We've all I am sure had them at one time or another. Broken pieces, lost items, mis-described figures, outright theft, ruined postal deliveries, dealing with continual BS. It is all part of the hobby, unfortunately. I feel like I could write a few pages with my past experiences alone. Sometimes though, these surpass even the norm that make us angry or we have come to expect from time to time. One of these happened to me recently, and while a lot of is anger towards the seller bordering on a big FU, most of it, and by far the hardest part of it to deal with is just the sadness and disappointment of a purchase gone bad. I'll put it in a spoiler tag for your own warning. Spoiler I won't get in to the specifics, seller info, etc., for now, but I recently saw a vintage figure I have been hunting for for a while. The photos were pretty terrible, as can often happen with these things, so I was trying to get more clarification from the seller on the condition. I always like to be as clear and knowledgeable as possible before making a purchase (and yes, it costs me more chances than I care to think of - just another part of the hobby, at least in vintage). Now, the toy might not have been all that expensive, but as I am broke student, every dollar means a great deal to me, and I don't spend my money on a whim. Well, despite some warning signs such as I couldn't get precise answers to my simple questions, I really did want the figure, I decided to go ahead and try to work something out with the seller. Second issue was shipping to Canada was going to be 30$, which I was not too happy about. But, again, sometimes you have to make sacrifices, and I certainly can't control the postal system. As buyers you are at the mercy of the sellers demands in this department, so again, I relented. Next major issue, seller wanted to invoice me directly, which offers me no fallback for recourse if something goes wrong, outside of a simple PayPal payment. Now of course all this would turn normal, rational people away, but we are talking about toy buying here, and I am sure everyone reading this post knows how that goes. And of course it made be think twice and consider this for a long time before still going ahead. I'll spare all the details, but I received the figure, and was not happy at all. Firstly, I always ask for my toys to be wrapped carefully and packaged well. This is even more important with vintage items. And if necessary, I will contribute extra to cover that; for 30$ I assumed that could cover it, but still asked specifically in this case. Well it arrives, and the figure was simply stuck inside a sheet of old bubble wrap (not wrapped up) and just put inside an envelope. Now, let me say here that this is a toy in the over 100$ range, so I think it is safe to say none of us would be happy about that, vintage or no. And, as a result of this shit packing job, the cost to ship it was 8$. Woohoo! more profit for seller at the expense of potentially breaking my toy. Hoourah!! But, carrying on, issue 2 - in spite of me requesting whether the limbs were very loose or not, and being told they weren't, it is incredibly so. To the point where this type of figure might not even stand on his own. Again, not completely detrimental and sometimes expected in vintage toys, but a very important aspect of its condition just the same, and one which ultimately affects the value I give to it (and will of course pay). Is that all you asK? Why no. The figure has also been repainted in a terrible, splotchy, and unmatching way. I presume everyone would see this as damaging to the figure as I do, not to mention completely changing its 'condition,' and how unappealing this makes a vinyl toy. BUT all of that pales in comparison to the final and backbreaking straw of my disappointment in the condition - the figure was actually broken and someone made attempts to glue it back together. OKay, so I ranted, but where I am going with all of this? Who cares except me? Well the point I am trying to make is that, more so than the deceit (intentional or not), the blatant poor forethought on the seller, and the awful condition which this toy is in, my great sadness comes from the fact that now I am stuck with a pretty much 'junk' toy when what I really wanted was a vinyl figure I have been trying to add to my collection, and had to pay money I didn't really have to spend on him. Even if I could get a refund, it would cost me 20+$ to maybe get some of my money back, and I lose out on having the toy I wanted. So more than anything this is just about feeling the loss of a great toy and not being in a position to get satisfaction. Well that's my sad story. Maybe it'll help someone in a future purchase or at least ease the pain to know you are know alone in getting screwed. Share yours if you want and we can drown our sorrows together in mutual toy sadness.
Sorry you had to endure that. Some people have no respect for the things they sell I've only had things lost in the mail, and then they show up 3 months later, but I guess that's what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere.
I got scammed by someone on KR once, luckily it was only $30 so not as bad as some people who've lost hundreds or even thousands... One time I did a trade for a handpainted toy and when I received it, it had just been put in some newspaper in a box (no bubble wrap). I could see where the paint rubbed off on the newspaper and inside of the box and the head was missing quite a bit of paint. I got over it pretty quickly though, because he apologized and I know he's a good guy
That is horrid. I certainly hope you came back from that experience. How people think something that sketchy and shitty won't come back to them is beyond me. Luckily, I haven't endured such tragedy in toy dealings(and hopefully won't in future purchases). The worst I've experienced is someone I bought a toy from shipped it in a box five times the toys packaging size with absolutely zero insulation. So it rolled around in a big ass box for four days. I also bought a Secret Base Baghead and the box arrived quite crushed, though the figure itself was not damaged.
2 years ago I won an android tablet from a tech forum based in Hong Kong. The tracking info showed the package reached the Bethpage NY sort facility where it sat for a week. I called to see why it was stuck and a day later the package was dispatched to Philly. When it finally arrived, the parcel was empty. From what I can tell, the tablet was stolen by a post office employee in ny and they resealed the empty package when I called about it. I filed a complaint with the post master general and followed up on it for half a year. The only response I ever got was that the issue was investigated & the investigation had been completed. The forum declined to send a replacement & I had no recourse. Your tax dollars at work... absolutely shameful.
Post office fucks. Got a package like that the other day, a corner of it looked box cut enough to see inside. I'm thinking once they saw what they thought to be "toys", they didn't bother. Idiots, it was a bunch of Max Toy co pieces I got off the bay.
My worst story: Gave $350.00 to an online "friend" to pick me up some stuff from SDCC. He said he got everything, but then his bag was stolen. While I can't say for certain, I think I was just helping fund his trip. This wasn't anyone here, it was from another toy forum.
I purchased the BUTCHER BOY plus via the 'bay for a little more than I shoulda spent on it. (we all know how that goes) I waited patiently for it to come. And waited. And lost patience. Seller told me he had sent it. Waited. Seller told me, ok.. maybe I HAVEN'T sent it, but I will. Waited. Contacted Paypal. They took my side, reimbursed me and a boardie here, hearing the horror story, sold me one for half of what I had paid originally. 'Bay seller contacts me and ASKS FOR THE MONEY BACK because he had hit hard times and really needed the money. He admitted that he didn't ship it, that it wasn't lost in the mail, and that if I DID pay him that it would take a couple of weeks for him to send it, but he was broke and wouldn't I just be a good guy and help him out....
^ Wow. That takes some serious balls. Glad you got you money back in the end. Stories like that make me think we ought to bring back that shitlist of sketchy transactions.
I know it's not a commonly brought up area of the interwebs here, but I remember when I first joined the KR forums someone bought a KAWS Pinocchio off some dude and he received a box of rocks. Come to find out the seller scammed a ton of peeps and bought some rocks of his own. Then he got the cops called on him for being a dope fiend and he disappeared into rehab or some shit. But that situation blew up huge.
...man, stories like this are why fan forums like SB are amazing; and another reminder of the horrors of the crack bay.
