I care, but really only to a certain extent, These are mass produced toys so there will always be some sort of a defect.

 

+1!

What's really aggravating is after having done that, getting home, opening the figure, and on a side you couldn't see from the package, there's horrendous paint apps. banghead:

 

I give them a look over to check for any obvious defects. I did this when I bought TFA Grimlock-the one I first picked (and ended up buying) had a slight paint nick on his neck, but all the others were worse (one had a smudged Autobot symbol on his leg), so I got what I first picked.

 

Heh...that would win the thread.

I'm generally not too fussed. I know I can fix just about any defects, thanks to the years of Gundam modelling I did. If it's something minor like some messed up paint work or a bit of slop, I usually just let it slide or do a quick touch-up if it really bothers me. Loose joints are easily fixed, so no worries there.

Overall, defects don't get me down at all. Unless it's something huge, like assembled incorrectly or missing parts.

 

That reminds me, back when I got an Animated Swindle from Hasbro Toy Shop, I opened him up, his paint was really perfect, I was all happy---and then after transformation, I noticed he was missing a thumb. 

 

This. But of course, sometimes I get home and stuff you can't see has paint app screw-ups. This happened to my Universe Sunstreaker. He looked perfect from the outside, but when I transformed him, one of the yellow stripes on his "ear" pieces was EXTREMELY crooked. Drove me nuts, but I finally picked up the Henkei version of him.  

 

If there are multiple i'll definitely look over them all to try and find the best looking one but if there's only one I usually don't worry too much about defects unless they are really bad.. such as missing or sloppy paint apps.. but it has to be bad.\