Friday, August 3, 2012

Careful When Buying 1Direction Dolls ...



Here are photos of two 1 Direction dolls I saw at Walmart today. Anyone want to state what is wrong with one of them?

24 comments:

Dollz4Moi said...

Well considering one is Jordan Knight from New Kids on The Block and the other is from High School musical I'm not sure..LOL

Miss_Lola_77 said...

Did someone put a HSM doll into the box? I've seen box switchers here. It's pretty low to do that to a kid's toy:/

Allenoel said...

Isn't that a NKOTB Jordan on the left?

Ms. Leo said...

The one in red and black is a New Kids On The block doll? How did that happen. Did someone buy it, switch it and return it or is that what they are selling?

D7ana said...

Yes, that's the head of Jordan from NKOTB. Which I suppose means that Hasbro's set is NOT the same as the UK Vivid Imaginations set.

@#$%^&*

WWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Here is a photo of the Vivid Imaginations Zayn. THAT is the Zayn that I want. However, the Hasbro replacement does not surprise me. It's disappointing, but understandable. Guess the others could be re-issues of other Hasbro male dolls. Sigh.

But the "wrong" is that the doll on the right is Mattel's HSM Troy. Now that is pretty tacky of somebody to switch the doll out like that. Shame.

D7ana said...

Thanks, Dollz4Moi, Miss_Lola_77, Allenoel, and Ms. Leo!

My guesses are that the second wave of the dolls has a new face mold and outfit for Zayn OR that - after I checked William's blog for his 1D dolls photos that this doll is also a swap out. The culprit might be a collector since I don't think the Jordan doll has been available for a long time.

Guess we'll have to check through other photos to be sure, but folks BEWARE! Make sure that you get the doll you want and not some replacement figure.

Note: there is a second wave of the 1D dolls. I'm not sure what the new outfits are except that Harry is NOT wearing a tweed jacket in the second wave.

Anonymous said...

Some times if you see a mistake you should buy it as it could be worth more money down the line as an interesting novelty.

D7ana said...

Thanks for stopping by TropicalThoughts! Because these mistakes are caused by dishonest shoppers/thieves? I do not think that they will be worth more money in the future the way a factory mistake might be worth more money.

Anonymous said...

In that case no, only if it was a factory mistake.

pattidolls said...

Someone will buy it and try to sell it on ebay as a OOAK mistake by the manufacturer! If that wasn't so sad it would be funny.

Miss_Lola_77 said...

Yeah, you can look for Hasbro 1D on ebay and see that the Zayn should NOT look like Jordan:/ What an asshole thing for someone to do.

Miss_Lola_77 said...

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/LiiN26/blog/jordan.jpg
He's even still wearing his Jordan clothes.

Muff said...

I pity the poor parent that thinks they are buying something nice for their kid only to have the kid inform them that they bought a switcheroo.

But the even worse thing about it is if they take it back and tell the store it's the wrong doll, the store will still probably put it back on the shelf.

D7ana said...

Hi and thanks, Tropicalthought, Pattidolls, Miss_Lola_77, and Muff.

Alas, Tropicalthought, I doubt that Hasbro still has any NKOTB Jordans complete with original box liners on their factory floors so I think that the switch was deliberate - done to deceive an unwitting or unsuspecting buyer into thinking that that doll was the Zayn doll.

The Jordan doll looks new and that is his original liner - thanks for that link, Miss_Lola_77. Still in the original Jordan clothes, too? That's a mean-spirited, asshole thing to do. Especially given the financial state we are in: some hard-working parent or other person could pick up that doll and give it to a child or to a collector and feel proud that he/she had found a wanted plaything only to discover that he/she had been duped. That's lower than a clean theft where at least only the store is bilked.

Pattidolls, you are right: someone will probably try to sell it on eBay. And Muff, you're right, too: even if the store was informed, they'd probably just put it back on the floor.

Folks, please be careful when buying these dolls in person. The HSM Troy was easily recognizable as the wrong doll - well, by me anyway ;-} ... the Jordan-as-Zayn though was sneakier.

Anonymous said...

Did the box look like it had been opened? Do you think it was just a prank?

Heather said...

What's weird to me is, who has a collection at home of boy dolls who LOOK like they could be other boy dolls?

Seriously though, this is low... but then, am I shocked? No.

People will do things like this when they know they can get away with it... it's sad.

D7ana said...

The box that held the Mattel Troy box looked as if it had been opened. The other box with the Hasbro Jordan replacement had been more carefully opened. That smoother closing and that the doll was upright in the box almost made me think that the company had re-issued an earlier doll.

I don't think it was just a prank. I consider both cases malicious theft; a person or persons took something that they were not entitled to whether they bought the figures and then returned replacements for a refund or if they stole the real figures and replaced them with other items. Putting a substitute figure does not make the theft less so - it makes the theft worse. If they just removed the item from the store, that would be reduced inventory. But they replaced the items so it appears as though nothing is missing. Some innocent person(s) will be cheated as a result. A despicable - yes, asshole - act.

D7ana said...

Hi Heather! Yes, it is sad. And mean. This particular switcheroo really annoyed me because I almost fell for it. And I am a collector with YEARS of doll collecting experience.

Who might have multiple boy dolls on hand. Alas, my first thought ... another collector. And that thought is a downer. Although just because someone collects, that doesn't mean that they are morally right.

cyano said...

OMG D, I was at Walmart in philly last week and saw the same exact doll!! I cracked up, how can walmart accept that?! The doll is not even secured in the box

D7ana said...

Hi R! We were probably in the same Walmart, lol. (Think the first here.) He's still there, huh? Glad that no one has been duped into buying him. I don't know what Walmart is thinking or hoping. The HSM Troy so clearly doesn't belong in that box.

pattidolls said...

I just saw these dolls at my TRU. They had all 5 for 19.99 each. Must say, they were kind of unattractive. When I was new to collecting celebs, I would have scooped them up in a second. These days I'm a little more discerning with my dolls.

D7ana said...

Hi Patti and thanks for your comment. So TRU has them now, too. Goody! More sources ;-D

I like the Zayn doll's face and the Harry doll's molded hair. Lookswise, I would prefer Max, Jay, or Siva from The Wanted - the center three dolls in that photo or all but Alston of the JLS. I like that these guy dolls look like male teenagers - a minority in U.S. fashion dolls. So I don't mind them being less than gorgeous. But in this time of limited budgets and the variety we have today, being discriminating is the best way to handle our collecting hobby.

IdleHandsBlog said...

Just for future reference, an error on a toy is only worth something to a die hard collector. It is hard to place a value on it otherwise as it is labeled a mistake and worth less than a perfect toy. If it were a run...say 50 left the factory with a different jacket..then you could calculate the rarity.

D7ana said...

Hi and thanks for stopping by Paul Nomad! I appreciate your distinction as to when an error on a doll or action figure can be described as "rare."

I recall seeing a new boxed Barbie with a third nostril punch (slit). That doll might be worthwhile to the die hard collector you mention. However, unless there were a batch of dolls that left the factory that way, it isn't a rarity.

Alas, these faux 1D dolls are another story altogether ;-P