review of Randy Blue, 2010-02-08

Randy Blue has been around for a while now, and it's one of our favorite sites here at Gaydemon for many reasons. The variety and quality of the men, the large collection of exclusive content, the frequent regular updates. All the videos here are large and good amateur quality, the pics are also downloadable and good quality. And photographer Randy Blue is at the heart of this site. He's a real person (I've met him several times) who's got an eye for fit horny guys of all types and does photo/video shoots of them in solo and hardcore scenarios.

The Randy Blue member area is intuitive and easy to use, but it's also packed with features and links to updates. Running across the top of the page is the member menu, with links to all the important sections in the site. Next comes the site news followed on the left by the new Live Show menu and on the right by the latest episode. Beneath is the latest video updates, pic updates and live show archives. All updates include the dates they were added, 3 videos and 3 pic sets added each week, and there's a live show every week.

There are 672 videos inside Randy Blue, 323 more than there were 2 years ago. Each video is offered in streaming and downloadable Flash vids and downloadable WMVs. The WMVs are offered in full scenes in 3 sizes, the largest new videos shown at 960x540 @ about 2 Mbps at good quality and the rest of the videos shown at 640x480 with a bitrate of about 1 Mbps at good amateur quality. These look good at their original size and only lose a little quality if you go full screen. The Flash videos are are also available in 3 or 4 sizes, although the newer ones are lower in quality than the WMVs, but since they don't use DRM, you may prefer them.

One feature you may not be so thrilled about is that Randy Blue uses DRM. It's not intrusive as some sites DRM is - you don't have to input your username and password and hit play over and over and over. Also the license says the videos I downloaded will play for a year and a half, which is better than many, but it still won't play for Mac or Linux users, or those with older versions of Windows Media Player.

The site has are a lot of pic sets - 1143 sets (344 more than 2 years ago) plus each video comes with a set of vidcaps. The digital stills come in 2 sizes, large @ 768x1024 and medium at 640x480 at pretty good quality. Each pic set comes can be browsed as a thumbnailed gallery or as a slideshow, and there is a zoom tool which allows you to click a pic and get closer, seeing details bigger and better. Because Randy Blue is a photographer who is really into the guys he photographs, he catches the action and the models' best looks, and the sets have a good mix of closeups, full body shots and medium shots. The vidcaps are shown in galleries the pics range from 640x480 to 836x470.

The Randy Blue models are a mix of amateurs, guys who were amateurs till they started shooting for Randy Blue and now have some videos under their belts, a few pornstars and semi-pro or pro models. All the guys here are fit, lean and mostly athletic. There are some who are muscular, some twinks - this is a good mix of types of guys overall if you like variety but want well-lit videos with fairly good production values and plenty of action. The Randy Blue model index allows members to browse models by date they were added to the site, by name or by niche, including hung, muscular, twink, black, hairy - you get the idea.

There are a few more features inside Randy Blue. One is the Live Shows. These are done by schedule and you can watch and talk with actual Randy Blue models as they do their thing. There are 148 archived live shows to watch or download, too. There is also the DVD section where you can watch 115 DVDs - each multiple scenes - in the same video sizes and options as the exclusive vids. The DVD section is no longer updated. Last is the bonus content page. This is where members will get access to 17 bonus feeds, 4 ezines and 2 bonus sites - not available for trial members - and a link to Flirt 4 Free, which is fun but charges by the minute if you want full nudity or action.

There are a few issues at Randy Blue. One is that the downloadable WMVs are DRM-protected. It's less annoying DRM than at many sites, and videos can be played for over a year, but it's still DRM and won't play for Mac or Linux users. Then there's the claim on the join page that a new DVD scene is added weekly. The most recent DVD was added over 9 months ago. The other issue is downloading the Flash videos. I had to download and install the Belator Media Player, and also install Adobe Air, and honestly the Flash vids aren't as good quality-wise as the WMVs, so unless you object to WMVs or DRM, I'd stick with the WMVs.

The bottom line is that Randy Blue has tons of content, hot guys in hardcore and solo shoots, 3 updates per week as well as a live show about once a week. The videos can be streamed or downloaded, and they look good, but DRM is used on the downloadable WMVs and the downloadable Flash vids require you install their downloader. There are 672 videos and 1143 pic sets featuring big pics. You can browse content by type - pics or videos - and there's a model index that allows you to browse by model. You can even read Randy's blog to find out what's new. I consider Randy Blue one of the few sites on my "Must See" list, and if you've never visited, I suggest you head on over and check it out!

Things we liked:

• Exclusive content
• Cute, athletic guys
• Lots of content
• Frequent updates
• Model index
• Videos are downloadable

Things we didn't like:

• Site uses DRM
• Must install software to download Flash videos
• DVD section hasn't updated in months
• No right-clicking allowed in member area

Click here to visit Randy Blue