Culling The Pile…

[pagan8thParticipant 10744xp 0]

Still have in my loft my original 48k spectrum in a clunky dk tronics keyboard.

Don’t feel I own it anymore as it has lived in the loft for decades.

I suppose that in a way it is Schrodinger’s spectrum now. Could still be alive, or could be dead, only way is to fetch it from the loft and plug it in… but I don’t want to disturb it’s peaceful retirement.

[phaidknott 7023xp 2]

Last time I “culled” the pile of shame (it was mostly GW stuff and some KSed “Board Game with minis” that were never going to get done), I asked down at my FLGS if they had any kids that drop down to the store that never had any minis because things were tight on the finances at home. They can then get in touch with the Parents to see if they would be interested in receiving anything from a “Christmas List” of donations for their Kids to give as their Xmas present. I think we had three parcels given out (and the FLGS even donated some brushes and paints to go with them) the time I last did it. Granted it’s probably not EXACTLY what the kids want (which is usually stuff that’s been released in the last six months from GW), and sometimes the board games have to be picked with care to appeal to the younger kids (sometimes the younger siblings of the kids that drop in at the FLGS). But for Parents that are really struggling at Xmas, it’s at least “something” that can be done. Find the right FLGS with a “good” owner, and thing kind of thing can be done (and for Boardgames with minis, if they are “fantasy” related you can shove in a set of the KoW rules for them to get in with some “Warhammer-esq” tabletop fun).

[bubbles15Participant 2308xp 0]

I think that’s a lovely idea, phaid. How do you ensure the minis get to someone in genuine lack, though?

[phaidknott 7023xp 1]

Basically you’re relying on the FLGS owner at the end of the day. It was some years ago now but I seem to remember one Package went to a customer of the store who had lost his job a couple of months before Xmas (he was known to the owner, and had been buying stuff for his son prior in the store). A second went to a friend of his who’s son was friends with his son who’s Parents couldn’t afford them (as his Parents just didn’t earn enough and had a hard time making ends meet). The third Package I don’t know. Sure there’s many ways that this could get ripped off at the end of the day, but you just got to hope for the best and rely on ppl behaving in the spirit of the season. As the FLGS had added some paints and brushes to each set it DID fill me with a bit of confidence that the owner was performing with due diligence in getting these out to the best people he could find. Other options could be small Children’s Homes, HOWEVER you need to basically be able to gift to each child in the home (or it’s not fair on the others). Or perhaps this Xmas you might have a gaming buddy who’s lost his job (or is due to in the next few weeks), who would perhaps have some of the pressure lifted off them if the kids are interested in “Dad’s hobby” and you are looking to just get rid of stuff that you aren’t going to use (but in the eyes of a pre-teen such things are golden in their eyes). Perhaps even here in BoW the members could band together to find players they know off who are going to be in a dire situation over the holidays and matching them up with members who are looking to off load stuff that’s collecting dust on a shelf (again the possibility of getting ripped off arises, but if your that bothered about that happening them ppl will never get around to doing something like this (you got to put your trust in ppl at the end of the day, and it IS Xmas after all 😀 ).

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