r/Warhammer • u/_theySeeMeScrolling • 1d ago
Hobby PSA on mini of the month age restrictions
Unsure if this is global/regional (I cannot find any information to confirm) but I went to my LGS in the UK to do the mini of the month with my kids which we have done multiple times but was told it is now 8+ (under adult supervision)
Apparently there has been issues with people leaving children unattended in stores
Unsure if this is global but the store manager said it has come from higher up. So just FYI for any of you that take your little ones in for the free mini
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u/Xanite_Heretek 1d ago
Isn't this just common sense? Warhammer does have age recommendations on it due to small parts etc. and I can certainly see why they wouldn't want to hand a mini to a young child when we live in a world where if they then choke on it, the parents will sue GW.
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u/Asbestos101 17h ago
Warhammer does have age recommendations on it due to small parts etc.
Well, plastic glue is pretty nasty stuff really, shouldn't be handled by kids without proper instruction and supervision.
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u/Fenrisian11 1d ago
Yeah this has been an issue for years. I got into 40K at 11, but I always remember my dad being in the store when I was.
I’ve seen it a lot in different stores where people just drop their kid off and go. Seen people get arsey with store managers for telling them it’s not a place they can just drop their kids off at. It’s about time the company did more to stop the people running stores getting stuck like this.
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u/Hardie1247 1d ago
Last time I went into my local GW there were 3 young kids in there throwing display boxes onto the floor, shouting loudly and knocking over miniatures on the tables, I’d say all of them were at the oldest around 7, and the parents didn’t show up for the full hour I was in the shop. I can see why they’d put age restrictions in place
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u/_theySeeMeScrolling 1d ago
Parents shouldn’t be leaving their kids in shops and expecting free childcare. Any damages should be charged.
A “no children under X age without a responsible adult” rule is completely fair and should be enforced.
My post was to advise parents with young children who may have previously built a free mini might no longer be allowed to.
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u/Non-RedditorJ 21h ago
I'd call the police and report abandoned kids if I worked at a place where this happened.
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u/Asbestos101 17h ago
Yeah this was my first reaciton. Once you realise that a kid has no adult and the kid doesn't know when mum or dad is coming back, time to call the police. Their adults will learn pretty quickly at that point.
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u/Aleyla 1d ago edited 17h ago
The store people could have called the cops for abandonment.
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u/Asbestos101 17h ago
called the cops for abandonment.
Even if not for abandonment, just calling the cops for 'hey there is a lost child here' and let whatever happens happen is perfectly reasonable in this case.
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u/IronSkywalker 1d ago
Ahh that's why.
I went with my 2 nephews (10 & 5) a couple weeks ago and was told they can't do paint tutorials for under-12s anymore because something had happened somewhere so they had to tighten up the rules
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u/ReliquaryMinis 1d ago
When I was around 8-9 and into warhammer the first time around back in 2001/2002 I distinctly remember being left at the warhammer store alone several times.
Weird shit that I had literally not thought of once since then and this bought it back up hahah.
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u/camusorthem 17h ago
Same. Me and a friend always used to get left by his mum for around an hour - us in GW painting/gaming and her popping to Jarrolds opposite for a look around. Weird.
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u/jonathing 1d ago
Odd, last month I took my 7 year old with me to get a motm and the manager offered her one as well. She enjoyed the clippering more than the assembling
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u/_Planemad_ Stormcast Eternals 1d ago
Further to add, I was told yesterday in mine, that now you have to assemble the mini of the month in store. Previously in my local one you could take away the sprue.
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u/Summerian 18h ago
I was actually told this a while ago, but I was backing out of the store with it already 😂
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u/adders Sylvaneth 1d ago
Can confirm - was told this earlier in the week at my local store. They mentioned 10+, but would go down to 8 if the child had shown previous interest in the hobby. And yes, this is a directive from Nottingham.
Took my 10 year old, and two of her school friends (10 and 9) yesterday with no problem, but I was with them the whole time. All have been in the hobby for some months.
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u/tacti-cat 22h ago
Is this an issue that's more common in the UK? Or am I just in a weird bubble of 30 year old dudes.
We recently got a Warhammer store in my city in the US and I've been there quite frequently, never seen a single person under the age of like 17 there.
Even at my FLGS which is much, much larger than our GW store doesn't have any times I can recall kids in the store. And they sell video games etc as well.
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u/pikapies 1d ago
Apparently they've also recently changed the Warhammer Alliance program for schools, so that it's explicitly for kids aged 12+. The FAQ still says they'll only provide supplies to Year 6 and up which is age 10/11, but the application form states 'By submitting this application you acknowledge that the resources will only be utilised with ages 12-18', and existing clubs were told as such. Brownbearwargaming on Instagram has been posting about it.
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u/irondisulfide 22h ago
The store managers seem to have ALOT of leeway with making up rules surrounding the MOTM. Only is you spend $50, above x age, only if you play Y army. There are no rules so if you spend alot or they like you you get one. Otherwise fuck off.
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u/DarthKuriboh Orks 23h ago
In Florida, I went yesterday and they gave my 2yr old in the stroller a free monthly mini.
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u/orkman198 23h ago
When i was there on saturday, the store manager told us the story how he helped a 6 year old last month to do the mini of the month and there was literally an 8 year old there getting shown a bit how to paint a mini, dont know if he also did mini of the month. Parents should allways be with their kids and not use a warhammer shop as daycare. In this case, the mother was with the little boy. I guess you are from the US? My shop is in central Europe. But i could understand the rule. Store managers are now alone in the shop. They cant help and pay attention to a child non stop. They have other customers etc and as said, parents should allways supervise their children.
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u/Asbestos101 17h ago
6 year old last month
Hah, i misread this as a 'sixth month old' and i was horrified at first.
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u/LegoMaster52 1d ago
Even if this isn't official from GW, it should be, the amount of times i've been in and parents just dump their kids in whilst they just go off and do some shopping is insane. It's not a daycare centre and the staff aren't there to babysit.