"National Emergency, If Asked, Would You Give Up Minis?" Topic

Let's assume that your particular government needs soft METAL alloys for a major defensive war, or to prevent some catastrophic natural disaster or for a vital scientific project.*

The national supply has been depleted, and so they ask their citizens – wargamers, collectors, etc. – to give up their minis, for the common good. They will NOT be compensating you for them, they simply can't, for whatever reason.

And they need those METAL minis of yours ASAP:

1) Would you give them up without a second thought, you can always switch to PLASTIC ones already available;
2) Would you hang on to them for a while longer, just in case the government finds an alternate solution they haven't thought of yet, or until someone releases your figures in PLASTIC;
3) Would you reply "when you can take them from my cold dead hands!!!";
4) Would you give up your least favorite METAL figures and hold on to the rest secretly; or
5) Would you just deny ever being a gamer, collector, etc. "What minis?"

Dan
* Perhaps it's what will stop global climate change, or stop the detachment and loss of our Moon, or avoid some plague, whatever. You are not disputing their reason, so the reason is not important. It's something vital.

Fair is fair, Dan. Given it's a national emergency and all, if I give up my metals, will the government stop teaching grievance studies in place of pol/mil history? Will the media stop calling re-enactors Nazis?

Only seems to be an emergency when they want something from me.

choice #1, without looking back or giving a second thought. My minis are a hobby, for fun. And they have provided me with hours of enjoyment, but, given your parameters, and assuming my contribution would be valuable, and used, I would like to think I wouldn't hesitate (or at least not hesitate long). For me, it's a question of priorities: couldn't put my fun above the general good's serious welfare.

Trust your government

Trust what any recent government calls an emergency – I wasn't born yesterday !

I'd need a LOT of persuading and a LOT of evidence before making any decision – and probably would just ignore the request.

Ha, ha, ha, NO!!!

My minis are going to be buried with me like an Egyptian pharaoh

Well…in that case…hmmmmmm…No!

Minis aren't soft metal these days. Now a couple or three decades ago…
but, as is, I'd hafta say I haven't any

"My minis are going to be buried with me like an Egyptian pharaoh"

You are going to be buried with your minis AND an Egyptian pharaoh?!? … Cool !!!

You know, Gildas has a point. The problem would not be convincing me to give up the metals to save the nation or the world. But it would be VERY hard to convince me that there was a real crisis, that no other solution was possible and that compensation was not possible. Too many people I dislike would be smiling as they were melted down, and too often our elites have not let a crisis go to waste. And abundant payment for my miniatures--enough to remodel the house, in fact--would be about what the government paid for two very dark and uncomfortable cubicles back in DC.

LOL. Like I said …

"You are not disputing their reason, so the reason is not important. It's something vital."

In other words, you've seen the evidence and you believe the emergency. And you also believe that the metal is the only solution known so far.

Dan

I'm pretty much where robert piepenbrink is (as I usually am, I've noticed BUT, any excuse to get rid of my huge mountain of UNpainted metal! Too much hassle to categorize it and then trying to sell it off, even at a convention flea market, so yes, I'd "sacrifice" it for the common good (well, 90% anyway, lol). But the painted stuff, they're gonna hafta pry that from my cold, dead hands, I'm afraid.

If they want it, they'll come and take it anyway.

I noted a few years ago that I had been given about 40 lbs of Old unpainted Napoleonic figures by a major manufacturer. A guy I know in the industry told me he briefly considered making me an offer based on scrap metal prices. He decided not to, since the variety of alloys used in casting miniatures back then was huge. He couldn't be sure what he was getting. I remember reading how scrap tire weights were used back then.
Based on that, my minis would probably be useless.

From my cold dead hands!
Molon labe!

1? Plastics? No way. Start all over again with my least favorite medium?

No.

If anyone comes for my lead, lead they shall have.

Minis? I see no minis. Move along, nothing to see here…

First they come for your lead minis,
Then they come for your plastic minis,
Then they come for your resin minis,
Then they come for you.

When they pry them from my cold dead hands …

A big Negative on the giving up of minis. Maybe too much viewing of Ancient Aliens guy but there's a long road to pave before I believe the G and their "need".

I put my 34 years in. After that…what Legion 4 said.

If there were an emergency that I believed and I was asked to sacrifice a luxury item with no compensation?

Sure. 'em.

For my wife, son, or daughter sure I'd give them up

for my government….no

LOL. Relax, guys. This isn't mandatory.

Dan

Just do what the nice man in the shiny black suit and dark glasses says…or you might DISSAPEAR ! BwaaHaaHaa !

Given your parameters, why not 1?

In Australia the Gummint HAS to pay compensation, its actually part of the Australian Constitution. So they couldn't just confiscate self loading rifles, they had to set up a process to pay for them as they were handed in – which resulted in a big jump in firearms purchases.

Given what happened to a lot of the scrap metal collected in Britain in WW2, my minis would be safely hidden until the crisis was over:-

link

Well if things get that bad that they need my minis … We'd be doomed anyway …

LOL. Well, like I said … this isn't mandatory, so no compensation.

Dan

Not my painted figures. No way. They can take my unpainted minis.

steamingdave47 – my understanding is aluminum was the same.

They can have unpainted figures. My painted figures, not a chance.

Don't you really think that by the time the government got around to asking for miniatures, most other sources of materials would have already been exhausted, and we would probably be well up the proverbial fertilizer creek sans paddles?

And that being the case, I don't think many of us would still be thinking about our toys.

No honking way, for example most of the Aluminum collected in WW II was useless, aircraft are built using "virgin" aluminum.

Any such appeal would be a purely propaganda/feel good campaign, designed to give people a stake in the emergency.

My local recycling center won't buy anything but aluminum cans. They aren't interested in other kinds of aluminum scrap.

Similar rules probably apply to our hobby items. Not until they have remediated all the disused firing ranges they claim are too contaminated to use.

Lots of closed mining sites that could theoretically be reopened.

Keep your old miniatures and paint some of them up as your contribution to the emergency.

And let's have a nationwide program to collect "wet" garbage (food waste); It CAN be recycled/down cycled or composted, and let's not use low price contractors. This would take some of the pressure off landfills.

And the Plastics. When bottled water becomes unavailable, I will believe there is a raw material crisis.

For this so-called Government? NOT A CHANCE. For a real one? Yep.

For a price, Ugarte, for a price.

If they want my lead minis, will they also want my other "lead"? I'll give that to the state; through the muzzle.

I have mostly plastic stuff, metals I could lift one handed.

IF it was a REAL emergency then yes.

Remember Mel Gibson in "The Patriot"? In newspeak your minis are probably soon to be described as "weapons of mass destruction".

Khanscom,

Indeed. Excellent example! :)

YouTube link

Dan

Personal motivation would determine the level of response. having worked with the local EMA/DHS for 10 years, it is hard to imagine a national emergency of this level. The material availability would dry up but considering the refing costs and difficulty for items already out there. I am not sire the government would hit individual gamers hard.

Sorry my disgust and distrust of anything political leaves me with total disbelief. This premise falls in the realm of fairy tales and is too hard to even play along.