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I'm also wondering if they will ship the Sheath and Paragon separate or hold orders like mine until both are in stock?
I believe you are right, we will be lucky if we see anything by the end of June.
Don’t know if it’s going to be any different for US, but in my case ( Europe), when asked, Caudabe support said that I’d have to wait for all items to be released before my order can be shipped.
Pretty sure the Paragon was always early to mid June
Me too.
 
Caudabe's latest ship by dates - Ship by mid-June :oops: At this rate, it just might be 2026 before we see anything

I was right, early June = mid June
 
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There's definitely a few guys here who could start their own YouTube case reviews.
Could save you a few quid later on when you get the brands sending you them for free!

😄
Free cases clouds one’s judgement and review imo.

Currently there are only one or two who do honest unbiased reviews. Rest are init to make money.
 
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Free cases clouds one’s judgement and review imo.

Currently there are only one or two who do honest unbiased reviews. Rest are init to make money.


Yep, it's bound to. Caveats at the beginning like, "Although I was sent these for free, I'll give an unbiased, fair review." is akin to saying, 'No offence but..." and then saying something offensive.
 
I think there is a difference between being sent a case for free to review and having a video sponsored by the company whose product you are reviewing. The optics of the latter scenario are more suspect to me.
 
I think there is a difference between being sent a case for free to review and having a video sponsored by the company whose product you are reviewing. The optics of the latter scenario are more suspect to me.
I’d argue that the latter is more transparent.
 
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I think there is a difference between being sent a case for free to review and having a video sponsored by the company whose product you are reviewing. The optics of the latter scenario are more suspect to me.
My whole thing is who is going to sell their soul to talk positive about a case that cost what, $30-$50? As for sponsorships, I tend to only do them for brands I trust and would use personally, you won’t see me doing ESR, Torras and others calling them the best cases. The old days of saying you don’t trust reviewers because they were sent something for free is old and played out. If that was the case and people felt that way then how are channels still growing? Not talking you directly but in general. As someone that’s in this space and have been for years for the love of accessories it’s sickening to read this time after time.
 
My whole thing is who is going to sell their soul to talk positive about a case that cost what, $30-$50? As for sponsorships, I tend to only do them for brands I trust and would use personally, you won’t see me doing ESR, Torras and others calling them the best cases. The old days of saying you don’t trust reviewers because they were sent something for free is old and played out. If that was the case and people felt that way then how are channels still growing? Not talking you directly but in general. As someone that’s in this space and have been for years for the love of accessories it’s sickening to read this time after time.
It’s not a matter of “selling one’s soul”. Reciprocity Bias is often totally subconscious and happens without the reviewer even being aware of it. You’re right; this is old and played out because it’s a basic fact of human psychology.
 
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So when someone’s opinion about a case isn’t the same as yours, that’s what it’s called? Just because a creator likes a particular case and you don’t doesn’t mean that are talking good about it because they were sent the case for free.
It’s not a matter of “selling one’s soul”. Reciprocity Bias is often totally subconscious and happens without the reviewer even being aware of it. You’re right; this is old and played out because it’s a basic fact of human psychology
 
So when someone’s opinion about a case isn’t the same as yours, that’s what it’s called? Just because a creator likes a particular case and you don’t doesn’t mean that are talking good about it because they were sent the case for free.
You’re missing my point completely. I’ll rephrase it: if a reviewer receives free gear, there is a high probability that reciprocity bias (most likely subconscious) will have a positive effect on that review. This isn’t really up for debate.
 
At the end of the day, this isn’t medical or scientific research. There is no obligation to be completely objective and free from bias. In fact, I would argue that some subjective input is necessary in a product review. However, the optics of this is clouded sometimes by sponsorships, free products etc. This is even further muddied by the wide ranging disclaimers offered to address this (I.e. company x sponsored this review of THEIR product, but they did not read the script or have any input in the review process). Why are more folks including those types of statements in their reviews across a wide range of products?

Again, for products like these which cost <50$ you could argue (and I would agree) that in this particular context, the discussion is a bit ridiculous. You see this conversation frequently in the automotive space, journals reviewers etc. and has been a pretty important discussion to have in that space.

The real 10,000 foot view question is how do you maintain a viable business model, relationships with relevant companies/sponsors while avoiding an appearance of impropriety (and does that even matter)?

*I feel this is derailing the thread a bit, so I’ll link this back to cases.

The gen 6 phone rebel was on my pm for about 2 weeks and hasn’t been back on since. For the most part a very well reviewed case. Does this mean I personally find it to be a bad case, or people who reviewed it favorably to be biased? Absolutely not. On the other hand, I have used the Otterbox symmetry 95% of the time for the last 6 months (a pretty mediocre/poorly reviewed case.) Most people should be able to take reviews (of anything) with a grain of salt and form opinions for themselves.
 
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