Boba Fett Mail-Away Offer?

[McMetal]

^That was Hasbro's response to the JTA Q/A, too. When they send it off it's in pristine condition, but it gets damaged when it's handled. So Hasbro dodged the blame on this one pretty well.

They're not responsible for choosing the packaging material?

If it's the exact same box they used to ship the Vebbs, that's fine, because there were no such issues with that redemption.

But if they cut back and went to some kind of cheaper, less durable packaging, they at least bear some responsibility, IMO.

I can't say for sure because I haven't gotten one for comparison sake yet. I'll be VERY interested to see what they do with Sgt Bric though.

[JACKOFTRADZE]

The Boba boxes ARE a slightly thinner material than the ones used on the Eopie. If they placed a small piece of foam to give some support to the right hand side that would have made a huge difference. These should have been mailed in a starcase like GL.

[GrandMoffNick]

I recognize that the Fett is "free", but if I order a set of glassware from Target.com and it comes to me with all the glass shattered and they tell me "sorry we skimp on packaging" I'm not going to be okay with it.

And I may be quoting the wrong person but I think Jesse James said I'd rather have damaged than nothing. I agree with that, but still seems like they could do a little something to not let this happen.

[Keonobi]

I can see the "free" argument, but considering they are paying to ship a relatively light item, using the slowest possible method, you'd think a little more of the $7 could go towards packing...

[darth broem 2]

That is the beauty of it for Hasbro.  They can say if you want it to be pristine we will 'have to" raise the price.  So, the next mail away after that Clone Wars Brianiac looking figure you can bet we'll see a higher price.  I thought maybe they would give us the clamshell like the Lucas Trooper...nope.

[Jesse James]

I think some of the $7 goes into the cost of the toy though as well...  It's not really "free" I suppose, to anyone involved.  And in our case, some of the cost of it is eating up some of the shipping we paid for it I suppose.  Considering the "Freebies" we've gotten, and for only the supposed $6.99 shipping price, I'm surprised this has gone on this long without either this situation creeping up, or with Hasbro pulling the plug on mail-aways.  They're something they've said in the past that they really don't like to do because of the high costs involved.

I suppose if there's enough backlash over the Rocket Fett's then there could be some changes to mail-ins...  Raised shipping or possibly pulling the plug on them (or so many of them so rapidly) could either one happen.

[Crackbrick]

I think some of the $7 goes into the cost of the toy though as well...  It's not really "free" I suppose, to anyone involved.  And in our case, some of the cost of it is eating up some of the shipping we paid for it I suppose.  Considering the "Freebies" we've gotten, and for only the supposed $6.99 shipping price, I'm surprised this has gone on this long without either this situation creeping up, or with Hasbro pulling the plug on mail-aways.  They're something they've said in the past that they really don't like to do because of the high costs involved.

I suppose if there's enough backlash over the Rocket Fett's then there could be some changes to mail-ins...  Raised shipping or possibly pulling the plug on them (or so many of them so rapidly) could either one happen.

I would think the cost that Hasbro incurs is chalked upto promotion when it comes to the Fett.
Its the main thing that draws attention to the line.
Its the only reason I even knew about or bought this run.

cb

[Carpeteria3000]

I recognize that the Fett is "free", but if I order a set of glassware from Target.com and it comes to me with all the glass shattered and they tell me "sorry we skimp on packaging" I'm not going to be okay with it.

And I may be quoting the wrong person but I think Jesse James said I'd rather have damaged than nothing. I agree with that, but still seems like they could do a little something to not let this happen.

Not sure that that analogy holds up - is anyone getting their Fetts completely shattered? I doubt Target would care if the box for your glassware was dented so long as you got the glasses intact. I know carded collectors are serious about the condition of cards, but Hasbro is selling the toys, not the packaging. All this complaining would be totally justified if the actual product were damaged, but I don't know that the packaging is really much of Hasbro's concern so long as you get the actual toy in one piece.

Not to be insensitive to the carded collectors or anything....

[GrandMoffNick]

I recognize that the Fett is "free", but if I order a set of glassware from Target.com and it comes to me with all the glass shattered and they tell me "sorry we skimp on packaging" I'm not going to be okay with it.

And I may be quoting the wrong person but I think Jesse James said I'd rather have damaged than nothing. I agree with that, but still seems like they could do a little something to not let this happen.

Not sure that that analogy holds up - is anyone getting their Fetts completely shattered? I doubt Target would care if the box for your glassware was dented so long as you got the glasses intact. I know carded collectors are serious about the condition of cards, but Hasbro is selling the toys, not the packaging. All this complaining would be totally justified if the actual product were damaged, but I don't know that the packaging is really much of Hasbro's concern so long as you get the actual toy in one piece.

Not to be insensitive to the carded collectors or anything....

I don't think my analogy was perfect by any means, but I do think any business has to care what their particular buyers want and they are obviously aware that plenty of them want their packaging in good shape. So if it isn't their concern I think that would just be bad business. Now again when their business in this case is a "free" item, they don't care as much, but they still are not making a percentage of their buyers happy with this. That is never a good thing AND most important to ME is it sucks if MINE is mutilated.

[Jabba the Slug]

I think Hasbro is only half responsible for the condition the package arrives in. Like someone said, they're selling the product, not the packaging.

But Hasbro could have prevented the problem, by using a stronger shipping box. Especially because they know how nostalgic this product is. So it does look bad on them.

[Jesse James]

....unless of course the company shipping them is who puts them in the white mailers and ships them out.  Like I said a while before, I don't know who is responsible for packing them in the mailers, but Hasbro said when they ship them out they're fine...  Are they arriving in cases just like any other figure, and the distribution company then puts them in the mailers?  I can see that being the case.

If that's the case, Hasbro's responsibility goes more to requesting the company use better packaging to ship them then I suppose.

I also wonder if Hasbro would look at this issue as something along the lines of, "We're sorry, but we also know this probably won't stop you from buying stuff or being excited by future mail-ins and participating in them"?  This issue may be so low on their radar then, they simply don't care. 

I wanted a minty carded one too, by the way.  I got two, both had some damage, but one I looked at as "acceptable" (if it'll always be a gamble), but I was far from pleased with it.  The other was barely recognizable, haha.  It was my opener since, well, it was basically already opened for me.

[Carpeteria3000]

Well, obviously Hasbro is aware of carded collectors, but they're also certainly aware that they make up an incredibly small portion of their buying population. Has Hasbro ever come out and made any note or notice concerning attempts to take care of packaging for the benefit of the few who never open their toys at all? I know the plight of the carded collector is a grand one, but I just don't see Hasbro having much concern over whether their shipments (either to homes or to retailers) end up with a bent corner or two so long as the product itself is undamaged. That's what those bubbles are made for in the first place, right? They're not made for display, but to protect the product in shipment. I'm sure that, as far as they're concerned, they did their job in delivering the goods intact, and aren't likely to make concessions to protect the minority who won't be buying their products for the reasons Hasbro intends in the first place (i.e. opening and/or playing with Star Wars toys).

[Rob]

I got mine in the mail yesterday... both boxes were smashed up pretty good, and both cards were curved, but neither were creased or had crushed bubbles.

[Jesse James]

I'm amazed how easily the bubble seems to be separating.  It's very strange really.  I wonder if you tortured a basic carded vintage Collection figure like this, would the bubble pull off the card like that?  it's a kind of almost strange natural separation.  It doesn't seem to do all that much damage to the cardback, but clearly it's lifting some of the graphic off of it.

[Phrubruh]

Well when I opened up mine it seemed they didn't glue all the way around the bubble. There were areas that didn't mess up the cardback.