The Energon Pub

Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:53 am

Do you wait for reviews or just buy them when you see them regardless ???

The economy sucks, theres a plethora of product out there and prices are going up faster than we are getting raises.

For me it all depends but most times if it's a favourite character (optimus, rodimus) or a big bot (leader class, masterpiece) i'm sold!

News Credits: 1452 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:03 am

Essentially these days we get reviews well before us 'normal' people can get the figure. So there's no waiting for reviews.... Leader Starscream for example. It'll be a while till he's released and we essentially had a 360 degree look at every part of the figure months prior.

With everyone being picky these days, the preview of the figures well before their release is somewhat a helpful way for collectors to allocate money. For one, I don't like it too much. There's no 'true' surprise when you open that figure if you've already seen it so much online. Nothing beats owning the actual figure but it sort of spoils the surprise.

All in all, reviews are nice and give us a collector's a hint.. however if you feel in your gut that you like the figure and the reviews are bad, we should never be swayed by it. Every figure means something different to a collector.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 6:53 am

I very rarely concern myself with reviews. I think they are useful, but I tend to go ahead and buy figures whether they get a bad review or not. I tend to end up buying a lot more figures than I initially plan to, but it has nothing to do with reviews. My problem is this; I grab the figures I want in the beginning, and then I pick up any strays while I wait for another wave of figures to come out that I had been waiting for. Some figures I just have to pass on. For instance, the stores here have been pretty stagnate for a while, but I refuse to buy the bike-bots for some reason. My gut tells me I will not like them.

Bottom line is that I don't pay any attention to reviews. I just end up buying what I want even if they are reviewed and people generally consider them to be duds. I like to find out for myself.

News Credits: 3 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:11 am

Usually I use reviews to get a look at what a figure can do before deciding to buy, but there are some that I decide I want after one picture, and all the review does is solidify that position. Mind you, considering where I live and how little money I have these days, I don't really buy much of anything anymore...

News Credits: 5 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:35 am

It's odd, here on the east coast we are usually about a month behind the first sighting of most regular release items, so by the time I actually find a toy in stores a review has already been done. I am really picky about what I buy, and most of the time if I am interested in a figure I check the pics/video review and get a good feeling on if I am going to buy or pass. 9 times out of 10 if I see a toy in a store I already know if it's a buy or not, and that one time that I just buy it anyway after the reviews make me say pass, I end up hating the figure.

So, yeah, I like the reviews, but I don't really have to wait for it.

News Credits: 129 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:09 am

Nope.

Some dude breathing hard into his webcam ain't my preferred viewing pleasure.

News Credits: 1 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:53 am

I actually enjoy watching reviews of a figure I've already bought. To hear what someone else has to say on it.

I tend to decide what TFs to buy based on pictures, but if they're expencive it's then that I might go to reviews. The only TF buy I didn't go through because of reviews would have to be the Gear of War set 1.

News Credits: 12 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:26 am

I don't see the point. With an action figure, what you see is what you get.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:28 am

If the figure is a new release, I make my decision when I see it in person. I have my personal criteria for what I will or will not buy. I try to stick to that as much as possible.

There are lots of TF's out there that got great reviews from everyone and I won't buy it because it doesn't fit in with what I collect.

News Credits: 37 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:30 am

If I had a choice, no. By the time I get the damn thing, everyone on the internet has reviewed it.

News Credits: 11 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:09 pm

I don't necessarily wait for reviews, but I definitely wait for quality galleries. I'm very picky about what I buy since I have limited funds to work with, so I have to make sure I'm happy with a figure before I purchase it. Reviews are nice, but not the deciding factor, because everyone has different opinions.

News Credits: 1 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:34 pm

I do look to reviews for a heads-up of the pro's and con's of certain figures (especially the more expensive ones with MP price-points and above), especially fragility issues and other things that the promo pics try to hide, such as bad paint jobs and kibble.

For instance, I was in frickin' love with ROTF Brawn when I saw the promo pics, but when a review brought it's kibbly back to my attention, I quickly slashed it off of my to-buy list.

But if I like it enough, I'll buy it anyway, reviews be damned. Guess I didn't like Brawn as much as I thought.

News Credits: 6 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:16 pm

Never. Most reviews are biased and incomplete. I only trust my own opinion.

News Credits: 9 · Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:40 pm

I generally wait until I've seen enough pics to find out what I need to know. Usually they take so long to reach England I've forgotten about them by the time they appear so I already know loads about them before hand.

News Credits: 1 · Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:25 pm

I don't give a tailpipe about reviews. When I buy a toy it's because I like the character, how it looks, or sometimes in an effort to complete a certain collection. I find that most often reviews don't reflect my opinion about a toy.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:42 pm

Most of the time I like to read or watch a review online before I buy a figure. Just to learn about any QC problems and how well engineereed a toy is.

At the end of the day its my personal preferences that matter most but its nice to hear/read other peoples opinions on this stuff and get many different POV's. There's a lot of smart, well informed TF fans out there.

There have been times that were exceptions and as soon as I saw the pictures online I had to have it.