The Energon Pub

I was in Target yesterday, and I saw where someone had obviously repackaged and returned the Legends 5 pack of Straightaway Shootout. It's supposed to come with Legends Ironhide, Mudflap, Sparkcrusher, Swerve and Runamuck (link to an ebay auction of the set in question below) But actually came with Ironhide and Mudflap where they were originally packaged, and in the place of Swerve was another Legends Mudflap, only in backwards. In the place of Runamuck was one of the shoulder pieces to RID Optimus Prime Super Mode with the Autobot symbol facing out so it looked like a shield or something, and in the place of Sparkcrusher was the hand gun to Mighty Mugg Optimus Prime.

This isn't about the people who accepted the return, I just got a laugh at seeing what someone had done.

I just wish I had a camera with me, I had left my cell in the car.

What other crazy re-packed returns have anyone seen out there, I would be interested to know!


Linky
http://cgi.ebay.com/TRANSFORMERS-Movie- ... 5639252757

I've never seen one. I guess they're more common to America.

I do know that often when this topic gets brought up there's a flame war.

Diem wrote:I've never seen one. I guess they're more common to America.

I do know that often when this topic gets brought up there's a flame war.

I really hope that it doesn't start a flame war, I just wanted to see what other stuff people have seen, but you are right.

I know in the past I have seen old versions of figures repacked into a re-paints packaging, I even saw a Classics Starscream repacked and returned in a Universe 2.0 Starscream package.

The worst was a Classics Devastator, with only three Energon limbs.

I've also seem countless mid-transformation jumbles of ROTF Leader Prime and Jetfire.

Not TF's but I saw a Walmart Exclusive DCUC Gotham City 5 Pack that was butchered just like that. It's supposed to come with Superman, Batman, exclusive Catwoman, exclusive Twoface and exclusive Lex Luthor. Instead it was a chewed up Superman, a preDCUC Batman, Marvel Legends Psylocke for Catwoman, a chewed up preDCUC Clark Kent for Twoface, and finally a Vigilante with a WWE wrestler head for Lex Luthor. Maybe if Walmart actually paid their people a livable wage, they'd pay more attention.

Sadly they find it easier to just accept it, rather than refuse the return. And not enough common decency to accept the write-off instead of putting crap back on the shelf.

At a local Zellers, I doubt it was return, more likely an employee tossing loose stuff in an opened box. A GIJoe HISS Tank package, missing the turret & driver, likely also missing the instruction/sticker pack seeing the liner was missing and I couldn't see them, with Serpentor's chariot, and other random small items including a Legend class Hound.

Last weekend I was at Wal-Mart and they had an entire endcap full of MP Skywarps, still at full price I might add , and as I scanned over them one caught my eye. It took me a second to figure it out, but someone had swapped out the Hasbro version for the Takara one. They had also done some part swapping, basically they made their own custom Skywarp and returned a leftover Franken-warp. To their credit they repackaged him perferctly, even put all the elastics back.

El Duque wrote:Last weekend I was at Wal-Mart and they had an entire endcap full of MP Skywarps, still at full price I might add , and as I scanned over them one caught my eye. It took me a second to figure it out, but someone had swapped out the Hasbro version for the Takara one. They had also done some part swapping, basically they made their own custom Skywarp and returned a leftover Franken-warp. To their credit they repackaged him perferctly, even put all the elastics back.

Where do you live? I saw the same thing in Naples Florida a week or two ago.

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

El Duque wrote:Last weekend I was at Wal-Mart and they had an entire endcap full of MP Skywarps, still at full price I might add , and as I scanned over them one caught my eye. It took me a second to figure it out, but someone had swapped out the Hasbro version for the Takara one. They had also done some part swapping, basically they made their own custom Skywarp and returned a leftover Franken-warp. To their credit they repackaged him perferctly, even put all the elastics back.

Where do you live? I saw the same thing in Naples Florida a week or two ago.

Oklahoma

I know these people's intelligence is already in question because they do this to begin with, but...returning a more valuable item (or parts of, in the case of Skywarp)? Wow.

kirbenvost wrote:I know these people's intelligence is already in question because they do this to begin with, but...returning a more valuable item (or parts of, in the case of Skywarp)? Wow.

Truth. Even if I was to mix the parts like that and not keep the left over parts I would go to that much trouble to try to get that money back.

El Duque wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

El Duque wrote:Last weekend I was at Wal-Mart and they had an entire endcap full of MP Skywarps, still at full price I might add , and as I scanned over them one caught my eye. It took me a second to figure it out, but someone had swapped out the Hasbro version for the Takara one. They had also done some part swapping, basically they made their own custom Skywarp and returned a leftover Franken-warp. To their credit they repackaged him perferctly, even put all the elastics back.

Where do you live? I saw the same thing in Naples Florida a week or two ago.

Oklahoma

So it's turning into an epidemic then?

kirbenvost wrote:I know these people's intelligence is already in question because they do this to begin with, but...returning a more valuable item (or parts of, in the case of Skywarp)? Wow.

Yeah, that's just stupid. Or maybe worse yet, once I saw an 07 Movie Leader Megatron box that has a Transmetal 2 Optimal Optimus in it. So, someone enchanged a better toy for an inferior one. Maybe not price-wise more valuable, but clearly the better toy was brought back to the store.

Just recently at my local area Wal marts (5 in total) I've been seeing the NEST global alliance figures repackaged with teh stickers missing..Someone had taken Dune runner and returned him in the Armorhide package..Same for Tuner mudflap..Someone took Dirge and returned a thrust, same for ironhide.... Sad I tell ya...so very sad....

LiKwid wrote:Just recently at my local area Wal marts (5 in total) I've been seeing the NEST global alliance figures repackaged with teh stickers missing..Someone had taken Dune runner and returned him in the Armorhide package..Same for Tuner mudflap..Someone took Dirge and returned a thrust, same for ironhide.... Sad I tell ya...so very sad....

What brilliant thinking, getting the stickers and returning the goods. If that continues to happen and increases, the worst case situation is the stores getting pissed at having merch returned (which they will try to resell and likely fail) and complain to Hasbro to knock it off with promotions that would cause this type of action.

Thus in the race to get 1 'free' figure for as cheaply as they can they could be the very reason Hasbro chooses not to run promotions like this in the future.

Asshats, every one of them.

I think it sucks that you have to get the BB Soundwave Pack to get the form. I have NO desire for either one, BB is focused on WAY too much in the Bayverse. Also I dislike the Soundwave figure he's prob my fave character next to the constructicons, but his figure is terrible in my opinion. I want Dirge and Bludgeon so I'll just pick one more to get the stickers, but damn why do I have to buy the crappy two pack!

found this post in a blog called idle hands.... they call this toy rape.

check out the pics, they are mostly star wars but still pretty messed up. seems like thework of a customiser to me.

http://idlehands1.blogspot.com/2009/12/could-your-toy-isle-be-rape-scene.html

I rarely see it with Transformers. However it's a constant with GI Joe and Star Wars. I stopped pointing it out to employees because they a) don't care b) return it to the shelf or c) both.

kirbenvost wrote:I know these people's intelligence is already in question because they do this to begin with, but...returning a more valuable item (or parts of, in the case of Skywarp)? Wow.

To be honest, I think the Wal-mart version is the superior one except for the head piece. I'm happy with my Takara version but I can sort of see why someone would do this if they wanted the most accurate version.

Dagon wrote:

El Duque wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

El Duque wrote:Last weekend I was at Wal-Mart and they had an entire endcap full of MP Skywarps, still at full price I might add , and as I scanned over them one caught my eye. It took me a second to figure it out, but someone had swapped out the Hasbro version for the Takara one. They had also done some part swapping, basically they made their own custom Skywarp and returned a leftover Franken-warp. To their credit they repackaged him perferctly, even put all the elastics back.

Where do you live? I saw the same thing in Naples Florida a week or two ago.

Oklahoma

So it's turning into an epidemic then?

Wow. This is a pretty rampant issue here in Chicago. I see this happen on a regular basis, mostly at Walmart it seems. I figured it was someone local to Chicago, but seeing all of you post this makes the situation much more widespread.

I keep thinking that these people must suffer from some type of illness or mental disorder, some type of compulsive disorder.

Still can't believe some of the crazy mispackaged stuff that I've seen over the last few years.

Flux Convoy wrote:I rarely see it with Transformers. However it's a constant with GI Joe and Star Wars. I stopped pointing it out to employees because they a) don't care b) return it to the shelf or c) both.

I've had that frustrating experience with Toys R Us, Target, and Walmart employees, where i've been extremely naive and pointed out "raped" figures only to see them back on the shelves on my next visit. There's definitely someone making customs out of Star Wars figures in my area. In Walmart there are many missing skirts, helmets, and weapons. Gi Joes get mostly replaced by True Heroes figures. It particularly bothers me when they are rare exclusives or they are incredibly obvious.

My transformers-related contribution to the thread: once i saw an Energon Demolishor crudely stuffed into a Universe Onslaught box at a Target shelf.

If i found a MP Skywarp with MP-06 parts, i'd buy it on the spot... hopefully on clearance... they're still $60 down here in Miami.

The most ingenious one I've ever seen was at the TRU in Champaign, IL, where someone took a Marvel Universe 3-pack of Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar & had swapped Firestar out with...Starfire from the DC Infinite Heroes line. Con-job aside, that's pretty damn smart.

Hairball178 wrote:The most ingenious one I've ever seen was at the TRU in Champaign, IL, where someone took a Marvel Universe 3-pack of Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar & had swapped Firestar out with...Starfire from the DC Infinite Heroes line. Con-job aside, that's pretty damn smart.

Do you live in Illinois still? We could sure use some more people posting in the Illinois sightings forum!

I've seen a few repacks with missing items or incorrect figures in the package.
But more commonly at my local Walmart is empty packages. People are stealing the figures right there on the spot.

I can't help but wonder...

Personally, I have never done this. I have thought about it, but couldn't bring myself to actually do it.

I do know that I never even thought about it until the first time I heard about here. [this is the only tf site i visit, so it's not like i'm singling out Seibertron.com]

What if this is getting worse because we are talking about people getting away with it?

People really don't like it when they think someone is out-witting them, so they do what they think is 'fair play'.

I used to love TF's, now I tolerate them while I wait for something good to re-emerge. [think post g1, pre beast wars era... in the us.] If others feel this way, I can see why they would scam hasbro to find the diamond in the rough for the least amount of money.

I don't approve, but I can understand why.