Sale of Goods Act?

jscottbowman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2011 9:44 pm

Not sure if this is News but could be 'rumour':

With all this web chat about broken weapons from the new 'brittle'(?) resin models (presumeably this also applies to their plastic models as I see heaps of these broken 2nd hand on ebay & trademe), a lateral thought popped into my head...

Having been in retail for many years myself, I am sure the Sale of Goods Act has wording to the effect of the goods must be 'fit for purpose'.
Well they are selling models that are going to be wargamed with as is their intention from the rules they sell with the models. This means frequent handling of the models, and thus the possibility of unsuitable small bits breaking off if not cast strong enough or out of unsuitable materials.

SO if their models break during play / handling, have they contravened the Sale of Goods Act?

Any lawyers out there care to comment?

Have I opened a can of worms?????

Scott

jscottbowman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:00 pm

http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/publ ... #DLM174629

6: Implied conditions as to quality or fitness
Subject to the provisions of this Act and of any statute in that behalf, there is no implied warranty or condition as to the quality or fitness for any particular purpose of goods supplied under a contract of sale, except as follows:

(a) Where the buyer, expressly or by implication, makes known to the seller the particular purpose for which the goods are required, so as to show that the buyer relies on the seller's skill or judgment, and the goods are of a description which it is in the course of the seller's business to supply (whether he is the manufacturer or not), there is an implied condition that the goods shall be reasonably fit for such purpose:
Provided that in the case of a contract for the sale of a specified article under its patent or other trade name, there is no implied condition as to its fitness for any particular purpose:

(b) Where goods are bought by description from a seller who deals in goods of that description (whether he is the manufacturer or not), there is an implied condition that the goods shall be of merchantable quality:
Provided that if the buyer has examined the goods, there shall be no implied condition as regards defects which such examination ought to have revealed:

(c) An implied warranty or condition as to quality or fitness for a particular purpose may be annexed by the usage of trade:

(d) An express warranty or condition does not negative a warranty or condition implied by this Act unless inconsistent therewith.
Compare: 1895 No 23 s 16

Ritcherd · **Posted:** Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:36 pm

I have to agree with you on this despite the fact I have no business nous at all. But i can see where you're coming from of course

jscottbowman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2011 12:44 am

Grrr... I just snapped the banner off my plastic Morgul Knight standard bearer.
I barely touched it as I brushed past, but a slight lateral movement , and ping, it snapped off, and left lying on the table...

Thankfully I am a good enough modeller to drill and pin it back into position, but it shouldnt be happening in the first place. And how much are these figures now: >$60NZ a box, thats $10 a plastic figure, and potentially snapped off and wrecked after their first outing...

Not good

GW take note, this is not good enough!

Ritcherd · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:10 am

I too have experienced just that. you are right, they shouldn't be breaking in the first place, gw need to do something about it. This is why I cut down most of my major collection. I have models I use in games (my best models, about 1/4 of what I have) and spares incase any of the 1/4 break. Most of my orc warriors are metal. I'm happy having a small amount of active models. Less to break imo

gaarew · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:39 am

I think you may be going a bit militant with this.

I'm pretty sure they are generally fit for purpose, providing you handle them with care and avoid knocking them.

Heaps of broken models on ebay are not a case for quoting the sale of goods act, more a case of not letting children play with toys beyond their abilities/care threshold.

Kili · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:56 am

I understand what you mean, but if you buy something fragile, it can break. A banner is attached with a small, thin piece of plastic, or do you want it to be some huge pole?? Don't think so

I do think that they should make the models so that the weapons/heads/... should fit without some extreme hobby skill

Kiliaan

Beowulf03809 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2011 2:05 pm

Though frustratingly fragile at times, I’d rather take that risk and have at least somewhat realistic proportions than something more “sturdy” that looks like it should be in a 40K army instead.

cereal_theif · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:50 pm

Fit for purpose would cover these in the case of putting the model together and general use but it falls down if you do to it what was not intended.

Also fit for purpose has a period of effect, e.g. mobile phones are roughly 1-2 yeasr
So it depends on the period of effect on these models

ALSO It is a modelling hobby, buy a drill and replace your banner poles with copper rods. You can buy these from model shops

We dont want to bankrupt our already over priced hobby

jscottbowman · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:16 pm

Just to contrast experiences from other manufacturers:

When I bought napoleonic banner carriers from FRONT RANK, they came as a standard cast metal figure, and they also supply a long steel rod for the banner pole.

Shouldnt be too difficult for GW to copy this idea?

It would be great for troops armed with pikes too.

Just thinking outside the square...

I dont mean to come across 'militant' - it just REALLY frustrated me when it happened - I take at lot of time assembling and painting up these figures, they are kept in locked glass cabinets, to keep little fingers from them when I am not around. Yes I accept a lot of clumsy young kids will smash these to bits and again that comes down to "fit for purpose" - these are not childrens toys - they are gaming models. Children play by bashing the models together, adults throw dice... I take a lot of care when handling these figures. Its one of the reasons I prefer WOTR to SBG, you can pick the models up by the movement tray and not by the individual figure, which increase the risk of knocking off weapons...

So it made me mad that with all these precautions, I still managed to bust this model :sad:

The figure is now fixed - drilled out with 0.5mm jewelers drill bit and used 10amp fuse wire for the 'pin'. Just annoying I had to do it...
Scott

gaarew · **Posted:** Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:21 am

I replaced all the broken Uruk pikes I got on ebay with steel rod. That serves to keep little children away from them. It also makes them easy to pike up. Accidentaly...

The true test of fragility on whether a model is safe in our gaming circle is to allow big Woostie to hold it. It it survives more than one minute without being crushed/dropped/the glue losing all bonding, then it is fit for the rigours of a gaming life.

Hell, the Keeper of Secrets that I built for him, pinned and green stuffed every joint, is still intact 3 years later, even being dropped etc.

jscottbowman · **Posted:** Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:33 am

gaarew wrote:

I replaced all the broken Uruk pikes I got on ebay with steel rod. That serves to keep little children away from them. It also makes them easy to pike up. Accidentaly...

The true test of fragility on whether a model is safe in our gaming circle is to allow big Woostie to hold it. It it survives more than one minute without being crushed/dropped/the glue losing all bonding, then it is fit for the rigours of a gaming life.

Hell, the Keeper of Secrets that I built for him, pinned and green stuffed every joint, is still intact 3 years later, even being dropped etc.

Yeah I would have changed my uruk pikes too, but they have such a characteristic blade on the end that is moulded into shaft, and not butt jointed, (that would have made it easy to drill and pin), so I have left them as is... drill, glue and fuse wire always at the ready...

I know what you mean about accidentally picking up, my ECW pikeblocks are like that ;-)

Big Wootsie sounds a lot of fun ;-)

regards
Scott

Mighty.Uruk!!! · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2011 5:58 pm **Posts:** 236

aaah, just got some uruk hai new in bax about 3 days ago. tried to make a banner from one, the pike broke.
broke another when i knocked it over. not in a good mood at the moment.
however i understand that i am a bit clumsy and this idea that the figures may not be fit for purpose seems a bit OTT in my opinion.

Sale of Goods Act?

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