Very true. I'm sure it's somewhat different from when I wrote a helicopter column in a small SF based R/C magazine. When I did a review the final copy had to be approved by the manufacturer. I was a little different in that if I encountered an issue I would discuss the issue with the manufacturer and would publish the solution within the article. Most times the manufacturer would implement a fix prior to the review being published. I imagine these days distributors such as Horizon will contract a Chinese company to build a certain model and have to commit to a certain number. Some end up being duds and are discontinued at the end of the first run.