https://davidcatmull.com/page/Recent content in Pages on David T CatmullHugo -- gohugo.ioen-ushttps://davidcatmull.com/about/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://davidcatmull.com/about/<h1 id="intro">Intro </h1><p>Hi, I&rsquo;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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>I used to run a web site called Uncommonplace, home to some Mac shareware apps and icons, and Unreal Tournament mods. And now I&rsquo;m doing this!</p> <h1 id="my-breakdown-for-reviews">My Breakdown for Reviews </h1><p>When reviewing Transformers and similar things, I do a breakdown where I rate the toy 1 thru 10 in eight categories:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Design:</strong> Overall look, detail, molding, paint.</li> <li><strong>Character:</strong> How good is this toy at representing the character? If it&rsquo;s a new character, how distictive is it? If it&rsquo;s supposed to be screen accurate, how accurate is it?</li> <li><strong>Articulation:</strong> Joints for poseability, range of motion, how well it can achieve and hold dynamic poses.</li> <li><strong>Accessories:</strong> Number and quality of accessories, accessory storage in both modes.</li> <li><strong>Transformation:</strong> 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?</li> <li><strong>Quality:</strong> Type of plastic, usage of die cast metal or other materials. Loose joints, obvious or badly trimmed mold lines, incomplete or stray paint, etc.</li> <li><strong>Bonus:</strong> Any extra little touches that show the designers were being thoughtful about our experience as collectors and fans.</li> <li><strong>Value:</strong> Is this toy a good deal, based on its normal selling price?</li> </ul> <p><strong>The baseline:</strong> 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 &ldquo;decent&rdquo;, with some room above that to recognize when a figure goes above and beyond.</p> <p><em>Character</em> is a straight 1 through 10. <em>Bonus</em> is different: the baseline is 5, right in the middle. If there are no particular thoughtful touches, easter eggs, homages, etc, then it&rsquo;s a 5. If there are, then it goes up or down depending on how well executed the features are. Usually it goes up.</p> <p>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!</p> https://davidcatmull.com/archives/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://davidcatmull.com/archives/https://davidcatmull.com/search/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://davidcatmull.com/search/