If you're doing a return, they should take down your contact info and make a copy of your Driver's License or something. If they later find you're scum, they should post your pic in prominent places both at the service desk and around the store saying you shouldn't be allowed to return things.

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I remember many years back when Jakks Pacific had just gotten the WWF line. I was in my local Target and noticed a WWF card with a generic dollar store knock-off inside. I wasn't as much apalled at the act, but that the customer service person didn't catch the act upon the return.

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At TRU at least, it's at the associate's discretion. If it's clearly been tampered with, it's OK to say no.

A $2 Dollar Store car is not a Universe Sunstreaker. I refused that one the other day.

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Okay, Breaker head, even so, that still isn't Clutch (and now we have someone DISMANTLING figures to put them in returns?)

I tend to agree -- why take the figure and not the vehicle? Although I suppose some dishonest twerp out there is collecting just the figures or something.

I tend to agree that what's needed is a more discretionary policy and more knowledgable employees at the returns desk. Unfortunately I don't see this happening. A $15 toy is a drop in the bucket for Wal-Mart, and most of the other places.

And the general uncaring attitude is hardly new. Over 20 years ago, I bought a Visionaries vehicle that was missing a few parts when I got it home. It was the Sky Claw and it was missing its wing panels. So I returned it to the Target where I got it, explained what was wrong with it, and got my money back.

A few days later I was in the same Target. Here was the Sky Claw that I had returned back on the merchandise shelf. How did I know? I recognized the different type of tape (compared to the factory tape) that I had used to reseal the box.

So Target KNOWINGLY put defective merchandise back on the shelf. This wasn't a case of ignorant mistaken identity as with this VAMP. I have to assume they figured someone else would buy it who wouldn't return it or would complain to Hasbro instead of them, or something...

Doesn't make it any more tolerable, but...

BTW, I don't think too many stores have return policies on Hot Wheels. One Wal-Mart near me had a HUGE load of "2001 First Editions" on the racks a while back, and I saw another large batch of somewhat outdated cars, I think it was at a Target, a couple of months ago.

As crazy as action figure collectors (and scalpers) can be sometimes, Hot Wheels collectors are a different level of insane. There's a Wal-Mart scheduled to open in town in a few months, and if I can make opening day, I'll be steering well clear of the Hot Wheels aisle. The last Wal-Mart opening I made -- WrestleMania made less noise -- and was less violent.

i've seen worse. at a walmart someone took the arctic speeder bike sets and returned them swapped out with the regular, older, exploding speeder bikes and regular clone troopers, and this was taken back.

also, probably the same guy, returned the arctic recon set swapped out with an older white droid and older white...i think r5? oh, and older probe droid w/ the orange firing missile.

so next Q&A we need to get an 800 # to call hasbro to let them know about figure swaps, etc. since walmart doesn't care and it ends up being added costs passed on to us by people who blatantly steal like that...

and yes, imagine what that'd be like if people did that to BMF's......

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This is one reason I am glad I collect Legos now.


Saw a Sgt Slaughter Tomax pack at R+TRU a couple weeks ago....Thumbless SM version too

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Remember hearing about someone who bought the POTF2 Jabba and Han Solo box set from a toy mart a few years back. When he opened the box, instead of a Jabba, he found half a brick in bubblewrap.

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Oh...it's on...We're not gonna be having this "LASER BLAST" in Ohio.

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We had someone try and return a Nintendo DS about 2 months ago.

It didn't "feel" right so we opened the box to check the contents. What did we find?

A dirt clod. An honest to goodness dug outta the yard dirt clod.

I couldn't believe the guy couldn't find something better to add weight to the box.

Yeah, sorry buddy no way.

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Do you refuse them and let them go or tackel them and call the cops

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Refuse them and let them go.

Then laugh because the dude spent the time to get a dirt clod and put it in a box ad try and return it.

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I saw some Joes at a Walmart Supercenter that doesn't even have a Joes section, they were all repacked, some older figure, some of those crappy $2 wannabee Joes Corps or something like that, I thought the best one was the Roadblock packed with a Scarlett. Come on, I know not everyone knows what every single toy should look like, but a short white red head in the package, and a big huge black man on the card? Not to mention the amount of tape that was holding the bubble on there, I don't see how that wasn't a dead give away.

We have a ton of figure thieves around here (like the ones who will rip the figure bubbles right off of the package in the store and leave the card backs, or the ones who would steal the gold coins out of those Star Wars UGH figures), but not a ton of figure swappers. In fact, the swappers we do have seem pretty damn stupid. I've only seen it twice, and both times I couldn't figure why they'd swap what they did.

The first time was when the second (or was it third? I forget) wave of VvV single packs first hit retail. Someone had swapped out one of those all-black VvV snake eyes figures, and put one of the Toyfare Exclusive Snake Eyes figures (you know, from that two-pack with Scarlett) back in its place. Now, I know that the TF Snake Eyes isn't a super high-demand figure, but still, it's gotta be worth more than the $3 the VvV single would cost you.

The second time was with Star Wars figures. Some guy had swapped out a 30th Anniversary Mace Windu (which, at the time, were clotting the shelves) with a VotC Endor Han, with soft-goods trench coat and all. Again, what the hell? Why would you leave a $10 figure with full accessories in place of a $6 figure?

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Yeah, I'll bet he was cursing you all the way back to Omaha! I got stung on a Hotwheels car that was put in a Sizzlers case. I didn't discover this until several months later. I bought it on Target's 75% clearance, but it still pissed me off, and gave me another reason to hate Hotwheels collectors.

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Probably. Or he took it to the Wal-Mart next door and returned it. They'll return anything, no reciept no problem. I couple weeks ago I found one of the TRU exclusive Voyager sized Transformers (Y'know, the ones that have the big "ONLY AT TRU!" stickers on the front) on the shelf at that Wal-Mart. I assume they shoplifted it from us and returned it there.



Which is EXACTLY why I hate this kind of crap. Forgetting for a second the fact that stuff like this hurts stores, it screws over people. And it especially sucks when it happens to a kid.

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