The Little World

When I was engaged in retail trade in cameras and photographic goods we would occasionally receive a shipment of equipment that had a tough passage. External cardboard cartons might have been roughly handled by the shippers and ended up dented or breached. We rarely had evidence of tampering or pilfering, but it was possible. Trucks have backs and things fall off them.

The receivals staff were keen to spot the problem, to document it, and to fire the goods back to the wholesalers before opening. No reputable wholesale firm ever quibbled about this – taking their own measures with the transport agents and shipping staff away from us. We had to be firm and pursue this form of damage when it hit the goods we were shipping to retail customers, however. One shipping firm lost a large annual contract over their sloppy handling.

All this means that I am not shocked or offended when I see damaged packaging for models or other hobby supplies – it happens. If the shipper is overseas there may be no recourse – and they may not care. Language is a useful barrier sometimes. In the end the shop may be stuck with damaged packaging and possibly even damaged goods. It can be a problem to know what to do to recoup the loss.

The new shop I dealt with had the healthy attitude that if the package was damaged, it could be supplied at an advantageous price. This has also been the case with a Sutherland, NSW die-cast model shop. Perfect products command full price and less perfect go down the money scale. I’m fine with this – I’m resourceful enough to be able to make something out of the model even if it is not going to be exactly what was intended at first. In some cases the damage has been the catalyst to some inventive thinking and a better product has resulted.

In a way, one has to have a great deal more sympathy for the manufacturer and retailer in the hobby kit line than for the photographic suppliers. The prices and profits of the plastic kits are so much lower while the risks of shipping – and indeed the costs of travel – must remain the same for both classes of product. Indeed, the boxes of model kits are so much flimsier than those of cameras and lenses that the damage potential must be ever so much higher. It is a wonder that some things survive.

Still, the packaging can fight back sometimes. As I was reaching for a 1:72 model of a Bombardier commercial jet I pulled my fingers past the side of the box and was rewarded by impalement on metal staples that had been punched in reverse. I’m afraid the box now has some inadvertent art – mostly in abstract red – that may detract from its collectibility.