Where DO those toys with lead in them end up?

Last year, millions of toys were recalled due to lead content in them. According to this article in The Health News Digest, only about six percent of recalled toys are returned, so where are the other 94% of potentially dangerous toys? And what do the toy manufacturers do with the recalled toys when they do get them back?

Toy Bill Passes Senate, Moves on to Bush

The Toy Safety Bill passed the US Senate by a vote of 89-3 and moves one step closer to becoming a law, onto the desk of President Bush. Check this Washington Post article about the safety bill passing the Senate. Click here for the complete text of the Toy Safety Bill.

China's Toy Export grown slows significantly

Although still up by 3% from January through March over last year, the growth rate for Chinese toy exports was down from a 24% growth rate for the same period last year. Chinese exports to the United States were down by 5.8% for the first quarter vs the same period last year. Major factors include the toy safety scare for Chinese toys and higher production costs in China. To read the story from Playthings Magazine, click here.

Washington state lowers the boom

Washington state Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law a measure that requires that toys sold in Washington state be free of toxins like lead. While doing so, she also opened the door to significant changes to the law before it's implemented in July of 2009.

The measure states that any product made for children that contains more than .009 percent of lead, .004 percent of cadmium and .10 percent of phthalates cannot be made, sold or distributed in Washington state beginning in July 2009.

Ouch.

I've been all for laws the set the current federal standards much lower all along. What I've been afraid of is individual laws for each state that would make it nearly impossible for toy manufacturers to hit a moving target. Washington clearly wasn't going to wait for a new Federal law to stop them from taking matters into their own hands.

I think this could be a crushing blow to little independent toy stores in Washington state, as if independently owned stores weren't already at a severe disadvantage against big box retailers like Walmart and Toys R Us.

Read the story from the Seattle Times here.

Hannah Montana is bad for you...

...or at least her toys are. The CSPC has found that at least five and as many as nine Hannah Montana toys are over the legal limit for lead. Most of the toys seem to be vinyl accessories (like backpacks, wallets, etc).

Check out this report on the CBS page

ASTRA meets with co-sponsor of toy reform bill

According to an e-mail sent out to ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailers Association), ASTRA Prez Kathleen McHugh met with Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) to talk about the new federal Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) Reform Act of 2007. The act was passed by the US Senate and, according to ASTRA, "is expected to be signed into law in April following some minor changes that will happen in conference when the House and Senate meet to iron out the difference between their two versions. This is the bill that is most friendly to the toy industry, and one that attempts to establish federal standards that will supersede any state standards that are legislated around the country. "

McHugh met with Senator Durbin following a news conference he held at an ASTRA member store - 'The Toy Connection' in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

According to McHugh:
"Our meeting was productive and accomplished these things:

1) Senator Durbin promised to make sure that the language in the final federal law makes it clear that retailers cannot be held liable for safety violations committed by manufacturers. He agreed that this is an important distinction and he appears sincere in his support of our position on it.
2) Senator Durbin committed to making a strong case for strong language that will establish the federal law as pre-emptive of all state laws on standards. Surprisingly, he was unaware that there is legislation on toy safety standards pending in thirty states. It seemed clear that the information I gave him about the various state efforts was of considerable concern to him and underscored the urgency in making the pre-emptive language clear and effective. "

This is great news for the consumer, the manufacturer and the retailer. We need federal standards that protect our children from potentially dangerous toys and also to make it feasible for small companies to comply with one standard - instead of 30 different laws. Kudos to Kathleen McHugh, Senator Durbin and the hosts of the event, Dan and Ulla Koenig of The Toy Connection. Let's hope this gets done the way it sounds like it should.

How much lead is safe in your toys?

Well, obviously, none would be nice but none is a tricky concept. 600 parts per million is the current US legal limit. That sure doesn't sound like much, does it? 600 out of a million?

According to an article in today's Baltimore Sun, Maryland is one of 25 states that is currently considering tainted toy measures in response to the 2007 recallpalooza of tainted toys. According to the article, the manufacturing, processing, packaging, storing or selling of such toys can result in a fine of no more $1,000 per day for each violation.

The bill lumps everyone who is involved in the production and sale of such products as potentially liable entities. While I'm as big a fan of making safer toys as anyone, this troubles me. With each of these states considering their own legislation to combat tainted toys, it would make it very difficult for toy manufacturers to meet the demands of each separate bill passed in the various states. Toys that are perfectly legal in states that have not adopted new legislation would be illegal across the border in the next state. As a toy buyer, I can certainly look at the histories of companies we deal with to determine how safe their toys have been in the past, but until companies catalogs or websites list the lead content of each toy, how am I supposed to know whether a toy is going to pass my state's laws?

Also interesting is how these laws will apply to the secondary market for toys. What about buying stuff off ebay? What about old antique toys?

What we really need are new federal laws that address the issue - make a standard law that manufacturers can deal with and retailers can depend upon when making buying decisions.

You can download the entire text of the bill on it's website here.

Healthy Toys tests 17 new toys

Back in December, I told you about HealthyToys.org, a website that is going to test toys for unsafe toxins. They just released a list of 17 toys they've tested. You can see the entire list here. Of the 17, none came out as high levels - with seven showing up as medium risks. Interestingly, it has been rumored that the impossible to find Webkinz charms were impossible to find due to the lead paint scare - but both charms tested by Healthy Toys came out 'low.'

Toy Fair 2008

Well, I head off to Toy Fair later today. I promise to take lots of pictures, and I will post updates each night if my not so trust iBook laptop behaves. As I mentioned back here, the talk at Toy Fair this year promises to be dominated by the devastating recalls of 2007 and what's being done to make sure our children's toys are safe for 2008.

Here's a couple articles that talk about safety in toys being the talk of Toy Fair:

CNN Money
Newsweek
Reuters

What's the big deal with lead, anyway?

I mean, come on, when I was a kid, lead was in everything! What's the big deal?

Er....well, OK, maybe there is more to this.

According the WebMD site, lead "preferentially enters the growing bones and brain and other organs, where it can cause significant disruptions and damage, such as learning problems and ADHD at relatively low levels; seizures, brain damage and even death at high levels."

Oh...that sounds bad, right?

Check out the full article here, it also has an interesting history of evolution of thinking on lead

Toy Recalls - What Do Kids Think?

With all the media coverage of the toy recalls, no one has taken the time to find out what the kids think of all this. I mean, they are THEIR toys, right? Shouldn't we be curious to find out what the end user thinks about this?

Well, Funosophy, a company that helps design and markets toys, did a survey of 300 kids boys and girls aged 9-11 to find out.

Turns out, 70% knew something about the recalls, of those, 40% of the kids surveyed knew that the issue was with "lead paint, toxins, poisons or magnets.

What do they think about it?

Here's a quote from an eleven year old girl "“I think that it is good for them to ask for the toys
to come back because it isn't safe to play with. I wouldn’t want to play with something that could make me sick. Hopefully they will fix the problem and then kids won’t have to send their toys back. It is kind of scary that you could have been playing with something that isn’t safe.”
—Girl, 11"

Check out the report here at Funosophy website.

Toy Fair is coming...t-minus 19 days and counting. The 2008 American International Toy Fair is the largest gathering of toy manufacturers and sellers in the US.
I can assure you what the big topic at Toy Fair will be - toy safety. Clearly, 2007 was a year like no other in toy history and, despite the thinking of some in the toy industry, I don't think toy safety is an issue that will pass quickly from the minds of consumers. I get the impression from the 2008 catalogs that are slowly arriving that toy manufacturers are jumping into the topic of toy safety. (The HaPe catalog arrived today with two children on the cover with "HaPe celebrates" and "being eco-friendly" signs.) I am sure that we will see many manufacturers introducing hundreds of products that are certifiably safe, or eco-friendly or guaranteed to be lead-free. I can tell you that products that will instill confidence in my customers as far as their safely is one of the big things I will be looking for at Toy Fair. Quality matters today more than ever before. People want to make sure that the toys they buy will be safe for their children to play with.
An interesting aside about Toy Fair is that it is an industry trade show. Every kid I've ever told about Toy Fair is shocked (shocked!) to hear that you have to be 18 to get in. My son's opinion is "well, that's stupid." I'm sure they imagine a vast array of toys waiting to be played with. While it is fun, it's a lot of work and a lot of walking. I think I read somewhere that walking the floor of Toy Fair is akin to walking something like three miles. Plus, there's tons of vendors that have products you have no interest in.
Also, my internet radio side project, YoYoRadio, will again attempt to do a live broadcast from Toy Fair on Monday night, February 18th at 9:30 pm - East Coast time. It will be the third year we have attempted to do a live broadcast from Toy Fair and, if successful, the first to actually go live. Worst case scenario, we tape the show for future broadcast. The show will be broadcast from the location (as yet T.B.D) of the annual YoYoNation Toy Fair party. It's always a blast, so if you're in the area, you should try to make it.

Do you own this toy?

Mattel has yet to recall this toy medical kit. Why should it? Apparently, the red and green versions (kits with other colors tested OK) of the blood pressure cuff contain 4500 to 5900 parts per million of lead, about eight times the federally allowable amount of lead in paint. Alas, the cuff is not painted, it's plastic and the federal law only covers those items that are painted. So, technically, they're legal. Check out this New York Times article about the brouhaha.

In more Mattel related news, remember this post about Mattel's attempts to make their workplaces a better place for it's employees in their factories in China. Part of their attempt was to make the entire process transparent - to allow the public to review it's efforts. Well, they've issued a follow up report, available as a pdf file here. It's pretty interesting.

Ty finally pulls Jammin Jenna doll

Remember Beanie Babies? We sold thousands of 'em. Piled 'em up high when we opened at our new location ten years ago. We had a dedicated following that would call every day to see if we got the latest batch of Beanie Babies in. Our UPS driver said people would ask him if he had any cases from Ty on his truck, then they'd come in and ask for the latest shipment, as they already knew it was here. Ty had a gold mine in it's hand, and they knew it.

As often happens when everybody and their brother wants what you sell, Ty became...er...funky...about it's products. I remember calling for customer service, and being told that "you don't call customer service, they call you." I also vividly remember running a sale on Beanie Babies, where we advertised them at $1 off the suggested retail price. The next day, my Ty sales rep calls and informs me that "we're in big trouble" because we advertised them at a sale price. I tried to tell her that, by law, we can sell them at any price we want to. She threatened to take us off the "priority shipping list" and said we broke the rules. I asked her to fax me these rules so I could show them to our lawyer. Funny, she didn't have them in writing.

Anyhow, to make a long story short (too late), Ty today finally relented in pulling their Jammin' Jenna doll - which, according to the state of Illinois, had too high lead content. Unlike virtually every other toy company who had toys recalled (most of which bent over backwards to try to save face), Ty fought the recall and left the toys on the shelves for weeks while legal solutions were explored. Apparently, they are replacing the vinyl red shoes on the dolls with ones made of cloth. Check the full story here.

Nice. Ty wanted to save money while leaving toys that were at the very least allegedly tainted in the marketplace.

We stopped selling Ty years ago, and are thankful now that we did.

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.

Very interesting article in the New York Times

Jonathan Dee has written an extensive article about toymaker Mattel and it's quest to be a better global citizen in it's manufacture of toys. It's an eye-opening article about the steps they have taken to make it's factories better places to work. It also talks about Mattel's recent recalls. Check it out

New website tests for healthy toys

HealthyToys.org is a new website that has been organized by The Ecology Center, but presents data collected by over a dozen watch groups throughout the USA.

The site presents data on hundreds of toys, which is listed in a searchable database. They test specifically for the chemicals lead, cadmium, chlorine/PVC, arsenic and mercury, but will also list other chemicals that appear in their tests. Each toy is listed as low, medium or high in toxic material content.

You have to join the website in order to view the data, and right now the amount of listings is somewhat sparse, but this is a site I've bookmarked, and if you're concerned with toy safety, you might want to consider it as well.

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.