Is the packaging worth enough for it to effect the value of your purchase?

[griffin]

Moved discussion of packaging 'value' here, as it could be interesting to see who thinks toy packaging, at least Hasbro packaging, is worth paying for... especially if you found a mint toy in damaged packaging.

And please, no insulting the opinions of others, as everyone needs somewhere to have a whinge if it doesn't target others or isn't too aggressive. This is a toy collector website - where else would toy collectors be able to have a rant to an applicable audience?

Also, unless we have a store's representative to officially outline their policies (selling undamaged product in damaged packaging), or their purchasing objectives (of things that could be collector-oriented), we can only guess at them. So no need to get too worked up over someone else's opinions or guesses. For all we know, Hasbro told Target that they had a mystery store exclusive for $50 that they could sell at $200... which just made them look like they were targeting the collector market, but since both would be making money neither cared what the item was.
(but that's just another guess, as I don't think retailers in this country and this current economic climate would care what they sell, as long as they make sales/profit)


As for the selling of undamaged toys in damaged packaging - most products in a store that are on the shelves in an outer carton/packaging aren't making a sale based on the packaging. The point of toys (and this is why retailers, including TRU don't get this uniquely different product department) is to make the sale through visual means, to kids (and parents for their kids). Unlike all other departments in the stores, toys are not an overly practical product that just needs packaging to get it safely from the store to the home... it needs the packaging to convince the consumer to grab it off the shelf first.
So part of the product is the way it is packaged, hence the frequent use of big open plastic bubbles, colourful packaging and character art and/or bios. A kid needs to be visually captivated and sold on the product before they even walk out of the toy section of the store - that's why business marketing of toys has to take on a whole different perspective and direction to any other product in a department store. A lot of the times, toys will be an impulsive purchase after the consumer has arrived at the store. They may have gone there initially because of a movie, TV show or advertisement/catalogue, but unless there is a specific sale on, it will come down to price and visual appeal of the complete package (product and packaging).
That differing marketing strategy is something department stores and even dedicated toy stores don't get when they stock a toy that is in damaged packaging. Because even if it doesn't get kept by the final recipient of the toy inside, it will be judged as part of the purchase to begin with.
And none of that even looks at the Collectors side of things either. We may be a small "insignificant" portion of the market, but this issue isn't something exclusively confined to collectors. Humans in general can be a picky lot - dismissing an item just because it has the most insignificant defect... If toys were packaged in plain looking boxes with just the name on the outside, then it wouldn't matter how damaged it was if the contents were still mint.
Retailers have need to take on that different strategy with their Toy Departments, realising that a portion of the value is in the 'point of sale' display of the toy (it's packaging).
(and if they are worried that people might damage the packaging to get a discount, that's what the security cameras are supposed to catch... or just discount the item and return it to the shelf at a random time later to discourage someone from thinking they could damage it and take it to the register to get the discount right there and then)