3D printer manufacturer-YouTube reviewer relations take another knock after Maker’s Muse infers its integrity under question from Flying Bear.

It seems like only yesterday that #TEVOgate unfurled, opening up a juicy can of worms in the process. In the murky world of YouTube printers-for-reviews, we’re only ever one tweet away from the next worm wriggling its way into public view.

This time around some fresh controversy is brewing between YouTube channel Maker’s Muse and its dealings with Flying Bear. But first, a little background.

Maker’s Muse is a popular 3D printing YouTube channel fronted by Angus Deveson. With over 200,000 subscribers to its name at the time of writing, it’s one of the more popular content creators on the topic.

Flying Bear, we’ll admit, we hadn’t heard of before today. But after digging a little deeper into its offerings and online presence, it appears to be a Zhejiang, China (not very specific, we know) 3D printer manufacturer producing primarily large-format all-metal frame 3D printer kits.

On November 23, Maker’s Muse published an unflattering video review of Flying Bear’s Tornado 3D printer kit. Between then and now, Flying Bear has updated its Aliexpress store page for the printer with a statement slamming Muse’s video.

Flying Bear Slams ‘Unexpected’ Maker’s Muse Review

The statement in full now sits atop the product description for the Flying Bear Tornado 3D printer:

“Hi everyone,I am Linda,the store manager. recently “Maker’s Muse” uploaded a video on YouTube , the evaluation is very poor.I’m here to assure, now the machine we sell will not be what he said in the video, in two months ago we have solved all the problems!! we gave Maker’s Muse free 3d printer just to test machine, we would like to ask for his advice to get some improvements. I didn’t expect him to denigrate our machines in video. Please believe our quality!”

Today, four days after publishing the review, the channel tweeted in defense of its integrity, declaring its policy for reviewing 3D printers. The tweet also includes screengrabs of the email exchange with Flying Bear’s Linda.

The whole affair marks a remarkable turn following the Twitter antics of TEVO and its recent controversy. As far as we’re aware, this is the first time a manufacturer has called out a review partner on the content of said review.

Reading the statements at face value, Flying Bear’s perspective is one of misunderstanding, with the unit sent to Maker’s Muse intended as some kind of test machine for feedback and feedback alone. That a video slamming the quality and design of the kit was released, according to the company’s statement, is unexpected.

Product Test =/= Review

However, Maker’s Muse version of the events runs counter to this. In the third of three emails posted to Twitter, Flying Bear’s Linda states: “I am wondering if the review video is ready. If it is ok, please show me the link“.

In the days since posting the review, Maker’s Muse has also released a video outlining its review process. Without addressing any companies by name, there is a pointed section that makes sense in the context of the statements released today. Deveson states “it’s important to note there’s a significant difference between a review, and product testing. Here on Maker’s Muse I provide unbiased reviews, but I don’t provide product testing.”

Deveson clarifies further that review partners must agree to review terms before the channel will accept a printer for review (which specifically stipulates that it is a review).

We’ve reached out to both Maker’s Muse and Flying Bear for comment, and will update this story in due course.