The Energon Pub

Shopping my local Walmart recently, I was doing my normal rounds for Transformers sightings when I found all the newly released Transformers Revenge of the Fallen toys in all their glory.

As I gazed at all the figures and admired the alt modes for them I looked at the lone two leader class figures they had, Optimus Prime and Megatron. Now of all the ROTF figures, Optimus was one I definately wanted to see in hand but when I grabbed him I was met with an unpleasant surprise.





Yes, it was the 2007 figure release in ROTF packaging. Megatron was also the 2007 regular figure, before Premium that is, in the ROTF packaging. Upon closer investigation it turned out that it was a returned item. Whoever returned it took the time to not only completey retape the package over the old tape, but the twisty tied the figures back also.

I brought this to the attention of Walmart customer service to which they just had to take the figures out of stock, but given the figures are very close in size to the last films release, this may not be an isolated incident. I had to literally point out all the differences of the figures to the customer service associates because they couldn't tell the difference between them.

Seibertronians, make sure you look at your figures and not just grab them and go. I always scrutinize every figure I buy to make sure the packaging hasn't been tampered with and that all the pieces are there.

Just a heads up to be wary that this may have happened at a store near you.

First Gen wrote:Seibertronians, make sure you look at your figures and not just grab them and go. I always scrutinize every figure I buy to make sure the packaging hasn't been tampered with and that all the pieces are there.

I do the same. This has been very annoying for people who collect GI Joe figures. Thanks for the warning!

Wow. That person went through a lot of work to do this. It looks like hasbro shipped it. This has happened before so im not surprise to see it again. especially with the way the economy is right now. And the price hikes. Still doing this to a toy is kinda wrong. Its one thing to do it with an electronic since they have warranties and you can return them if they dont work. But a toy like this if its open your screwed. So what will walmart do with them? Send them back to hasbro or sell them on clearance?

Thats positively Fiendish!

I suppose its one very very dodgey way to avoid having to pay for the same character twice!

notthat Im supporting that sort of thing in any way.

The same thing happened at a walmart near me.

I saw the origional Starscream in a ROTF box. The guy even put the clear plastic bands around the figure.

so, guys, does this basically mean you have to exmaine most details about a figure in the package to make sure your getting the right one for about five minutes? even the new characters? this kinda confused me. i may sound retarded but i'm curious as to what we do.

There are some utter bastards out there.

The "repackager" has been hitting stores around the Chicago area for quite some time. I think he's got to have a mental illness of some sorts or some obsessive compulsive disorder because he's been at this for a while now. Some of his repackaging is really, really bad. It's pretty sad that someone feels the need to do this. But it's also sad that the big box stores don't really pay attention to what they're accepting as a return. Hopefully this person will be caught eventually.

Primus1101 wrote:so, guys, does this basically mean you have to exmaine most details about a figure in the package to make sure your getting the right one for about five minutes? even the new characters? this kinda confused me. i may sound retarded but i'm curious as to what we do.

Basically don't grab and go. Check the box to make sure it's the right figure.

Unbelievable... so, was this a person who bought it and then at home switched the new Optimus Prime for his old one, re-sealed the packaged, etc, and returned it to the store? Or did this come like this from Hasbro? Either way, it's ridiculous.

Having worked at retail for over5 years I have seen this fish before!!! Well not really first hand, but I collect Star Wars stuff too and I saw an article where some one replaced an R2d2 figure out of a 2 pack of target exclusive figures and replaced it with a VINTAGE R2!!! Yes vintage as in the 1980's style with the sticker on it. The employees there should have been ashamed of themselves for not catching that one. I guess that's one of the smaller benefits of having a collector working in a toy store/department. That being said, anyone hiring out there???

Not that I would condone doing this either, seeing as it would have annoyed the pants off me if someone tried to return an item like this at one of my old stores, but at least the guy returned Optimus's gun attachment. I would have gotten greedy and gone for a Prime with two energon blades and a rifle!!!

Yea with the economy the way it is,I bet this issue will be more frequent. I usually pour over the figure selection carefully and inspect them for paint smears/ blobs, and loose/ missing parts in the box. I encourage other collectors to shop smart!!! If u already bought the figure last year, do u really need another one??? When I was out the other day, I only saw alot of repaints of last years figures. Do I really need a grey Ironhide, just because he has a new gun??? No I don't. I'm also holding out for better figures and the hopefully "premium" paint jobs down the pipeline. I was almost gonna buy Sideswipe, then thought wait for the Human Alliance set!!! Same thing with Bumble Bee. Sorry Hasbro I'm not feeling the evergreen-deco Fallen. I'm gonna hold out on a repaint for him, and if one never comes I'm sure I can find a cheap loose one on Ebay or something. So I may sound like a picky, prude old granny when it comes to shopping, but it's my cash, and frankly I don't have much of it to go around right now. that's probably the main reason the only ROTF figure I have now is Soundwave. Had to get the Soundwave!!!!

JesWal wrote:

Primus1101 wrote:so, guys, does this basically mean you have to exmaine most details about a figure in the package to make sure your getting the right one for about five minutes? even the new characters? this kinda confused me. i may sound retarded but i'm curious as to what we do.

Basically don't grab and go. Check the box to make sure it's the right figure.

alright, i get ya. but, do you report this to the clerks and employees if this bastard does this? but... this could've been worse.

I think just about ever collector is going to catch this easy enough. Where it really hurts are when the kids or parents go to buy the figures and get the wrong one. I hope the scammers doing this at least give the "courtesy" of including the correct instruction sheets for whoever is ultimately getting screwed...

WOW!

Since I live in Costa Rica sometimes I have to order my transformers on Internet because locally they turn to be more expensive, now I'm freaking scare of doing so and getting the awful 2007 Prime without the option of returning it...

Do you guys think it is safe to buy my ROTF figures from Amazon??
I need advise Seibertronians, I don't want to pay $80 for a 2007 figure (yes, that's what I end up paying when ordering online because of international shipping and customs, and yes, it is cheaper than buying then online )

Thanks!

I also wonder if this is going to happen to people buying online, because that will be impossible to know beforehand and it will be hard to deal with...

it depends on who your buying from online.

if its somthing like amazon or BBTS you should be fine because they have professionals there who check what theyre selling.


off of Ebay its up to you to make sure that you read their advertisements properly. many people will try to scam you through less official sites so be carefull of those and READ EVERYTHING.

Blurrz wrote:This is almost as much lawl as someone plugging Cybertron Jetfire into an '07 Starscream box and returning it...

Sigh...

Well I'm glad us TF fans are atleast smart enough to notice the difference

did you actually find that somwhere?

i might have purchased it just for the lols!!!
(granted they still have 07 movie repaints of him at toys R us)

That guy has balls but hopefully not smart. When I return stuff at Walmart, they make me sign my name on a receipt and sometimes my address.

I did see one Star War package with the Clone Wars Speeder bikes but with NO Clone troopers. It was packaged nicely so if you weren't paying attention you could have bought two bikes but no figures.

I once saw a Classics Devastator at Wal-Mart with 3/5 of the Energon releases (i.e. it was missing two full figures, and the three that were in there were not the right ones anyway). I took it to the clerk working in toys and pointed it out, and he actually accussed *me* of stealing them. I was infuriated.

Wow is that messed up, but at the same time genius. i think this is wrong so don't get me wrong i don't think anyone should do this, but it is pretty smart. i hope they find the person doing this so it can stop, you don't want any kids upset because they got the wrong toy.

stangatron wrote:Wow is that messed up, but at the same time genius. i think this is wrong so don't get me wrong i don't think anyone should do this, but it is pretty smart. i hope they find the person doing this so it can stop, you don't want any kids upset because they got the wrong toy.

Hi stangatron, Welcome to Seibertron!!!! Warning!!!! Seibertron contains nuts!!!


Now that I got the official greeting out of the way, I can say that I see both sides of the coin just like you. Yeah the returners getting the updated figure for no additional cost but when I saw this figures I thought "Man, some kids parent is gonna get this for them thinking they're gonna be suprised and when the kid sees it, or a collector being suprised by a significant other for that matter, they're gonna be pretty let down".

Its all about morales. No, I'm not a perfect man, never claimed to be, but when your conscience is telling you something, 9 times outta 10 you should listen.

Ha! Reminds me of what I did as a kid. I played with my G1 Snarl so much that it got loose. Bought a new one and returned the old one.

So somebody sold his soul for a cart load of toys. Man how I would love to be at the Customer Service counter when this turd came in w/ a "return"- I'd call him out on the spot and take his picture to boot.

Buncha savages in this town...

I always check the figures before I buy them to make sure the paint apps look good...Something like that would be pretty obvious to anyone around here who knew exactly what they were looking for...

But that's pretty dirty anyway...