Shipping TFs from China??

[Prime Roller]

I lived in China for over four years and can tell you that there are a lot of good deals. Also a lot of obvious KOs, but always sold in the markets and stuff -- not in the toy specialty shops. This however is not always the case if the KO is not an obvious one.

I would caution you to consider that there may be a different kind of thinking involved with some people when making a money transaction. To explain what that totally means in this cultural context would take me writing up an academic journal on the topic. I'll just say, be sure the person can be held liable for what they told you about the product, like if it is a KO or not (actually it would be better to use the wording 'official Hasbro/Takara product', because it may not be understood that a high quality company like Justitoys also produces what is considered KOs). Perhaps there will be a language barrier, but try to get it in writing on an official receipt with the companies official government registered stamp on it.

I've gotten incredible deals on items that were originally rejected due to some quality issue. I got to know the owner of a shop that often had such items (sometimes a year before they were released in mass retail -- so I usually had no idea what they even were at the time of purchase!), and I'd bring my small tool kit and swap out for all the best pieces I could find.

So there are a lot of fakes of all degrees, and also a lot of good deals on official items. You just need to cover your own ass and make it so it will either be embarrassing or an immediate monetary loss to the seller if he doesn't comply with doing it by the book. And asking for the things I mentioned above would not be out of line, and should be no problem for the seller to do if things are on the up and up.

hope that helps even if only in some small way.

[Batman]

I bought a ROTF Buster Prime and Jetfire two pack from China off of ebay. Prime came with two left feet and I can't do shit about it. I ended up buying another loose Buster Prime from someone else. I should have just ponied up the extra $30 and bought the damn thing from TFsource or BBTS, at least they could have replaced it.

[Pascal]

Did you get it from TFC Toys? Have you asked him for a replacement/refund? I once had a faulty Classics Hound and he replaced it no problem.

[Richter]

I've bought a lot of stuff from china. Never had a problem. In fact the only ebay problems I've had are with greedy american sellers.

I have had QC problems with stuff bought from robot kingdom and they don't communicate at all, so no replacement there.

Stuff from china generally comes pretty beat up, but most sellers are aware of this and pack it nicely.

Now if you ever buy anything from Japan... man do they know how to pack stuff for shipping. It's almost like a work of art, kinda feel bad even opening it.

[Pascal]

Yeah, it's like they have custom boxes & packing materials made for each and every order/customer.