The Energon Pub

Sorry for the derailment, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Rated X wrote:You're a professor right? I'm sure you have your own intuitions about things you can't necessarily prove. Let’s just say these are my intuitions.

LOL, I am not a professor (I think that's Aggie). I work in IT client services these days. I used to work in book publishing.

Before I go on, I will say that I agree that a lot of these reviews come off as glorified commercials. I just think you're not doing anyone any good by making accusations and attacking their character.

Rated X wrote:MBC, Rack n' Ruin, Tigris & Talon

Yea, peaugh got all those for free. I think he has more of a partnership with MMC - he got those to give feedback to the engineers, and then we benefited by getting a first look. Also, if MBC and Rack n Ruin showed up unexpectedly, you think he really went begging for them? (which is what you imply below)

Rated X wrote:What I do think of the reviewers getting free stuff is that there are too many of them. If TF Source and BBTS each had only one guy doing sponsored reviews, I wouldn’t be as annoyed by the gimmick.

DJ stuff?

You don’t think these guys keep send e-mails begging for “promotional” figures by saying their youtube channel gets millions of views? Im sure theres a long list of people who say “BBTS has 5 sponsors, why cant I be the 6th?" Why are their so many of them ? (Im not talking about the amateur ones) Everyone seems to have a plug at the beginning of their videos these days.

My response to that would be, I think you're putting the cart before the horse. Most of these guys who are now sponsors put in the effort to make these video reviews, they gained a following, and the retailers took notice. I don't think they went to the retailers; I think the retailers went to them. And if they're getting some reward for doing something they like to do and put effort into doing, who cares? Who are we to pass judgement on that?

Rated X wrote:Quantron

Weren't those 3 guys the same dudes who did the live review at ComicCon or whatever?

Rated X wrote:I would just like to see less sponsored reviewers who don’t expect incentive to do what they do.

I think this a conjecture - how do you know it's expected?

I have a very hard time believing reviewers are just itching for that free toy from their sponsors or that they'd lose it if they didn't give it a favorable review. All that is pure and complete guesswork.

I tend to think some people just go easy on things. They just do. There doesn't need to be anything insidious about it. I like a couple things people hate here. I mean, I like KFC's tapes and would probably give them a favorable review. I like Impossible toy's Quintessons and would give them a favorable review. It's just tastes.

Plus, I mean free toys are nice and all, but ... we're talking about a free toy. This is not really a full time job here. It's probably less about the toy itself and more about someone popular constantly plugging the site. Sure, maybe he didn't sell the toy, but by mentioning (say) BigBadToyStore a billion times he probably influenced more than a few people to shop there. Let's get some perspective here: it's a perk, but a minor one.

I don't get why there has to be anything insidious behind it aside from "this guys is too easy on toys for my tastes". Just find a reviewer with more of your mindset.

A Twincast repaint would be awesome, no doubt about it. Especially if they did him with the same sheen to his paint/plastic that Blaster has. I have no experience with their QC (although I hear that it is very, very variable, with some figures being great and others being awful) but KFC seem to know how to engineer figures and make them look good. Say what you want about Citizen Stack, what with his worryingly thin plastic and the whole "semi-neo MP" thing, he's awesome to look at and beautifully detailed. I'm thinking about getting their Surgeon figure (which I heard is one of the better releases of the KFC Perceptor mold) as quite frankly that design is just awesome.

If these guys did an MP Reflector and did it well I would be a very happy camper.

megatronus wrote:Sorry for the derailment, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Rated X wrote:You're a professor right? I'm sure you have your own intuitions about things you can't necessarily prove. Let’s just say these are my intuitions.

LOL, I am not a professor (I think that's Aggie). I work in IT client services these days. I used to work in book publishing.

Before I go on, I will say that I agree that a lot of these reviews come off as glorified commercials. I just think you're not doing anyone any good by making accusations and attacking their character.

Rated X wrote:MBC, Rack n' Ruin, Tigris & Talon

Yea, peaugh got all those for free. I think he has more of a partnership with MMC - he got those to give feedback to the engineers, and then we benefited by getting a first look. Also, if MBC and Rack n Ruin showed up unexpectedly, you think he really went begging for them? (which is what you imply below)

Rated X wrote:What I do think of the reviewers getting free stuff is that there are too many of them. If TF Source and BBTS each had only one guy doing sponsored reviews, I wouldn’t be as annoyed by the gimmick.

DJ stuff?

You don’t think these guys keep send e-mails begging for “promotional” figures by saying their youtube channel gets millions of views? Im sure theres a long list of people who say “BBTS has 5 sponsors, why cant I be the 6th?" Why are their so many of them ? (Im not talking about the amateur ones) Everyone seems to have a plug at the beginning of their videos these days.

My response to that would be, I think you're putting the cart before the horse. Most of these guys who are now sponsors put in the effort to make these video reviews, they gained a following, and the retailers took notice. I don't think they went to the retailers; I think the retailers went to them. And if they're getting some reward for doing something they like to do and put effort into doing, who cares? Who are we to pass judgement on that?

Rated X wrote:Quantron

Weren't those 3 guys the same dudes who did the live review at ComicCon or whatever?

Rated X wrote:I would just like to see less sponsored reviewers who don’t expect incentive to do what they do.

I think this a conjecture - how do you know it's expected?

Whoops, my bad I did get you confused for Aggie (My apologies to both of you for my confusion)

You might not be a professor like Aggie, but surely you DID get how my little DJ promo story relates to what reviewers do for the industry? It’s the same thing. Just like DJ’s they are paid hype men. They are mouthpieces for BBTS and TF Source that get paid in the form of free toys rather than a paycheck.

I have no proof that any one of the reviewers begged to get into the inner circle like what I witnessed in my DJ days. But I did find it funny that 3 of the top reviewers were all hanging out in a hotel room together at TFcon reviewing Diaclone Columpio. My INTUITION leads me to believe that they were friends long before they got to be well known and at least one of them got the “hook up” from the more established individual. Once again, I have no proof that is the case, but it just seems odd that both major TF retailers have several hype men on their roster all doing the same reviews on the same figures they got for free.

If I was the CEO of BBTS or TF Source, I would just have one official reviewer on my roster and link his youtube page directly to my site for all my clients to see. He would basically become the face of the company. I wouldn’t have a bunch of clowns doing silly s**t while they hide their faces from the camera and compete with each other for free toys. That’s just me though.

On a side note, isn’t it funny how it’s always a KFC thread that turns into a complete joke ? I remember how bad all of us butchered the citizen stack thread and it appears we did it again here. I don’t think sidebars are such a bad thing as long as they don’t get confrontational. There’s only so much we can say about a figure anyways. I’m banking on an official MP Blaster which once again, I will only want for the cassettes. That’s when Ill get an Eject and Rewind. If KFC wants any more of my money, they better start working on those Japanese dino-combiner cassettes. After those, I'm done with KFC.

Rated X wrote:If I was the CEO of BBTS or TF Source, I would just have one official reviewer on my roster and link his youtube page directly to my site for all my clients to see. He would basically become the face of the company. I wouldn’t have a bunch of clowns doing silly s**t while they hide their faces from the camera and compete with each other for free toys. That’s just me though.

i was with you for part of your original rant... but now its just coming off as paranoia.

"doing silly s**t"
some of them (like vangelus) are really funny. and the group reviews are usually exceptionally funny.

"hide their faces"
come on... its just a review style, which not all of them do. thew isnt one of them, and while he might be my favorite reviewer i sometimes miss out on the toy cause the camera is panned out to fit himself in the frame with the figure.

"compete with eachother for free toys"
theres no evidence of that. ever consider these reviewers became friends because of ALL they had in common? and they go to very popular conventions?

I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

shajaki wrote:

Rated X wrote:If I was the CEO of BBTS or TF Source, I would just have one official reviewer on my roster and link his youtube page directly to my site for all my clients to see. He would basically become the face of the company. I wouldn’t have a bunch of clowns doing silly s**t while they hide their faces from the camera and compete with each other for free toys. That’s just me though.

i was with you for part of your original rant... but now its just coming off as paranoia.

"doing silly s**t"
some of them (like vangelus) are really funny. and the group reviews are usually exceptionally funny.

"hide their faces"
come on... its just a review style, which not all of them do. thew isnt one of them, and while he might be my favorite reviewer i sometimes miss out on the toy cause the camera is panned out to fit himself in the frame with the figure.

"compete with eachother for free toys"
theres no evidence of that. ever consider these reviewers became friends because of ALL they had in common? and they go to very popular conventions?

No offense taken. What you might find funny, I might see as dry humor. Not everyone's cup of tea. You don't earn the nickname "Rated X" by laughing at a guy in a darth vader suit. As silly as Vangelus is with his costumes, he DOES show his face. I respect that a lot more than seeing some green kitchen gloves and a pillow pet with a ventriloquist squeaky voice. As far as competing with each other for free toys, that is merely my intuition. I figure if the BBTS/TF Source budget ever shrinks, a couple reviewers will get axed off the VIP list. Naturally the reviewer with the most youtube views will retain the hook ups. And he will probably be the one who's videos are the biggest circus act. I wonder if BBTS sponsers reviews for all of their superhero/science fiction/Gundam stuff too ? Some of that stuff is a lot more expensive and way more limited than the Transformers stuff...

Delta Magnus wrote:I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

Naw bro, slow your role. I just flat out don't like the way they do things. I'm not afraid to speak out against something I think is total bulls**t, even if it upsets people who support them. Before I started calling these guys out for shady sales tactics, nobody here would say a word about it. Like if these reviewers were some kind of gods or something...

Rated X wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

Naw bro, slow your role. I just flat out don't like the way they do things. I'm not afraid to speak out against something I think is total bulls**t, even if it upsets people who support them. Before I started calling these guys out for shady sales tactics, nobody here would say a word about it. Like if these reviewers were some kind of gods or something...

Maybe because it's not shady at all?

If they gave toys glowing reviews without disclosing they were sponsored, then I'd find that pretty shady.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

Naw bro, slow your role. I just flat out don't like the way they do things. I'm not afraid to speak out against something I think is total bulls**t, even if it upsets people who support them. Before I started calling these guys out for shady sales tactics, nobody here would say a word about it. Like if these reviewers were some kind of gods or something...

Maybe because it's not shady at all?

If they gave toys glowing reviews without disclosing they were sponsored, then I'd find that pretty shady.

But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of being "sponsored" ? Lets say I watch the BBTS guy's video and then go buy it off e-bay. That wouldn't exactly help BBTS sales. Non-disclosure of their sponsor is NOT an option.

The shadiness I speak of has more to do with the reviewers integrity about the figure itself. When it comes to crappy figures (hence KFC) these reviewers pull out all the shady used car salesman tactics...

What I wouldn't give to see this little guy come out and interrupt Peaugh on one of his videos !

Or, you know, they might not think it's a crappy figure.

X, drink your Ovaltine and go to bed. You're being silly again.

Rated X wrote:I have no proof that any one of the reviewers begged to get into the inner circle like what I witnessed in my DJ days. But I did find it funny that 3 of the top reviewers were all hanging out in a hotel room together at TFcon reviewing Diaclone Columpio. My INTUITION leads me to believe that they were friends long before they got to be well known and at least one of them got the “hook up” from the more established individual. Once again, I have no proof that is the case, but it just seems odd that both major TF retailers have several hype men on their roster all doing the same reviews on the same figures they got for free.

I would think that they connected after they became internet famous - that's my intuition - but then again, we could just PM one of them and ask.

Rated X wrote:If I was the CEO of BBTS or TF Source, I would just have one official reviewer on my roster and link his youtube page directly to my site for all my clients to see. He would basically become the face of the company. I wouldn’t have a bunch of clowns doing silly s**t while they hide their faces from the camera and compete with each other for free toys. That’s just me though.

Well, here's the thing - different people like different schticks. Peaugh is the reviewer I watch the most. Sometimes Optibotimus, Vangelus, and Baltmatrix, but only very rarely. If companies like TFsource and BBTS want to reach the greatest audience possible, they're going to need to build relationships with multiple reviewers... even the ones with the weird puppets.

Rated X wrote:On a side note, isn’t it funny how it’s always a KFC thread that turns into a complete joke ? I remember how bad all of us butchered the citizen stack thread and it appears we did it again here. I don’t think sidebars are such a bad thing as long as they don’t get confrontational. There’s only so much we can say about a figure anyways. I’m banking on an official MP Blaster which once again, I will only want for the cassettes. That’s when Ill get an Eject and Rewind. If KFC wants any more of my money, they better start working on those Japanese dino-combiner cassettes. After those, I'm done with KFC.

There's no one else I would rather butcher a thread with.

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

Naw bro, slow your role. I just flat out don't like the way they do things. I'm not afraid to speak out against something I think is total bulls**t, even if it upsets people who support them. Before I started calling these guys out for shady sales tactics, nobody here would say a word about it. Like if these reviewers were some kind of gods or something...

Maybe because it's not shady at all?

If they gave toys glowing reviews without disclosing they were sponsored, then I'd find that pretty shady.

But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of being "sponsored" ? Lets say I watch the BBTS guy's video and then go buy it off e-bay. That wouldn't exactly help BBTS sales. Non-disclosure of their sponsor is NOT an option.

The shadiness I speak of has more to do with the reviewers integrity about the figure itself. When it comes to crappy figures (hence KFC) these reviewers pull out all the shady used car salesman tactics...

What I wouldn't give to see this little guy come out and interrupt Peaugh on one of his videos !

Or they don't have a problem with it.

Take your own opinions. You've said you like Impossibletoys. Most everyone has had problems with them, but you like them anyway. How is your own unpopular opinion on Impossibletoys any different at all from a sponsored reviewer giving his own opinion that you disagree with? If you were sponsored and if we used your logic I don't think we'd be able to tell that you're not shady.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

Naw bro, slow your role. I just flat out don't like the way they do things. I'm not afraid to speak out against something I think is total bulls**t, even if it upsets people who support them. Before I started calling these guys out for shady sales tactics, nobody here would say a word about it. Like if these reviewers were some kind of gods or something...

Maybe because it's not shady at all?

If they gave toys glowing reviews without disclosing they were sponsored, then I'd find that pretty shady.

But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of being "sponsored" ? Lets say I watch the BBTS guy's video and then go buy it off e-bay. That wouldn't exactly help BBTS sales. Non-disclosure of their sponsor is NOT an option.

The shadiness I speak of has more to do with the reviewers integrity about the figure itself. When it comes to crappy figures (hence KFC) these reviewers pull out all the shady used car salesman tactics...

What I wouldn't give to see this little guy come out and interrupt Peaugh on one of his videos !

Or they don't have a problem with it.

Take your own opinions. You've said you like Impossibletoys. Most everyone has had problems with them, but you like them anyway. How is your own unpopular opinion on Impossibletoys any different at all from a sponsored reviewer giving his own opinion that you disagree with? If you were sponsored and if we used your logic I don't think we'd be able to tell that you're not shady.

Well I paid full retail (not clearance) prices for everything in my extensive impossible toys collection. I have no incentive to lie about the quality. The same thing goes for everything I own (or returned) from KFC. Im a paying customer with nothing to gain or lose by sharing my experiences. Whether or not you share my opinion on quality standards in general is completely up to you. But the one thing I guarantee is a paying customers honest opinion.

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

Naw bro, slow your role. I just flat out don't like the way they do things. I'm not afraid to speak out against something I think is total bulls**t, even if it upsets people who support them. Before I started calling these guys out for shady sales tactics, nobody here would say a word about it. Like if these reviewers were some kind of gods or something...

Maybe because it's not shady at all?

If they gave toys glowing reviews without disclosing they were sponsored, then I'd find that pretty shady.

But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of being "sponsored" ? Lets say I watch the BBTS guy's video and then go buy it off e-bay. That wouldn't exactly help BBTS sales. Non-disclosure of their sponsor is NOT an option.

The shadiness I speak of has more to do with the reviewers integrity about the figure itself. When it comes to crappy figures (hence KFC) these reviewers pull out all the shady used car salesman tactics...

What I wouldn't give to see this little guy come out and interrupt Peaugh on one of his videos !

Or they don't have a problem with it.

Take your own opinions. You've said you like Impossibletoys. Most everyone has had problems with them, but you like them anyway. How is your own unpopular opinion on Impossibletoys any different at all from a sponsored reviewer giving his own opinion that you disagree with? If you were sponsored and if we used your logic I don't think we'd be able to tell that you're not shady.

Well I paid full retail (not clearance) prices for everything in my extensive impossible toys collection. I have no incentive to lie about the quality. The same thing goes for everything I own (or returned) from KFC. Im a paying customer with nothing to gain or lose by sharing my experiences. Whether or not you share my opinion on quality standards in general is completely up to you. But the one thing I guarantee is a paying customers honest opinion.

But if you were a sponsored reviewer then, by your own logic, all your opinions should be met with the exact same suspicion and distrust. I mean, who's to say you'd be honest in those circumstances?

edit and erase.

I thought I steered the topic back on the topic? You know, KFC "not" Blaster? Has this been released already? How's the quality? Is the plastic used like that of a shampoo bottle? In the end it's up to you if you get "Burned" (no pun intended).

No matter how much you put lipstick on a pig, you can't window dress a pile of turd. Remember Daca toys? The reviewers could straightface recommend without mentioning it's flaws.

Back to KFC "not" Blaster.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

Naw bro, slow your role. I just flat out don't like the way they do things. I'm not afraid to speak out against something I think is total bulls**t, even if it upsets people who support them. Before I started calling these guys out for shady sales tactics, nobody here would say a word about it. Like if these reviewers were some kind of gods or something...

Maybe because it's not shady at all?

If they gave toys glowing reviews without disclosing they were sponsored, then I'd find that pretty shady.

But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of being "sponsored" ? Lets say I watch the BBTS guy's video and then go buy it off e-bay. That wouldn't exactly help BBTS sales. Non-disclosure of their sponsor is NOT an option.

The shadiness I speak of has more to do with the reviewers integrity about the figure itself. When it comes to crappy figures (hence KFC) these reviewers pull out all the shady used car salesman tactics...

What I wouldn't give to see this little guy come out and interrupt Peaugh on one of his videos !

Or they don't have a problem with it.

Take your own opinions. You've said you like Impossibletoys. Most everyone has had problems with them, but you like them anyway. How is your own unpopular opinion on Impossibletoys any different at all from a sponsored reviewer giving his own opinion that you disagree with? If you were sponsored and if we used your logic I don't think we'd be able to tell that you're not shady.

Well I paid full retail (not clearance) prices for everything in my extensive impossible toys collection. I have no incentive to lie about the quality. The same thing goes for everything I own (or returned) from KFC. Im a paying customer with nothing to gain or lose by sharing my experiences. Whether or not you share my opinion on quality standards in general is completely up to you. But the one thing I guarantee is a paying customers honest opinion.

But if you were a sponsored reviewer then, by your own logic, all your opinions should be met with the exact same suspicion and distrust. I mean, who's to say you'd be honest in those circumstances?

Of course. I think ive made it pretty clear I dont trust anyone with a sponser. Personally, I have no desire to make videos whether its for free toys or the love of the hobby. They have turned the hobby into a circus at times. I wish the 3rd parties would just put their own official reviews out before release instead of these clowns. If its gonna be a glorified commercial, they might as well just cut out the middle man.

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:I wonder if Rated X suffers from some kind of delusions. The sheer amount of paranpoia he has over people who do reviews of goddamn toys is...astounding.

Naw bro, slow your role. I just flat out don't like the way they do things. I'm not afraid to speak out against something I think is total bulls**t, even if it upsets people who support them. Before I started calling these guys out for shady sales tactics, nobody here would say a word about it. Like if these reviewers were some kind of gods or something...

Maybe because it's not shady at all?

If they gave toys glowing reviews without disclosing they were sponsored, then I'd find that pretty shady.

But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of being "sponsored" ? Lets say I watch the BBTS guy's video and then go buy it off e-bay. That wouldn't exactly help BBTS sales. Non-disclosure of their sponsor is NOT an option.

The shadiness I speak of has more to do with the reviewers integrity about the figure itself. When it comes to crappy figures (hence KFC) these reviewers pull out all the shady used car salesman tactics...

What I wouldn't give to see this little guy come out and interrupt Peaugh on one of his videos !

Or they don't have a problem with it.

Take your own opinions. You've said you like Impossibletoys. Most everyone has had problems with them, but you like them anyway. How is your own unpopular opinion on Impossibletoys any different at all from a sponsored reviewer giving his own opinion that you disagree with? If you were sponsored and if we used your logic I don't think we'd be able to tell that you're not shady.

Well I paid full retail (not clearance) prices for everything in my extensive impossible toys collection. I have no incentive to lie about the quality. The same thing goes for everything I own (or returned) from KFC. Im a paying customer with nothing to gain or lose by sharing my experiences. Whether or not you share my opinion on quality standards in general is completely up to you. But the one thing I guarantee is a paying customers honest opinion.

But if you were a sponsored reviewer then, by your own logic, all your opinions should be met with the exact same suspicion and distrust. I mean, who's to say you'd be honest in those circumstances?

Of course. I think ive made it pretty clear I dont trust anyone with a sponser. Personally, I have no desire to make videos whether its for free toys or the love of the hobby. They have turned the hobby into a circus at times. I wish the 3rd parties would just put their own official reviews out before release instead of these clowns. If its gonna be a glorified commercial, they might as well just cut out the middle man.

Yeah, well, that's the core of it. You don't trust anyone with a sponsor. There's not really a rational reason for this if you admit you'd immediately become shady if you were sponsored as well.

I don't see any evidence of it being a circus. You don't trust them and a few others have little use for them. Don't really see how it's gotten out of hand. If you don't look for them it's like they don't exist.

Repeat, Rinse and wash.

i dont get it.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:I don't see any evidence of it being a circus.

Take your pick...

The guy with the pillow pet or the guy in the darth vader suit...

Hey kids! Look what I found!

viewtopic.php?f=215&t=102348

Burn wrote:Hey kids! Look what I found!

viewtopic.php?f=215&t=102348

ShartimusPrime review .