Insider Trading (the DM's Craft way)

[Deleted]

Anyone know where to get those kinder chocolate eggs. The case inside make perfect atomic bombs.

[Alexis]

noctuary I've heard they're illegal in the US is that true? But you can definitely get them in Europe. You've just given me a great idea about what I could possibly send someone if I ever get around to doing it. Not so far from my chocolate idea ;-)

[Deleted]

I guess they are because of the choking hazard. Hey tauster want some chocolate?

[tauster]

We do have them in Germany (and the rest of europe I guess) - you can buy them practically everywhere. I heard of them being outlawed in the US*, but I never ever heard of a single case of somebody choking on them. Probably because they're too large for small children to get into their mouths, and when they're grown up enough to get one inside their mouths, they should be clever enough not to do so.

* ...where firearms are are perfectly legal. but lets not go into that, I might lose my relaxed manners. *sigh*

Of course the toys inside the plastic eggs are small enough to be easily swallowed, but still - haven't heard of hoardes of babies choking to death on Happy Hippos.

the facts: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise#United_States

United States

The 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act contains a section highlighting that a confectionery product with a non-nutritive object, partially or totally embedded within it, cannot be sold within the United States, unless the FDA issues a regulation that the non-nutritive object has functional value.[9] Essentially, the 1938 Act bans “the sale of any candy that has embedded in it a toy or trinket”.[10]

In 2012 the FDA re-issued their import alert stating “The embedded non-nutritive objects in these confectionery products may pose a public health risk as the consumer may unknowingly choke on the object”.[11]

In 1997, the staff of the CPSC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, examined and issued a recall for some Kinder Surprise illegally brought into the US with foreign labels.[12] The staff determined that the toys within the eggs had small parts. The staff presumed that Kinder Surprise, being a chocolate product, was intended for children of all ages, including those under three years of age. On this basis, the staff took the position that Kinder Surprise was in violation of the small parts regulation and banned from importation into the US.[12]

Kinder Surprise bears warnings advising the consumer that the toy is “not suitable for children under three years, due to the presence of small parts” and that “adult supervision is recommended”.[13]

In January 2011, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) threatened a Manitoba resident with a $300 (Canadian dollars) fine for carrying one egg across the U.S. border into Minnesota.[14] In June 2012, CBP held two Seattle men for two and a half hours after discovering six Kinder Surprise eggs in their car upon returning to the U.S. from a trip to Vancouver. According to one of the men detained, a border guard quoted the potential fine as US$2,500 per egg.[15] The rationale against a ban of the product also takes the form that deaths have been too few for it to be considered a serious danger. Additionally, the argument is made that there should be a consistent standard in place, as several worse dangers are not regulated.[16]

On December 26, 2012, a petition was created on the White House website through the "We The People" campaign to end the ban on the import and sale of Kinder Surprise Eggs in the United States. However the petition failed to meet the required number of signatures by January 26, 2013 and was therefore declined.

Now why does good old Albert comes to my mind now?



OK, ranting aside: I have one or two stuffed away in one of my boxes. I always wanted to make little robots out of them, like this one:



Choke on that, PCs!

[Deleted]

Oh well :/ that's the way she goes.

[DungeonMasterRandom]

I'm from the Southern United States! It's surprisingly cold down here.

[valas]

Feb 24, 2015 22:59:34 GMT DungeonMasterRandom said:

I'm from the Southern United States! It's surprisingly cold down here.

And I'm your neighbor! Did you make it to scarab-con?

[DungeonMasterRandom]

Feb 25, 2015 2:20:11 GMT valas said:

Feb 24, 2015 22:59:34 GMT DungeonMasterRandom said:

I'm from the Southern United States! It's surprisingly cold down here.

And I'm your neighbor! Did you make it to scarab-con?

Haven't been able to make it to any conventions recently due to being extremely busy and not having the money.

[daveyjones]

an alternative to those surprise egg things might be latex gloves.
some of them come in a container very similar to the surprise egg one, only transparent.
but the shape is nearly identical.

[chiefsgtbradley]

Thanks you very much tauster. My setting is a space (fantasy) opera aaand there is alien fungus everywhere

[Deleted]

I'm collecting the dome clear plastic lids from Frozen Coke drinks, they make great dome holographic display consoles for sci-fi furnishings.

On the subject of Kinder Surprize eggs, we do have them in New Zealand.

I kind of love how the FDA just assumes people are knuckle dragger stupid.
I don't have kids, so I don't have a say really, but, I would think its the parent's job to figure out if the food a three year old is going to eat is safe, and anyway, feed the kid some fruit and get them used to drinking water!

[Deleted]

My batch has been mailed! Keep an eye out!

[dmzane]

Wow I'm gone for a few months and this happens. Very cool idea....once I'm done moving I'd love to join in.

[Alexis]

Hey curufin you don't really need to add me to the list yet. I don't feel comfortable receiving something as long as I have nothing to give to someone else! I'll just tell you when I am ready!

[curufin]

Feb 26, 2015 16:32:14 GMT Alexis said:

Hey curufin you don't really need to add me to the list yet. I don't feel comfortable receiving something as long as I have nothing to give to someone else! I'll just tell you when I am ready!

Sorry about that.

[Alexis]

Feb 26, 2015 18:53:55 GMT curufin said:

Feb 26, 2015 16:32:14 GMT Alexis said:

Hey curufin you don't really need to add me to the list yet. I don't feel comfortable receiving something as long as I have nothing to give to someone else! I'll just tell you when I am ready!

Sorry about that.

No problem! Thank you anyway :-)

[tauster]

As a general thought:
Even while the idea behind this whole thing is to exponentially grow the parcel-sending, maybe people shouldn't feel oblidged to send out three packages for every one they receive. For some the shipping costs are prohibitively high, others feel like they don't have interesting materials to contribute (although this is probably wrong in most cases - people just don't know where to look, and one of our goals should be to train us all in that direction).

To keep the Insider Trading going, one for one is enough: it wouldn't grow, but it would at least go on - and that is better than the whole thing dying only because everybody is afraid to be put on the list of receivers.

Just a crazy idea that popped up while typing this: Why don't we as a community send a parcel to each new user? If we would make this something of a tradition around here, people would more likely get involded - not only in parcel-trading but also becoming much more active posters. Imagine how you would have felt if you had received a package full of awesome materials a few days or weeks after you made your first posting!

[Alexis]

Feb 26, 2015 21:06:47 GMT tauster said:

As a general thought:
Even while the idea behind this whole thing is to exponentially grow the parcel-sending, maybe people shouldn't feel oblidged to send out three packages for every one they receive. For some the shipping costs are prohibitively high, others feel like they don't have interesting materials to contribute (although this is probably wrong in most cases - people just don't know where to look, and one of our goals should be to train us all in that direction).

To keep the Insider Trading going, one for one is enough: it wouldn't grow, but it would at least go on - and that is better than the whole thing dying only because everybody is afraid to be put on the list of receivers.

Just a crazy idea that popped up while typing this: Why don't we as a community send a parcel to each new user? If we would make this something of a tradition around here, people would more likely get involded - not only in parcel-trading but also becoming much more active posters. Imagine how you would have felt if you had received a package full of awesome materials a few days or weeks after you made your first posting!

I'm not afraid to be on the list. I just thought it wouldn't be really fair if I received something while I wasn't able to send out something nice to someone else yet. I would feel kind of guilty. I might just be a bit weird about that ;-) I really like the idea of sending something to new members (of course not because I am rather new here) it seemes like a nice thing to get started. Still I also would feel kind of weird just randomly receiving a gift without giving something back. I'm just wondering who would be responsible for sending out stuff to new members?

[tauster]

I didn't mean you with my comment about being afraid - that's why I added 'as a general thought'... (although feeling guilty seems to come close; maybe 'guilty' was a bit off). And trust me, I would probably feel the same guilt.

That's why it is important that we together establish some kind of philosophy behind all of this. It's not the parcel itself that's important, it is what it stands for. Sharing ideas, spreading the craft bug the love for crafting, world peace.

...ok, that last one is probably a bit much, but it would be nice, right? People who exchanged craft parcels won't go to war against each other. Sounds like it just might work...

Anyway.

And giving something back doesn't have to be done immediately afterwards* - it would be pretty normal if someone new to crafting takes a few weeks or months and starts building up a personal junk pile like I did a truly valuable collection of craft materials.

*... and not even in the shape of sending a parcel: If someone is for example a talented painter, why not offering a painting in return?

[curufin]

Somebody is getting ambitious! I like it.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I don't think anyone should be excluded from receiving a crafting parcel. Period. Would it be great if a person that received a gift, could send one in return? Yes. Is a person obligated to do so? Absolutely not. I understand that feels weird. But there is no time limit on this kind of thing. Maybe you cant send something now, but maybe you could in six months. No big deal. I think everyone should have the opportunity to get some neat things. Especially if they don't have much. I want to send stuff to share ideas and inspiration. Plus it makes me feel good. And then there is that whole world peace thing.

Im sorry I was cavalier with your name, Alexis.  I knew tauster was looking for folks in Europe to keep shipping cost down.

...and crafting materials aren't the only thing to send...

I might put together some sets that any game could use... maybe doors and tables.... or traps.... or trees...or shelves with books....I also have some old army builder molds, orcs and skeletons.  I could cast up some minis to send as well...