I agree it can be an issue. But with some work it can hold it just fine. So I don't know why just fixing it wasn't an option instead of exchanging the whole thing.

It wouldn't have taken that much to customize it. In fact supposedly just jamming the gun in and out can fix it. Just seems extreme to change the whole figure for that. My Streak has it a little and my Smokescreen seems more. But I just can't see exchanging a whole figure for that. Seems extreme. Not to insult you on a personal level but it just seems a bit much and almost as if self entitled or spoiled. (Not that I don't think people should be entitled when purchasing something. But when it's something like holding a gun issue that CAN be fixed compared to some huge issue like a smashed up body or missing parts etc it just seems a bit much to me.) Like people are exchanging perfectly good items (except one issue which again CAN be fixed rather simply) for small issues/reasons or are expecting perfection for their $60-$80. I guess if this was some uber expensive collector item like the hot toys stuff at $500+ I could see people being more picky. I dunno...

Anyways like I said not to personally insult you. I mean for everyone who has this sort of attitude or outlook on it I am guessing I just feel it's a bit much.But again that's my personal opinion. Not trying to make anything personal against anyone. So if someone felt that way then I apologize.

 

Got Smokescreen a week ago today and I haven't even transform him yet. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Don't apologize for your opinion as you are not the only one with it. While it sucks to receive an item with a minor factory issue, I can't see myself sticking BBTS or any small company with the cost of a returned item over anything except for a flaw that compromises the functionality if the item (missing body part, broken, etc). Someone recently posted in another thread that they shipped an item back (not to BBTS) because the item was double taped. Ridiculous.

 

Lol, aren't they always double taped?

What a tool... Anyway, I dunno, if it was a very minor defect, I'd agree. But stores should expect some returns if they are bad enough. Wouldn't they just return damaged stock to Takara anyway?

 

No; they aren't all double taped. What I personally thought was absurd was a poster on another thread who returned a YOTH MP Optimus Prime 2-3 times because of minor factory defects.

 

It is ridiculous, but if you are going to send it to AFA for grading then your gonna want to get a different one cause AFA will refuse it for the double tape. Its also frowned apon when others are selling their toys, I wont buy a double taped toy ever.
My streak is the only one that is double tapped on one side, out of all my MP's.
I thought about returning it to HLJ but F all that hassle and time.
I'll live with it

 

Most of mine, at least, were. I usually order from RK or HLJ. The first time I saw it I was like WTF a bit, but after several orders I assumed it was some kind of final QC check from the distributor or something.

At any rate, it's VERY common.

 

Only if Takara deems it as actually damaged. They may not look at a figure unable to hold a weapon well as a defect as the buyer might. So BBTS will have to actually break the toy themselves to try and get a credit from Takara or just sell it at a discount as a "defective" item.

 

We've received a number of returns for QC issues and we've found that it's quite difficult to get a replacement direct from the manufacturer. The best they've ever sent us was a replacement wing or a slight break on the price of an item. Most of the time we just take a loss and sell the item opened as is.

Double taping is an extremely common thing. For MP-19, ALL of our Takara Tomy cases (from multiple distributors) came double taped. Usually we'll see a small percentage for any given item but it seems they had to fix something major on smokescreen which caused them to re-open every single box.

 

Yup... Both my MP-19 Smokescreens were double-taped, as was my MP-18. No big deal at all for me: at least it proves that everything is in the box, even without needing to check it out myself.

AFA shouldn't actually be grading the Masterpieces at all. Why, you ask? Because is is possible to remove ALL traces of tape from the Masterpiece boxes, both single taped and double-taped. Absolutely invisible to the eye, and if I were to 'single-tape' the box after opening with comparable tape to the original tape (the tape isn't 'watermarked' and is actually quite common), there's not a thing stopping AFA from grading it as MISB.

 

So removing the tape from the box doesn't leave any damage to the box? Hmm; if that's the case no one should be shelling out extra $$$ for a MISB piece on the secondary market, because there is no way to very it's condition

 

The cardboard on the Masterpieces feels kind of waxy, right? Well, the tape Takara is currently using doesn't adhere very well to it. The biggest risk of damaging the box is getting a corner of the tape up: after that the tape just peels off quite easily. Probably because it was applied recently, there's no chemical degradation of the tape glue, so it hasn't had the chance to 'etch' into the cardboard yet, as it will do on older tape / boxes.

In actual fact, I noticed the same thing on Encore Fortress Maximus: on that box too the tape was very easy to remove.

 

Thanks alldarker for the help with AE. Got it all worked out and they shipped my extra MP out today. Glad everyone was able to get their orders sorted out.

 

I'm sure that holds true for anything MISB, to be quite honest.

 

BBTS sent me a replacement for Smokey. Love this guy!!

 

Anyone else finding paint scratches/chips on the darker parts of Bluestreak?

Mine's getting some on the pelvis, and the "hip flaps". The underlying plastic is black, so it's not super obvious, but I'm starting to get some.

(also, the "main" color----the rim surrounding the rear window--several spots)

 

Mine came with a paint chip in that same area surrounding the window.

 

A little scratching under the hip flaps.

 

Anyone get a factory sealed MP-19 Smokescreen that sounded like things were loose inside? It's not the booklet packet either. Should I be concerned?

 

open it and find out