Nanny state running wild (1 Viewer)

[damian]

New Guide Lines From the Consumer Protection Safety Act requires testing of new Toy Soldiers will cause delays in production shipments in the future. We are not sure of the full effect of what this will have on the hobby; however, Britain's has announced the delays in the availability of their super detail 17827, 17831, 17851. The Decision has been taken to reduce the number of poses in each set. They will announce which poses will be discontinued in the future. So get them while you can! Thank you.

This is taken of Craig McClain's website (Old Toy Solider Home)
It sounds really ridiculous
I don't know much about it though so maybe I am over-reacting

 

[Spitfrnd]

New Guide Lines From the Consumer Protection Safety Act requires testing of new Toy Soldiers will cause delays in production shipments in the future. We are not sure of the full effect of what this will have on the hobby; however, Britain's has announced the delays in the availability of their super detail 17827, 17831, 17851. The Decision has been taken to reduce the number of poses in each set. They will announce which poses will be discontinued in the future. So get them while you can! Thank you.

This is taken of Craig McClain's website (Old Toy Solider Home)
It sounds really ridiculous
I don't know much about it though so maybe I am over-reacting

It is apparently true that the poorly designed and written law requires lead testing and limits on all products intended for use by persons 12 years and under. It is also true that the fines for violations start at $100,000. What this means for the collectable figures market is less clear. Maybe it would be best to stop calling these figures "toys". Another fine example of the protectionist mindset substituting generic and stupid regulation for information, individual responsibility and common sense. Be thankful you don't have blue states Damian.

 

[theBaron]

It's going to get a lot worse, before it gets any better.

Like Marley's ghost, we've been forging our chains, link by link, foot by foot, for three generations at least.

 

[4th Hussar]

These knee jerk overreaction is due to our Chinese friends and their creative disposal of hazardous waste in Toys. What should be done is random testing of foreign products at the dockside. If they don't pass the importer has to return and the manufacturer's products are banned for a year.

 

[PolarBear]

Shannon once spoke about the customs inspectors and how they have ruined very expensive sets tearing them out of the foam in the boxes and then just shoving them haphazardly back in, breaking off bayonets, etc. They once drilled a hole through one of the $600 Beau Geste Durbar elephants looking for smuggled goods

 

[theBaron]

Well, there have been two episodes now of "Monk" in which smuggling drugs inside of other things was a major plot element, once inside porcelain figurines, and once inside a magician's cabinets and trunk

 

[Fubar]

It will get more crazy. Years ago the wargaming crowd was hit by the GUV.

Apparently some small children at a home became ill and were diagnosed with lead poisoning. The Guv officials determined it was because the father had some metal wargames figs, dragons ect and the kidz got ill because of that.
Nevermind they had a well and lived next to a creek and on the other side of that creek was a shooting range that had been there 100 + years and was still in use.
HMMM?lead leeching into the water?

Oh no, that makes no sense. It is no doubt the father is irresponsible and lets his tots chew and lick his toy dragons.Or at least the lead was FUMING and the poor tots were breathing in the FUMES.
Health officials said the lead HAD to be ingested , over a period of time to get to this level, and of course it was Dads collection , not the water.Did they test the water? No.

Guv got involved, all manner of metal restricions, banning ect for model figures passed.NO lead at all in any figures.
Prices doubled.
Can still buy fishing weights of lead and lead ammo { which i use a lot of}
But at least here in ORYGUN you cannot add lead to any figures for any reason.

FUB

 

[damian]

Sounds a bit excessive to me. 100 000 USD is big money for a fine. The good news is that here in Africa we have lax environmental protection laws so I will be prepared to look after any collections that the inspectors are giving a hard time to in the US. Just post them all off too me. I promise to display them well and care for them.
Just kidding but really the whole thing sounds ridiculous.

 

[Steven Chong]

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is aimed at lead in products for children 12 and younger, and plastic softeners in products for children younger than 3. The Act requires manufacturers and importers to test and certify that toys have passed U.S. safety standards before they are sold. There is an argument that this law does not apply to "toy soldiers" since they are really adult collectibles and not sold to children under 12, but does any manufacturer want their shipments held-up in customs while this point is argued? Should dealers refuse to sell figures to young children if they have not been tested? Yes, parents should prevent their children from biting or sucking on a painted metal figure, but there are many examples of toys sold to young children that contain lead in the paint or even in the plastic material. The presence of lead is not apparent in these products and manufacturers and importers will not test everything unless there is a drastic penalty like fines of $100,000 per violation up to $15 million for repeated violations and up to 5 years of prison for knowingly violating the law.

 

[damian]

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is aimed at lead in products for children 12 and younger, and plastic softeners in products for children younger than 3. The Act requires manufacturers and importers to test and certify that toys have passed U.S. safety standards before they are sold. There is an argument that this law does not apply to "toy soldiers" since they are really adult collectibles and not sold to children under 12, but does any manufacturer want their shipments held-up in customs while this point is argued? Should dealers refuse to sell figures to young children if they have not been tested? Yes, parents should prevent their children from biting or sucking on a painted metal figure, but there are many examples of toys sold to young children that contain lead in the paint or even in the plastic material. The presence of lead is not apparent in these products and manufacturers and importers will not test everything unless there is a drastic penalty like fines of $100,000 per violation up to $15 million for repeated violations and up to 5 years of prison for knowingly violating the law.

SO this new law only applies to plastic toy soldiers or does it include the metal soldiers?

 

[Spitfrnd]

SO this new law only applies to plastic toy soldiers or does it include the metal soldiers?

It covers lead and hence would extend to metal. The question, as Steven and I both suggested, is whether they are intended or reasonably expected to be sold to 12 year olds and under.

 

[4th Hussar]

This sounds like we are reliving the late 60s. Lead was banned in toys which basically killed the toy soldier business. latter lead free materials were developed and the "new toy soldiers" appeared, all marked not intended for children under 14.

Perhaps we should dispose of our dangerous toys and find a safe hobby.

 

[VIRIATO]

All I can think of now is four letter words

Paulo

 

[Ragnar]

It will get more crazy. Years ago the wargaming crowd was hit by the GUV.

Apparently some small children at a home became ill and were diagnosed with lead poisoning. The Guv officials determined it was because the father had some metal wargames figs, dragons ect and the kidz got ill because of that.
Nevermind they had a well and lived next to a creek and on the other side of that creek was a shooting range that had been there 100 + years and was still in use.
HMMM?lead leeching into the water?

Oh no, that makes no sense. It is no doubt the father is irresponsible and lets his tots chew and lick his toy dragons.Or at least the lead was FUMING and the poor tots were breathing in the FUMES.
Health officials said the lead HAD to be ingested , over a period of time to get to this level, and of course it was Dads collection , not the water.Did they test the water? No.

Guv got involved, all manner of metal restricions, banning ect for model figures passed.NO lead at all in any figures.
Prices doubled.
Can still buy fishing weights of lead and lead ammo { which i use a lot of}
But at least here in ORYGUN you cannot add lead to any figures for any reason.

FUB

Same down here a few years back DEL PRADO figures were being sold at.
Newsagent stands they were being sold as "the lead soldier collection".
one figure per month and what do you know after three months they were banned becouse they had geuss what?.......to much lead .
but any body can go buy bags of fishing sinkers that have no paint or varnish on them.

 

[Shannon Reuss]

I spoke to Richard Walker about this yesterday and he said these new laws apply to plastic toys for children 12 and under and in the case of W. Britain plastic figures each pose must be tested yearly for phthalates in the plastic and lead in the paint.
While the testing is expensive and is no doubt a hardship for many manufacturers it is also get phthalates out of plastic and rubber toys, as well as baby teething rings and sippy cups, lots and lots of baby things.

The studies these new laws are based off of have shown that baby boys born to mothers with high phthalate levels are born with reproductive development abnormalities and mimic hormones. I don't know off hand what other effects they have found or why they aren't working toward keeping the phthalates out of the mothers.
Most studies have been in animals with only a few studies in humans and more studies need to be done.
Congress has banned three phthalate derivitives known to be toxic outright and suspended use of others in an unusual proactive attempt to protect the health of children.
I guess it helps to think of the bigger picture--that the laws aren't meant to be 'out to get' plastic toy soldier makers but more to keep the toy and baby product industries honest (think cheap dollar store offerings) and kids from ingesting at least one kind of harmful chemical that is impossible to tell if it is present in a toy without testing.
I know many of you think lawmakers have gone overboard but since the phthalate side of the issue hadn't been brought up yet I thought I'd at least throw in what I've found in researching the issue.

As for lead...I think a lot of the issue lies in pre-1978 lead-based house paint. If people cleaned up and removed this paint and disposed of it properly we would have a lot less lead poisoning issues. However it wasn't until 1978 when laws were enacted banning lead from house paint that we got a handle on that issue. I'm sure there was a lot of uproar then from the paint and housing industries but in the end it positively impacted the health of countless people.

That's a lot more than my two cents I guess, so I guess you have my $1.50 . I guess I'm looking at these new laws from a parental point of view than a toy soldier collector/dealer point of view, but it's good to look at issues from more than one perspective.

Regards,