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Rated X wrote:Ok I found a sponsored reviewer that I actually like!
Rated X wrote:Another big plus in my book was that this guy shows his face proving he has nothing to hide about who he is or the facial expressions he makes when showing the toys flaws.
shajaki wrote:does TJ actually say he is allowed to keep it? i recall an older thew review where he claims the figure is on "loan" specifically for the review.
Rated X wrote:The smoking gun![]()
Just noticed Maketoys Utopia was in stock at BBTS and TF Source so I decided to check out the non Asian reviews. Surprisingly, I only found one. It looks like the retailers decided to be greedy this time and only TJ Duckett was lucky enough to score a production sample. (Which he clearly stated in the review) I guess the other reviewers didn’t suck up hard enough to get a free Utopia. At the end of the review around 15:50 he gave a nice plug to TFSource and said “Order yours today, let em know that I sent ya, maybe they’ll swing some cool stuff my way”. He went on to glorify TF source and the family that runs it and uses the word “awesome” 4 times in 5 seconds. I guess you cant blame him, after all he got a free Utopia. But more importantly, he straight up admitted on camera that using him as a reference could help him get free stuff in the future. While I’m against the practice, I kind of respect TJ for saying it so blatantly. No top secret “how did he get it” mystery here. He also confirmed that he gets it from the retailer as I suspected these guys do, not from the company directly. I really doubted that any of these sponsored reviewers speak or write Chinese. So there you have it, the smoking gun. Read em and weep !![]()
Cobotron wrote:Hey! You seemed to have attracted a wild Megatronus. They're hard to find, but boy are they fun when you catch one!
alrighty, my bad.megatronus wrote:First let's get this minor point out of the way:Yea, at 7:55 he says he's keeping this one.shajaki wrote:does TJ actually say he is allowed to keep it? i recall an older thew review where he claims the figure is on "loan" specifically for the review.
shajaki wrote:smoking gun... i dunno. maybe.
does TJ actually say he is allowed to keep it? i recall an older thew review where he claims the figure is on "loan" specifically for the review.
megatronus wrote:First let's get this minor point out of the way:shajaki wrote:does TJ actually say he is allowed to keep it? i recall an older thew review where he claims the figure is on "loan" specifically for the review.
Yea, at 7:55 he says he's keeping this one.
Now, then...Rated X wrote:The smoking gun![]()
Just noticed Maketoys Utopia was in stock at BBTS and TF Source so I decided to check out the non Asian reviews. Surprisingly, I only found one. It looks like the retailers decided to be greedy this time and only TJ Duckett was lucky enough to score a production sample. (Which he clearly stated in the review) I guess the other reviewers didn’t suck up hard enough to get a free Utopia. At the end of the review around 15:50 he gave a nice plug to TFSource and said “Order yours today, let em know that I sent ya, maybe they’ll swing some cool stuff my way”. He went on to glorify TF source and the family that runs it and uses the word “awesome” 4 times in 5 seconds. I guess you cant blame him, after all he got a free Utopia. But more importantly, he straight up admitted on camera that using him as a reference could help him get free stuff in the future. While I’m against the practice, I kind of respect TJ for saying it so blatantly. No top secret “how did he get it” mystery here. He also confirmed that he gets it from the retailer as I suspected these guys do, not from the company directly. I really doubted that any of these sponsored reviewers speak or write Chinese. So there you have it, the smoking gun. Read em and weep !![]()
How is this a smoking gun?
Your point is that reviewers will dishonestly refuse to state anything negative about a toy on camera, because that would cut off their sponsorship/compensation. The whole they-get-free-toys thing is an ancillary point that doesn't necessarily support what you're really trying to get at.
That said, on this review:
(1) He never says he got Utopia from TFsource. TJ implies he received the sample directly from MT:
(a) He references how he was communicating with MT directly. At the beginning of the review, he says he spoke to MT about not transforming Utopia on camera.
(b) Later (around 7:30) TJ talks about communicating with one of the folks at MT about how the paint apps on this sample may change for the final retail product.
(2) On the TFsource plug:
(a) OMG! He plugged his sponsor. Isn't that typically what sponsored reviewers do? I'm not sure how that constitutes a smoking gun of any kind.
(b) He said maybe. Maybe they'll throw stuff his way. Not "this is how the sponsorship works" or "I get free stuff all the time" just a "maybe."
So, again, how is this a smoking gun? More importantly, what is this a smoking gun for? Because it certainly does not prove your central assertion that reviewers will skew potentially negative reviews to appease their sponsors.
Cobotron wrote:Hey! You seemed to have attracted a wild Megatronus. They're hard to find, but boy are they fun when you catch one!
shajaki wrote:alrighty, my bad.megatronus wrote:First let's get this minor point out of the way:Yea, at 7:55 he says he's keeping this one.shajaki wrote:does TJ actually say he is allowed to keep it? i recall an older thew review where he claims the figure is on "loan" specifically for the review.
back to X:
if youre so hell bent on exposing these guys, why dont you just email them with some questions? keeping in mind you can appear neutral and have broad questions so's not to arouse your intentions (if you fear no repsonse or BS responses). to which worst case scenario, what? they ignore you? and even if they reply and you call BS, you could still post your findings to try and "prove" your case.
all that would be easier than pouring through video reviews you dont care about.
megatronus wrote:OK - so if reading between the lines is required... it's clearly not a smoking gun, right? Because the definition of a smoking gun is that, it's well, really super obvious.
I'm reading it as him getting the sample from MT. You're reading it as him getting it from TFsource. Either way, it's not clear, and he doesn't mention it explicitly. Since this is your axe to grind, the onus is on you to dig up proof, not reading between the lines. Reach out to him through TFW, Seibertron, or some other means. Otherwise... there's no smoking gun here.
Just to be clear, I'm not trying to be overly aggressive or contrarian. I respect you and what you're trying to say. You just need to back it up.
It doesn't really clear that up, because it's not clear where he got it from. If it were clear he received Utopia from TFsource, his sponsor, that would be your smoking gun. As it is, there's no smoke and no gun.Rated X wrote:The only "smoking gun" I'm putting out here is that TJ did indeed get Utopia for free.
Earlier in this thread people were saying I had no proof the reviewers were getting the toys for free.
Well I found proof (at least with Utopia) that it was given to a reviewer for free. (and a pretty expensive freebie I might add)
That's a "smoking gun" to a sidebar argument that started on this thread. It is not a smoking gun on the main argument this thread was created for. (this dishonesty part)
Hope this clears up the "smoking gun" reference I made.
That TJ got it and Peaugh didn't is circumstantial evidence it came from MT. Just like how Peaugh always tends to get the MMC stuff before anyone else. Some of these reviewers have relationships with the 3Ps, and TJ's relationship with Fansproject & Maketoys has been well established.Rated X wrote:I also find it funny that TJ says the date he filmed the review (Nov 23) Here it is Dec 10 and the figure is in stock at TF Source but no review from Peaugh (TF Source's #1 guy) Did TF Source play favorites this time and only hook up TJ? He did say he was keeping it. Or does TJ really have a direct Maketoys hookup and Peaugh doesn't ? Seems kind of funny because Peaugh does more reviews for TF Source than TJ does. TJ has plugged dual sponsorship before in certain reviews but in this one only plugged TF Source.
Cobotron wrote:Hey! You seemed to have attracted a wild Megatronus. They're hard to find, but boy are they fun when you catch one!
megatronus wrote:It doesn't really clear that up, because it's not clear where he got it from. If it were clear he received Utopia from TFsource, his sponsor, that would be your smoking gun. As it is, there's no smoke and no gun.Rated X wrote:The only "smoking gun" I'm putting out here is that TJ did indeed get Utopia for free.
Earlier in this thread people were saying I had no proof the reviewers were getting the toys for free.
Well I found proof (at least with Utopia) that it was given to a reviewer for free. (and a pretty expensive freebie I might add)
That's a "smoking gun" to a sidebar argument that started on this thread. It is not a smoking gun on the main argument this thread was created for. (this dishonesty part)
Hope this clears up the "smoking gun" reference I made.That TJ got it and Peaugh didn't is circumstantial evidence it came from MT. Just like how Peaugh always tends to get the MMC stuff before anyone else. Some of these reviewers have relationships with the 3Ps, and TJ's relationship with Fansproject & Maketoys has been well established.Rated X wrote:I also find it funny that TJ says the date he filmed the review (Nov 23) Here it is Dec 10 and the figure is in stock at TF Source but no review from Peaugh (TF Source's #1 guy) Did TF Source play favorites this time and only hook up TJ? He did say he was keeping it. Or does TJ really have a direct Maketoys hookup and Peaugh doesn't ? Seems kind of funny because Peaugh does more reviews for TF Source than TJ does. TJ has plugged dual sponsorship before in certain reviews but in this one only plugged TF Source.
Rated X wrote:megatronus wrote:It doesn't really clear that up, because it's not clear where he got it from. If it were clear he received Utopia from TFsource, his sponsor, that would be your smoking gun. As it is, there's no smoke and no gun.Rated X wrote:The only "smoking gun" I'm putting out here is that TJ did indeed get Utopia for free.
Earlier in this thread people were saying I had no proof the reviewers were getting the toys for free.
Well I found proof (at least with Utopia) that it was given to a reviewer for free. (and a pretty expensive freebie I might add)
That's a "smoking gun" to a sidebar argument that started on this thread. It is not a smoking gun on the main argument this thread was created for. (this dishonesty part)
Hope this clears up the "smoking gun" reference I made.That TJ got it and Peaugh didn't is circumstantial evidence it came from MT. Just like how Peaugh always tends to get the MMC stuff before anyone else. Some of these reviewers have relationships with the 3Ps, and TJ's relationship with Fansproject & Maketoys has been well established.Rated X wrote:I also find it funny that TJ says the date he filmed the review (Nov 23) Here it is Dec 10 and the figure is in stock at TF Source but no review from Peaugh (TF Source's #1 guy) Did TF Source play favorites this time and only hook up TJ? He did say he was keeping it. Or does TJ really have a direct Maketoys hookup and Peaugh doesn't ? Seems kind of funny because Peaugh does more reviews for TF Source than TJ does. TJ has plugged dual sponsorship before in certain reviews but in this one only plugged TF Source.
What is clear is that the Utopia was given to TJ for free.
As I said before this was only a smoking gun to my side argument about the figures indeed being free.
It is not a smoking gun to my main argument of the reviewers being dishonest.
But if you put the two together, you have a possible motive for dishonesty.
I really want to believe that these white and black guys from middle America all speak or write fluent Chinese. But my street smarts just aren't buying it. At best I think they know American based representatives who translate and speak on behalf of the third parties. Kind of like the Ages Three and Up guys. That's just my opinion. If Google translate was worth a s**t we would all have Weibo accounts and be communicating with 3rd parties.
Thinking about it further, if TJ got Utopia directly from Maketoys, why was there a TF Source plug ?
Here's a recent TJ Duckett review of the Steelcore Trailer in which he left out the TF Source plug. This indicates he doesn't do free plug just for the love of TF Source.
If Maketoys hooked him up with Utopia, wouldn't the review be plug free like this one ? I think so personally...
edit: Youtube is trippin so heres the link to the Steelcore video from TJ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We5BAQO ... c6GcI4M0RA
mooncake623 wrote:Rated X wrote:megatronus wrote:It doesn't really clear that up, because it's not clear where he got it from. If it were clear he received Utopia from TFsource, his sponsor, that would be your smoking gun. As it is, there's no smoke and no gun.Rated X wrote:The only "smoking gun" I'm putting out here is that TJ did indeed get Utopia for free.
Earlier in this thread people were saying I had no proof the reviewers were getting the toys for free.
Well I found proof (at least with Utopia) that it was given to a reviewer for free. (and a pretty expensive freebie I might add)
That's a "smoking gun" to a sidebar argument that started on this thread. It is not a smoking gun on the main argument this thread was created for. (this dishonesty part)
Hope this clears up the "smoking gun" reference I made.That TJ got it and Peaugh didn't is circumstantial evidence it came from MT. Just like how Peaugh always tends to get the MMC stuff before anyone else. Some of these reviewers have relationships with the 3Ps, and TJ's relationship with Fansproject & Maketoys has been well established.Rated X wrote:I also find it funny that TJ says the date he filmed the review (Nov 23) Here it is Dec 10 and the figure is in stock at TF Source but no review from Peaugh (TF Source's #1 guy) Did TF Source play favorites this time and only hook up TJ? He did say he was keeping it. Or does TJ really have a direct Maketoys hookup and Peaugh doesn't ? Seems kind of funny because Peaugh does more reviews for TF Source than TJ does. TJ has plugged dual sponsorship before in certain reviews but in this one only plugged TF Source.
What is clear is that the Utopia was given to TJ for free.
As I said before this was only a smoking gun to my side argument about the figures indeed being free.
It is not a smoking gun to my main argument of the reviewers being dishonest.
But if you put the two together, you have a possible motive for dishonesty.
I really want to believe that these white and black guys from middle America all speak or write fluent Chinese. But my street smarts just aren't buying it. At best I think they know American based representatives who translate and speak on behalf of the third parties. Kind of like the Ages Three and Up guys. That's just my opinion. If Google translate was worth a s**t we would all have Weibo accounts and be communicating with 3rd parties.
Thinking about it further, if TJ got Utopia directly from Maketoys, why was there a TF Source plug ?
Here's a recent TJ Duckett review of the Steelcore Trailer in which he left out the TF Source plug. This indicates he doesn't do free plug just for the love of TF Source.
If Maketoys hooked him up with Utopia, wouldn't the review be plug free like this one ? I think so personally...
edit: Youtube is trippin so heres the link to the Steelcore video from TJ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We5BAQO ... c6GcI4M0RA
Hey Guess what? TJ also sells the toys he gets for free! (and possibly so does others). I remember he got a sample Hexatron before it was released and after he reviewed it he put it up on ebay for like $700 bucks! I don't think it sold and he pulled it after fans were bitching about it to him. Anyway with that being said who cares? lol they are free to do what they want with it as it is given to them to promote. all promotions are is to sell it to you anyway, as long as you know that? who gives a sheit?
Gauntlet101010 wrote:It's not news that they get stuff for free. We already knew that. X is just clutching at straws and being very vocal about it. Well, to people who can see his posts anyhow.
Rated X wrote:Gauntlet101010 wrote:It's not news that they get stuff for free. We already knew that. X is just clutching at straws and being very vocal about it. Well, to people who can see his posts anyhow.
Earlier in the thread, weren't you one of the guys who said I had no proof the reviewers were getting free stuff ?
There's your proof.
Cobotron wrote:Hey! You seemed to have attracted a wild Megatronus. They're hard to find, but boy are they fun when you catch one!
Rated X wrote:
I do. If I can expose the BS to the point where the retailers dump the concept of sponsored reviewers, why shouldn't I ? If these guys are doing such a service to the fandom out of pure love, lets see if they continue to do it without the free toys.
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