIt, apply_recipe(typeof(x), x), apply_recipe(typeof(y), y), nothing
 # @recipe f(y)        = SliceIt, nothing, apply_recipe(typeof(y), y), nothing
@@ -323,7 +344,7 @@ end
 @recipe function f(fx::FuncOrFuncs, fy::FuncOrFuncs, fz::FuncOrFuncs, u::AVec)
     mapFuncOrFuncs(fx, u), mapFuncOrFuncs(fy, u), mapFuncOrFuncs(fz, u)
 end
-@recipe function f(fx::FuncOrFuncs, fy::FuncOrFuncs, fz::FuncOrFuncs, umin::Number, umax::Number, numPointsn = 200)
+@recipe function f(fx::FuncOrFuncs, fy::FuncOrFuncs, fz::FuncOrFuncs, umin::Number, umax::Number, numPoints = 200)
     fx, fy, fz, linspace(umin, umax, numPoints)
 end