I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it seems to me that PSR's review of Strelets' Roman Transport 3 is a little harsh & a little short sighted. Tho I do understand their unwillingness to accept possibility that such a transport did exist, their reasoning for this assumption is a bit hypocritical considering they allow for unverifiable equipment in other reviews. Whether this is a Roman vehicle or not, it is hardly useless! Other cultures & time periods did use similar transports & could easily be used for them! Besides, I think it would look awesome(maybe several of them!) in a triumphant Roman General's victory parade! Especially now that Strelets is doing ceremonial troops!

I'd say it was fair, do your self a favour though and use the portable cage for transporting wild beasts instead of people, the oxen are unlikely to be bothered much..... there are quite a few slave chains known so wrap a bit of wire round the necks and connect this to the next figure with a small bit of something that looks like chain.... Voila a use has been found

That's what it looks like to me. All I need are a couple gorilla guards and Charlton Heston on a pole and it'll be a nice little diorama.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/13/article-1144704-03820E15000005DC-107_468x358.jpg

The team at PSR do not like the Strelets style of chunky, 'animated' figures. It is not for everyone, to be sure. I for one think that they are fabulous and generally prefer Strelets figures, given a choice. I am happy to deal with any inaccuracies with paint, or perhaps knife, but usually I don't bother as it's all about mass effect at the scales of 1/72nd and units on a wargames table (and they are usually minor, or like the cart, a useful piece whether historically accurate or not). Strelets figures produce this with style and the animation of the figures provides an excellent effect in a wargames unit.

To PSR's credit, they always state the reasons for their judgements, which are made objectively, if delivered with somewhat colourful or subjective language at times. The photos provided are excellent, so the reader can make up his own mind.

For example, the review that prompted this thread mentions poor sculpting. I look at the brilliantly sculpted faces on the figures of the slaves and say, "wot?!" Knowing PSR's biases regarding style, I pick out the objective statements from the review, look at the photos and make my own judgement. Generally if PSR do not like them, I will! Mind you, if they say a set is great, I usually agree. I guess that my tastes are more catholic than those of the PSR team! 😀

All power to Strelets to keep producing interesting and useful sets of top figures! You have certainly stepped up production and quality this year, thank you!!

(Also, may PSR continue to provide its excellent, free service to the hobby. It would be helpful for them to allow comments from 'practitioners'. They would be mainly measured, I am sure and the owners, or other posters would soon put a stop to any disrespectful, rude or stupid comments!).

James

It's probably worth taking a look at this again...

"ROMAN TRACTION SYSTEMS" covers wagon types/construction as well as methods of harnessing.. note the spoked wheels...

http://www.humanist.de/rome/rts/index.html

Is their rather stuck up attitude toward certain figures! I have been after them, since fantasy sets from Caesar & Red Box first started showing up, to include pix & release info. I even told them I don't expect reviews, but it would be nice to know what is coming out, when & what they look like! They have flatly refused! Even tho fantasy sets ARE Plastic Toy Soldiers! This selective attitude of their's is what makes them suspect!

Bert, you seem to think that PSR is some sort of trade organisation provided free by magical pixies, whereas it is actually just one person's website where he gives his opinion about certain toys he has bought.

In view of that fact, why don't you spend your time and, more importantly, your money on creating and hosting a website where you give your opinion of the toys you have purchased.

If you want to see an opinion website about fantasy figures, and you can't find one that says exactly what you want them to say, then I humbly suggest you make your own. You would have complete control over what is said and how it is said. You might even get some people to read it.

But have you ever stopped to think that maybe PSR is so popular because of where they draw the line on what they will and will not review.

All sites are subjective and PSR is no different. Clearly the reviewer does like Caesar products (or should it be Kaiser with the all the nazi products they produce!). Surely there must be sites out there for fantasy wargaming and figures without PSR getting involved.

The importance of PSR for me is the pictures which help me whether to buy products. Whether Strelet figures are good or bad is up to the buyer - consider the first four British heavy WW1 sets I have several of each and was pleased with them unlike PSR. Yes, the guns took time cleaning up but unlike PSR comments the final product was quite acceptable - however I am not a button counter.

Having been negative to PSR I do appreciate PSR and consider it is one of the better sites. Its a pity however that they do not have a category for originality. It would be worth seeing the orginality score for Caesars and Strelets for their respective Stalingrad sets.

"We welcome all comments on the site (good and bad), suggestions and anything else you may want to say. You should also use this page if you wish to highlight a factual error on any of our pages, or if you wish us to include a particular product or link."

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Contact.aspx

Is it really just one person running PSR? If so, then he is doing a tremendous job just keeping up with and reviewing all the new sets, especially when it comes to purchasing all those sets.

Just piecing together little clues over the years gives me the distinct impression PSR is one guy, who buys at least one of every toy soldier set. I could be wrong, of course.

It's also clear that some articles on the site are written by somebody else, eg the article about Cereal Gladiators, but then surely they must be edited by the PSR guy. I think (but don't know) that occasionally he gets a mate to review a set, but then that review would also be subjected to editing by the PSR guy to ensure it fits "the style".

He has made it clear that he buys the sets; he does not get them for free. That goes a long way to ensuring he isn't persuaded to write something nice just because the company gave him them free. It also may explain why he reviews the sets he reviews - maybe he's just not into wargs, goblins, and zombies, or not into them enough, or doesn't have enough time to get into them.

So I agree he's doing a tremendous job. I have a website and a blog, both of which are tiny, and neither of which I update as often as the PSR guy.

thought i read in the past from psr on this forum,that they review sets that are provided to them.which kind of makes more sense then buying every set,game,book,and dvd listed on their site.
if anyone can direct me to where it says they purchase everything,id be interested to read it.
since there already are fantasy and non historical sets listed on the site,i think it would be better to bug the manufacturers to send some sets over.i would think it be but a good thing to have even more people who like fantasy sets to check in at psr the way the rest of do.

Wow, that is impressive, I always wondered how he got hold of all those sets, and since he's buying them all of out of his own pocket than he truly is doing a great service to our hobby.
PSR guy, I salute you!

I love PSR....it's one of the three websites I visit almost every day (the others being HaT and Strelets of course).

That said, I disagree with many of the opinions expressed, particularly with regards to Strelets products. But, hey, each to their own.

On the subject of PSR reviewing fantasy figures, its probably hard to objectively review an Orc or a Warg or an Elf. How would you know if an Orc was accurately armed/armoured, or if the gait of a Warg looked "natural" or not, or if the ears on an Elf were too big or too small? Are you basing your review on the Peter Jackson films, your interpretation of the Tolkien novels, or some fantasy figures produced back in the early 1970s?

Regards,
Andrew

i dont think anyone expects a review of fantasy figures from psr.just a treatment like the eagle games,or caesar fantasy figures have on the feature page.

"The question is, would you want to buy them? Well of course these are not meant to be accurate or attractive models, just game pieces, so this is not a criticism of their designer. However their very basic features means they are unlikely to be of much use to most modellers and gamers in our view. Still at least you now know what you would be getting if you did decide to buy these."

that was from the end of one of the eagle games feature on psr.for fantasy figures,the last sentence sums it up quite well.

Fair call, Tom....pics without a review would indeed be useful, and make a great resource even better.

Regards,
Andrew

I might suggest that anyone could do a review of the Fantasy figures currently available and post it on the internet as "Fantasy Plastic Soldier Review"... there's not that many sets and only a few company's producing them if you stick to 1/72 ... why try and force someone who's not that interested to do it, doubtless PSR is run by hobbyist's like the rest of us after all..

I'm joining this late as I am just getting back in town, but I know from experience that PSR not only accepts feedback via the provided contacts, but will amend their reviews if you have info of which they were previously unaware. In my experience PSR has been thankful for the insights and very gracious. I might not always agree with PSR's opinions, as a friend of mine is fond of quoting, if two people are in 100% agreement all the time, one isn't thinking for himself. As others have said numerous times, PSR's contribution to the hobby is immeasurable.

My own theory on the nature of the site is it is a one-man operation. I get the impression he started out reviewing figures he bought but as his site grew in popularity smart manufacturers will send him examples of their output. If they don't they should IMHO - after all, even a bad review still gets their output publicized. And if you aren't confident of the quality of your product maybe you should look for another line of business?

i see osprey is coming out with an orc warfare book,lol.
well if osprey can put out fantasy warfare books,then psr might as well put up pictures of fantasy sets.