Not to get off on another RS/Wise-bashing tangent, as he's never done anything to me personally, but RS has always come across as the "company shill" on the majority of stuff Hasbro does. I can't remember the last time that they haven't bent over backwards to say how great Hasbro is and how every single product is "wonderful" or "long awaited" and how Hasbro is "really listening to the collectors."
There were two really telling occurrences recently though that finally drove the nail into RS.com's coffin as far as I was concerned:
1-A few weeks ago, there was an article on some website (I'm sure someone here can point it out) that talked about the relationship between LFL and the SW fansite community, and how other franchises (most notably Peter Jackson's LOTR camp) had embraced fan sites while LFL seemed to keep them at arm's length. T'Bone from starwarz.com was great as always, and was eloquent in his commentary on the relationship (or lack thereof) between LFL and fansites. Then they bring in our buddy Philip, who said (and I'm paraphrasing):
"I guess we picked the wrong franchise to back (referring to SW over LOTR, I guess). TheOneRing.net took their design and aesthetic from TFN."
Wise also made allusions to being "important" and how he should be treated as such and not dismissed by LFL. Basically, his comments came across as "I should be treated as a god, even though I am basing my fandom on how important I am perceived rather than actual actions, and I'm jealous of the other sites that do things a lot better than I do." At least that's how I read them.
2-Notice how RS.com hasn't really mentioned the Clone Trooper 4 packs from EE since they were first announced? I wonder if that has to do with the fact that another site was partially behind getting the set made and certain site owners were jealous that they didn't have a hand in this? And it's like that with everything: RS swore up and down that they would not post leaked photos from ROTS toys and whatnot, but when JD.com, GH.com, Sandtroopers, TheJawa, Yakface, etc started showing them and leaving RS in the dust, what do they do? They crank them out faster than you can say "I'm only in it for the money!"
I'm not a big fan of people who think that because they run a website (and don't even have a hand in the updating of said site unless they need to get their personal point across), they are somehow "more important" or a "bigger fan" than other people. We're all fans (or we are all supposedly fans), and we should do things to help each other out; not use their sites to shill for companies so they can make a buck off the fans (as in PW's autograph group he started up a few years ago). His little "Backed the wrong franchise" comment just reinforces the fact that he is not a true SW fan (there I go judging again) and is, truly, only in it for the money and his own inflated ego.
Mods, feel free to delete this post if it's too inflammatory. The last thing I want is to play a part in starting a war on the internet.
