Cardart false advertising?
 

Almost every figure out there has a really nice looking product on the back cardart yet the actual product is sometimes far from what it looks like on the cardart,example,just today the ss venom I got and a rts windcharger have pictures of them in venoms case solid black paint and the gimmick head painted while ss venom is actually a dull grey and purple and the gimmick is flat black and windchargers paint is a sliverish tone but the product is a cheap looking plain grey,why is this done and is it not in a way false advertisment?

The product is always subject to change in pre production to the final thing.

It even says on the card that the product might not be the same as pictured.

yeah but it does seem to be EVERY figure imo.

Most of the time the items shown in promotions like card art tend to be hand painted prototypes, and not the actual production run figure. Largely because they habsolutely have to have the packaging ready when the figures come off the production line. Because they need to actually package them up and get them to stores, asap.

Also, the people painting the figs for photography may have a color chart without a swatch or whatever to illustrate the plastic's color.

What's false advertizing is when a boxed toy has no pics of the actual toy on the box- or only a small pic on the box's side.

Regarding Wingcharger - And in fact, most Transformer initial stock photography - It has been known that they go a little overboard with Photoshop to spruce the figure up a little. It's why pretty much any photos you see on packaging have that weird looking sheen to them... Personally don't agree with it either, been disappointed way too many times by figures I thought would look awesome but let me down.

But on a personal note, I hate any toys that insist on using that cheap, nasty, pale grey plastic... I'm tempted to take a paint brush to a few of my TF's, add some metal look to it.

I have been fooled so many times..I pick up an action figure in a clear plastic bubble, turn it over to look at the card art then buy it only later realizing that the figure in the clear plastic bubble didn't look exactly like the card art. They got me again!!

J/K of course.. its pretty hard to call it false advertising when what your are buying is looking you right in the face. :-)

This is absolutely true. I have been privy to be a part of production of some toys over the years. The card shots usually are done prior to the figure going into production. Also, from initial prototype design to final production, the final cost analysis can reveal it to be more expensive than initially estimated, causing some paint apps to be left off.

There are even occasions when the final product surpasses the card art.. rare ..but it happens.

It's possible, for sure. It mainly comes down to the cost to produce the figures. If it's cheaper to produce than anticipated, they can go back and retool the paint apps (which is where a surprising amount of the cost comes in at) or even make adjustments to the sculpt itself.

SW cap for example..pic on the back shows him w/ a painted on black dress belt from his Sunday best. The actual figure has a freaking utility belt around his waist. (Ignore his head though).

I guess I did not take into account the time issue but still with ss venom,that is a clear swing and a miss being its actually more paint detail on the figure and none on the gimmick,confusing.

When I was a kid I was confused as hell by the MOTU cards that showed Merman with a completely different head than what the figure came with.

..30 years later the Four Horseman came to the rescue and gave me both heads with the Classics line though, so I can move on with my life now.

Same here!!! That Mer-man package haunted my entire childhood. I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. The MOTUC version was a must have for me.

ss venom does look like shit IMO, the purplish paint isn't to my liking and the gimick rubber clip on piece looks like shit especially when it's all grey and the back card art shows it with painted eyes and teeth. lame hasbro!

see I like the paint on ss venom but lame on hasbro for not painting the gimick.

Whatever materials they used for the gimmick, they may have discovered were unpaintable.
I don't exactly know why this is, but a lot of toys use unpaintable plastic for certain parts. Every Transformer has some plastic that cannot be painted.

now that you say that I think your right,when ever it stretches it would crack the paint.

this maybe the case, so why not add like 2 feet of bendable spider web, something useful to add to the figure, I'm not even a big fan on the gimick, the figure itself isn't bad but prefer the other venom more eddie brock.

Usually the reason they go overboard with Photoshop is because those promo pics and the painted prototypes are also used to try to sell the line to retailers at trade shows as well as to consumers like us.

And as others have said, various events can affect the look of the final product, which is why they always have that disclaimer printed somewhere on the packaging and on any fliers or inserts included that advertise their product.