Mannequins and body parts

I thought this sale might be useful for NZLARPS or for certain GMs or even for those creative people wanting models for different things.

http://www.garage-sales.co.nz/garagesales/view/926

Sale this Sunday.

I wonder if I can get there. I could use a mannequin for body art designs. :slight_smile:

Oooh, perfect to cut up and make Spartan body armour!

That’s what I was thinking. Someone should acquire a pile of torsos if they are cheap.

Thanks for the headsup, I’d like something for displaying costumes.

That’s how I made my breast and back plate for Oasis.

Sorry double checked the date. It’s this Saturday, not Sunday. Sorry for the confusion.

I was thinking about this, and wondering whether the hardness of mannequins’ plastic makes it appropriate for use in larps? In the past body parts we’ve used have tended to be squishy.

What’s the general thought of having hard props like these amongst games - is it a safety issue that we should worry about?

[quote=“Hannah”]I was thinking about this, and wondering whether the hardness of mannequins’ plastic makes it appropriate for use in larps? In the past body parts we’ve used have tended to be squishy.

What’s the general thought of having hard props like these amongst games - is it a safety issue that we should worry about?[/quote]
Do you mean being used as random severed body parts and the like? If that’s what you’re talking about, then I would say that there isn’t really any problem with harder body parts (although they probably won’t flop around in the same fashion of course), so long as no one tries to hit anyone else with one. If someone actually starts trying to use one as a weapon, then yes I would think there could be problems, both because the plastic might be too hard, and I’m not entirely sure there isn’t some vague risk of danger from the plastic shattering into sharp shards or something.

Yeah this is my concern. However is it a realistic concern? Would people try to use them as things to hit out with, just because they re there, without thinking through the consequences.

Or is the “not larp safe” mentality permeated through the society (including all newcomers) that it wouldn’t really occur.

(There seems to be a high fandom for zombies and doing gruesome things with body parts that appeal to the younger people these days. I personally don’t get it, hence this discussion please.)

I admit in the weekend one of my zombies had a plastic skull that was covered in fake blood. I walked around eating the brains out of the skulls as I whacked players with a sword (larp safe).

I think there are certainly a lot of uses for solid props and set dressing, Our chairs and tables and so on aren’t larp safe and we don’t expect players to pick those up as weapons.

Yeah this is my concern. However is it a realistic concern? Would people try to use them as things to hit out with, just because they re there, without thinking through the consequences.

Or is the “not larp safe” mentality permeated through the society (including all newcomers) that it wouldn’t really occur.

(There seems to be a high fandom for zombies and doing gruesome things with body parts that appeal to the younger people these days. I personally don’t get it, hence this discussion please.)[/quote]Personally I don’t think there’s likely to be much of a problem with people trying to use body parts as weapons without having thought it through first. I tend to not be involved much in inducting the new people so I don’t know for sure, but I think everyone gets the basic ideas of safety and what is larp safe pretty darn quickly, and I’d think plastic mannequin limbs would be seen as not larp safe by most people.

From what I see (or at least from my personal attitude), body parts aren’t perceived so much weapons as much as props to add an extra element of gore to a game, used in situations where people for the most part aren’t really supposed to pick them up and play with them. Even if one does pick it up, it is probably to treat it gingerly, like someone was really picking up a real severed limb. Or to engage in pretend cannabalism. Also, the games that seem more likely to have severed limbs in them tend to be ones that are aimed at more experienced LARPers who I imagine would be highly likely to realise it isn’t LARP safe. And like Scott said, we use other hard props in games without troubles - I don’t think there is a significantly higher likelihood of problems with these.

This is not to say that I think it could never happen, but I don’t personally think it is any more likely to be an issue than with many other types of gear that we happily use. But a very good concern to raise :slight_smile:

I have nothing practical to add, it just amuses me no end that I have a hobby where we have to consider whether someone would pick up a severed limb to use as a weapon or not. :mrgreen:

I was loving this too!

hehe… I have larp safe body parts for army zombies with… they nice squishy… I have armed zombies with them… but I don’t see the issue of mannequin limbs being a problem for reasons already stated.

I’d like to get in on that at some point - no real need right now. But good thought.

[quote=“Hannah”]I was thinking about this, and wondering whether the hardness of mannequins’ plastic makes it appropriate for use in larps? In the past body parts we’ve used have tended to be squishy.

What’s the general thought of having hard props like these amongst games - is it a safety issue that we should worry about?[/quote]

I would like to get some for a LARP I’m writing. I would use them as display parts n things only. Not used as weapons.

Plus for anyone who wants to make tailored outfits it would be handy.
If anyone can pick up as much of a full body or two for me, I’d be grateful.
I cannot get out there myself so something would have to be sorted for delivery/collection at a later date.