this item arrived looking like it had been in a tornado.  it was scratched and dented.  unfortunately for me, it was a birthday present and i did not have time to do a return/reorder.  luckily the child who received it wasnt terribly upset as most the damage was covered with linens.  the packaging could have been better, which would have saved some of the scratches. it was wrapped in a thin piece of plastic, and a few pieces of styrofoam thrown in just for the looks as they did nothing to keep the pieces from scratching each other.  the assembly was easy, even with the lackluster instructions.  i included pictures of the damage.  this was straight out of the box.