Thomas the Tank Engine Wooden Railway - 20% off!

Through Thursday December 18th, save 20% off on all Thomas the Tank Engine Wooden Railway items in stock at YoYo Joe's. It's a great way to top off your Thomas collection without breaking the bank. Check out the new Thomas Talking Railway series of items, or start a brand new collection for your favorite toddler (3 & up). Complete sets start at $31.99 (after the 20% discount) with individual locomotives and cars starting at less than $10. Hurry, sale ends Thursday!

Thomas the Tank angling to become Hall-of-Famer

The National Toy Hall of Fame at Strong Museum of Play in Rochester New York announces it's 2008 class of inductees on November 6th. You can nominate your favorite classic toy for the Hall of Fame until September 8th.
Apparently there's a move afoot to get your favorite little blue engine included in this year's class. According to this article in the San Lorenzo Valley Press Banner, there is 'Day Out With Thomas' event going on in Felton, California this week and there will be a petition at the event for people to sign to endorse Mr. Tank Engine's candidacy for the Hall of Fame.
No comment was given by Mr. Tank Engine on his reported use of 'iron supplements' to enhance his performance as a toy icon.

Thomas the Tank Engine vicously attacks boy!

A toddler who broke his leg when a giant Thomas the Tank Engine ball pool collapsed won about $13,000 when his family reached a settlement with The Early Learning Centre, the UK facility where the incident occurred.
The Early Learning Centre had initially offered the parents of the toddler a $30 refund, but no apology, so they sued.

For the whole story, click here

Thomas Land!

Yup, a theme park based on Thomas the Tank Engine. Opening this spring in the UK. Drayton Manor Park has set aside 6,000 square meters of parkland for Thomas Land.

There are 12 rides in Thomas Land, an indoor play area and the obligatory gifte shoppe (I added the e's since it's in the UK).

How long until Orlando breaks out with a Thomas Land? It makes sense, the 'Day out With Thomas' live events around the country always seem to be mobbed with people. In a related note, I'm off to the land of the giant rodent next week.

Check out the official website here.
Here's a link to a Times Online review of the park, featuring video and a hard-hitting interview with Sir Topham Hatt.

What's new with Thomas?

Thomas the Tank Engine, always one of our staples, had a bit of a rough year last year. RC2, the company that makes Thomas, started the big round of recalls when they recalled some Thomas wooden train items. RC2 took a hit, both in the public eye and with sales. I know what you're thinking, "why should we trust them?" Well, they've installed a new 'Multi-Check Safety System,' in which they promise increased testing of raw materials and finished products, tougher certification programs for contractors, mandatory paint control procedures, increased random inspections of manufacturers and suppliers and zero tolerance for compromise on specs. Read the whole plan here.


Now, how about new stuff? Well, happily, Thomas is coming out with new stuff for your Thomas layout - some are already here, some are coming later. Sir Topham Hatt car (top)arrives next month. So does the Oil Derrick (left), which looks really neat. Keep an eye on our Thomas department for the new arrivals.

Toy Recall Frenzy 2007!

OK, so it seems like every day another horrible report of a toy recall comes in. It was bad enough that millions of toys were recalled due to excessive lead content, but then a surreal report comes in that SpinMaster's Aqua Dots beads, when injested, actually can break down into the date rape drug GHB. (For a fascinating article on the discovery of how this chemical was in the beads, check out this article in the New York Times - registration required. To avoid registering, check out bugmenot.com)

All this can scare the bejeezus out of people when faced with the upcoming holiday gift-giving season. People have been coming into Mitchell's looking for toys "not made in China." Sadly, that's a difficult thing to come by these days. In an age when people don't wanna pay more than $6.37 for a Barbie, manufacturers have been forced to outsource toy manufacturing to China - where wages are tiny compared to US wages. Unfortunately, outsourcing to China means you lose control of how your toy is finally made and what goes into it. Don't get me wrong, many (if not most) toy manufacturers have representatives in China checking into the manufacturing process all along the way. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that just because it's made in China, it's a bad toy.

What can you do to be safe? You can keep abreast of recalls by visiting the Consumer Products Safety Commission webpage at www.cpsc.gov. While there, you can subscribe to their e-mail list to be automatically notified of any recalls.

Also, the people over at the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio have released a list of toys they have tested and found to not have lead. The lists are here.

Very few toys today are made in the USA. The one's we carry include Lunastix juggling sticks, Slinky and Roy Toy construction toys (like Tinker Toys). Some, like Playmobil, are made in Europe.

Rest assured, at Mitchell's, we pull all recalled toys immediately. We've also posted recall noticed on toys we've carried to alert you of the recall. At this point, the only toys we've carried that were included in the recall were selected Thomas the Tank Engine toys and several Schylling Toys.