[Greg]

This whole situation is frustrating. It's aggravating that a vocal few are able to easily "ruin" something for everyone, likely because of mis-information and failure to have a discourse. I have read waaaaaay too many comments on news articles, Facebook, etc. on these articles and there is quite a bit of foolishness on both sides. This whole issue reminds me of the Django Unchained situation from a few years back.

I don't think TRU or the manufacturer were completely out of line in selling the Breaking Bad figures. The intended age is present and easy to see on the package, while the parts that could be considered objectionable (the meth pieces) are hidden behind labels. TRU didn't advertise or promote the items in a way that they might be seen by a broad audience, and they were placed in a section near other "mature" properties. I think that the "adult" section as a whole could be placed better though, as all of my local stores have the section sharing an aisle with some kid-focused products such as Transformers.

My biggest gripe surrounding this whole event is the lack of consistency for complaints. A couple of mature toys based on a mature TV show involving drugs suddenly get singled out after being available for nearly a year, but the violent nature of nearly everything else in the boy's toys section is accepted as "ok". I am also perplexed that TRU hasn't been called out for offering M-rated video games that are totally inappropriate for children; such as Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, or more recently Evil Within. I don't want this to become a contest of "what's worse", but some consistency would be appreciated.

Ultimately I don't care about the actual Breaking Bad figures. I didn't like them, and don't plan to buy them. Quite frankly I found the likeness of the Pinkman figure to be the most offensive thing about the line. My concern is that any of the mature figures/lines TRU currently offers are subject to get pulled almost immediately if some folks complain they are "offensive". The Breaking Bad figures are already gone from TRU.com, and the petition has only been around for several days. It's disconcerting that a product can disappear so quickly, leaving no time for a real discussion to come up with a solution to please both sides.