Speaking as someone who worked the returns desk at Wal-Mart, it's 100% apathy. The store policy is irrelevant when staff really do not care in the slightest.

 

I mean I did also mention the legs and shoulders/arms, parts where there is normally hollow space that would be perfect for a piece to slot In permanently without affecting anything.

As I said, that's the beauty of transformers. You aren't confined to a human like figure, with a multitude of shapes and sizes the "lock" could go anywhere, even the back of head if need be.

 

well this may actually be a bad detition becuase you have to take out so much shit just to finally play with it and also that it may break off the plastic were the lock is and may even look bad on the figs 

 

And the bosses don't really care, either, to be honest. I mean decreasing shortage is good and all and Hasbro is trying to think up new ways to do it on their part, but in the end if some action figures still get stolen nobody really cares.

 

I personally have never had this happen to me before in any of my toy hunts, but the people who do this are just pure evil, especially figure swappers, I mean, who would think that a store would accept a figure they don\'t sell anymore and still sell it to others, this is especially bad to toy collectors + kids and families, hopefully this never happens to me, especially with the holidays coming up I don\'t want to go birthday shopping and find a figure that is either missing completely or just swapped for a figure from 2006 or something.   

 

Thieves cut through walls at Walmart to steal electronics from locked cabinets and go unnoticed so getting around a small “tamper-proof” packaging is just a walk in a park.

 

Kids toys have this kind of thing now. And we're not talking random no-namers. Paw Patrol and Hot Wheels which are top tier toylines.

It's both. It makes it *harder* to steal. But making stuff harder doesn't mean some people won't still steal it. Especially when it comes to things like toys where kids are going to be in the aisles.

Arguing they're worthless for stopping theft is like saying locks are pointless. Yeah someone can bust a window and get in to your house or car, but putting locks on mean they have to actually WANT to do that and will deter people who would otherwise just open your door and take what they want.

Hell, a kid just being a kid may have a toy in their hands and want to take something out. So you put measures in place that will deter that and cut down on missing figures.

Not to keep referencing Paw Patrol, but my kid loves it so I'm familiar with it at the moment. Their toys are open and exposed, but the pups are usually always under plastic. This means you can't just swipe the dog and walk out of the store (because people do this).

To get the dog out, you typically have to rip open something that'll leave damage to the packaging. Making it clear at return time (and if it gets past that, on the shelf) that something is missing.

 

Altering the toy to accomodate this is stupid and won't solve anything. They've already cheaped out and compromised everything else about them, now they will stupify them even more to incorporate this.

 

Toys. Already. Do this.

People keep thinking in narrow terms of Transformers Generations and don't stop to think about all of the other toys Hasbro makes that this would slot right in to no problem.

 

I've been seeing a lot of swaps at stores lately.

I hope they can deter it from happening, but I'll believe it when I see it.

One time I pointed out to a Walmart Supervisor that someone swapped a Marvel Legend Gambit for a Multiple Man. I went back a couple days later and the box was put back on the shelf. They just don't care.

 

This literally has nothing to do with what I posted. The part of my post you quoted is completely out of context.

 

This happens a lot, lately. It's getting tiresome, isn't it?

 

Unpopular opinion: While figure swapping pisses me off to no end, and I know that the price increaseses I'm suffering are related to those buttholes, I do understand the mentality of the swapper in a way, even though i would never do it myself.

Hasbro got me to buy every so called "cybertronian" G1 character during Siege, only to almost immediately turn around and release the earth versions I actually wanted immediately after. I now have a box of absolute trash and Hasbro laughs all the way to the bank. I dont condone it, but when I'm buying my 38th slightly better soundwave, I almost get the mentality of the swappers.

Also, I don't think that their new packaging will help the problem. swappers will find a new way, while those of us who don't swap not get to pay a higher price for this new packaging

 

I could if it was a poor person who was flat broke and couldn't afford it. (It still wouldn't be legal, ethical, moral, or right but I can understand their plight better.)
No, most swappers have money and are just cheap and lazy thieves who feel they're entitled to the "better" version and f*ck Hasblow and Suckara/Blowme because they're billionaires and the swapper is just a good dude doin' one thing wrong this one or two times. (Gosh, typing that out made me want to immolate myself. I can't stand swappers and thieves. I just want to break their bones.)

 

A: as noted by others, toy swap stuff is something only the retailers would be able to stop, and that would be entirely up to their ability to make employees care.
B: the design document does not seem to imply anything other than the buyer pushing the lock in as a means of ensuring it actually does get pushed in... which means that anyone actually intent on swapping figures would learn about it fast and avoid it. especially with this newspost advertising it before it goes into use. I am reminded of television shows talking about `secret` things that get people out of dangerous situations... which are not secret after that point and thus no longer useful. derp.
C: who wants to bet on this measure eating into budgets for actual figure design? hasbro always finds a way, after all.

 

But it makes it *harder* to swap toys since you can't put the wrong toy in a box with tabs for a different toy. And even if it doesn't get caught by a lazy store clerk, a consumer will note the tampered package and likely not buy it.

Seriously, are people not reading past the headlines? Hot Wheels and Paw Patrol do this now and the only way to access the tabs to release the toy is to rip the box open. And not in a way that you can discreetly tape shut. The tabs are under perforated cardboard. Even the most carefully opened box would mean that flap is open and clearly resealed.

The changes to packaging for Kingdom didn't cut in to the budget at all. Look at the paint/articulation on those guys.

 

Here...let me get a pic of a box that uses similar tech:



You'll note the pup is behind a piece of plastic. That plastic has flaps that go through slits in the backing and are taped to the underside. That tape is only accessible if you open the package to get to the back of the blue panel. The plastic is also fit to the pup. So if the *wrong* pup is swapped in the plastic won't fit it. Additionally, if the pup is missing the plastic will be clearly tampered with (or missing).

Additionally, the vehicle doesn't appear to be tied to anything. That's because it's not. However, you'll see there's a blue platform underneath the fire true. Inside of that are two plastic tabs that go up through the bottom of the cardboard and in to two matching holes on the underside of the vehicle. The tabs are taped to the underside of the blue cardboard riser, which is built in to the main package. What you can't see is the perforated flap on the underside of the packaging. This needs to be opened to access the two plastic tabs, which are *taped* to the underside of the cardboard. Ripping up the tape lets you turn the tabs and release their hold on the toy. At that point it lifts effortlessly out..but the packaging is destroyed.

You cannot swap these. The plastic tray will only fit the pup that goes in there, and the two key locks that come up through the bottom are positioned differently based on the vehicle that goes in the box. And even if you somehow got past all of that...the box is beat to shit and even if the store takes it back there's no way it goes back out on the floor like a normal return.

At *best* it goes out as a "REPACK" or "DAMAGED" item with a clearly marked tag and significant discount. I know, as I've seen them sitting in the Clearance aisles of Walmarts.

This type of packaging would work GREAT for Cyberverse, because those are trending towards more open packaging. It'd also work great for larger toys from other brands. NERF, Power Rangers, etc...roleplay toys or things with large amounts of surface area that are packed open-package.

 

It's actually cheaper than the current tiedown methods, thus PREVENTING packaging eroding the budget.

With Love,
The Inventor

 

I havnt bought a Hasbro Transformer in years now. So don't really care.

Doesn't semn like that big of a deal though.

 

How's about an anti QC no Paint oops Perfect product version and let the Retail Store handle anti Whatever.