New Crap Cigar Review Site

I recently stumbled upon a website called Crap Cigar. Basically, they smoke budget sticks, priced $3 and below, and do a video review of them everyweek. These guys motto is "We smoke the sh** so you don't have to!" and they mean it. They are not your typical cigar reviews either. Here is what is on the about crap cigar page on their website.

"Have you ever wanted to purchase a bundle of cigars for a cheap everyday smoke, but were a little afraid to take the plunge? Afraid the cigars would taste like sh**? I have done this over and over and have never found any good reviews online regarding these sticks. There are tons of cigar review sites out there, but everyone focuses on the premium smokes and for good reasons.

Everyone wonders “amongst all the crap out there to purchase there must be a few diamond in the roughs, right?”. I’m here to fill the gap between the complete and utter sh** and the hidden jewels of the discount cigar world."

Anyways, if you guys have some time to kill or enjoy watching down to earth cigar reviews then hit up the website. I liked it so much I am sending them some crap cigars to review. I don't know if anyone has posted this on here so I apologize if this is a repost. Also, let me know if the curse word in their logo is offensive and I can delete or a mod can.

[Cornrow_Wallis]

I watched a couple of the videos and they're pretty entertaining. They need to cut them all down to about five minutes a pop. The ones I watched were all around 12-17 minutes long and I didn't finish any of them.

[RustyShackleford]

I watched a few of them and they are pretty good but like Cornrow said they need to cut them down a little.

Thanks for the link,
Chris

[OLS]

I agree that people who do reviews of cigars online tend to say way too much. If a cigar is already crap,
it's hard to imagine needing to go on and on. But as a "reviewer" myself, far be it for me to criticize others.
I need to check this out. I DO know one thing. I checked out the worlds worst cigar blog this weekend. PU.

[elderboy02]

I am in Newscast #1 at 9:17 into the video

I agree with you guys that the reviews go a little too long. I think they would benefit from a closer camera angle and then editing it down but they are still learning. I think they have only done 32 reviews which sounds like alot but as far as reviews go they still have time to improve in my opinion.

[Eleven]

Dan: "You get purple smoke coming out your mouth, its f*#&ing awesome!"

Originally Posted by Eleven

Dan: "You get purple smoke coming out your mouth, its f*#&ing awesome!"

Lol they need a better camera with a light on it but that was hilarious.

[OLS]

As a video professional, I can assert that it does not take 32 reviews to realize a flaw here or there.
BUT I can also state categorically that when a person is too close to the work, the flaws do tend to
fade into the background, cause you are so jazzed by seeing yourself on TV, or web video as the case may be.
If they were reading this, a few tips.

A.) Cut your open down to 15 secs or less. Cute and clever the first time, it's old hat and resembles a
class project.
B.) LIGHTING, LIGHTING, LIGHTING. You should be uncomfortable with the light level and the heat it generates.
Light is there to make your colors POP and make your video tolerable, as well as helping the camera FOCUS.
More light allows auto-setting cameras to settle in on a HQ setting. If you make it work in the dark, grainy
is what you will always get. A few hundred watt light bulbs in unshaded lamp sockets, behind the camera,
high up and bouncing off the walls and ceiling will do it.
C.) Edit your video like some kind of Darfur attack, slicing off whole sections ruthlessly. If it doesn't have to be
in there, cut it. Re-shoot sections of stuttering and stumbling.

I think this site has huge potential, but needs to bring itself out of the middle ages content-wise.
These criticisms are strictly in the best interest of the end product and are in no way designed to embarass.
It's not like they will read it. (they will). hehe.

[pnoon]

When I read the thread title I could only think of what Craputo did to Top25.
Posted via Mobile Device

[elderboy02]

Originally Posted by Eleven

Dan: "You get purple smoke coming out your mouth, its f*#&ing awesome!"

Yeah, at 1st I was going to say a Cremosa, but waffle was sitting right next to me and he said the Purple Cigar. I need to clean up my language, but I had a Bourbon Barrel Ale or 2 in me at the time of the interview.

Originally Posted by OLS

As a video professional, I can assert that it does not take 32 reviews to realize a flaw here or there.
BUT I can also state categorically that when a person is too close to the work, the flaws do tend to
fade into the background, cause you are so jazzed by seeing yourself on TV, or web video as the case may be.
If they were reading this, a few tips.

A.) Cut your open down to 15 secs or less. Cute and clever the first time, it's old hat and resembles a
class project.
B.) LIGHTING, LIGHTING, LIGHTING. You should be uncomfortable with the light level and the heat it generates.
Light is there to make your colors POP and make your video tolerable, as well as helping the camera FOCUS.
More light allows auto-setting cameras to settle in on a HQ setting. If you make it work in the dark, grainy
is what you will always get. A few hundred watt light bulbs in unshaded lamp sockets, behind the camera,
high up and bouncing off the walls and ceiling will do it.
C.) Edit your video like some kind of Darfur attack, slicing off whole sections ruthlessly. If it doesn't have to be
in there, cut it. Re-shoot sections of stuttering and stumbling.

I think this site has huge potential, but needs to bring itself out of the middle ages content-wise.
These criticisms are strictly in the best interest of the end product and are in no way designed to embarass.
It's not like they will read it. (they will). hehe.

I will be sure to link this thread to Justin next time I email him as I am sending him some cigars to review. I definitely don't want him to take the wrong message from this and I think that you worded it in a way that would not be offensive. I agree with you that if they cut down the videos and did some editing that their site would really benefit from it. Hell, he might even start making a nice profit off the ad space if it gets enough traffic.

[stitch]

Originally Posted by pnoon

When I read the thread title I could only think of what Craputo did to Top25.
Posted via Mobile Device

Hell, Craputto Craputed an entire community.

Hey this is the author of crapcigar.com. Thanks for the interest. I started this myself back in June after some talk on twitter about the idea of a cigar review site that reviewed the cheap sticks. There are so many cheap cigars out there and sifting through the crap can be difficult and costly over time (you usually have to buy bundles of the crap to even find out if they are good).

Any feedback is good feedback in my opinion. I know we have some major problems with video quality, though they have gotten a lot better since day one. We are continuing to try and get better production quality. I don't have a very good camera for one, and lighting in my smoking room is very difficult due to the dark nature of the room already (dim lights and brown walls). We've brought some lamps into the room but it only helped a little. Once I get my income tax I'm laying down a decent amount of cash to make it better because the site is something we've invested a lot of time into and are going to continue to try and make it better. Whether people love or hate the site, we aren't going anywhere. Thanks for the feedback and we'll keep smoking the **** so you don't have to.

[chand]

Originally Posted by long_ashes

Hey this is the author of crapcigar.com. Thanks for the interest. I started this myself back in June after some talk on twitter about the idea of a cigar review site that reviewed the cheap sticks. There are so many cheap cigars out there and sifting through the crap can be difficult and costly over time (you usually have to buy bundles of the crap to even find out if they are good).

Any feedback is good feedback in my opinion. I know we have some major problems with video quality, though they have gotten a lot better since day one. We are continuing to try and get better production quality. I don't have a very good camera for one, and lighting in my smoking room is very difficult due to the dark nature of the room already (dim lights and brown walls). We've brought some lamps into the room but it only helped a little. Once I get my income tax I'm laying down a decent amount of cash to make it better because the site is something we've invested a lot of time into and are going to continue to try and make it better. Whether people love or hate the site, we aren't going anywhere. Thanks for the feedback and we'll keep smoking the **** so you don't have to.

Count me as a fan.

I have found some great smokes for under $3 and I have found some really crappy smokes for around $10 and up. I smoke what I like and I don't care what I pay for it.

Now, I watched one, well almost part of one video and was bored to tears. I don't care if the cigar is good or bad but that video was TORTURE!

[emopunker2004]

definately have to check it out when i get some down time.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by pnoon

When I read the thread title I could only think of what Craputo did to Top25.
Posted via Mobile Device

Used to go all the time and submitted dozens of reviews. Now I can't remember the last time I logged in--probably.... October 2008.

OT: I'll be visiting this site to watch its progress--good luck, long_ashes!

[JDTexan]

The audio and video problems make it very hard to watch, impossible for me to enjoy.

[OLS]

I made all the same points I made here to Long_Ashes in a email to his contact page, only a few minutes
after I wrote it here. He graciously refrained from coming down too hard on me. However I have had no
luck in convincing him he doesn't need a new camera. I guess some folks just gots to spend money, lol.
It is clear to me, a professional, that all they need is lights, and I told them as much. We'll see how it goes.

On an encouraging note, his camera work is better than that of James Suckling's cameraman, whom he
describes as a top filmmaker in Canada. Maybe he works with Count Floyd or Wayne and Garth, complete
with unneccessary zoom.