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Forums - News / General |
For General modelling or hobby-related topics that are not covered by any other specific forum. Please keep to topics concerning the hobby. |
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| Messages | 21885 |
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| Subject: | Reviews Help Customers, But Are Weapons Too. |  |
| Date: | Jul 28, 2004 |
| From: | Peter Ong | |
To add to James' and Terry's post...
Reading other people's reviews and writing reviews makes somewhat perfect.
Reviews all hark back to the long threads over the years about scarcasm, nit-picking, rivet counter, biycotting the kit, rich boy, hurting the manufacturer, and so on.
I do agree build reviews hold more value to the customer than in-box reviews.
Yet we customers must see the larger picture. Take a look at Amazon.com customer reviews. I'll take a PC game for example. In the BETA testing stages and early release, many reviews give the product 5-stars, tooting horns and doing cartwheels saying they can't wait for the product. As the product ages, then comes the criticisms, put-downs, and honest truths of this product. One can say all Amazon.com reviews are "build," and the reviews before release are "in-boxes."
So in ways, time will tell how a model really is.
The BIG PICTURE of course is reviews don't just help the customer, but (and I hate to say this but it's true), reviews can be (and are) used as weapons against the manufacturer. Again, Amazon.com is a great example with some reviewers holding no qualms over flaming and ranting on a poor product. This hobby has no QA and often buying a model is sight unseen. The DG is the fastest easiest way to get info on a new kit. If one waits for a model magazine to review the kit, that could take months.
In-box reviews help manufacturers know about likes and dislikes right away and I'm sure many model representatives comb the DGs looking for these. To wait to read a build review takes to long. It's better for the old lady to shout, "Where's the BEEF?" at the counter than sitting at a table. By now, Tamiya should have gotten the gist of the lack of anti-skid coating on its models and some ejector pin marks in unfavorable places. (Probably those models were made the same year so TAM can't do anything about it this year). Bam-bam-bam...Tamiya in-box reviews in a row shows TAM that some reviewers think this oversight is a problem. If build reviews, one or two reviews a year and Tamiya might not see the oversights as an issue.
TAM could in fact take such in-box info to the bank right away and correct such issues for next year's release or risk getting mentioned again in another review in the future.
As such, all reviews are helpful. While they may not help certain customers, they can indeed help the manufacturer see likes and dislikes. So reviews are helpful tools, but can also be helpful weapons. Remember this when writing reviews, people.
And don't forget the threads saying that some negative reviews hurt manufacturers :-). Of course the caution was not to go so far as to dump a model without build it unless of course the photos speak for themselves on the poor quality.
Peter |
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 | Reviews; in-bag vs.build - James Tainton - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Paul A. Owen - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Leo Lee - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build [IMG] - James Tainton - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Leo Lee - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Paul A. Owen - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PE fenders - steve campbell - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - James Tainton - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - D.T.Cote - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - D.T.Cote - Jul 26, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Christophe Jacquemont - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Paul A. Owen - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build [IMG] - James Tainton - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Paul A. Owen - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - James Tainton - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Charlie Murphy - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . In the end just an opinion anyway - David Nickels - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . . . . In Box Reviews - Frank De Sisto - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Peter Ong - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Terry Ashley - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - James Tainton - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . Reviews Help Customers, But Are Weapons Too. - Peter Ong - Jul 28, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Paul A. Owen - Jul 27, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - David Cote - Jul 29, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: Reviews; in-bag vs.build - Leo Lee - Jul 29, 2004 |
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