How do you know if its really mint?

[AVP99]

Just a thought, how do you really know if the product is brand new mint. Sellers could just unassembled the figure and put it back to the box and call it brand new mint never removed. ???, what do you guys think?

Im speaking of hot toys predators here btw

 

[915stag51]

It dont matter, just buy them.... There is not that much of a difference in price....

 

[AVP99]

It doesnt matter? thats false advertisement and people are paying more for mib new figues and expecting mib, not unassembled and put back in box.

 

[GDZILLA95]

If you want the Preds unopened and MIB, you are going to pay more for them. Having said that, if someone offers one and they say it is MIB, check their feedback. I can tell you that I have purchased several items from other freaks, and none of them have made any claims about the item that were not true. I think that it is safe to say that the folks on this forum are not out to screw anyone because they are collectors too. I can also say that the Mods have laid out several rules that are designed to prevent any misrepresentations in the commerce threads. If they saw something that was not in line with the rules, they would act swiftly and take the appropriate actions. The Mods started the Feedback section for just this reason. Check them out and you will see those that have bad feedback have it written out in red letters by their name.

I have a Scar Pred that I am trying to sale in the FS threads. It was on display and I took it apart and returned it to its box. It was not that hard to take it apart. I feel very comfortable saying that it is in Near Mint condtion. There are times that the unassembled Preds are just as good as MIB, and you can often get them at a cheaper price.

Bottom line is that everyone I have dealt with on this forum has been totally honest.
It is hard to be completely sure that a HT Pred is MIB, but you have to take someone at their word.

 

[mr.thrifty]

you'll know by the smell when you open it...

 

[AVP99]

If you want the Preds unopened and MIB, you are going to pay more for them. Having said that, if someone offers one and they say it is MIB, check their feedback. I can tell you that I have purchased several items from other freaks, and none of them have made any claims about the item that were not true. I think that it is safe to say that the folks on this forum are not out to screw anyone because they are collectors too. I can also say that the Mods have laid out several rules that are designed to prevent any misrepresentations in the commerce threads. If they saw something that was not in line with the rules, they would act swiftly and take the appropriate actions. The Mods started the Feedback section for just this reason. Check them out and you will see those that have bad feedback have it written out in red letters by their name.

I have a Scar Pred that I am trying to sale in the FS threads. It was on display and I took it apart and returned it to its box. It was not that hard to take it apart. I feel very comfortable saying that it is in Near Mint condtion. There are times that the unassembled Preds are just as good as MIB, and you can often get them at a cheaper price.

Bottom line is that everyone I have dealt with on this forum has been totally honest.
It is hard to be completely sure that a HT Pred is MIB, but you have to take someone at their word.

thanks for your help!!

 

[Karatka]

GDZILLA95 summed it up nicely - a personal recommendation is always best. If you're looking at an Ebay auction, it's best to ask the question explicitly of the seller and request up-close pics of the figure. It's easy enough to remove the trays from an HT box without having to take the figure out, I've done that when selling an MIP Predator so the bidders can see exactly what they're getting. Also check the seller's return policy in case you're not satisfied.

Things to look for as regards the figure itself:

- scuffed / chipped arm and leg pins; these are the hardest connections to remove.

- Stretched netting (hard to tell from photos) - the netting starts quite tight on its card frame, but rapidly becomes loose after use.

- sticky retainers in place - many small components are held into the plastic tray by small sticky clear plastic retainers. These are very hard to cleanly replace.

 

[Dutch]

It would be good if they put some sort of sealed sticker, or shrink wrap on the boxes, its not such a big deal though.

 

[Rock83]

you'll know by the smell when you open it...

Yeah agree,the smell is strong if its new,but also check the the round sticker on top and bottom of the box,all boxes has a strong sticker and you will know for sure if its opened or not.A box keeps the smell if you have it closed,my V1 Joker box still smelled like new when i sold it a week agoo(sold as displayed though),so i wouldnt count a 100% on that.But check the sticker,if it doesnt have any sticker its opened,not sure about the Predators,never owned any of those but all HT figs i have had a sticker on the newest releases.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Just a thought, how do you really know if the product is brand new mint.

It's got that sweet brand new figure smell...

 

[-Super Hans-]

you'll know by the smell when you open it...

yes, thats what i go buy .


i love the smell of plastic in the morning

 

[rivera2171]

you'll know by the smell when you open it...

I LOVE that smell!!

 

[AVP99]

I LOVE that smell!!

oh boy i love that smell as well

 

[El Roranous]

I never lie about this sort of thing. For one, I never take the risk of disassembling a Predator once it's built. They are so fragile and can break very easily. I usually pack all the accessories in the box and mummify the actual figure for shipping.

 

[galactiboy]

No real way to know before hand, just have to trust the listing and hope you can tell condition from photos. But even on a figure that has collector friendly packaging you can tell if its been opened by looking at the closure tabs (and different flaps that open) to see if they are perfect or show signs of distress.

Although truly nothing is really ever mint, even unopened figures have paint rubs and issues that aren't always apparent until you've opened them and then they really aren't mint

 

[sladesuperagent]

It tastes lika candy cane or toothpaste.

 

[Faken]

It is near impossible to open up and assemble an HT Predator and then repack it completely and make it look MIB. There's just too many things that can happen... paint wear on parts from assembly, tape from parts and the inner clamshell, frayed netting from the hooks etc... I think if you look carefully you would see if it was really MIB or not.

When all else fails, dust it for prints!