Being a Statue Sheep

[MegatronG1]

This is why I prefer casual unboxing/mini-reviews from collectors who don't appear to have "made it" to the pros. They're not running off a carefully crafted script that won't jeopardize their sponsor relationship. Also missing from these big reviewers, is sufficient passion for whatever property of what they're reviewing. They seem to go through the motions.

I understand that to grow you need to keep sponsors happy, but this hobby is niche enough as it is, prices are getting out of control, and there's nothing wrong with being upfront with saying it's a free review copy.

[Thor57]

I dont get swayed into buying company products, but in 2016 I did get sucked into the custom hype, and regretted it all. For one, I got burned on two by some ----ty people. I think they had legit good intentions but were apparently funding each step based off of pre-orders instead of having overhead. Then promised to sell their personal collections and refund, but didnt. That was the negative experience.

The positive one was buying the Gladiator statue sculpted by one of the Peira's. It was amazing, but it came after I'd gotten out of the hobby, so I sold it before sending it off to be painted and assembled. I'm back in the game now but shifted my collection from Comics to High/Dark Fantasy. I do regret not keeping that Kallark though. It was amazing and I'd have loved to have it after John Allred or Mike Najera got a hold of it.

But that customs game is toxic as hell. Refusal to give information in an effort to stay ahead. Turning your nose up at others when you have them and they dont. The thing is, 90% of them turn out to be garbage. I mean, baddddd. Yeah, you'll get the occasional Wolverine on Wendigo or the MadX Magneto which are stunning, but you also get a lot of turds. Not worth the risk that comes with not being able to return it and having to pay $800-$1000 for the piece, another $300 for shipping then another $800 for a paint job. No thanks.

[V4XCollect]

-1 on this thread...

No one wants to be called a "sheep" which is going to automatically steer the convo a certain way. Same reason questionnaires can be unreliable since one can sway the outcome based on how the question is asked.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sheep

[eternalblue02]

"Buying into the hype" is a better example.

I buy what I like/want. I use convention videos and early pictures posted here to get attention on a product. In the end I make the final decision. I was here a lot longer then I post and learned about this hobby from you guys, not pro's or Youtubers. (all of your opinions and collecting tips deserve a big thank you) I've gone through all the motions new collectors go through. Money, space, wife eye rolling and lots of regret. This has finally shaped what I want from this hobby. I watch Neatmint's, Sisco's, DGK's (now ) & Batman Collectors videos. Shoo and Grumpybear are invaluable here when it comes to links and pictures and I've made some lasting connections with shop owners like Todd and Shane. I learn stuff and get entertained at the same time.

[nearmint]

Lots of talk in this thread about youtubers getting free statues, so I thought I'd better chime in about my channel, Secret Sanctuary. I have 110 videos on the channel, and have received exactly 1 free statue, the Tweeterhead Green Lantern production sample that I recently reviewed. Chad told me to keep it or give it away. I will not be selling it.

As for revenue, I started the channel with no intention of monetizing it. It was just a fun new hobby, not a livelihood. That changed last July when my SDCC Sideshow booth tour video blew up. I posted it on preview night(Wednesday), and I think by Sunday it had something like 100K views. So I started thinking about the high cost of attending the convention(well over $1000 for the hotel alone) and decided that maybe I was being a blithering idiot by not recouping some of those costs by monetizing the channel. So, I did so the Monday after the convention. The channel now has over 10K subscribers, but trust me, the revenue is meager. Granted, I don't upload near as many videos as some other channels, but the revenue is so small that, frankly, I rarely even look at it anymore. And that's totally fine. The channel remains a fun hobby, and I'm happy to keep it that way.

[grphyx1]

Originally Posted by nearmint

Lots of talk in this thread about youtubers getting free statues, so I thought I'd better chime in about my channel, Secret Sanctuary. I have 110 videos on the channel, and have received exactly 1 free statue, the Tweeterhead Green Lantern production sample that I recently reviewed. Chad told me to keep it or give it away. I will not be selling it.

As for revenue, I started the channel with no intention of monetizing it. It was just a fun new hobby, not a livelihood. That changed last July when my SDCC Sideshow booth tour video blew up. I posted it on preview night(Wednesday), and I think by Sunday it had something like 100K views. So I started thinking about the high cost of attending the convention(well over $1000 for the hotel alone) and decided that maybe I was being a blithering idiot by not recouping some of those costs by monetizing the channel. So, I did so the Monday after the convention. The channel now has over 10K subscribers, but trust me, the revenue is meager. Granted, I don't upload near as many videos as some other channels, but the revenue is so small that, frankly, I rarely even look at it anymore. And that's totally fine. The channel remains a fun hobby, and I'm happy to keep it that way.

Nearmint you don't have to feel apologetic to anybody. ----'em. They don't know your life. Who the ---- is anybody to question whether you got a free statue or not. You do your reviews and people will watch it. Your collectibles and you are free to do with them as you please. I've seen enough about this youtube influencers to realize it's all ----! This is a ----ed up world and if me sitting there and watching a video of something of interest to me and a few ads and it puts some money in your pocket for the time, then by all means I'll continue to do so. Granted I have found tons of nice collectors on here but there are a several that are not content unless they are spewing and spreading their bile.

[mmk123]

I liked seeing your reviews Nearmint and seeing your review of Donna Troy and Martian Manhunter helped solidify me buying both. And even though I had no regrets about getting Green Lantern, after seeing your review made me even happier that Green Lantern will hopefully be on my shelves within a few months (fingers crossed).

[nbr3bagshotrow]

Originally Posted by nearmint

Lots of talk in this thread about youtubers getting free statues, so I thought I'd better chime in about my channel, Secret Sanctuary. I have 110 videos on the channel, and have received exactly 1 free statue, the Tweeterhead Green Lantern production sample that I recently reviewed. Chad told me to keep it or give it away. I will not be selling it.

As for revenue, I started the channel with no intention of monetizing it. It was just a fun new hobby, not a livelihood. That changed last July when my SDCC Sideshow booth tour video blew up. I posted it on preview night(Wednesday), and I think by Sunday it had something like 100K views. So I started thinking about the high cost of attending the convention(well over $1000 for the hotel alone) and decided that maybe I was being a blithering idiot by not recouping some of those costs by monetizing the channel. So, I did so the Monday after the convention. The channel now has over 10K subscribers, but trust me, the revenue is meager. Granted, I don't upload near as many videos as some other channels, but the revenue is so small that, frankly, I rarely even look at it anymore. And that's totally fine. The channel remains a fun hobby, and I'm happy to keep it that way.

Yours is the only review I watch.

[Submissive421]

Originally Posted by MegatronG1

This is why I prefer casual unboxing/mini-reviews from collectors who don't appear to have "made it" to the pros. They're not running off a carefully crafted script that won't jeopardize their sponsor relationship. Also missing from these big reviewers, is sufficient passion for whatever property of what they're reviewing. They seem to go through the motions.

I understand that to grow you need to keep sponsors happy, but this hobby is niche enough as it is, prices are getting out of control, and there's nothing wrong with being upfront with saying it's a free review copy.

100% this. I don't like big name youtubers. Because smaller pages reviews are honest and the passion of collecting is there. I don't even follow big youtubers anymore, yes I might watch a video or two but thats it. I look forward to the reviews way more on smaller channels because they actually go through the details and usually explain why they bought the item in the 1st place.

[MrYac]

I’m a weirdo who likes very specific things, so my buying patterns are usual pretty outside the norm anyway. So unless it’s piece that has gotten Universally poor reviews for CQ reasons I don’t tend to listen to the masses that often.