Video reviews vs text reviews

Lately I have been thinking about the increase of the video review side of Transformers (and other toys) and have been noticing that it is getting a bit harder to find decent reviews of stuff that isn't on youtube.

So, I was wondering what the general consensus is amongst fellow tf fans. Do you prefer a video review over a text based review (with images)?

For the sake of interest, let's use this for all toy reviews and not just Transformers.

Personally I like good photos that I can spend some time over to look at, but I do see the merit in videos that show articulation etc. Plus, with text reviews, I can skip the intro if need be and don't get annoyed by the reviewers voice if they are annoying ;)

Often video reviewers will show some nice detail, but not for very long and sometimes shaky, which is one issue one doesn't get with a good photo.

Just some food for thought, so what's other's thoughts on this subject?

I don't read reviews or watch them. I don't let some stranger make decisions for me.

I prefer video reviews but that's only because I can never decipher Hasbro's printed instructions :o

If I want to know someone's opinion of a toy, I usually skip towards the end of the review - whether that be printed or video, as I'm already considering the purchase but I just need that extra convincing.

I use both depending on the situation/toy

Both have their merits.

I generally prefer written reviews - I almost NEVER watch video reviews, and here's why:

+ Still pictures are clearer/easier to see than video
+ Some video reviewers have poor public speaking skills (e.g. poor enunciation, lack of voice projection, poor intonation etc.); who wants to listen to someone mumbling??
+ But my #1 gripe about most video reviewers over text reviewers is that most video reviewers DON'T REVIEW TOYS!

re-view /rɪˈvyu/
noun
a critical article or report; critique; evaluation

That's right... critical. You can't be critical when you don't criticise the toy! :rolleyes: Most video reviews I see remind me of that Simpsons episode when Homer becomes a food critic, and gives EVERY restaurant flawlessly positive reviews ("What the hell is three thumbs up?!"), and as a result he had _no_ credibility as a reviewer. And that's precisely how I find most video reviewers. If you're going to say every toy is "awesome!" all the time - especially without much (if any) justification, then THAT'S NOT A REVIEW!

There are some reviewers who are quite positive, like Ben Yee... but he's always careful in explicitly justifying why he's positive about a toy and gives it a good rating. Look at his review of Injector, IMO one of the worst toys ever made. He gives it a B+ or something. But he explains why -- in his opinion the execution of the toy isn't so good, but he can admire the effort that went into crafting it. I disagree, I still think it's a craphouse toy -- but I can see where Ben's coming from because he's justified his opinion. Opinions are never right or wrong, but you do need to provide some form of justification in order to validate them. And most text reviewers do this well.

Most video reviews are like...
"This is X Transformer, it looks like this, it transforms like this, it has these features, I like this toy and I'm so happy/excited to have it -- therefore it's AWESOME!" No wait, just because you like the toy - on its own - is not a reason for its awesomeness. Often we do like toys that we know are crap! I knew someone whose favourite toy is G1 Blot, simply because it was his first Transformer, so there's that sentimental emotional attachment to it. And that's fine, but nobody's gonna use that reason as an objective means of saying, "And therefore it's an awesome toy!" :rolleyes:

Some video "reviews" are more like boast videos. Especially the ones that "review" toys that aren't even out anywhere yet, and are likely to be stolen from a factory. They sound more like "Look at me, I'm awesome cos I have this toy and you don't! This toy is awesome and it makes me awesome for having it!" Yes, everyone likes to boast about having a cool toy - that's what acquisition threads and collection pic threads are for. Or make a video showing off your collection or a toy... but don't call it a "review." (-_-) Call it a "showcase" video, because that's really what most of them are.

And even when you watch people try to review toys, I find they don't do a good job. One thing that gets me is how they just review them as display pieces. Hello? These are toys -- action figures! Evaluating their play value is essential! I used to post text reviews on a consumer product web site, and I used to get a lot of positive feedback not from collectors, but from parents trying to decide which toy to buy for their children. Because at the end of the day, that's still the majority demographic of people who buy Transformers: kids. I can't stand reviewers that say something like, while this toy sucks to play with, it still displays well and therefore gives it a positive review. That's like giving a car a positive review because it has a beautiful body, but craphouse performance, or a positive review for a dish that's beautifully presented but tastes like crap. :rolleyes: Yes, presentation and beauty is important, but so is playability. People need to review toys like say a food critic (like say on Masterchef). At first you examine the physical look of the toy, but the main crux of the review should be on the design, engineering and most importantly, the playability - because that is the core function of a toy.

There are _some_ good video reviewers out there, but most that I come across aren't. On the whole I find text reviewers are better at reviewing toys than the average video "reviewer" who tends to showcase/boast about their toys. The only thing I use video reviews for now is when I get stuck on a transformation. I must say that's the one good thing videos can do that still pictures or text can't (and as 5FDP said, especially when Hasbro gives us really poorly made instructions!) :D

I think my opinion is void as i do video reviews lol

Both are great..

Video reviews = great for transformation, gimmicks and sounds. Comparisons not so good as pausing may be needed. Harder to interact with reviewer due to editing required.

Text with images reviews = great for showcasing details, better pictures, better interaction with reviewer because it is easier to update so questions and image requests are more likely to be answered.

I used them both depending on the situation.

Usually starting with video reviewers who do an uncut transformation sequence (so Peaugh over Vangelus). Transformers with more complicated transformations usually have more parts/joints, and thus a natural supposition to be more fragile; Peaugh manhandles his toys the way I would never dare, so its good to see them survive him - this way I can also gauge how much force I can use on a particular joint. Written reviews are good for their high quality photos and comparison shots with similar characters, but I prefer a large photo gallery (like Seibertron's) that captures every odd angle that I may like to look deeper into.

In the past I have primarily bought Transformers for their ingenuity, but lately it seems I've been more indiscreet about that and buying more and more :o:p With ever growing wants at a fixed income, reviews are critical to helping me prioritise ;)

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Originally Posted by KalEl

I think my opinion is void as i do video reviews lol

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I think you're entitled to have and express your opinion same as everyone else. :) I've done both text and video reviews before (though most have been text).

Both formats have their pros and cons, what matters more to me is HOW the toy is reviewed. Whether or not the so-called reviewer is actually presenting a proper objective and critical review of the toy, or if they're just extensively showing off their latest acquisition. There's nothing wrong with showing off a new acquisition - we all do it - but just don't call it a review if that's essentially all they're doing! I've seen good objective and critical reviews in text and video... it's just that in my observation/experience I tend to find that most of the totally subjective and uncritical reviews^showcases tend to occur in video "reviews."

If someone's not going to critically analyse, evaluate and critique a toy - I don't care if it's in text or video - then by definition it cannot be called a "review." :o Most of the times whenever I've clicked on a so-called video toy "review," I'm left thinking, "That's not a review." :mad: Consequently I've just been turned off video reviews and I don't watch them. When I do watch them for transformation help, I mute them. :(

The other thing is, it's faster to digest text reviews too. It's faster to read text than wait for someone to talk about a toy - especially if they're not good at public speaking. Also... *ahem*... it's easier to do it at work cos you're not going to distract your co-workers. :D

[QUOTE=GoktimusPrime;321226]I think you're entitled to have and express your opinion same as everyone else. :) i was kinda joking lol, and i can agree with most of what you said.

I use both, depending on the medium & the reviewer. :)

• I really like the Video medium as it can be a really entertaining & informative experience where creativity can often flourish. :cool:
• I also like Photo/Written reviews but these are far more dependant on the writer/photographer; there needs to be a healthy balance of informativeness & decent quality photos and plenty of white-space - I can't stand to look at "Walls of text". ;)

Text/image reviews only thanks

i feel as though text reviews are more thought out.....plus you can skip to the last paragraph:D

But for me i think it goes back to the days when youtube wasnt around, all you could find back then was text and image reviews. There is a certain amount of professionalism about it as well.

i have a few watched video reviews and some are pretty good, but my first choice is always text and pics:)

Text and pics please. Well written text and good pics.
I can read quite a bit faster than people (well, most people) speak, and I like to view the images at my leisure...while listening to music. Text reviews let me learn about the toy at my own pace and leave my ears free to enjoy my soundtrack du jour.

I prefer text too because I can read a text review much quicker than a video. I can read while I'm watching TV, or sitting on the train, or bored at work.

Text reviews don't chew up my mobile downloads and they don't buffer. I dislike video reviews because part of the joy with Transformer toys is that first transform. Watching someone else do it just feels wrong. I know that sounds silly :o

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Originally Posted by drahsrebu

But for me i think it goes back to the days when youtube wasnt around, all you could find back then was text and image reviews.

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There's definitely part of this for me too. I was always an avid reader of Dave Van Domelon's reviews back in in the 90s and still go to his site if I'm a bit iffy on a new figure.

I prefer text reviews with a smattering of pictures as some video reviews don't go fast enough or as stated before have poor public speaking skills, and I get bored quickly. I prefer entertaining ones like Vangelus reviews, not so much for his reviewing skills (though those are good) but for his ability to make the whole video interesting.

Also I find some video reviews show me to much. You see usually the only reason I check out a review is if it's for a toy I am interested in, but maybe a little uncertain and so I want a review to see if the toy has any major issues that could affect my decision. I don't actually want to see some geek transform the toy. transforming a new toy for the first time is one of the best parts of getting a new Transformer. I just want to know the toy is not a lemon.

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Originally Posted by KalEl

I think my opinion is void as i do video reviews lol

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Oh, contrare good sir. I have done a few video reviews and that is part of the reason why I was thinking about this.

At the time I enjoyed doing them and editing them and then uploading them, but found my text ones would suffer and I was rarely in the mood to do both a text and video review.

However I have changed tack as after doing a group in a row and no text reviews, I really missed the photography side of things. So now I am less likely to video review something if I can type it up instead.

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

I dislike video reviews because part of the joy with Transformer toys is that first transform. Watching someone else do it just feels wrong. I know that sounds silly :o

Dave Van Domelon's reviews

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I think the first transform is important as well, which is why I skip videos that do that, plus if I am thinking of buying it, I will transform it myself anyway. I want to know about articulation and general 'feel' more than how it Transforms.

Wow that Dave reviews page is... Spartan. ;)

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

I dislike video reviews because part of the joy with Transformer toys is that first transform. Watching someone else do it just feels wrong. I know that sounds silly :o

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I can understand that. Watching someone transform a toy that you haven't transformed yet is kinda like being exposed to a "toy spoiler." :) Part of the fun of getting a toy and transforming it for the first time is 'discovering' how it transforms and marvelling at the engineering. If you watch someone else do it, then you already know what's coming. With text reviews, when you see the paragraph that talks about the transformation, you can just skip to the next paragraph and read on.

I prefer video reviews as some videos can point out the flaws better than text can describe, i'm all about finding the physical weakpoints e.g. prone stress mark locations

Being a selective collector I do a fair amount of research on a potential addition to my collection.
Text based reviews are the best, coupled with quality photos showing whats important to enhance the text. I am also a big fan of pic-heavy reviews (think sibertron galleries) as its easy to get a good look at the figure and save some for further perusal.
Having said that, I often find that there will be some aspect/feature/gimmick/view/etc that is not captured or displayed so I use youtube video review/s to 'fill in the blanks.'
Does that make sense?
EG - there was a figure a little while back, that all I wanted to see was the underside of the alt mode. No reviewer showed or talked about it. I had to use a 20sec portion of a 9min video review to see the angle I wanted.

Short answer = both have merit

I go with both media - text and image reviews for background, descriptions and detail shots, and video reviews for showcasing articulation, working gimmicks and transformations.

Image and text-based reviews allow for easy side-by-side comparisons - you can have two different tabs in a browser to go between images of different figures, and as has been stated before, it's easy to go straight to a particular aspect of the figure you want to look at.

Video has the advantage of showing how to move a part in 'real-time' or avoid stress points/breakage. A good example is MP Rodimus - having glossed over forum descriptions of its fragility when it was first released, I'm glad I saw Peaugh's video before mine arrived.

Text reviews for general info. Basically to see if a toy is worth buying.

Video reviews if I get stuck with a transformation (which doesn't happen much with HasTak TFs as they are usually intuitive - which is just plain good design), or if I think I'm going to break something.

I almost absolutely hate video reviews, particularly if they're done by Pixel Dan. Vangelus's reviews are just about the only ones that I don't consider a waste of bandwidth. Text and images are better - instantaneous, and I can read them with whatever voice in my head won't annoy me.

Text.

Most video reviews I've seen are awful.

One person in particular takes the cake: he does regular reviews and spams them everywhere, yet they're terrible. He moves his hands around a lot, so there's no focus on the toy, he often struggles with transforming it (seriously, take five minutes before recording and run through it a few times), his English is terrible, his pronunciation (like most vido reviewers) is poor, he mumbles, it's crappy audio anyway so it makes it even harder to decipher, and his hands are disgustingly filthy.

Your hands are featured prominently in the reviews- there's no excuse to have dirty hands. Take a few minutes and wash yourself, clean under your nails, clip them.

Yuck.

Video vs. Text is moot. I like good reviews, regardless of their format.

A few things that bug me about some reviews in general (even though I'm as guilty as any in some of the text reviews I've done right here on OTCA) are:

1. Rambling. Cut the waffle to a minimum thanks. We don't need a half-hour dissection on what is on the box. We've got eyes. Reviewers don't need to show and tell at great length.

2. Reviewers don't really need to use phrases like "in my opinion" all that often. It's kinda obvious. Having said that, I've been known to drop an IMHO a few times, mostly when the point I'm making may be contentious, just to acknowledge the potential views of others. I guess there's a difference between stating the obvious and trying to be polite.

3. Please, please, oh please don't use the phrase "I'm not going to lie to you,... etc".:rolleyes: There's a video reviewer that I've seen who says this ad nauseam. I can't speak for others, but I was kinda counting on you not lying in your review.

4. Run through your review (in the case of text) or rehearse/judiciously edit your review (in the case of video) before you post.

My own style (insofar as I have one:o) has 4 facets:
1. Pick out the main points.
2. Point out things that are not obvious.
3. Discuss the points that people are likely to be most interested in.
4. Be concise.
5. Try and be interesting!

I like the look of a toy, i buy it. If I don't, somebody else will. Worked well so far.

Yeah, I'm like that with most toys -- but I check reviews on toys that I'm unsure of, like Beast Hunter Voyager Optimus Prime. :) But I've been collecting TFs long enough that I can pretty much tell by the look of most toys if I wanna get it or not. If it impresses me enough, I'll get it straight away, if not, I'll wait until someone else gets it first and I get their feedback or have a fiddle of someone else's figure first (nothin' like try before you buy). :)

Text hands down. I can't be bothered with videos that 90% ego and poorly filmed, I'd rather just read what was being said. Same for interviews and the like too. I can just do it at my pace whenever I want.

The only reason video is such a thing is because it can be regardless of whether it needs to be.

Vid reviews. For me, they're usually the next step in gauging my interest after blurry preview pics. Yes, vid reviews usually mean a lot more of the reviewers personality is under scrutiny but I usually don't pay attention to any 'final scores' because I already know my taste in Transformers is vastly different from the more vocal portions of the community. I watch them to see the toy in motion

I feel something is lost when trying to convey the motion of transformation in still pics (or worse still, words only).

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Originally Posted by Sky Shadow

Vangelus's reviews are just about the only ones that I don't consider a waste of bandwidth.

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Vangelus doesn't do reviews. He does comedy.
That's probably why you can stomach it.

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Originally Posted by CBratron

Vid reviews. For me, they're usually the next step in gauging my interest after blurry preview pics. Yes, vid reviews usually mean a lot more of the reviewers personality is under scrutiny but I usually don't pay attention to any 'final scores' because I already know my taste in Transformers is vastly different from the more vocal portions of the community. I watch them to see the toy in motion

I feel something is lost when trying to convey the motion of transformation in still pics (or worse still, words only).

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So in other words, you're not watching them as reviews, but merely as 'demonstration videos.' And sure, for that purpose I can see the merits of a video. If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video must speak much more. :)

But for people who are genuinely interested in accessing a proper review of a toy, I find text reviews to be generally better than video -- and as I said before on this thread, it's not to do with the format, it's just that I find most text reviewers aren't interested in "showboating" the toy as much as a lot of so-called video reviewers. Perhaps because a text review takes so much more time and effort to prepare, that it lends itself to more earnest reviewers, whereas making a video review takes relatively less effort, so it's somewhat easier to just switch on the camera and go, "oooh! Look how cool this toy is!"

I don't necessarily object to people making showboat videos per se. I just wish they wouldn't call them "reviews," because it's just misleading. :( Call it a "Toy Showcase" video or something. The word 'review' implies that you're going to critically analyse and evaluate the merits of the toy.

this is a very interesting question.

I tend to avoid video reviews untill I have a toy, simply because I don't want to "spoil" the transformation for myself. I get a lot of joy from transforming a toy for myself the first time, seeing how it works, and why it works. I even go so far as to avoid paying too much attention to others toys at meetups like the parra fair, just in case I see too much.

the only exception to this is perhaps something that i am highly sceptical about, and then I will have a closer look to see if I will be happy spending the money. this closer look may include text reviews and on a rare occasion a video review.

the problem then with a video review, once I have the toy in hand and have transformed it, and formed my own opinions of it, I don't really need to see a review.

I nearly entirely agree with Goks opinion also, many video reviews seem to be a demonstration of transformation and that's about it. not much point to that unless there is some type of critical appraisal during the transformation.


to throw a spanner in the works, I also like to listen to the opinions of podcasters on a new toy they have, it's more like a text review because their opinion stands out a little more since they can't show the transformation. This is probably my favorite type of review. Pictures of a figure I dont' have I can find on any one of a half dozen transformers related sights and I've generally seen stock photos at least and already made up my mind to buy a figure before I hear the verbal review.

That was a large 2c:o :)

I prefer text and pic reviews. The only time I watch a video review is if it is a figure I have purchased and no matter what cannot figure out a particularly annoying part of the Transformation. In senarioes like that video reviews on youtube rock!

Any video review of a single toy that goes over five minutes is too long. I'm not going to invest my time watching a twenty-minute reviews by some idiot who can't edit and hasn't learnt to transform the toy properly.

Like i said in another post...

To be honest i dont read or watch any of the reviews, if i see something i like or want i just get it and discover the joy (or frustration) for myself. I used to but then i bought some after reading terrible reviews and i loved them or vice versa. As they say one mans trash is another mans treasure

I think half the fun is finding out everything about the TF for yourself with no pre concieved thoughts or ideas.

As a reviewer this thread is very interesting to watch :P

I read most of the toy review that i like...and only watch video of the one that i wasn't sure of and thinking of buying ...but watch video review very rarely for me..and i usually skip most of it...
The one thing that get me mad is that the video reviewer should know how to transform the figure properly ! he should read the instruction first BEFORE filming...i don't want to watch for like 5 min of some guy trying to figure out how to transform the figure .