Thursday 17 May 2012

News: The Return of Mr Stay Puft

Not long ago I had a rant about the yellowing of my MattyCollector Ghostbusters Marshmallow Man. It went something along the lines of 'rah rah it's all going yellow rah rah rah'.

Well, despite what I predicted, Mattel are issues refunds to everyone who bought the toy, including all the postage costs -


Ghostbusters™ Customers, 
Hopefully, the vast majority of you have been enjoying the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man figures we offered here at MattyCollector.com and San Diego Comic-Con last year. After an exhaustive investigation into the issue of why some of the figures are yellowing, here’s what we’ve discovered:
The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man figure was fully tested and approved prior to being offered for sale. The figure passed all standard product tests, as well as a specialized test specific to the new foam material used. The yellowing some figures have experienced didn’t appear until a number of months after the product's release. The yellowing is due to an unforeseen chemical reaction between the paint and material used in its construction. 
Because we stand 100% behind the products we sell, we’re offering full refunds to any customer who would like to return their defective figure. We’re sorry but we won’t be able to offer exchanges. We will, however, gladly refund the original price for figures purchased either at MattyCollector.com or our booth at San Diego Comic-Con, as well as refund the original cost of shipping for figures shipped from MattyCollector.com. And in both cases, the cost to return the product to our warehouse will be covered by us. 
If you would like a refund, here’s what to do: 
If You Purchased at MattyCollector.com for Pickup at SDCCFor orders that were placed during the voucher pre-sale and picked up at the MattyCollector.com booth at SDCC, please call 1-877-GO-MATTYor email MattyCollector.CS@digitalriver.com. Our agent will look up your original order and arrange for the product to be picked up at our expense and returned to our warehouse. When the product is received at our warehouse, a credit for the original purchase price will be issued on the card you used to place the order. No refunds will be issued without the defective product being returned to us. 
If You Purchased at the MattyCollector.com SDCC BoothFor those customers who purchased the figure directly at the MattyCollector.com booth at SDCC, please call 1-877-GO-MATTYor email MattyCollector.CS@digitalriver.com. Our agent will create a ticket and arrange for the product to be picked up at our expense and returned to our warehouse. When the product is received at our warehouse, a check for the original purchase price will be issued and mailed to you at the address you provided to the agent. No refunds will be issued without the defective product being returned to us. 
If You Purchased at MattyCollector.com During Our Post-SDCC SaleFor orders that were placed during the post-SDCC sale at MattyCollector.com and shipped directly to you, please call 1-877-GO-MATTYor email MattyCollector.CS@digitalriver.com. Our agent will look up your original order and arrange for the product to be picked up at our expense and returned to our warehouse. When the product is received at our warehouse, a credit for the original purchase price and shipping will be issued on the original card you used to place the order. No refunds will be issued without the defective product being returned to us. 
Finally, we know how much you like the giant diorama package that came with the figure and we’re happy to leave it with you as a “thank you” for your business. If you choose to return your Stay Puft figure, you won’t need to return the diorama package to receive the refund.
To learn more about what we’re doing to continually improve, please read this article. Delivering the most fan-demanded designs in the highest possible quality is truly our top priority and we appreciate your business! 
–Matty

This means a) I'm terrible at predicting things, and b) at least no one will be out of pocket for the fiasco (although they'll be without a Stay Puft).

The question is now, do I return him? I'm torn. It'd help if I had a clue about whether the yellowing is going to get worse in the future. At the moment it's more of a yellow tinge on his arms and legs and I can live with it. However, if it got any worse I'm not sure how I'd feel. As I mentioned in the earlier review, I do have the NECA Stay Puft so I wouldn't be completely Marshmallow-free if I returned it. And obviously, some money appearing in the old bank account is always welcome.

The lesson I hope Mattel takes from this is not to use anything for toys which isn't standard plastic. Experimenting is all well and good, but 99% of the time it's going to end in disaster. I should know, I'm a chemist.

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