Optibotimus Reviews: Hot Toys Star Wars BOBA FETT

[Medusoid]

How is that possible when they've made Luke Bespin???

That was a collaboration with Sideshow.

 

[Cagoda]

That was a collaboration with Sideshow.

So the rumored Yoda/Dagobah Luke from HT would be a collaboration too? I just wish these companies wouldn't leave us in the dark so much haha. I just want more HT figures from all the movies haha

 

[Travis Baumann]

So the rumored Yoda/Dagobah Luke from HT would be a collaboration too? I just wish these companies wouldn't leave us in the dark so much haha. I just want more HT figures from all the movies haha

They are just jerking your chain. HT is in for it all, they got the license direct. At the time of Bespin Luke, Sideshow had the license for Western Hemisphere, Medicom had it for Asia so in order for HT to do a Star Wars figure it had to be a collaboration.

Rumor has it that there are in fact several figures from both Empire and Jedi in the works (three from each I think)... we already got Fett from Jedi.

There was also a rumor from same source (who has been spot on for every single thing he has said in the past) that we would see Emperor from Jedi. There was also possibly Imperial Guard but that may now fall under Rogue One so it doesn't eat up a spot on the short list. Jedi Luke was also on that list but no real hints other than possible Dagobah training pack for Empire.

I for one do not want another Luke on my shelf but may trade ANH for Jedi if he looks good. For Empire there are so many figures they could do, I think I may want Lando the most at this point but they will probably do an Ughunaught to reuse the short body for Yoda/Ewoks.

 

[Optibotimus]

Hey Opti I was wondering how you got started reviewing figures? What made you decide that you wanted to turn talking about these collectibles into a career?

It may simply blow peoples minds that someone can be so blessed to get paid by YT for reviewing what may be free figures from SS. It's jealousy, a "why you deserve" kinda thing. The reason I asked whether or not he paid for the figures is for the very reason he brought up himself and that is the integrity of the review. Without that it becomes shilling and showcase and not a review at all.

Which brings me to another question for Optibotimus. How did you get the job? Take us back to the beginning of your channel and how you got sponsored. I bet its a pretty damn cool story.

I don't like throwing around the term that people are jealous. Is it possible, sure. But i'm not going to make judgment calls on other people. I honestly don't believe that just because someone gets something given to them, it turns into shilling. Does it happen? Sure. Especially if someone doesn't have a very large following. Which is why i said i don't need to be given things for free or at discounted prices. I am capable of buying what i want whenever i want (to a degree obviously). Reviews of just about everything have existed for a long time. Some people will shill things to keep getting things. That's all well and good, but as i said, if i like something, i'm gonna buy it regardless. In my opinion, there are far more benefits to paying for things (as a "professional" reviewer) than not.

As far as being "blessed". I do consider myself lucky, but it also takes a tremendous amount of work to create this as a business. People don't see that. If it was as easy as everyone makes it out to be, there would be far more people doing it. Just like with any business, it takes a lot of work to do. So if people are jealous of the fact i'm able to review toys for a living, they need to understand it came with a lot of work first and foremost. I've been doing this for almost 9 years. I worked hard, persevered and turned a passion i have for something into a career.

I started out in 2007. I worked previously for Bank of America and a merchant consultant. It was a job that allowed me to travel throughout the U.S. and see a lot of different things. Sadly though, it also had a tremendously bad impact on my health. Living out of hotels and eating out all the time isn't a healthy way of life. Near the beginning of 2007 i was moved to SoCal for work. A friend of mine had a friend who he wanted to introduce me to. She and i both loved hockey and he figured that while i was down in SoCal, she and i could hang out. She and i hit it off but i then got very sick. I developed pancreatitis and my blood sugar sky rocketed to over 1300. A normal person has a blood sugar level of around 100, so you can see i had a problem. My body stopped producing insulin and i turned into a type 2 diabetic. I was hospitalized for 2 weeks, 10 of those days i was literally in a diabetic coma. I have zero recollection about what happened during that time. I woke up to find my mom and sister at my side, along with my girlfriend. I came home a couple days later and had to figure out what i was going to do with my life.

About a month later, a friend of mine moved to California and wanted to open a hockey store. I had to do something so i decided to invest in his business and i ran things from the back end. It was around this time that the hype of the new Transformers movie was starting. I had always loved Transformers, going back to my days as a kid and i was getting excited about it coming to a live action movie. One night, my girlfriend (who would eventually become my wife) was out shopping and i saw the voyager class Ironhide figure from the new movie line. I hadn't bought or even played with a transformer for years and decided to buy this one to see what it was all about. I played with it but i couldn't figure out how to transform it. It frustrated me cause of how easy they used to be haha, so i went to youtube. I found a video on it and it showed how to transform him into robot mode. I thought it was cool but i was stuck again. There wasn't anything showing me how to transform him back into his truck mode. I figured, well hey, i can do that. So i grabbed a logitech webcam, pulled out a tv dinner table and made my first video. They were terrible back then. HD videos weren't something that existed. Hell, you were lucky if you could record things at DVD quality. A lot of those older videos are still up on my channel today, and i leave them there because of the nostalgia, so you can see how bad they are if you ever want a good laugh lol. But i just had fun with it and showed off my toys.

Things started picking up more around 2009 though. Initially things were okay. Basically everyone was allowed into the youtube partner program, which allowed you to make money off your videos, it wasn't anything substantial. But 2009 saw a lot of Transformers stuff coming out. We had Revenge of the Fallen coming and we had a really popular cartoon series, Transformers Animated, on TV. During that time, a lot of early "factory leaks" of toys happened. This sparked a whole bit of competition among TF reviewers. It was a race to get something before anyone else and get a review up. During this time, it wasn't uncommon for people to pay $100 for a $10 deluxe figure. Some voyager class figures went for $500. If you wanted to stay relevant, you had to do this kind of stuff. More and more people started doing toy reviews but bigger named people, who by this time were able to monetize their videos, were really the only ones capable of spending that kind of money. It was a good business decision. That old saying about "you gotta spend money to make money" was very true. Spending $100 on a figure got you the views. It got you the attention which brought more views to other videos. So you quickly made that initial investment back. So it wasn't all that bad.

That's when things picked up for most of us. If you stuck with it, it turned into a long term sort of thing. At that time, i started making more money with my videos than i was doing with the hockey store. I sold off my portion of the store and dedicated my time to making videos. Investing in better equipment, better cameras, lighting, editing software, ect. And that's basically it. Sponsors happened later as my popularity expanded. BBTS offered to buy "ad space" in my videos. That's a common misconception, that i get paid by BBTS to review things and if i send them more traffic, i get a cut of it. I don't. I get paid a flat rate that doesn't fluctuate depending on how much traffic i send them. I wish i got a percentage of the traffic i sent them LOL. It's not like what Sideshow does with their affiliate program at all though.

But that's the story

 

[LipSmack]

That rumor is hogwash.

Yep

No, it's true. They only got the license for Episode IV, VI, VII, XIX and the Holiday Special.

nope

The more likely scenario is Hot toys and Sideshow (Long running partners in ****ing customers) are staying out of each others way, basically one is taking the mouth and the other is taking the ass, with a grand high five in the middle

 

[Vortex]

Thanks for taking the time to tell your story Obtibotimus. Very cool and in a way it sounds like it may have even saved your life or at the very least gave you the ability to focus more on your health without the stress of being on the road all the time..type 2 is no joke and i hope it is at least under control for the most part.


Here's to continued success.

 

[Dr. Odd]

Fun read, thanks

 

[TaliBane]

Yep



nope

The more likely scenario is Hot toys and Sideshow (Long running partners in ****ing customers) are staying out of each others way, basically one is taking the mouth and the other is taking the ass, with a grand high five in the middle

The Holiday Special is true though.

 

[TonTon]

A lot of people did say they released Lumpy in that two pack with Han.

 

[TaliBane]

A lot of people did say they released Lumpy in that two pack with Han.

Looking forward to what HT comes up with for Episode XIX though.

 

[LipSmack]

The Holiday Special is true though.

I was saying nope to you "they only got..."

they got the license for it all, for their region, Likely the "asia" license or "hong kong" sidehsow has the "North american" or "Americas" license

 

[ApeManRyan]

I don't like throwing around the term that people are jealous. Is it possible, sure. But i'm not going to make judgment calls on other people. I honestly don't believe that just because someone gets something given to them, it turns into shilling. Does it happen? Sure. Especially if someone doesn't have a very large following. Which is why i said i don't need to be given things for free or at discounted prices. I am capable of buying what i want whenever i want (to a degree obviously). Reviews of just about everything have existed for a long time. Some people will shill things to keep getting things. That's all well and good, but as i said, if i like something, i'm gonna buy it regardless. In my opinion, there are far more benefits to paying for things (as a "professional" reviewer) than not.

As far as being "blessed". I do consider myself lucky, but it also takes a tremendous amount of work to create this as a business. People don't see that. If it was as easy as everyone makes it out to be, there would be far more people doing it. Just like with any business, it takes a lot of work to do. So if people are jealous of the fact i'm able to review toys for a living, they need to understand it came with a lot of work first and foremost. I've been doing this for almost 9 years. I worked hard, persevered and turned a passion i have for something into a career.

I started out in 2007. I worked previously for Bank of America and a merchant consultant. It was a job that allowed me to travel throughout the U.S. and see a lot of different things. Sadly though, it also had a tremendously bad impact on my health. Living out of hotels and eating out all the time isn't a healthy way of life. Near the beginning of 2007 i was moved to SoCal for work. A friend of mine had a friend who he wanted to introduce me to. She and i both loved hockey and he figured that while i was down in SoCal, she and i could hang out. She and i hit it off but i then got very sick. I developed pancreatitis and my blood sugar sky rocketed to over 1300. A normal person has a blood sugar level of around 100, so you can see i had a problem. My body stopped producing insulin and i turned into a type 2 diabetic. I was hospitalized for 2 weeks, 10 of those days i was literally in a diabetic coma. I have zero recollection about what happened during that time. I woke up to find my mom and sister at my side, along with my girlfriend. I came home a couple days later and had to figure out what i was going to do with my life.

About a month later, a friend of mine moved to California and wanted to open a hockey store. I had to do something so i decided to invest in his business and i ran things from the back end. It was around this time that the hype of the new Transformers movie was starting. I had always loved Transformers, going back to my days as a kid and i was getting excited about it coming to a live action movie. One night, my girlfriend (who would eventually become my wife) was out shopping and i saw the voyager class Ironhide figure from the new movie line. I hadn't bought or even played with a transformer for years and decided to buy this one to see what it was all about. I played with it but i couldn't figure out how to transform it. It frustrated me cause of how easy they used to be haha, so i went to youtube. I found a video on it and it showed how to transform him into robot mode. I thought it was cool but i was stuck again. There wasn't anything showing me how to transform him back into his truck mode. I figured, well hey, i can do that. So i grabbed a logitech webcam, pulled out a tv dinner table and made my first video. They were terrible back then. HD videos weren't something that existed. Hell, you were lucky if you could record things at DVD quality. A lot of those older videos are still up on my channel today, and i leave them there because of the nostalgia, so you can see how bad they are if you ever want a good laugh lol. But i just had fun with it and showed off my toys.

Things started picking up more around 2009 though. Initially things were okay. Basically everyone was allowed into the youtube partner program, which allowed you to make money off your videos, it wasn't anything substantial. But 2009 saw a lot of Transformers stuff coming out. We had Revenge of the Fallen coming and we had a really popular cartoon series, Transformers Animated, on TV. During that time, a lot of early "factory leaks" of toys happened. This sparked a whole bit of competition among TF reviewers. It was a race to get something before anyone else and get a review up. During this time, it wasn't uncommon for people to pay $100 for a $10 deluxe figure. Some voyager class figures went for $500. If you wanted to stay relevant, you had to do this kind of stuff. More and more people started doing toy reviews but bigger named people, who by this time were able to monetize their videos, were really the only ones capable of spending that kind of money. It was a good business decision. That old saying about "you gotta spend money to make money" was very true. Spending $100 on a figure got you the views. It got you the attention which brought more views to other videos. So you quickly made that initial investment back. So it wasn't all that bad.

That's when things picked up for most of us. If you stuck with it, it turned into a long term sort of thing. At that time, i started making more money with my videos than i was doing with the hockey store. I sold off my portion of the store and dedicated my time to making videos. Investing in better equipment, better cameras, lighting, editing software, ect. And that's basically it. Sponsors happened later as my popularity expanded. BBTS offered to buy "ad space" in my videos. That's a common misconception, that i get paid by BBTS to review things and if i send them more traffic, i get a cut of it. I don't. I get paid a flat rate that doesn't fluctuate depending on how much traffic i send them. I wish i got a percentage of the traffic i sent them LOL. It's not like what Sideshow does with their affiliate program at all though.

But that's the story

Optibotimus I enjoyed your reviews since the beginning. I myself am a YouTube reviewer and I have been since the end of 2007 and I was 11 at the time I believe. Sadly my old channel got glitched and I lost everything. I had about 997 subscribers and many views. It was a great time and I wished I could of saved the videos I made, but I restarted a new one 2 years ago and never stopped then. I find reviewing fun and relaxing even if Youtube at times gives me crap with there usage on stuff. I think you are top notch and keep on doing it because you have a talent. I only wish I could be at where you are because I have such a passion for it and I work hard at it but it doesn't seem to go anywhere but I still do it no matter what even for free. The best feeling is the person who enjoys the review and watches it. I myself purchase my own figures and I cannot afford a lot either so I have to pick and choose for full price or more but I feel if I got a free figure or it discounted I couldn't have a full opinion. Amazing story on your life. Keep up the great work you are lucky and I appreciate your thoughts on every figure you review and giveaway.

Ryan

 

[TaliBane]

I don't like throwing around the term that people are jealous. Is it possible, sure. But i'm not going to make judgment calls on other people. I honestly don't believe that just because someone gets something given to them, it turns into shilling. Does it happen? Sure. Especially if someone doesn't have a very large following. Which is why i said i don't need to be given things for free or at discounted prices. I am capable of buying what i want whenever i want (to a degree obviously). Reviews of just about everything have existed for a long time. Some people will shill things to keep getting things. That's all well and good, but as i said, if i like something, i'm gonna buy it regardless. In my opinion, there are far more benefits to paying for things (as a "professional" reviewer) than not.

I just think the thing you said at the end of the review - that the HT figure is no better than the Sideshow Fett, just different - felt a bit unprompted and like needing to take care of some business because SSC Fett V2 is still for sale on the SSC site and the perception (on SSF at least) seems to be that the HT Fett is the better figure even if they're slightly different outfits.

Your explanation that you had no intention of buying the HT Fett, but SSC then suggested you review it, prompting you to then pay them full retail for it sounds a little strange, but I think the important thing in terms of "shilling" is just to let viewers make their own judgement by simply stating "I received this figure for free from ___" or "I received this figure at a discounted price from ___" if it happens that way.

As a viewer, it's just nice to know - many reviewers do receive things for free, it's just good practice to disclose it. It's not like we judge those types of reviews all that differently from the regular buyer's review (other than the fact your reviews look better.) It removes any feeling of impropriety.

I like your reviews and don't have any issues with the "hands" thing (hey, there's white gloves reviewer guy and silent-unwrapping reviewer guy that I'm not too hot on) and the "got it free/discounted" disclaimer is such a simple, unobtrusive thing to add.

 

[BadMuthaDude]

Looks awesome on your camera, dude. Thanks for the review. Ordered.

 

[medicomsucks]

"but I think the important thing in terms of "shilling" is just to let viewers make their own judgement by simply stating "I received this figure for free from ___" or "I received this figure at a discounted price from ___" if it happens that way. "

Couldn't agree more. I believe the reviewer is being honest when he says it doesn't factor in his review. However, if consumer reports said they liked a chevy car a little more than the ford counterpart, and later we found they got the Chevy for free but had to pay for the ford, at least I would be skeptical of that review.

 

[airborn007]

There's more action in this thread then the regular HT Boba Fett thread.

 

[TaliBane]

There's more action in this thread then the regular HT Boba Fett thread.

The figure hasn't shipped yet from most places. Optibotimus got his before SSC actually shipped the figure to regular customers, so makes sense there'd be a bit more action here.

 

[r3dPyramid]

The figure hasn't shipped yet from most places. Optibotimus got his before SSC actually shipped the figure to regular customers, so makes sense there'd be a bit more action here.

Yeah, plus the whole "hands" thing. I'll stop now.

 

[Chubs&Doggers]

Enjoy guys!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFpva3YaIO8

Watched it. Unfortunately I read all the "hands" comments before so I was watching ur hands more than the actual review. As well I don't think I've ever watched a full review that's longer than 5 minutes without fast forwarding at some point. It's nice to have variety so keep using ur hands and keep making reviews. cheers!

 

[bmarz1000]

Whether you are annoyed by the hands or not, you are fortunate enough to be getting an early look at the figure. Thanks Optibotimus for providing the early look. I greatly appreciate it.

Hear Hear! Let's give him a "hand".