The Energon Pub

Feel free to post.

A mod should split the posts from the Transitor thread to this.

My take: Sure. There's nothing at all that separates a sponsored review from an unsponsored one. As long as you take any review as one guy's opinion you'll be fine. Key phrase there? "One guy." His opinion has as much weight as any other one guy, no more no less.

Personally I have little use for reviews as a deciding factor on whether I get something. Mostly there just one information source.

Due to how I ship my figures (usually only once every 3 or 4 months), I place more weight on my own opinions on the design of the figure and the comments of those who have received their figures before me. These days with very few "new" 3rd party companies, I pretty much know what to expect in terms of quality.

If there are concerns, then I read the opinions of the general crowd. I watch the videos primarily for instructions only.

Mkall wrote: I watch the videos primarily for instructions only.

Could care less if the toy video review is sponsored or not.

Also just watch the videos to check out the toys scale, articulation, transformation, sculpted details and to watch the toy move around.

Think hating on too many things in this hobby steals the joy away from it all.

Nobody has anything coming to them. I do appreciate the time and effort it takes all of the Transformers news staff and Video reviewers hard work they put into all of this. They do all of this for free and I don't pay a cent to get any of it. I have no reason to complain, mock or attack them, as i'm not paying to get any of this

Tsutsukakushi wrote:Think hating on too many things in this hobby steals the joy away from it all.

that might be the most insightful thing youve said. here here.

Gauntlet101010 mentioned that a review is only one guy’s opinion. He is right. But my concern is that “one guy” is almost 100% biased because he is being paid in the form of free figures. These reviewers aren’t doing this for free. If they catch beef with their sponsor for whatever reason and stop receiving promotional figures, I’m fairly confident they won’t be wasting their time doing reviews. Most of the regular posters here are way too smart to have faith in these biased reviews and simply use them as a tool. (myself included) But there are a few posters here who revere these reviewers as gods. And it scares me to wonder how many fans there may be out there who haven’t caught on to the gimmick yet. Some feel sponsored reviewers are doing a service to the fandom. I would beg to differ. It’s the amateurs that do reviews for free that do a service to the fandom. When some random unknown reviewer takes the time to review a 10 year old Energon figure for those who might be interested in acquiring it, that’s showing love to the fandom. No free figures, no link to the pre-order, just an informative video for the fans. In retrospect, I feel I am doing a service to the fandom by exposing the biases these sponsored reviewers generally have and the reasons behind why the biases exist. This is something most of us knew existed for a long time now. But I seem to be the only one not turning a blind eye because their videos are helpful. I admit they are very helpful. So helpful I watch most of them with the figure in hand rather than when deciding to purchase as they were intended to be watched. I wonder if BBTS and TF Source had a way to gauge the reviewer’s effectiveness, would they still be hooking these guys up? It would be awesome if BBTS and TF Source sent out e-mail surveys on our opinions about these guys. Stuff like who’s our favorite reviewer, has a review influenced a decision to purchase, if we only watch them as transformation tutorials, or if we don’t watch them at all. I would much rather see one guy doing reviews at BBTS and TF Source. I’m sure they each have a Transformer expert to review the figures on film in house without the use of a middle man as a mouthpiece. They could even have a review section on their website with videos embedded. If it was a company man reviewing the figures, I wouldn’t get such a used car salesman vibe that I get from the middle men who do their best to impress with free figures as the incentive.

Rated X wrote:Gauntlet101010 mentioned that a review is only one guy’s opinion. He is right. But my concern is that “one guy” is almost 100% biased because he is being paid in the form of free figures. These reviewers aren’t doing this for free. If they catch beef with their sponsor for whatever reason and stop receiving promotional figures, I’m fairly confident they won’t be wasting their time doing reviews. Most of the regular posters here are way too smart to have faith in these biased reviews and simply use them as a tool. (myself included) But there are a few posters here who revere these reviewers as gods. And it scares me to wonder how many fans there may be out there who haven’t caught on to the gimmick yet. Some feel sponsored reviewers are doing a service to the fandom. I would beg to differ. It’s the amateurs that do reviews for free that do a service to the fandom. When some random unknown reviewer takes the time to review a 10 year old Energon figure for those who might be interested in acquiring it, that’s showing love to the fandom. No free figures, no link to the pre-order, just an informative video for the fans. In retrospect, I feel I am doing a service to the fandom by exposing the biases these sponsored reviewers generally have and the reasons behind why the biases exist. This is something most of us knew existed for a long time now. But I seem to be the only one not turning a blind eye because their videos are helpful. I admit they are very helpful. So helpful I watch most of them with the figure in hand rather than when deciding to purchase as they were intended to be watched. I wonder if BBTS and TF Source had a way to gauge the reviewer’s effectiveness, would they still be hooking these guys up? It would be awesome if BBTS and TF Source sent out e-mail surveys on our opinions about these guys. Stuff like who’s our favorite reviewer, has a review influenced a decision to purchase, if we only watch them as transformation tutorials, or if we don’t watch them at all. I would much rather see one guy doing reviews at BBTS and TF Source. I’m sure they each have a Transformer expert to review the figures on film in house without the use of a middle man as a mouthpiece. They could even have a review section on their website with videos embedded. If it was a company man reviewing the figures, I wouldn’t get such a used car salesman vibe that I get from the middle men who do their best to impress with free figures as the incentive.

You're not really exposing biases, you're airing suspicions. If you really want to expose bias you'd comb through sponsored reviews and get proof. Maybe compare it to pre-sponsored reviews. That's actually exposing bias. For now you're 100% in the "airing suspicion" category.

I just can't really agree that giving a good review to a bad toy exposes a bias either. There's a LOT of toys I like that many, many others don't. Impossibletoys Quintessons and Alicon. KFC's entire line of tapes. BTS' Ratbat. Probably more. I'd give all those things great reviews. Like I said a review is just one guy's opinion.

I don't know why you think they wouldn't do reviews if they weren't "paid" with free toys. People have hobbies, you know.

hmmm to me it's like this...

If you are receiving free merchandise those reviews usually highlight the strong points....down play any problems with the figure even when caught on camera because who wants to stop recieving free TF, and that 98% of their review videos end with the "Pick this up if you can" line. Really....you think it's all good.

Now reviewers like bobby skullface and even emgo will give you their honest opinions on items. If it's crap, it's crap. Then you have reviewers like Thew who's goal seems to be entertaining us which I enjoy!

I enjoy most of the reviewers out there, even the "salesmen"
So if the retailers did videos i'd watch them but still realize they wanna sell product and make money.

As long as you enjoy what you purchase, that's all that matters!

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Gauntlet101010 mentioned that a review is only one guy’s opinion. He is right. But my concern is that “one guy” is almost 100% biased because he is being paid in the form of free figures. These reviewers aren’t doing this for free. If they catch beef with their sponsor for whatever reason and stop receiving promotional figures, I’m fairly confident they won’t be wasting their time doing reviews. Most of the regular posters here are way too smart to have faith in these biased reviews and simply use them as a tool. (myself included) But there are a few posters here who revere these reviewers as gods. And it scares me to wonder how many fans there may be out there who haven’t caught on to the gimmick yet. Some feel sponsored reviewers are doing a service to the fandom. I would beg to differ. It’s the amateurs that do reviews for free that do a service to the fandom. When some random unknown reviewer takes the time to review a 10 year old Energon figure for those who might be interested in acquiring it, that’s showing love to the fandom. No free figures, no link to the pre-order, just an informative video for the fans. In retrospect, I feel I am doing a service to the fandom by exposing the biases these sponsored reviewers generally have and the reasons behind why the biases exist. This is something most of us knew existed for a long time now. But I seem to be the only one not turning a blind eye because their videos are helpful. I admit they are very helpful. So helpful I watch most of them with the figure in hand rather than when deciding to purchase as they were intended to be watched. I wonder if BBTS and TF Source had a way to gauge the reviewer’s effectiveness, would they still be hooking these guys up? It would be awesome if BBTS and TF Source sent out e-mail surveys on our opinions about these guys. Stuff like who’s our favorite reviewer, has a review influenced a decision to purchase, if we only watch them as transformation tutorials, or if we don’t watch them at all. I would much rather see one guy doing reviews at BBTS and TF Source. I’m sure they each have a Transformer expert to review the figures on film in house without the use of a middle man as a mouthpiece. They could even have a review section on their website with videos embedded. If it was a company man reviewing the figures, I wouldn’t get such a used car salesman vibe that I get from the middle men who do their best to impress with free figures as the incentive.

You're not really exposing biases, you're airing suspicions. If you really want to expose bias you'd comb through sponsored reviews and get proof. Maybe compare it to pre-sponsored reviews. That's actually exposing bias. For now you're 100% in the "airing suspicion" category.

I just can't really agree that giving a good review to a bad toy exposes a bias either. There's a LOT of toys I like that many, many others don't. Impossibletoys Quintessons and Alicon. KFC's entire line of tapes. BTS' Ratbat. Probably more. I'd give all those things great reviews. Like I said a review is just one guy's opinion.

I don't know why you think they wouldn't do reviews if they weren't "paid" with free toys. People have hobbies, you know.

What I call “intuitions”, you refer to as “suspicions”. Either way it all boils down to how you interpret what we already know is fact. We know the free toys are a fact. As third party buyers, we know the high prices of the items they get for free. So in my court, receiving free high priced toys would be considered a strong enough motive to warrant intentional biases in their reviews. Maybe in your court, motive isn’t enough. You want to hear an actual testimony from a sponsored reviewer admitting he was told not to bash the toys. You’re not gonna get one. Unless of course BBTS or TF Source decides to out one of their reviewers and he decides to spill the beans.

As far as hard evidence you really don’t need to look any further than this BBTS sponsored review:



The damn figure broke on camera and he stuttered, hesitated with words, and flat out refused to give the figure a “thumbs down” or official warning not to buy the figure. He basically swallowed his pride and put business before his own integrity. And by his tone of voice, you can tell he was completely embarrassed knowing he had no choice but to upload the video because he would not get a 2nd free figure to shoot a retake. His credibility as a voice for the fandom got flushed down the toilet. Further inspection of his youtube channel reveals tons of reviews for GI Joe, Ninja Turtles, Superheroes figures, etc. And every review has a link that says GET YOURS AT BIG BAD TOY STORE!!! (I wish I could find his ebay store lol)

If this guy stopped getting free toys, do you really believe he would keep on reviewing ALL of these lines for the love of the hobby? My intuition tells me he wouldn’t have the desire to do it at the pace BBTS requires. Making videos takes a lot of time. And he has to pump them out quickly while the toy is brand new and in stock at BBTS. I’m sure it takes a toll on his personal time. He is only pushing his time constraints to the limit because he is getting free stuff which can always be sold for some easy cash.

Well there’s youre smoking gun. Don’t let OJ walk free this time.

Their is still no proof that Import sites gives away free toys to some TF video reviewers. Sometimes having a sponsored add on a video means the video reviewer only makes a few cents every time people click on the ad link.

Some of those video reviewers that receive free 3rd party toys often get unfinshed test shots that they need to mail back after they are done doing the video review. Sometimes final versions might need to get mailed back also to the 3rd party company.

Rated X wrote:Either way it all boils down to how you interpret what we already know is fact. We know the free toys are a fact.

no. that actually isnt a fact.

there are times that figures are free (i believe megatronus pointed out) but are actually promotional test shots sent to them by the creators themselves. and even though im not to keen on peaugh, he has said "i picked up this figure" or "i bought this figure". what my intuition tells me, is if these sponsored reviewers get anything, its probably some cheaper things for free (specifically to promote) and maybe just a discount on the more expensive items. but even then, i cant prove any of my intuitions.

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Gauntlet101010 mentioned that a review is only one guy’s opinion. He is right. But my concern is that “one guy” is almost 100% biased because he is being paid in the form of free figures. These reviewers aren’t doing this for free. If they catch beef with their sponsor for whatever reason and stop receiving promotional figures, I’m fairly confident they won’t be wasting their time doing reviews. Most of the regular posters here are way too smart to have faith in these biased reviews and simply use them as a tool. (myself included) But there are a few posters here who revere these reviewers as gods. And it scares me to wonder how many fans there may be out there who haven’t caught on to the gimmick yet. Some feel sponsored reviewers are doing a service to the fandom. I would beg to differ. It’s the amateurs that do reviews for free that do a service to the fandom. When some random unknown reviewer takes the time to review a 10 year old Energon figure for those who might be interested in acquiring it, that’s showing love to the fandom. No free figures, no link to the pre-order, just an informative video for the fans. In retrospect, I feel I am doing a service to the fandom by exposing the biases these sponsored reviewers generally have and the reasons behind why the biases exist. This is something most of us knew existed for a long time now. But I seem to be the only one not turning a blind eye because their videos are helpful. I admit they are very helpful. So helpful I watch most of them with the figure in hand rather than when deciding to purchase as they were intended to be watched. I wonder if BBTS and TF Source had a way to gauge the reviewer’s effectiveness, would they still be hooking these guys up? It would be awesome if BBTS and TF Source sent out e-mail surveys on our opinions about these guys. Stuff like who’s our favorite reviewer, has a review influenced a decision to purchase, if we only watch them as transformation tutorials, or if we don’t watch them at all. I would much rather see one guy doing reviews at BBTS and TF Source. I’m sure they each have a Transformer expert to review the figures on film in house without the use of a middle man as a mouthpiece. They could even have a review section on their website with videos embedded. If it was a company man reviewing the figures, I wouldn’t get such a used car salesman vibe that I get from the middle men who do their best to impress with free figures as the incentive.

You're not really exposing biases, you're airing suspicions. If you really want to expose bias you'd comb through sponsored reviews and get proof. Maybe compare it to pre-sponsored reviews. That's actually exposing bias. For now you're 100% in the "airing suspicion" category.

I just can't really agree that giving a good review to a bad toy exposes a bias either. There's a LOT of toys I like that many, many others don't. Impossibletoys Quintessons and Alicon. KFC's entire line of tapes. BTS' Ratbat. Probably more. I'd give all those things great reviews. Like I said a review is just one guy's opinion.

I don't know why you think they wouldn't do reviews if they weren't "paid" with free toys. People have hobbies, you know.

What I call “intuitions”, you refer to as “suspicions”. Either way it all boils down to how you interpret what we already know is fact. We know the free toys are a fact. As third party buyers, we know the high prices of the items they get for free. So in my court, receiving free high priced toys would be considered a strong enough motive to warrant intentional biases in their reviews. Maybe in your court, motive isn’t enough. You want to hear an actual testimony from a sponsored reviewer admitting he was told not to bash the toys. You’re not gonna get one. Unless of course BBTS or TF Source decides to out one of their reviewers and he decides to spill the beans.

As far as hard evidence you really don’t need to look any further than this BBTS sponsored review:



The damn figure broke on camera and he stuttered, hesitated with words, and flat out refused to give the figure a “thumbs down” or official warning not to buy the figure. He basically swallowed his pride and put business before his own integrity. And by his tone of voice, you can tell he was completely embarrassed knowing he had no choice but to upload the video because he would not get a 2nd free figure to shoot a retake. His credibility as a voice for the fandom got flushed down the toilet. Further inspection of his youtube channel reveals tons of reviews for GI Joe, Ninja Turtles, Superheroes figures, etc. And every review has a link that says GET YOURS AT BIG BAD TOY STORE!!! (I wish I could find his ebay store lol)

If this guy stopped getting free toys, do you really believe he would keep on reviewing ALL of these lines for the love of the hobby? My intuition tells me he wouldn’t have the desire to do it at the pace BBTS requires. Making videos takes a lot of time. And he has to pump them out quickly while the toy is brand new and in stock at BBTS. I’m sure it takes a toll on his personal time. He is only pushing his time constraints to the limit because he is getting free stuff which can always be sold for some easy cash.

Well there’s youre smoking gun. Don’t let OJ walk free this time.

No, you have suspicions

It's a fact that he gets free toys, but it's only a suspicion that it influences his reviews, the rate he releases at, or how he reviews. You have no idea what BBTS requires of him. You're basing your suspicions on just one fact.

On the video you showed here - Kronos has a LOT of fandom baggage. I'm more inclined to believe that he felt a reluctance to crucify the designers because the designers were active at TFW and not because he's trying to shill for a toy.

Go on, though. Find more that you think shows a true bias. Prove your point. Again, though, you're trying to prove they're going easy because of a sponsorship and not because they just genuinely like the products (you know, the way you like Impossibletoys and have other unpopular opinions). If you're intend to shed light on it, prove your point beyond what can be considered a personal taste. One video doesn't prove your point. All you've proven is that Optibotimus went too easy on Kronos. You say you can't resist a debate, so here it is: prove your statement using evidence and not suspicions.

Iirc Optibotimus wasn't hard on the fig based on my gut feeling......the fig was already down and no need to kick it further.

The foot module already broke or a connecting part. No need for Optibotimus to convince me further not to get the Dacatoys version ( btw, I really was looking forward to getting one). Must have been trying to be diplomatic is all.

But on the other reviewer X posted, well, there was a certain fig/figs which I was overly familiar with, well, that reviewer just glossed over the certain "imperfections" of the set which isn't hard to notice so ever since that, I rarely, if at all listen to his reviews.

So maybe it depends on the reviewer.

Just name names. We can't have a proper discussion based on anonymous "reviewers someone has seen".

Edit: double post

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Gauntlet101010 mentioned that a review is only one guy’s opinion. He is right. But my concern is that “one guy” is almost 100% biased because he is being paid in the form of free figures. These reviewers aren’t doing this for free. If they catch beef with their sponsor for whatever reason and stop receiving promotional figures, I’m fairly confident they won’t be wasting their time doing reviews. Most of the regular posters here are way too smart to have faith in these biased reviews and simply use them as a tool. (myself included) But there are a few posters here who revere these reviewers as gods. And it scares me to wonder how many fans there may be out there who haven’t caught on to the gimmick yet. Some feel sponsored reviewers are doing a service to the fandom. I would beg to differ. It’s the amateurs that do reviews for free that do a service to the fandom. When some random unknown reviewer takes the time to review a 10 year old Energon figure for those who might be interested in acquiring it, that’s showing love to the fandom. No free figures, no link to the pre-order, just an informative video for the fans. In retrospect, I feel I am doing a service to the fandom by exposing the biases these sponsored reviewers generally have and the reasons behind why the biases exist. This is something most of us knew existed for a long time now. But I seem to be the only one not turning a blind eye because their videos are helpful. I admit they are very helpful. So helpful I watch most of them with the figure in hand rather than when deciding to purchase as they were intended to be watched. I wonder if BBTS and TF Source had a way to gauge the reviewer’s effectiveness, would they still be hooking these guys up? It would be awesome if BBTS and TF Source sent out e-mail surveys on our opinions about these guys. Stuff like who’s our favorite reviewer, has a review influenced a decision to purchase, if we only watch them as transformation tutorials, or if we don’t watch them at all. I would much rather see one guy doing reviews at BBTS and TF Source. I’m sure they each have a Transformer expert to review the figures on film in house without the use of a middle man as a mouthpiece. They could even have a review section on their website with videos embedded. If it was a company man reviewing the figures, I wouldn’t get such a used car salesman vibe that I get from the middle men who do their best to impress with free figures as the incentive.

You're not really exposing biases, you're airing suspicions. If you really want to expose bias you'd comb through sponsored reviews and get proof. Maybe compare it to pre-sponsored reviews. That's actually exposing bias. For now you're 100% in the "airing suspicion" category.

I just can't really agree that giving a good review to a bad toy exposes a bias either. There's a LOT of toys I like that many, many others don't. Impossibletoys Quintessons and Alicon. KFC's entire line of tapes. BTS' Ratbat. Probably more. I'd give all those things great reviews. Like I said a review is just one guy's opinion.

I don't know why you think they wouldn't do reviews if they weren't "paid" with free toys. People have hobbies, you know.

What I call “intuitions”, you refer to as “suspicions”. Either way it all boils down to how you interpret what we already know is fact. We know the free toys are a fact. As third party buyers, we know the high prices of the items they get for free. So in my court, receiving free high priced toys would be considered a strong enough motive to warrant intentional biases in their reviews. Maybe in your court, motive isn’t enough. You want to hear an actual testimony from a sponsored reviewer admitting he was told not to bash the toys. You’re not gonna get one. Unless of course BBTS or TF Source decides to out one of their reviewers and he decides to spill the beans.

As far as hard evidence you really don’t need to look any further than this BBTS sponsored review:



The damn figure broke on camera and he stuttered, hesitated with words, and flat out refused to give the figure a “thumbs down” or official warning not to buy the figure. He basically swallowed his pride and put business before his own integrity. And by his tone of voice, you can tell he was completely embarrassed knowing he had no choice but to upload the video because he would not get a 2nd free figure to shoot a retake. His credibility as a voice for the fandom got flushed down the toilet. Further inspection of his youtube channel reveals tons of reviews for GI Joe, Ninja Turtles, Superheroes figures, etc. And every review has a link that says GET YOURS AT BIG BAD TOY STORE!!! (I wish I could find his ebay store lol)

If this guy stopped getting free toys, do you really believe he would keep on reviewing ALL of these lines for the love of the hobby? My intuition tells me he wouldn’t have the desire to do it at the pace BBTS requires. Making videos takes a lot of time. And he has to pump them out quickly while the toy is brand new and in stock at BBTS. I’m sure it takes a toll on his personal time. He is only pushing his time constraints to the limit because he is getting free stuff which can always be sold for some easy cash.

Well there’s youre smoking gun. Don’t let OJ walk free this time.

No, you have suspicions

It's a fact that he gets free toys, but it's only a suspicion that it influences his reviews, the rate he releases at, or how he reviews. You have no idea what BBTS requires of him. You're basing your suspicions on just one fact.

On the video you showed here - Kronos has a LOT of fandom baggage. I'm more inclined to believe that he felt a reluctance to crucify the designers because the designers were active at TFW and not because he's trying to shill for a toy.

Go on, though. Find more that you think shows a true bias. Prove your point. Again, though, you're trying to prove they're going easy because of a sponsorship and not because they just genuinely like the products (you know, the way you like Impossibletoys and have other unpopular opinions). If you're intend to shed light on it, prove your point beyond what can be considered a personal taste. One video doesn't prove your point. All you've proven is that Optibotimus went too easy on Kronos. You say you can't resist a debate, so here it is: prove your statement using evidence and not suspicions.

The stance youre taking seems to imply that the only "proof" you will consider a smoking gun is a direct confession straight from the horses mouth. I dont personally know any reviewers so Im not in the position to obtain such a confession. But if the stakes are as high as my "suspicions" suggest, why would they confess ? What do I have to break them ? Im not looking to make this into something personal with any of them. Thats why im calling them out as a group rather than focusing on any one of them particularly. Ill keep on scouring through the reviews for blatant biases when I have the time. These guys arent going anywhere but neither am I.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Just name names. We can't have a proper discussion based on anonymous "reviewers someone has seen".

Ive dropped names here and there. My real beef is with what theyre doing in general. If we start name dropping too much one of them might take this as a personal attack on what they consider their livelihood. Thats not a line I want to cross. I think from this point on ill only drop a name when it is accompanied by a video. Im not looking for beef. I just want them to end all the BS. The videos are aimed at us...the fandom. When they keep spitting the same tactics over and over, it becomes a bit insulting to me as a consumer. Its like they truly believe us fans are that stupid. Im trying to send a message that were not. Im shocked so many fans stand by people that are subliminaly insulting their intelligence on videos.

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:Gauntlet101010 mentioned that a review is only one guy’s opinion. He is right. But my concern is that “one guy” is almost 100% biased because he is being paid in the form of free figures. These reviewers aren’t doing this for free. If they catch beef with their sponsor for whatever reason and stop receiving promotional figures, I’m fairly confident they won’t be wasting their time doing reviews. Most of the regular posters here are way too smart to have faith in these biased reviews and simply use them as a tool. (myself included) But there are a few posters here who revere these reviewers as gods. And it scares me to wonder how many fans there may be out there who haven’t caught on to the gimmick yet. Some feel sponsored reviewers are doing a service to the fandom. I would beg to differ. It’s the amateurs that do reviews for free that do a service to the fandom. When some random unknown reviewer takes the time to review a 10 year old Energon figure for those who might be interested in acquiring it, that’s showing love to the fandom. No free figures, no link to the pre-order, just an informative video for the fans. In retrospect, I feel I am doing a service to the fandom by exposing the biases these sponsored reviewers generally have and the reasons behind why the biases exist. This is something most of us knew existed for a long time now. But I seem to be the only one not turning a blind eye because their videos are helpful. I admit they are very helpful. So helpful I watch most of them with the figure in hand rather than when deciding to purchase as they were intended to be watched. I wonder if BBTS and TF Source had a way to gauge the reviewer’s effectiveness, would they still be hooking these guys up? It would be awesome if BBTS and TF Source sent out e-mail surveys on our opinions about these guys. Stuff like who’s our favorite reviewer, has a review influenced a decision to purchase, if we only watch them as transformation tutorials, or if we don’t watch them at all. I would much rather see one guy doing reviews at BBTS and TF Source. I’m sure they each have a Transformer expert to review the figures on film in house without the use of a middle man as a mouthpiece. They could even have a review section on their website with videos embedded. If it was a company man reviewing the figures, I wouldn’t get such a used car salesman vibe that I get from the middle men who do their best to impress with free figures as the incentive.

You're not really exposing biases, you're airing suspicions. If you really want to expose bias you'd comb through sponsored reviews and get proof. Maybe compare it to pre-sponsored reviews. That's actually exposing bias. For now you're 100% in the "airing suspicion" category.

I just can't really agree that giving a good review to a bad toy exposes a bias either. There's a LOT of toys I like that many, many others don't. Impossibletoys Quintessons and Alicon. KFC's entire line of tapes. BTS' Ratbat. Probably more. I'd give all those things great reviews. Like I said a review is just one guy's opinion.

I don't know why you think they wouldn't do reviews if they weren't "paid" with free toys. People have hobbies, you know.

What I call “intuitions”, you refer to as “suspicions”. Either way it all boils down to how you interpret what we already know is fact. We know the free toys are a fact. As third party buyers, we know the high prices of the items they get for free. So in my court, receiving free high priced toys would be considered a strong enough motive to warrant intentional biases in their reviews. Maybe in your court, motive isn’t enough. You want to hear an actual testimony from a sponsored reviewer admitting he was told not to bash the toys. You’re not gonna get one. Unless of course BBTS or TF Source decides to out one of their reviewers and he decides to spill the beans.

As far as hard evidence you really don’t need to look any further than this BBTS sponsored review:



The damn figure broke on camera and he stuttered, hesitated with words, and flat out refused to give the figure a “thumbs down” or official warning not to buy the figure. He basically swallowed his pride and put business before his own integrity. And by his tone of voice, you can tell he was completely embarrassed knowing he had no choice but to upload the video because he would not get a 2nd free figure to shoot a retake. His credibility as a voice for the fandom got flushed down the toilet. Further inspection of his youtube channel reveals tons of reviews for GI Joe, Ninja Turtles, Superheroes figures, etc. And every review has a link that says GET YOURS AT BIG BAD TOY STORE!!! (I wish I could find his ebay store lol)

If this guy stopped getting free toys, do you really believe he would keep on reviewing ALL of these lines for the love of the hobby? My intuition tells me he wouldn’t have the desire to do it at the pace BBTS requires. Making videos takes a lot of time. And he has to pump them out quickly while the toy is brand new and in stock at BBTS. I’m sure it takes a toll on his personal time. He is only pushing his time constraints to the limit because he is getting free stuff which can always be sold for some easy cash.

Well there’s youre smoking gun. Don’t let OJ walk free this time.

No, you have suspicions

It's a fact that he gets free toys, but it's only a suspicion that it influences his reviews, the rate he releases at, or how he reviews. You have no idea what BBTS requires of him. You're basing your suspicions on just one fact.

On the video you showed here - Kronos has a LOT of fandom baggage. I'm more inclined to believe that he felt a reluctance to crucify the designers because the designers were active at TFW and not because he's trying to shill for a toy.

Go on, though. Find more that you think shows a true bias. Prove your point. Again, though, you're trying to prove they're going easy because of a sponsorship and not because they just genuinely like the products (you know, the way you like Impossibletoys and have other unpopular opinions). If you're intend to shed light on it, prove your point beyond what can be considered a personal taste. One video doesn't prove your point. All you've proven is that Optibotimus went too easy on Kronos. You say you can't resist a debate, so here it is: prove your statement using evidence and not suspicions.

The stance youre taking seems to imply that the only "proof" you will consider a smoking gun is a direct confession straight from the horses mouth. I dont personally know any reviewers so Im not in the position to obtain such a confession. But if the stakes are as high as my "suspicions" suggest, why would they confess ? What do I have to break them ? Im not looking to make this into something personal with any of them. Thats why im calling them out as a group rather than focusing on any one of them particularly. Ill keep on scouring through the reviews for blatant biases when I have the time. These guys arent going anywhere but neither am I.

I'm looking for a pattern that would indicate you're right. That involves you finding and pointing out more than one review by more than one guy. Yes, that's a lot of work, but you're accusing these guys of corruption (that's calling it for what it is). That's a pretty large step to take and you've been very vocal about it. But if it's something you truly believe then back it up.

So far all I'm seeing is "different strokes for different folks." If you think it's beyond that then prove it. Find videos you think shows a sponsored reviewer being less than honest and post it right here.

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Just name names. We can't have a proper discussion based on anonymous "reviewers someone has seen".

Ive dropped names here and there. My real beef is with what theyre doing in general. If we start name dropping too much one of them might take this as a personal attack on what they consider their livelihood. Thats not a line I want to cross. I think from this point on ill only drop a name when it is accompanied by a video. Im not looking for beef. I just want them to end all the BS. The videos are aimed at us...the fandom. When they keep spitting the same tactics over and over, it becomes a bit insulting to me as a consumer. Its like they truly believe us fans are that stupid. Im trying to send a message that were not. Im shocked so many fans stand by people that are subliminaly insulting their intelligence on videos.

Don't just drop names here and there. Call 'em out here - now - in this thread. Calling out a crowd doesn't allow for any rebuttal or analysis. You're calling these guys corrupt, well ... back it up already.

I'm not really backing up any specific reviewer except one. The only reviewer I follow is Preaugh (however you spell that). But if you're going to make an accusation, don't do it halfway. You're just throwing around suspicions without anything to really call you out on. If you're going to air suspicions then air them. Or don't. Go full on already. I want to know why you think these guys are corrupt. Give me some examples! If you can't find examples maybe you're just wrong.

Rated X wrote:I just want them to end all the BS. The videos are aimed at us...the fandom. When they keep spitting the same tactics over and over, it becomes a bit insulting to me as a consumer. Its like they truly believe us fans are that stupid. Im trying to send a message that were not. Im shocked so many fans stand by people that are subliminaly insulting their intelligence on videos.

right there, are you referring to the "circus" you mentioned before? cause you know, you can just... not watch those reviewers.

the ones who use voice boxes, pretend to be characters, or use puppets, i dont watch. and its never been because i felt my intelligence was under attack. it was just cause it wasnt my thing. but hey, thats what some people call "funny".

Now you know thats gonna take some time. Ive been using these reviews as online instruction manuals for years and have seen countless examples of blatant shady salesmanship. Its only been recently that it has become annoying enough for me to call em out on it. As I find examples ill post em here. This thread is going to become a hot potato in time, I reckon...

Rated X wrote:Now you know thats gonna take some time. Ive been using these reviews as online instruction manuals for years and have seen countless examples of blatant shady salesmanship. Its only been recently that it has become annoying enough for me to call em out on it. As I find examples ill post em here. This thread is going to become a hot potato in time, I reckon...

Well, I'm not going anywhere and neither are you, right? Take some time. Make a case. If you come with proof maybe you'll convince someone.

In response to Gauntlet101010’s request that I name anybody I speak of…

Lets start with Optibotimus who is a known BBTS sponsored reviewer. Heres the link to his youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/optibotimus

This is more of an intuition than anything else, but a very strong one. With a screen name like “Optibotimus” one would believe that first and foremost he is a Transformers fan. However, a quick glance of his channel reveals that he will review anything from a variety of toy lines. I saw TMNT, G.I. Joe, Superheroes, The Hobbit, etc. Most every newer review says “GET YOURS AT BIG BAD TOY STORE!!!” Now there’s nothing wrong with being a fan of multiple toy lines. My question is if he is just a fan doing reviews for the love of the hobby, how many lines can he afford to collect from his own income? Or is he getting all this stuff for free and obligated to review any item that shows up at his door? You decide…

My intuitions lead me to believe he is obligated to review all this stuff. I’m not saying he isn’t a fan of any other line he reviews, but his youtube channel is just all over the place, isnt it ?

How does this prove Optibotimus is giving biased opinions to sell figures on behalf of BBTS, you might ask ?

The truth is it doesn’t prove he is biased.

What it does prove is that he is assisting BBTS to sell a lot more than Transformers. My take on that is the farther he veers from Transformers, the less reliable his opinions are on Transformers. Would you ask a wine expert to recommend the best tasting hops beers? Probably not. But you probably wouldn’t think twice about asking a liquor store salesman both beer and wine recommendations because his store sells everything, right? So does BBTS. So now you gotta figure is Optibotimus a company guy or a Transformers guy? You decide…

If you choose “company guy” then you should really start thinking about what he is willing to say (or not willing to say) to help his company make money. As in any business, good sales people get rewarded and bad sales people get the boot. Any guess what his reward might be?

If the "reward" wasn't obvious enough, care to take a guess what the outcome might be if BBTS determines his services are no longer needed?

While this doesn't prove he is biased in BBTS's favor, it does prove that there is enough motive for this known "company guy" to become intentionally biased. You decide....

Ok, let's just get something out of the way:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sponsor?s=ts

a person, firm, organization, etc., that finances and buys the time to broadcast a radio or television program so as to advertise a product, a political party, etc.

So, right away we've already established that sponsorship, by very definition, means he's being paid to advertise BBTS. Likely with, you know, money (and not just free toys). BBTS is buying that spot you see before his review. That is the definition of sponsorship. That spot at the beginning? That's what BBTS is buying.

I don't really care about intuition and paranoia. You've essentially concocted fanfiction and I'm not here to talk about fanfics involving the secret conspiracies behind TF reviews. I don't care if BBTS sent him every single toy he's ever reviewed for free - it's irrelevant. What we're talking about is whether he's lying about a product's quality. Show me reviews that demonstrate that his reviews are full of ****. So far you've linked to one you think shows that.

One.

One review by one guy. I'm still waiting for more.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Ok, let's just get something out of the way:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sponsor?s=ts

a person, firm, organization, etc., that finances and buys the time to broadcast a radio or television program so as to advertise a product, a political party, etc.

So, right away we've already established that sponsorship, by very definition, means he's being paid to advertise BBTS. Likely with, you know, money (and not just free toys). BBTS is buying that spot you see before his review. That is the definition of sponsorship. That spot at the beginning? That's what BBTS is buying.

I don't really care about intuition and paranoia. You've essentially concocted fanfiction and I'm not here to talk about fanfics involving the secret conspiracies behind TF reviews. I don't care if BBTS sent him every single toy he's ever reviewed for free - it's irrelevant. What we're talking about is whether he's lying about a product's quality. Show me reviews that demonstrate that his reviews are full of ****. So far you've linked to one you think shows that.

One.

One review by one guy. I'm still waiting for more.

We don't know if any of them are getting money to do this. We only know they are getting free toys.

You are being over dramatic by adding words like "paranoia" and "conspiracies". Obviously your one of those guys that only sees things in black and white. You want a signed confession lol. They're not going to admit it on camera if they are biased. It all boils down to opinions on figures that are known pieces of ****. I cant accuse these guys of over-glorifying figures that I also love. That alone knocks out 80% of the 3rd party figures in my collection. Ill try to focus my attention on reviews of figures from companies that are known to have a bad rap.

Ive shown you that the motive is there. That doesn't mean they are being biased, it simply means if they were, they have probable cause to justify it. I take it you really have faith in these reviewers which naturally makes you pessimistic about my beliefs. It's just not in your nature to ask "what if?"

The world is full of "what if's" that have probable cause but no definitive black and white answer because people choose to stay silent...

What if OJ did it ?

What if Michael Jackson really was a pedophile ?

What if Saddam did have WMD in his possession ?

There's only so much proof you can obtain when the truth is hidden in someone's mind rather than in a physical form. That's when intuitions and the logic behind them start coming into play. I've offered plenty of motive to justify the possibility if it did indeed exist. Do you care to offer any motive the reviewers might have to maintain 100% integrity? Other than "innocent until proven guilty" you have even less evidence than me to back up your counter-argument. At least I've established a motive. All you've established is you trust their integrity.