Why do we keep paying for stuff that just scrapes the same shallow pool and calls it a product? Seems like this happens everywhere now. My cable box has like 400 channels and somehow nothing is ever on. The playlist at my gym has maybe 15 songs on shuffle, all day, every day. Even the "personalized" deals at the grocery store are the same five coupons every week. Feels like a lot of companies figured out they can charge full price for a tiny bit of effort and most of us just shrug and keep paying. Your mileage may vary but I'd ask for a refund on that one.

Those metal caps are usually a good sign honestly, the old lead tubes held up way better than people give them credit for. Give the cap a twist first, if it fights you at all that paint has probably skinned over inside even if the tube still feels soft when you squeeze it. My move is to unscrew it and poke a toothpick down into the shoulder of the tube, if it comes out with wet paint on the tip you're good to go. Also squeeze a tiny bit onto cardboard and watch it for a day, if it stays tacky past that it's probably not worth the headache. Worst case you got 28 other tubes and some nice new brushes out of the deal, so you're already ahead.