Reviewers and a rant

[digger303]

What grinds my gears about some of these written reviews, is they tell you nothing except boost the kit up.
I recently was checking up on a kit that only had a one review. Everything sounded rosy, but being a little suspicious of this particular reviewer I did some more digging and found that the kit had some serous flaws. While the detail was good the kit was full of ejector holes and raised ones. The kit had some fit issues with the fuselage and there were some pour lines and sink holes.
All this reviewer did was highlight some good points and said nothing else. I would have wasted my money on a kit that I would never have been happy with. Since then I disregard this guys reviews almost 100%. Having said that if he reviews a good kit and gives it the accolades that it deserves I still have to double check and look at his words with a jaundiced view.
Basically a waste of space. A true review tells you the true story warts and all. After all that's why we all read the Review !!

And that's what grinds my gears !!
well today anyway ...

[chief5437]

Do you know what grinds my gears? Ranting about a crap review and not telling us what kit it was and who did it!

Loool! Just kidding buddy, I know what you mean. Fallen foul of that a couple of times myself. I tend to search out the reviews that are done after the build. After all, a kit can look great in the box, but there's no telling what it's really like unless it's been built.

[digger303]

Do you know what grinds my gears? Ranting about a crap review and not telling us what kit it was and who did it!

Loool! Just kidding buddy, I know what you mean. Fallen foul of that a couple of times myself. I tend to search out the reviews that are done after the build. After all, a kit can look great in the box, but there's no telling what it's really like unless it's been built.

Nothing noted is a phrase I begun to hate.... didn't mention any names or kits for obvious reasons.
But seriously sink holes and a multitude of ejector pins are pretty easy to spot.

[Augustus]

Do you know what grinds my gears? Ranting about a crap review and not telling us what kit it was and who did it!

Loool! Just kidding buddy, I know what you mean. Fallen foul of that a couple of times myself. I tend to search out the reviews that are done after the build. After all, a kit can look great in the box, but there's no telling what it's really like unless it's been built.

Absolutely the bits may all look fine and dandy except when put together they don't fit. Also what appears great to one person is proper pony to another.

And then there's the review where the person reviewing is saying its a good product but you can tell they have absolutely no clue what they're talking about, and a point which they say is good is actually bad.

And then there's the review which you watch for ten minutes and it tells you nothing about the item.

And then............,.

[Augustus]

Do you know what grinds my gears? Ranting about a crap review and not telling us what kit it was and who did it!

Nothing noted is a phrase I begun to hate.... didn't mention any names or kits for obvious reasons.
But seriously sink holes and a multitude of ejector pins are pretty easy to spot.

Oh God, it wasn't me was it

[digger303]

I will say I have nothing but the utmost respect for guys like Cookie Sewell , Terry Ashley and the like...

[EvilCarrot]

I recently saw a reviewer, whom I shall not name, pulling off a big chunk of clearcoat, quickly hiding the tape with his hand and saying: "As you can see nothing coming off at all." Needless to say I've stopped taking him seriously...

...and everything else like that.

[chief5437]

I recently saw a reviewer, whom I shall not name, pulling off a big chunk of clearcoat, quickly hiding the tape with his hand and saying: "As you can see nothing coming off at all." Needless to say I've stopped taking him seriously...

...and everything else like that.

Ha ha!

[Lysus]

I recently saw a reviewer, whom I shall not name, pulling off a big chunk of clearcoat, quickly hiding the tape with his hand and saying: "As you can see nothing coming off at all." Needless to say I've stopped taking him seriously...

...and everything else like that.

When it comes to reviewers I've found that the best ones typically will separate their opinion from their review. Example, "Personally I don't like X, but many people do and if you're one of them then you'd enjoy this."

For some reason this type of style correlates with not doing shifty crap like that. Also they usually will outright say they think something is crap.

There is also the issue of "cottage reviewers" only reviewing things they like and buy, so that biases their opinions.

[HamilkarBarkas]

So, this gave me some food for thought.
I guess it is very easy to get carried away by the look of a brand new kit. You get very excited and you seem to forget about some shortcomings. I think this is not always an intended effect. Not really sure if i am guilty of that too? Normally i review things before i build them, so i can only judge things by looking at the kit. So far i have been fooled only very few times though. The trained eye can spot some troublesome areas right away.

What are you thoughts on this? Let´s get a bit more into detail: Watch some of my kit reviews and tell me what you think about them. I am totally open on criticism here.

[youtube]wX5iCxqgGzM[/youtube]

[youtube]ibXW-JmAnlc[/youtube]

[youtube]cwuFYWkGoi0[/youtube]

[chalkyw]

If you're like me Digger then you don't read kit reviews and just buy what takes your fancy and over come any hurdles you come across to get the kit built and make the best job of it that you can ....if its been a dog then you don't buy another one, lol.

[Lysus]

Is it just me or are the YouTube links busted (on the forum, not just this post)?

[SergioSolo]

Is it just me or are the YouTube links busted (on the forum, not just this post)?

Yep, they don't work for me either

[EvilCarrot]

I could provide evidence but I don't think I'm allowed to link to anything related to "Flordemort"

[Lysus]

No evidence of persons or videos refered to and a load of hot air. Pointless thread!

I think no one is trying to shame anyone that takes time to make a vid, just discuss what makes a good review, a bad review, and a shill.

[chief5437]

No evidence of persons or videos refered to and a load of hot air. Pointless thread!

That's probably why the title has the word rant in it!

[Paul]

No evidence of persons or videos refered to and a load of hot air. Pointless thread!

Pointless post and welcome to ISM

[digger303]

No evidence of persons or videos refered to and a load of hot air. Pointless thread!

I didn't want to name names or provide evidence ( and stir up trouble here ), the fact that some people have added to this thread is evidence enough that this practice is an annoyance. Nothing will change I guess so it the great scheme of life this is thread is pointless , but so much we do ultimately is !
There is one professional reviewer that bugs me with his continually phrase " nothing Noted " if you read reviews then you will know who he is. I never watch Utube reviews because my internet data allowance won't allow such luxuries ( problem when living away in smaller centres ).
There is no doubt some Video reviewers start off with reviews that are of no benefit to the rest of us, but they like to do them and with the more they do get better they get then we reap the benefits. That's a learning process. No argument with that.
To answer HamilkarBarkas.... what a great attitude. I'm sorry I can not view your vid's due to constraints. I would love to, but alias cannot. But I will say this.... I could not really give a constructive criticism, because I don't know enough about the subject matter or even photography or editing( my daughter is in the film industry and she could, but not me).
It is when such obvious defects in a kit are totally ignored...."That's what grinds my Gears" end quote Homer Simpson It's what makes a paid review or others call an advert.

[ForbesHutton]

I've done some in box reviews, and acknowledge that they are of a limited value, even when done by people who are good at them (I don't consider myself in that category). When I have encountered a problem with a kit, that I've not caused, I'll do a video about the problem, even if I haven't done a review of the kit. Those videos tend to be a bit more concise....

[Stokesy44]

Its always nice to see someone lose it over our hobby Lol!

In the box reviews are limited - looks nice but hey, I don't have a clue if it fits together Dude, but still, who cares? There are exceptions to this rule when the reviewer is discussing accuracy - see Coen or Mannloon's stuff on YT - but by and large its a bit emperors new clothes most of the time.

While my grubby fingers are itching to spend some moolah on the next big thing I try and hold myself back long enough to get through a plethora of reviews on YT or via Scalemates. That way I'm not swayed by too small a sample size. If the kit is brand new and no build reviews are available I will decide based on manufacturer. In my (very) humble opinion I would be confident buying Tamiya, Dragon, Eduard and Airfix unreviewed - I'm a middle of the road kind of guy when it comes to manufacturers.

The above choices are based on personal experience, preference and reputation of the manufacturer. In the end though, if it all goes boots over britches I'll still find someone else to blame.

I would also echo earlier sentiments - reviewers who curry favour from manufacturers should be shot out of a cannon.

[digger303]

Its always nice to see someone lose it over our hobby Lol!



I would also echo earlier sentiments - reviewers who curry favour from manufacturers should be shot out of a cannon.

Can I please be there..please. I'll buy a ticket....

[Lee]

I could provide evidence but I don't think I'm allowed to link to anything related to "Flordemort"

lol

[Lee]

No evidence of persons or videos refered to and a load of hot air. Pointless thread!

Not the sort of attitude we like here, reel it in a little yeah

[Stokesy44]

Its always nice to see someone lose it over our hobby Lol!

I would also echo earlier sentiments - reviewers who curry favour from manufacturers should be shot out of a cannon.

Can I please be there..please. I'll buy a ticket....

If you've got the time, I've got the beer!

[digger303]

hahaha ..... I'll get the ammo....

[Nev]

Haha I always love that vid it's the hesitation then yep you're getting it mr model!! I have totally been there

[schweinhund227]

As of late there have been some changes in ways people do reviews on line, either written or filmed... (Mostly sponsored ones) Now we see “bare” models being assembled and reviewed "afterwards" which seems to be a good way to present a product! I like those!
On a personal level, I have not been disappointed “too many times” with builds that I have done after reviewing a model on line! I tend to stick with manufacturers and subjects that work for me... one thing I have learned from Critiques... is getting rid of plastic bags during the review! Which seemed to aggravate some viewers... positive criticism has a place and its advantages...

[HamilkarBarkas]

As of late there have been some changes in ways people do reviews on line, either written or filmed... (Mostly sponsored ones) Now we see “bare” models being assembled and reviewed "afterwards" which seems to be a good way to present a product! I like those!
On a personal level, I have not been disappointed “too many times” with builds that I have done after reviewing a model on line! I tend to stick with manufacturers and subjects that work for me... one thing I have learned from Critiques... is getting rid of plastic bags during the review! Which seemed to aggravate some viewers... positive criticism has a place and its advantages...

I can totally admit that i learned at least 80% of my review-skills from you man!

[HamilkarBarkas]

not a coincidence that it is a dragon sdkfz 251 that is getting smashed there. I made a video about that because i am pretty sure where the problems many people have with that particular line of kits come from.

[youtube]KWlYqRpVwPM[/youtube]