About

Intro

Hi, I’m David. This site is essentially a companion to my YouTube channel, to help you search past reviews and give you more detailed summaries if you want to read rather than watch.

I manly post reviews of Transformers toys and related things, and occasionally branch out to other stuff for fun, like other properties or custom painting projects.

I used to run a web site called Uncommonplace, home to some Mac shareware apps and icons, and Unreal Tournament mods. And now I’m doing this!

My Breakdown for Reviews

When reviewing Transformers and similar things, I do a breakdown where I rate the toy 1 thru 10 in eight categories:

  • Design: Overall look, detail, molding, paint.
  • Character: How good is this toy at representing the character? If it’s a new character, how distictive is it? If it’s supposed to be screen accurate, how accurate is it?
  • Articulation: Joints for poseability, range of motion, how well it can achieve and hold dynamic poses.
  • Accessories: Number and quality of accessories, accessory storage in both modes.
  • Transformation: Is the transformation intuitive, satisfying, and fun? Is it overcomplicated, fiddly, or delicate? Do the parts fit and stay together well? Are the instructions clear and helpful?
  • Quality: Type of plastic, usage of die cast metal or other materials. Loose joints, obvious or badly trimmed mold lines, incomplete or stray paint, etc.
  • Bonus: Any extra little touches that show the designers were being thoughtful about our experience as collectors and fans.
  • Value: Is this toy a good deal, based on its normal selling price?

The baseline: For most categories, the baseline is that the average off-the-shelf Hasbro figure, with no QC issues, is a 6. So a rating of 6 is “decent”, with some room above that to recognize when a figure goes above and beyond.

Character is a straight 1 through 10. Bonus is different: the baseline is 5, right in the middle. If there are no particular thoughtful touches, easter eggs, homages, etc, then it’s a 5. If there are, then it goes up or down depending on how well executed the features are. Usually it goes up.

I feel like this system gives me ways to show the different dimensions of pros and cons a toy can have, more than something like a flat 5-star rating. Plus making it like G1 Tech Specs is just fun!