scuffed roof on new 48753 Defender set caboose

Unfortunately it seems Lionel and/or their suppliers are playing with reducing the packaging without evaluating (or in the case of the manufacturer, probably not caring) the impact to the end product.

Until recently, items in clam-shells would have either a protective bag, or more recently a sheet of plastic wrapped around the car so there was no contact from finished surface to the clam-shell.

I'm sure it's cheaper by a whole 1/10th of a penny to eliminate the plastic sheet.  The company line will likely be that the trains "show better" in the package without the bag (I've had a dealer tell me that for his store display, but in fairness, this becomes less of an issue once the large trip across the world has happened).

Sorry for your frustration.  I hope you can find another caboose someday that is in better condition.

Ironic that it may actually be easier to find something in good condition (though obviously you will be paying a bit for it if you do) from the original years than the current production.

-Dave

Sgaugian, I had the same issue with the "Route of the Reindeer" operating Christmas Caboose I got in December.  It's roof was scuffed on at least in one spot.  As Dave says above, this problem would be totally avoided with a plastic bag or some tissue.  The Chinese don't care, & I guess Lionel doesn't either.  ALSO, my caboose box was NOT glued at the seam!!!  I understand many of the Defender Sets came with unglued inner boxes.   For the prices of these products, this is totally unacceptable.

Send the cars back. If Lionel gets a large number of returns, they will fix the packaging in the future.
If people accept the goods with the scuffs, then they must be OK.

I agree except I bought this off eBay from a 'no returns' seller as part of a set break-up.  It was described as "mint in box", and I believe was exactly that.  Without taking it out of its packaging, you can't tell the roof is messed up.

A few observations and a suggestion...

After unpacking once again my Defender set, I discovered some of the same marks on the caboose silver paint that Sgaugian observed, but less severe. This is interesting because they were not present when I first unpacked the set and took the pictures I shared with you all last August.

My theory is that the marks are not primarily due to mechanical rubbing, but rather related to a plasticizer that may be present in the thermoformed polystyrene bubble pack which is interacting with the silver paint. Silver has always one of the more "touchy" colors. Repeated mechanical rubbing is a less likely potential cause of the marks because they are not likely to have occurred while sitting motionless in a box in my basement.

I removed the roof marks by gently (Gently, slowly, carefully!) rubbing them out using a moistened tissue with just a bit of ‘Softscrub’ (my generic brand is Meijer Gentle Touch Soft Cleanser) on the tissue. Finish with a soft tissue moistened with just clean water. Some of the mark was lessened by just gently rubbing with a moist tissue, so try that first. My roof now looks fine again.

I cut some tissue paper to suit and placed it around the roofs to protect the silver paint from the bubble pack before repacking the caboose.

So, Lionel needs to revisit their bubble pack practices. But apparently, if caught in time, one may be able to remove the marks.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

Bob

Bob, 

Glad yours came clean.  I tried similar measures on mine after the photos but mine has spots too deeply rubbed and/or adversely chemically effected by the packaging to fix/undo.  I repainted the roof instead.  Good tips on the protective measures to take with the packaging.  Clearly some form of isolator of the roof from the plastic container is in order.