So, I go to Target today, and find the Joe pegs brimming over with, of all things, a rehash of wave 4 (the wave with the repacks of the original 5-packs). This isn't the original wave 4, since the figures now have the new "From the GI Joe comic/cartoon" icons on them. But that's not the ridiculous part. No, the part that I don't understand is that every one of the figures was SMASHED. I don't mean their cards were warped or their bubbles dented, they were completely crushed. It looked like someone ran over them with a car. Several were broken in their bubbles (neck pegs snapped off, torsos cracked, etc...not even customs grade), and the ones that weren't were still so mangled that no one in their right mind would ever buy them. Now, this had to happen sometime before they were put out on the shelf, yet some genius in the Target toy department decided, "Yeah, I still think these utterly destroyed toys will sell. Go ahead and load up the pegs!" So, of course, these aren't going to sell, so the pegs will continue to be clotted up with them, preventing new, non-destroyed figures from being put out.

Anyone else encounter anything like this? I don't expect Target (or any other store) workers to give a damn about mint, pristine condition or really anything else toy collector related, but this is just crazy.

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Okay, I have NEVER encountered anything like this, and that Target store must be out of its mind. Seriously, I would ask to speak to a manager, and a fairly high up one, take him or her back to the toy department, and show him this disaster, and calmly explain what you've just stated in your post. This is ridiculous.

If you can get a picture of this, I virtually assure that we can do something about that. Selling knowingly broken toys that could constitute a hazard to the children that buy them should be enough to get them a reprimand from Target corporate.

- R

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yeah, I'm with trekker, and keep going higher until you get a real answer.

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Wouldn't it be fun to show this to the area Hasbro Rep?

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I can't say for sure on this one, but usually that means a scalper had bought them, couldn't sell them on Ebay, then returned them after damaging them. Also it can be a box that was in their stock room and was damaged.

But either way, or whatever reason, it's not suppose to be on the pegs. They are breaking the law if they are that bad damaged. Corporate will actually do something about it if you notify them.

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yeah, post a store number, we can all start calling, lol.

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You should for sure go complain and not to the punk kid on duty but to the real manager
I wonder if they would sell you the broken figures for a cheap price , if you deemed them part worthy for customs

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Raptor has a good point. These things could represent a safety hazard.

I would hope that in this instance J_Man is wrong and that the store wouldn't knowingly take back what sound like VERY obviously broken toys. That'd mean they've got serious idiots at their service desk.

That's the sad thing though, now that I have worked retail I know it happens. I wouldn't have done it and there's lots of employees out there that wouldn't, but then there are those crappy excuses for employees that should only work at the local sanitation department that will take back anything. They're the ones that take stuff back without receipts and anything else. They're also the ones that are part of the statistic for higher prices (along with many other things).

While you'd think it's obvious that certain things wouldn't be able to be returned, I've seen worse. I've seen broken items that wasn't even sold at Wal-Mart and didn't have the package taken back. That was right in front of my while I was taking something back and had the receipt. Let's just say it was a guy working the exchange, a female "returning" the item, and a lot of flirting.

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Wow! I've worked at Target for . . . way too long now, I couldn't believe an employee would do that . . .

Granted some of the things I've seen this past year, I wouldn't doubt anything. The box would've had to have been mangled, they should have pulled it off the line when they were unloading. If it occurred after that, we have different recourses for employees when they come accross defective mechandise.

That never should have occurred.

When things like that happen, ask to talk to an L.O.D. and bring it to their attention.

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