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Subject: 
Re: A good LEGO anecdote, and a bad one (A warning about buying Monster Studios sets)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Thu, 29 Aug 2002 12:46:01 GMT
Viewed: 
1824 times
  
In lugnet.general, A. Mark Wilburn writes:
> > A person lacking in morals could theoretically open said box in this manner,
> > take out what they wanted, and then glue the box closed again.  The store
> > would never notice when they took it back as a return as it would appear to
> > be a completely sealed new set.
> 
> Hmm. Good point Troy; I guess it simply hadn't crossed my mind that someone
> would do that, but you're right; re-gluing it would be possible. And you're
> right: it did seem a little coincidental that all the 'must-have' pieces
> were what was taken out (and would also explain the open polybags in a
> sealed box). Perhaps that's what happened to Paul Hanson and his near miss
> with the soccer bus?! In which case, this brings up an entirely new issue:
> what can be done to fix this? It's not even shoplifting that can be caught
> on camera anymore! If stores change the refund policies, honest people who
> get actual factory mistakes would be stuck. Could Lego possibly make the
> package more tamper proof?? They could make the boxes more fragile so that
> any tampering would be visible... but then people who actually collect the
> boxes would be disappointed that they aren't sturdy enough. Plastic windows
> in all sets so we can see if the contents are intact? Cost prohibitive (I
> think).
> 
> hmm... what about a seal around all the seams of the box? That doesn't help
> the retailer much in the case of fraudulent returns, but it would at least
> help consumers avoid the sets that have already been tampered with?

Well, I've never had a missing piece problem, but I have seen boxes that
appeared to be tampered with in the stores.  However, this was much more
noticeable.  In certain stores I saw Bionicle Krana and Mask packs that had
been shrink wrapped; maybe to stop the seemingly worldwide habit of certain
people to open the box, check the masks, and then take them.

What LEGO could do I couldn't help on.  I do know that I don't like the
packaging on sets like 7317 Aero Tube Hangar or 7191 UCS X-Wing, because of
the tendency to break after excessive handling.  I think to prevent this the
retailers have to take more drastic steps, rather than an entire package
redesign.  Certain sets last year were perforated with 2 semi-circles, and
after being opened, I noticed the boxes seemed to be made of a denser
cardboard-ish material.

-Kevin



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: A good LEGO anecdote, and a bad one (A warning about buying Monster Studios sets)
 
... (...) This is *exactly* the type of box we're discussing. When I purchased my Vampire's Crypt, I was sure it was unopened as it didn't look tampered with (no crushed or torn edges), and the 2 perforated semicirlces were intact. Then Troy pointed (...) (24 years ago, 30-Aug-02, to lugnet.general)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: A good LEGO anecdote, and a bad one (A warning about buying Monster Studios sets)
 
(...) Hmm. Good point Troy; I guess it simply hadn't crossed my mind that someone would do that, but you're right; re-gluing it would be possible. And you're right: it did seem a little coincidental that all the 'must-have' pieces were what was (...) (24 years ago, 28-Aug-02, to lugnet.general)

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