User blog:Berrybrick/What's wrong with LEGO reviews?
I wasn't really planning on blogging again this week, because it is back to school soon and I have a pile of other projects that this distracts from, but reviews. Something has to be said. Again. I sort of did already, but I realize that that blog wasn't very accessible, so here we be. Again. Making points in an argument most people just won't care about when I could be making points on a project or in a class (puns away). But, for whatever reason, it seems important to me. Perhaps it is just to my sanity, because reviews have had me pulling my hair out for a few months now. And maybe I have at last figured it out. Maybe.
But, because I am making points, a bit of a disclaimer first. I do not wish to be misunderstood. In the event of anything that looks like moralizing, these are my convictions and my ethics. You can think what you want to think. It's encouraged. I am not claiming paragonmanship. You don't need to adopt anything I say, or even consider it. If something seems strong, maybe it is. Rocks are strong. But that doesn't mean I intend to hit you over the head with it. I don't like doing that. I am uncomfortable doing that. But because I don't want to be misunderstood, I won't deny that those forces are strong. So there is a pendulum effect and the whole thing happens in reverse before repeating itself. But that is no excuse if uncalled for moralizing does happen and I do step out of line. I ought to know then.
But, yeah, that is sort of what it is all about. Having your own opinions. Maybe that is part of why I have been writing less reviews as of late. Part of it is probably those million other projects being my own projects and not contributing to some sort of psychic mass of "I am LUG. We are many." So, ladies, put on your trousers and swing your left arm because we have got a musical number coming our way.
I want....
When I've got....
Somewhere....
Someday....
But it's all okay
Hey!
Hm. I think. Hm. Hm. Mh.
You know, there was some hackneyed metaphor about choruses and pop musik and stuff to go with that song and dance number, but I'll cut it. I'll cut to it. Review writing makes no sense to me. It's not that they are useless, but I can't figure them out. I used to read a lot of them. And then I stopped. I used to write a few of them. But I have stopped--I think I have written a total of one this year.
There is a sort of competitiveness, I think, that haunts the big dogs like Brickset and Eurobricks and especially YouTube to get reviews out as early as possible. And the reason for that is simple. I see it all of the time with users on Eurobricks: someone finds the set earlier than everyone else, and everyone else wants to see what the set looks like out of box.
Which is fine for them. But I am not fast. And that would be okay if I felt like I still had something to add to a conversation, but I really don't. Not most of the time, and I don't have to review an entire set to do it. There aren't that many interesting ways to frame things, and inventing controversy is bad. "I like this. I don't like that." Which might be all well and good for me, but people aren't stupid. They should be able to tell whether they will like a set from some pictures. If you look at a movie poster or DVD cover, you (might) get an idea of what a movie's tone is, some of the character relations, the setting, and more but not everything that happens. Not whether or not it is good. A set though? You kind of can, since you are seeing most everything upfront, and almost certainly from the best angle; I am reminded of that Wolverine Chopper set back in 2012 which had the helicopter rotor positioned just right to hide some gaps in the back.
So what is the point of a review which might not be out so timely or tearing our perceptions of the set straight out of our eyes? I am probably missing a few, but this is what I know I have seen:
- Giving an "objective" view of a set
- Justify a purchase you have made
- Being able to say "I've reviewed that set!"
- Share your view of the set
- Help someone find something they would like, or avoid what they wouldn't
I already went into the objectivity/subjectivity divide lengthily (and trippily) in "Opine the door", and while I think that it deserves an even fuller discussion than what was there, I'll try to be easy here. Objectivity isn't important to my decision. I don't want something that others will want. I want something that I would like, or if I am getting you a gift, something you would like. Nobody else matters. This isn't science. It's not a religious mystery. There might be places for objectivity, but this isn't one where it makes much sense and it often turns into a weird sort of preachiness. Check out "Opine the door" for more of that if you want to.
Justifying a purchase should never happen. But I know it does. I've done it. It certainly seems like some others do it.
Saying "I've reviewed a set" is reviewing for the sake of reviewing, and it's not inherently wrong; I actually added it to the list as an afterthought, but I suppose what bothers me is when people who don't care about a set or have anything worthwhile to say about it yet think they do anyway. That's probably cynicism speaking though, this isn't usually that bad.
As for the last two, I was expecting myself to deride them. Call them sincere and maybe noble, but say that neither was quite enough. And, yeah, unless you are luckily fast or have a gift for incredibly (and authentically) obscure opinions, they probably won't do too much good. You could also be entertaining, but most reviews fail miserably in that aspect. I think that what it probably has to be is a mixture of these two things (three if you can manage humor; start by taking a metal garbage pail, stuffing it to the brim with as many "angry wallet" jokes as you can, and then setting fire). Because on their own they are sort of insufficient.
I mean, you can get away with either of them and have a perfectly fine review. I won't complain. It's just that so few reviews really feel excellent. Like something I want to read for itself and not because of what its subject is. But the reason that I was close to saying "Eh, maybe not," is this perception that you need to own a set to have a valid opinion on it. Which makes intuitive sense. You can't have a very useful opinion of a movie or song if you haven't heard it, but as we've established, I think that perception of a LEGO set is flawed. But movies and songs are a very different medium, and maybe the way that I am looking at the LEGO medium is flawed. I am more of a collector than a builder, so it's not my forte. My skill set isn't bound to the brick. But I bought some S16 figures recently, and for whatever reason, right now I am getting a vision of the Spooky Boy with his base pinched between my fingers. And around him I can see the shelf where I keep my BIONICLE figures and the table underneath where there is an XL gray baseplate and a bunch of figure parts. To the right is an iron shelving unit which holds the Super Heroes, Harry Potter, and other licensed sets I have still got together. Behind that that is a line of old City buildings over my dresser which have been falling apart--some with pieces stolen, some compromised, and some just dusty. And I can drop the Spooky Boy anywhere.
Does that make sense? This worldbuilding thing is unique. Where I do (or don't) put Spooky Boy is unique. My collection is unique. The things I've bought, kept apart, MOCed, MODed--all unique. And so, in conclusion, I am a speshel snowflake and Frozen is the best lego set And the thing is that reviews are good for the community that shares them. Not exactly for being helpful or even because you necessarily think that the set is bad or good, but because "I am Rick Harrison and this is my pawn shop" "I bought this set because reasons and this is how it fits into my collection and/or means for me."
Which it isn't that LEGO reviews don't do that. They do a lot of the time. It has just taken me until now to notice because a lot of the time it does seem to be motivated by either objectivity, subjectivity, justification, enthusiasm, or customarinessityness and then transmute into a nearly paradoxical brew of two or more. But I think that perhaps removing the focus of reviews from those things and to an expression of your collection and interests to the community will be a good thing. It won't fix everything that I think is wrong with reviews--because there is a lot, some of it is at "Opine the door" and some of it I haven't even touched yet because they are deeper contentions I hold with the FOL community the worst one being prats who write overlong analyses of insubstantial merit--and if taken wrong, I can actually see this breeding some of them. But you know, this isn't science. There is no formula to a good review, so perhaps it is nice in theory, but hard to apply.... Maybe this should have been the weird eccentric breakdown blog and "Opine the door" should have been the one that made sense. Maybe nothing should make sense at all--wouldn't that be crazy?
At the end of it all though, I am probably overthinking this. What do I know? What do you think?
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