I have a loose Macau Gam. Guard from my early days of collecting that escaped the "baby fund" sell off. The only problem I had, was that I wasn't sure on which axe he should correctly be paired with.

Upon looking, I caught sight of a beater MOC that I thought would do nicely, The seller said in his description that the bubble was cracked, but the figure was still sealed. I could see that the axe was still taped inside and that the reverse of the card back said "Figures Made in Macau"

In my sloppy (non-existent) effort to make sure I thoroughly checked the MOC photos using a large PC screen (rather than the mobile), I bid and ended up winning.

It arrived fast, but quickly to my disappointment, I found that the bubble had a bit more than a crack and not only had the figure been removed, it had subsequently been replaced with a different COO Gam Guard.

Full photos below, and my letter to the seller - explaining to him all my findings.

I got a 50% refund when he saw my evidence (I agreed to keep the item as I actually needed a NCOO Gammy), but I suppose the lesson here is not to be eager in picking up a perceived bargain; if something seems too good to be true, then it is probably isn't. So double check all the photos. Also check if the figure inside the bubble is consistent to the factory that printed on the reverse of the card.

LETTER TO SELLER

Dear ***********,

I appreciate the quick delivery of my purchase, however what I received, is not what was described in the auction and I would like to return it and recieve my money back.

Just to recap on your auction:

1) Your auction stated that “There’s a crack in the bubble, but the Gamorrean Guard figure is still sealed and MOC”.

2) I would fairly interpret that as: The crack is not big enough for the inner tray to pass through, the figure has never been removed, thus it is the original figure that was originally packaged on this cardback and it never has been fully opened and played with.

3) The reverse of your card back says: “Figures Made in Macau” on the bottom left. This is a variation of the Gam Guard that I need, which is why I bid on it.  As you may be aware, there are a number of different versions of the Gam. Guard (Macau, Mexico and Hong Kong x 3).

My reasons for my refund:

A) I did note in the description that a crack was mentioned, but it wasn’t made clear that this crack was actually a slice that runs the entire length of the left hand side of the bubble, around the bottom left hand corner of the bubble and then runs entire length of the bottom of the bubble. That is, the entire bubble can be raised sufficiently for the inner tray and figure to be removed. I would not call that sealed. I have attached a photo of this for yours and eBay’s info. In Fairness this auction should have stated that the bubble was 50% attached and the figure is not sealed.

B) On closer in inspection of the figure in hand, I can see that the painted teeth and horns are all scuffed from the original owner playing with it. This would not be the case, if the figure was truly sealed and MOC, as it would be protected by the bubble and inner tray. So your auction was incorrect in offering a MOC, there’s not a mint figure inside.

C) Most important is: You might not be aware of this, but the figure inside the bubble, is not the original “Made in Macau” Gam Guard figure that would have been packaged with this cardback. At some stage, the original Macau Figure has been removed and replaced with one from the Smile (HN) factory in Hong Kong; they produced figures for Kenner and Palitoy and their cardbacks and by the POP they would print “HN” as an identifier.

D) In the photos, I have shown an example of one of my sealed “HN” Hong Kong Gamorrean Guard figures next to the one I received, if you look at their faces they both are identical have very defined wrinkles in their faces, also if you compare the soles of their feet, the soles are smooth and the peg holes are in the same place. This would not be the case if your “MOC” had the correct figure inside.

E) Also shown is my loose Made in Macau figure, if you look at his face the wrinkles are much smoother, his skin is more olive green. If you look at his soles you will see there a straight line that run across both his feet, this is missing from yours. On the back of my loose genuine “Made in Macau” Gam. Guard you will also see Macau stamped on his leg.  The figure supplied to me does not have that stamp

I have placed the all evidence above, as I would like to process my refund as quickly as possible, but I do understand this might be totally innocent on your behalf, and you maybe simply reselling something that you’ve bought from in a lot or someone else without realising that the figure has been opened and switched. Hopefully the above will be enough for us to resolve this amicably.


PHOTOS

Since the ax was taped is there reason to believe it may be the Macau ax? Though assuming since the figure was removable there is no way to guarantee the ax was never removed I guess. Still a cool cardback though. And a plus is you got the start of a gammorean guard army.

Craig T wrote:

I suppose the lesson here is not to be eager in picking up a perceived bargain; if something seems too good to be true, then it is probably isn't. So double check all the photos. Also check if the figure inside the bubble is consistent to the factory that printed on the reverse of the card

Some good advice there Craig, glad the deal worked out in the end mate

Hey Nico... thanks Glad to see you on here too!

Bummer of a situation, but I'm glad at least you got a half refund.