As the unfortunate trend continues, yet another kiddo has found their Christmas PMP replaced with something that’s, well, not a PMP. In today’s episode, we find a Washington, D.C. girl that unwrapped an iPod earlier this week and discovered that the only Apple product tucked within was the inner packaging. Instead, a clever note was stashed inside (presumably with a paperweight of some sort) that read: “Reclaim your mind from the media shackles. Read a book and resurrect yourself. To claim your capitalistic garbage go to your nearest Apple store.” Oh, and just in case you really needed more than one guess as to where this thing came from, here’s a hint: it was sold by the same retailer who passed on Wii demo units due to “safety” concerns.

[Via TUAW]

After waiting for what seems like ages, we can imagine just how excited one would be to finally receive that beautiful brown shipping container with their very own Pleo tucked within. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on perspective) for one particular German, an unspecified retailer sent out what appears to be a prototype dino, complete with a pieced together box that once held a fax machine. Interestingly, it seems the lucky recipient is rather perturbed by the incident, but being the optimistic crew that we are, we’d actually hang on to this thing for bragging rights or discover its true value courtesy of eBay. Hit the read link for a few more shots.

[Thanks, Jared C.]

We’ve seen returned / resold DAPs (among other things) ruin celebrations before, but we’re inclined to say that this episode is a tad more disheartening than receiving a couple of rock-filled iPod boxes. Reportedly, an unspecified MP3 player purchased in a Tennessee Wal-Mart was wrapped and given as a Christmas present to a 10-year old daughter, but upon connecting said player to a computer, heaps of pornographic material and explicit songs were discovered. According to a Wally World spokesperson, stores aren’t supposed to “return opened packages to the sales floor,” but given that it already happened, the matter will purportedly be “investigated.”

[Via TGDaily]