MISB Question

[DELTAprime]

And you can't rely on "consumer protection", demanding refunds... even in Australia.

Also if you're buying in a private sale consumer protections don't apply as the laws only cover actual retailers. There's not much protecting you if buy a double-taped MISB item in a private sale.

That's honestly a reason why for the few CHUG characters I'm looking at loose complete listings with a lot of photos more than MISB.

[GoktimusPrime]

No it doesn't, which is why it is a big issue here - if the toy has been swapped out for a knock off or a defective toy, it may not be noticed until it is too late... and is an unnecessary hassle if it is noticed.
If you bought it from a physical store, remember that most retailers here take back items for refunds, and even though we've seen how damaged those returned toys can be (or be replaced with a completely different toy), someone could have damaged the toy or replaced it with a knock off.
Or, if bought/pre-ordered from an online store, most sell second-hand toys (which includes sealed, and alleged sealed toys), and many smaller businesses are run by collectors who fill out their private collections with their own stock, and who knows if some are even swapping out their old toys with newer ones (like people who have returned toys to a retailer for a refund, replacing the toy with the earlier release that they already bought due to better colours or fixed engineering issues).

Are you serious? I never knew that sort of stuff happened!

BTW, when someone is posting questions here, desperately needing help with something important, people need to focus on answering that request, and be careful not get side-tracked with their opinions or beliefs about the subject matter.

Fair enough, I meant no disrespect and was only asking out of curiosity.

Anyway, in the spirit of trying to be more helpful, I'd like to reiterate my suggestion about prearranging trades, or hang onto the double-taped toys as place holders until you are able to trade it with another collector who has a single-sealed figure. Or at worst, repurchase the toy later with a single-taped box and sell off your MISB double-taped box. Non-sealed collectors won't care... at worst you're still selling an MIB toy, just not MISB.

Another choice might be to just try and buy the toy yourself from a physical store. That way you can visually inspect the condition of the toy first hand before purchasing. This may require shopping from specialty import stores, which admittedly are very expensive (due to Australian import taxes/duties/levies), and also increasingly rare with the shift towards online shopping. But say if you live in Melbourne, you might be able to physically walk into a place like The Little Toy Company and inspect the toy for yourself first hand (I personally don't rate TLTC for preordering stuff, but they seem pretty good for already in-stock items).

If the toy is in Japan, options include:
* Attempting to stick with a reputable online dealer. I've never ever received a double taped figure from anyone, and I usually get most of my JP TFs from HLJ.
* Stores like Mandarake (which are both brick and mortar and online) will explicitly tell you if a toy is double taped, and I think the prices for those figures are lower. Mandarake are usually pretty good with transparency when it comes to the nature and condition of the toys they sell. Here's an example of a toy that they sold where the description lists it as having been double-tape resealed by the manufacturer (heh, double-taped Doublecross ).
* I realise that this option isn't available to everyone, but if you have a friend in Japan you could ask them to personally try and hunt down a single taped figure for you at their local stores.

[griffin]

Are you serious? I never knew that sort of stuff happened!

This old topic for items found in Australia... and more examples from America.
Those ones are obvious... but since it happens, how can you be sure that an item that is no longer sealed when it arrives to you, hadn't been swapped out with a KO or a defective toy. Even if you do notice something wrong with it, you can't be guaranteed a replacement (even if it is still in stock), and even if you do, how much extra time and hassle is that. All avoidable if it remains sealed, or single-taped.

[GoktimusPrime]

I suppose pre-ordering toys ought minimise the odds of this happening. If a pre-ordered toy is double-taped then it's likely to have been resealed by the manufacturer than by a dodgy retailer (again, stick with trusted sources) or returned by a previous customer. And stores like Mandarake will mention if the double-taping was done by the manufacturer or not (well, if it's not then it's just listed as loose complete in box). And if possible consider sourcing from somewhere where you or a friend can physically inspect the box upon purchase.

If it's a locally released toy then it might be better not to pre-order the toy and just get it from a local shop, that way you can personally inspect the toy. But if it's a toy that's only available overseas, then I would recommend befriending fans in other countries and getting someone you trust to check the toy for you. Easier for say US exclusive toys (e.g. Wal Mart reissues) since it's another Anglophone countries. Understandably non-Anglophone countries like Japan will present a language barrier, although there are retailers like Robotoyz - run by an Aussie who's currently based in Tokyo (I've actually met the guy before). And HLJ is run by a Canadian, and Mandarake serves customers in multiple languages. There are options to try and optimise the chances of getting single-taped toys.

[drifand]

It also sucks form MISB collectors when the tape snapped.

I have gotten this incident twice on Masterpieces, but it doesn't affect me as I open my toys to know if the toys is actually worth it.


Takara should learn from Fantoys having a good quality seal but is another topic I guess.


If you are a MISB collector, I would choose carefully where I order from.

[reillyd]

If you're OCD (there's a strong correlation between 'collecting' hoarding, and obsessive compulsive disorder) then buying MISB is a really important selling point. You may not open the toy, but if you decide to pare back your collection at some point, having had the seal broken and retapped raises suspicions, and you really won't get that absolutely crazy 'I must have it now' premium you get on some toys. I say this not disparagingly, because I have paid extraordinary amounts for G1 MISB or MOSC toys...... but could never bring myself to purchase a MIB toy, and have sometimes been hoodwinked with a listing that says misb and you find the tape has been broken, or resealed (revealing is the worst, because you don't know what they did to it BEFORE they put it back in the box). While other people can save a fortune by buying loose toys, OCD people could pass on a holy grail item because its possibly contaminated. I see beautiful pieces like that on Mandarake that I could never cope with touching.
I can completely understand where the sentiment 'why would it matter' (on a doubletaped/resealed item) on a toy purchase comes from. But if you think that then you're probably healthy

Reselling might not be your goal right now but it might be at some point in the distant future. It also means that the buyer (of a MISB item) will know that the toy hasn't been played with, damaged, possibly broken and resealed. Though I have heard horror stories of people buying MISB g1 with factory errors or broken parts!

[Skullcruncher]

* Stores like Mandarake (which are both brick and mortar and online) will explicitly tell you if a toy is double taped, and I think the prices for those figures are lower. Mandarake are usually pretty good with transparency when it comes to the nature and condition of the toys they sell.

Mandarake are very poor IMO, I purchased a MISB G1 cyclonus from their webstore, turned out to be double taped on both sides. Description and price said never opened. They never replied to my followups. I still have it, it sits in a dark corner reminding me never to visit the site again.

Also when I have visited their stores they all had some sort of KO at astronomical prices, the staff also were not interested when trying to show them comparisons from websites.(eg High end tfs).

[Galvatran]

Mandarake are very poor IMO, I purchased a MISB G1 cyclonus from their webstore, turned out to be double taped on both sides. Description and price said never opened. They never replied to my followups. I still have it, it sits in a dark corner reminding me never to visit the site again.

Agree. Mandarake online store is abysmal for MISB collector. My biff is description doesn't accurately reflect the true state of the item. Purchased a New Year Special Convoy believing it was never opened only to see the twist tie holding the trailer was mangled & box double taped.

[GoktimusPrime]

Mandarake are very poor IMO, I purchased a MISB G1 cyclonus from their webstore, turned out to be double taped on both sides. Description and price said never opened. They never replied to my followups. I still have it, it sits in a dark corner reminding me never to visit the site again.

Also when I have visited their stores they all had some sort of KO at astronomical prices, the staff also were not interested when trying to show them comparisons from websites.(eg High end tfs).

Anything above ￥0 for a counterfeit is astronomically expensive IMHO.
I would've complained to the store manager if I'd experienced anything like that. I've personally experienced nothing but top notch service from Mandarake staff. The only thing was that selling toys there won't get you much money.

[griffin]

This old topic for items found in Australia... and more examples from America.
Those ones are obvious... but since it happens, how can you be sure that an item that is no longer sealed when it arrives to you, hadn't been swapped out with a KO or a defective toy. Even if you do notice something wrong with it, you can't be guaranteed a replacement (even if it is still in stock), and even if you do, how much extra time and hassle is that. All avoidable if it remains sealed, or single-taped.

More examples of toy swapping... for your amusement.