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Tariq j

Missing/damaged parts or minifigures in new sets

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Hi all, I'm sure there's another topic about this somewhere, apologies if there is, and if this needs to be moved that's fine.

Anyway, I picked up the coporate alliance droid tank and it's now sitting at one of my shelves at home, why?- as soon as I had brought it and had taken it home there was a slight rip on the side of the box, my camera isn't working at the moment so I haven't got any pictures but where the tabs are on the box, the

rip is below that. Anyway, I'm not going to take the risk of

opening it just in case some the figures are missing, then again,

it could just be a small tear... The question is though should I

return it or should I open it? I mainly got the set for Jango Fett

and it would be a shame if he wasn't there because someone

had taken him out.

Has this hapened to anyone before?

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If you care a lot to the set, I suggest you go back to the seller and ask him to'll open with him, and then check if there is any, or otherwise to replace it.

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You might as well open it, if the bags are opened inside and somethings missing than just return it. Honestly the retailer should take it back if anything is missing. If they don't then the next best thing is to ask for the manager and lodge a complaint against them for failing to take care of their inventory. If all else fails you can always contact Lego for replacement pieces.

If it is indeed a small rip then there's probably nothing to worry about. Usually when someone steals minifigures they open the thing up completely and the pieces from the bags are loose inside and usually they don't even bother to seal the box again.

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If you care a lot to the set, I suggest you go back to the seller and ask him to'll open with him, and then check if there is any, or otherwise to replace it.

Thanks I may return and buy another but asking the shop to open it dosent sound like a bad idea

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yes , I agree ! opening it with the shopkeeper is the best idea , however non of my sets have minifigures : i only buy technic

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Hi everyone, I just got home from the Lego store in my area with the new 60022 Cargo Terminal. I opened the box and the large single piece wings were wedged into the bottom and bent during shipping. Is there any way to fix them other than calling and getting a replacement part? I've attached a picture below. Thanks for any advice!

Edited by Ryanh

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You can try to apply a light, constant, force to the bent part of the wing, opposite of bend with your hands. I did this with a second hand 7734. Not sure if it was like that from the previous owner(s) play, or it's shipping. Your's doesn't seem to serious so, this will probably work. Just don't over do it. Other options are heating, either with oven or water. I would recommend manual bending over either of the other two.

Heating (with an oven) is a very demanding and precise way of repairing parts. 170 degree F is when the parts become very malleable. This being a larger part it, would probably take a lower temp. Again this is a serious task and can result in a ruined part if not. It requires constant supervision and handling of hot plastic; I have not tried this. When it comes to water I have performed the following. I straightened bowed baseplates with luke warm water, only because they are very thin in comparison. You can try hot, almost boiling, or boiling water to heat the piece to where it becomes a bit more flexible. Again be very careful, this piece will probably take quite hot water to soften it a bit :classic:

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Thanks for the awesomely detailed reply. I've tried just flexing it by hand and it didn't move at all. I'm going to try and set up a jig that'll apply flex over night. If that doesn't work I'll try the heat and post results.

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If neither methods work (and fingers crossed I hope them do) I think you'll find that Lego Customer Service are very understanding and are (in my experience at least) very pleasant to deal with.

Good luck.

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It just has one of those plate wedged and bent in half in set 70705. I ended up having to contact CS and request a replacement. You don't actually have to call them. The replacement part mechanism on the web site works really well. Just punch in the set number, select the damaged part and tell them what was wrong. They typically send it out no problem.

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Seriously, don't waste your time, just contact Lego direct, you can always send them a picture, they need this kind of feedback otherwise they will continue to pack sets with large pieces that can be damaged in the same way.

There is no doubt they will just replace this piece, you can then keep the bent piece (and attempt to straighten it without worry about over stressing the plastic.

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hi guys.

i was browsing through LEGO sets at my local TRU looking to pick up a set or two for parts. as i was looking through the shelves of lone ranger sets, i came across this:

9420592853_533218c855_b.jpg

im wondering if this is a tampered box, robbed of its parts or figs. it looks the box has been opened carefully bypassing the tamper proof thumb tabs, so as not to show any marks or signs that the box has been tampered. it looked like it was done with alot of care, so much so that it looked MISB. it even was the first box on the shelf. picking it up, i didn't even notice that it was tampered until i flipped the box to look at its side. even that was hard to tell, because the box was still tight and crisp. it did not feel any lighter or sounded any different from the other boxes, so i can't confirm if anything was actually missing.

though it might just be a damaged box or production anomaly, i thought i might just share this with you guys as a warning - check the boxes properly before buying!

Edited by coffeeandcake

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Thanks for pointing it out again, but I only go to the shop for the CMFs and looking for cool sets, but I buy online. So if I buy something in a shop, I will check the box :tongue: .

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Oh my goodness, I had no idea people would do this! Thank you for pointing it out, I'll be more than sure to be careful from now on. Thank you again for the heads up!

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You need to particularly watch for these on the Advent Calendars, particularly the Star Wars ones. I went looking for the calendars on clearance last winter, and found plenty, but I always carefully lifted the tape (which didn't hold very well anyway) and slid out the tray. Sure enough, I found plenty where some of the minifigures had been removed. It's easy theft, given that each mini is in its own little bag. (Don't get any ideas, folks!) I did at least have the courtesy to take the tampered boxes to customer service.

Heck, I even found a really discounted SW2012 Advent Calendar at a bookstore in Montreal a few weeks ago--I think it was something like 75% off. I didn't need one, but I checked the box out of curiosity...sure enough, Santa Maul was missing. :thumbdown:

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At least that is why TLG is placing the figures throughout the build. But it still doesn't prevent people from trying. I haven't really ever checked the box. So much so, that once at Wal-Mart I had the last Millenium Falcon. I ordered it "online" so they held it at the store for me. I went to the customer service area to pick it up and didn't notice it had a huge hole in it until I got to the car. For some reason I assumed they would check the product to make sure it was in suitable sellable condition...but that's Wal-Mart for you. I was in the car by the time I noticed it had a hole in it and the only Wal-Mart that had it was over an hour away so I couldn't return it (if I wanted to keep it that is). But I kept it, checked it out and nothing was missing, just the box was damaged thankfully. But usually the store will work with you or at the very least TLG will work with you, providing you have proof of purchase.

But I agree, the calendars are the worst for that matter. Every single one I saw on clearance was visibly open and pieces missing. On the seasonal advent calendars, I don't know how well TLG could replace some of those missing figures for you. I hadn't looked into that before.

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I had a friend who used to work for customer service at Target and she told me about one time a guy came in to return ten "unopened" copies of the same Lego Star Wars set. It struck her as odd that someone would buy out what was probably their entire inventory of that particular kit just to return them all (according to the receipt) four hours later, so she took a closer look at the boxes and a couple of them looked like someone had carefully sliced between the layers of cardboard with a thin knife or razor blade and then resealed it with a few dabs of hot melt glue.

She didn't challenge the "customer" or anything, but he noticed her taking a close look at the boxes and when she told him that she'd need to get manager's approval for a cash refund (a stalling ploy, she actually wanted her manager to inspect what she thought was tampering), he abruptly changed his mind and decided he wanted to keep them after all, bagged up his stuff and walked out.

Since hearing this, I've always been careful to check the tamper seals and glued edges on any kits I pick up at non-Lego Store venues. I'm more trusting of the official outlet stores, as the clerks I know locally tell me they explicitly train new employees to watch for these sorts of scams before accepting a return in so-called "restockable condition".

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Someone posted a thread on Brickset about this set. Seems they bought it and inside was an extra factory sealed bag with only 2 2x4 plates in it. I believe they said the packaging looked like this as well. It was like they slipped the extra bags in after production. I'm trying to find the post on it but it was this same exact set. If you were to buy that set, you would find everything intact, plus an extra factory sealed bag of two plates.

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Oh my goodness, I had no idea people would do this!

My concern is whether it is one person or a group of people doing this.

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Today I went to my local TRU and I saw a destroyed CMF Series 10 wrapper.

Somebody might have found Mr Gold but didn't want to pay.

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Since TLG doesn't have the flap on the front like the old style boxes did, why don't they just shrink wrap everything to prevent tampering like this?

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Since TLG doesn't have the flap on the front like the old style boxes did, why don't they just shrink wrap everything to prevent tampering like this?

Again, as I posted above, it has been reported that for some reason this set had pieces added to the set AFTER it was sealed. If that set would have been bought, it more then likely would have been one that had the extra factory sealed bag of two 2x4 tan plates.

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