Toy Story 3 Bowling Game Recalled

With all the issues that have been going on since 2007, you’d think toy makers would be a little more careful in how they make their toys. Are they trying to get away with something or have they just not paid attention to what has been going on with toy recalls the past several years? This time it’s a Toy Story Bowling Game Rug with Buzz Lightyear on the pack. It comes with one plastic bowling ball, six white plastic bowling pins and a rug to play the game on. The reason for the recall is the red paint used on the bowling pins. There’s more lead used in the paint than is allowed and is, yet again, a violation of the federal lead paint standard. It was made in China, but imported by G.A. Gertmenian and Sons, LLC located in Los Angeles. All of which is written on the package for verification. They were sold at Walmart for a couple weeks in September and were $18. I got the bowling set I reviewed before for $1 and it had two plastic bowling balls and 10 plastic bowling pins, but it didn’t have the rug. The red stripe on the bowling set I have was made with some red tape similar to what I would see at the grocery stores used to wrap around cooking bananas so you could tell the difference between the cooking and regular bananas. Only 600 sets are being recalled so it makes me wonder if it was just a fluke because for something like Toy Story 3, you’d think they’d have made them in the thousands. Another reason I think it may have been a fluke is that customers have been instructed to take their set back to the manufacturer for a free replacement set, which is different than the usual refund offered. You can see the CPSC report and the picture of the game...

Recalled Toy Tank For Melting Controller

ok, I’ve been lazy since getting back to college. I’ve decreased work a little and increased school and homework by quite a bit. Anyway, might as well start with some recalls this year. The Target Practice Tank Play Set was recalled because the battery powered controller used to move the tank, back and forth, and to rotate the turret has a tendency to overheat and melt. This has some obvious issues with burning people and it poses a burn hazard. The tank requires 3 AAA batteries to run and it was probably a poorly designed system, common in cheap toys, that leads to the burn hazard. Poorly designed electrical systems without the proper safeguards have that kind of problem, whether it be a house, car or toy. If the toy comes with batteries, I can’t tell if they do, the batteries themselves are probably the same cheap toy batteries that came with my toy cell phone and they have their own problems with acid leakage. About 67,000, units are being recalled and they were sold at Family Dollar stores in North Carolina for $5. They were made in China and imported to North Carolina. Fortunately no one was reported injured by these controllers, but they should be taken away from children before they do and they should be returned to Family Dollar for a full refund. For the full details, read the CPSC...

Recall On Buckyballs Magnet Sets

Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to hazard a guess as to why a set of magnets is being recalled in a similar way it wouldn’t be too hard to guess why lead water bottles might be recalled. The magnetic toy set is called Buckyballs. It’s a set of 216 high powered spherical magnets that can be put together in many different ways, shapes and patterns. So basically, it’s 216 magnets a child can swallow. However, this “toy” isn’t meant for children younger than 13, at least it used to be that way. While someone 13 or older should be careful with children around, the recall is actually due to a slight change in the toy standards rules. The toys were being sold between March 2009 and March 2010. They are now being recalled because on August 17th 2009, the toy standard rule for selling high powered magnets went from 13+ to not under 14. This caused a problem because the package lists the Buckyballs for ages 13+, below the minimum age for the new toy standard age minimum. Complete sets of the Buckyballs listing ages 13+ can be returned to Maxfield and Oberton in New York for a refund. You don’t have to return it if you don’t want to, just don’t get caught selling it at a garage sale years down the road. It’s illegal to sell or resell toys that have been...

Firefighters Applaud Lighter Ban

North Carolina Firefighters are pleased with a recent statewide ban on novelty lighters. These novelty lighters are modeled after a wide variety of items, including toys, that catches a child’s interest to play with them. This has lead to the start of many accidental fires since parents can’t always tell the difference and they don’t notice it in time to stop their kids from playing with them. North Carolina thought it best to just ban lighters made to look like things other than lighters, which is probably the best solution to that problem. As they say, an ounce of prevention. Firefighting is one of many jobs where its better when they are doing as little as possible, like a funeral home operator. They can then be ready for real emergencies rather than accidental fires started through something like a kid playing with a lighter they thought was a toy. For more on this statewide lighter ban, go here. I am just wondering if those so called novelty lighters were in fact lighters or if they were some of those toys that were recalled for starting on fire when played with. It would be quite the twist if they were just toys that started on fire when you played with them, or is that a fair description of a...

CPSC Locks On Target And Issues Penalty

The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued another penalty with the offending party being the Target retail store chain for selling toys with high levels of lead paint. Again, this violates a lead paint standard started over 30 years ago to keep toys safe for kids. They have to pay $600,000 which sounds like a lot, but to some people it should be more. For many companies such as this, $600,000 is a drop in the bucket so it seems more like a slap on the wrist than a big hit to the companies wallet. Perhaps a larger fine would get companies to buckle down on meeting the toy safety standards. The toys were sold back in 2006 and 2007 so they were already recalled, voluntarily by Target and CPSC. There’s nothing really new to worry about at the moment, but that was near the start of the long line of recalls so they are just now getting to the fines to ensure companies comply with toy safety standards or else face further penalties. View the entire story at Walletpop.com. Do you think the fines should be higher or have the penalty amounts already issued been enough to send a clear...