RebuttalFoam

People who know me tend to describe me as an optimist. Aggressively so, some would say.  Sure, I get bummed out or angry from time to time, but I'm usually a glass is completely full (half water, half air) kind of guy.

Which is why Battlefoam was always harshing my buzz. Because I wanted to be positive about what looked like a great product, but Romeo Filip just wouldn't let me!  If it wasn't his early, early promotional videos devoted to bashing Sabol Designs then it was the bizarre events surrounding his various legal actions.  Hell, the weird thread camping he would do and reviews that looked paid for were just icing on the cake.

It was a huge deterrent for a product that I was already kind of cold about because of the price.

Keep in mind that all of these shenanigans were strung out over the years so it was always something new to frown at.

Well, I ended up getting a Battlefoam bag anyway.  But I managed to get it without spending my own money. Xmas, baby!  I guess I thought it was a clever way of sidestepping the issue of giving them my money while still being a self righteous consumer.

This is Techno the Cat.  He's pretty great.

Since Frontline gamer is always prattling on about his cats AND getting away with it, I thought I would too.


So there's a grainy picture my mom took of one of my cats and my Battlefoam bag.

It turns out that while Romeo may have a history of 'scandals', his product is scandal proof.  The case itself is pretty damn amazing and will probably outlast the cat.

I just made myself sad. Ugh.

Moving along to the really neat thing about all this foofaraw. 

I saw an interview with Romoe over on Apocalypse 40k.  At first glance, I almost wrote it off as one of those standard puff pieces infest the hobby blogoshpere and moved on.  The first few questions could be safely fired out of a nerf gun.  But, as it so happens, the interview moved in a surprizing direction: there were a number of actual questions asked.  One in particular caught my eye:

You made a big splash when you first came out with Battle Foam by taking shots at Sabol Army Transport. Now I know that is just your personality, but it rubbed a lot of people (not the least of which is Matt Sabol) the wrong way. Do you wish you maybe were a little bit more humble in the beginning?

A great question deserves a great answer, and Romeo stepped up:

To be honest, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t regret being an a-hole in my early videos. I did not know Matt or anyone at Sabol or any other company for that matter. I just knew I wanted to make a splash. I also came from a business (Major League Baseball) that was boiling over with shady businessmen and cut throat people. I grew a thick skin from that industry and it transferred over to my early promotion of Battle Foam. In Major League Baseball you had to fight for every penny because everyone is richer than you. Nobody gives an inch and your expected to make a splash to be noticed. Unfortunately for Battle Foam, my lack of tact was a stumble instead of a step in the right direction.

Optimism restored.