Re: Fanmode’s review roundups
Fanmode’s been highlighting toy reviews both in English and Japanese since its launch in October 2007. We may have linked to a lot of reviews since then but we’ve also omitted a lot of reviews from our roundups.
We’re generally pretty easygoing about the Japanese toy reviews included in our roundups published on Mondays and Thursdays. Our readers may not read Japanese — some may not even have Japanese font support installed — so the main purpose of the Japanese toy review roundups is to showcase toy releases that might otherwise get only minimal English-language coverage. We’re mainly looking for plenty of clear photographs from a variety of angles that hopefully convey pictorially what the toy is all about. Importing Japanese toys is particularly costly these days since the yen is stomping all over the US dollar, and the photos might help toy fans make a purchasing decision or interest those who simply want to see cool new designs from Japan.
We have different criteria for the English reviews included in Fanmode’s toy review roundups published on Tuesdays and Fridays. Here’s what Fanmode is looking for: honest, insightful, well-written reviews of interesting toys.
Anyone who’s been following Fanmode for a while will realise we’re generally uninterested in toys as display pieces to be admired from afar. If it’s an unposable piece of vinyl, Fanmode isn’t interested. If it’s a statue or bust, Fanmode isn’t interested. There are other sites that cover those with greater enthusiasm.
We don’t mind reviewers covering toys received from manufacturers and retailers. We do, however, expect that fact to be prominently and explicitly stated in the review. We also expect a thorough and fair review from a reviewer making a “buy this” recommendation for a toy he didn’t purchase himself. Fanmode is not interested in linking to sloppy reviews with bland observations that were hurriedly written by reviewers aiming to please manufacturers and retailers in order to get more free toys.
We’re not keen on reviews of prototypes and bootlegs though we’ve linked to them in the past. We understand the allure of having rare and unusual prototypes but we question the ethics of buying and reviewing goods smuggled out of factories. There’s no question bootlegs can be highly amusing as Bizarro World representations but we feel it’s unconscionable to reward bootleggers in any way for illegally benefiting from the creativity and work of others. Couple that with the fact bootleggers are now deceiving buyers and retailers by passing off bootlegs as originals and you have every reason to boycott them.
We hope to provide our thoughts on what constitutes Fanmode’s idea of a good toy review but in the meantime, we strongly recommend checking out the reviews of yo go re over at Online Action Figure Entertainment. He consistently comes up with insightful reviews that are enjoyable to read. You may not agree with his opinion but you will appreciate the effort he makes in expressing it. You’ll learn something about the toy, something about the story behind it and you may even look at your own toys in a new way.
Now that’s a review worth linking.