Wow. I just finished writing about the possible end of hearing the word “recall” so often – but I guess I was wrong. Toy maker Mattel Inc. just announced its second wave of recalls of Chinese-made toys today, due to concerns that they may contain excessive amounts of lead and small parts.
The company is recalling 436,000 toys due to high lead levels, and an additional 18.2 million with potentially dangerous small magnetic parts. The recall includes a number of product lines including various “Polly Pocket” dolls, a “Barbie Doll and Tanner” magnet, a Batman action figure sets and a die-cast car from the Pixar movie “Cars” (”Sarge”).
“I apologize for the situation we are all facing,” Robert Eckert, said Mattel’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We’ll continue working very hard on the standards, and if we see more issues, we’ll promptly notify people.”
Health Canada also said it is working on providing updated information to the public about what this recall means for Canadians.
This news, as you may or may not know, comes just a day after the Chinese CEO who was responsible for the production of Mattel’s first massive toy recall, committed suicide (Suicide story here). It’s not surprising how far this issue has escalated in the media, considering it concerns the present (and more importantly, the future) safety of our import products, and the success of China’s crucial export industry. But I still do believe we won’t hear much about this, as soon as the chapter closes. Companies, especially Chinese, will surely tighten their safety measures after the exposure and pressure they have been recently faced with (and I’m sure we’re not done).
The following is the details of the recall, according to the press release issued by Mattel Inc. :
Mattel voluntarily recalled 63 magnetic toys sold at retail prior to January 2007. Magnetic toys recalled within the U.S. include 44 Polly Pocket(TM) toys, 11 Doggie Day Care(R) toys, 4 Batman(TM) toys, 1 One Piece(TM) toy, and the accessory part of 2 Barbie(R) toys. For additional information regarding the magnetic toy recall, contact Mattel at (888) 597-6597, or visit the company’s Web site at www.service.mattel.com.
The Sarge toy from the “CARS” die-cast vehicle line was manufactured between May 2007 and August 2007. For additional information regarding the Sarge toy recall, contact Mattel at (800) 916-4997, or visit the company’s Web site at www.service.mattel.com.
A full list of products is published on the company’s Web site at www.mattel.com, as well as by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Consumers should immediately take these products away from children and contact Mattel to arrange return and to receive a voucher for a replacement toy of the consumer’s choice, up to the value of the returned product.
3 Comments Received
August 14th, 2007 @5:52 pm
Does Canada rely as heavily on China as the US? A lot of American consumers are threatening to stop buying all Mattel products, but I think that’s missing the proverbial forest for the trees. This is a much larger problem, and all North American corps need to have a serious discussion about the true costs of low prices. I’d bet more than 90% of toys sold in America come from Asia… and most from China. To boycott Chinese products is to relegate your kids to playing with Lincoln Logs and wooden tops.
There’s a decent blog post on the topic here: http://www.unboundedition.com/content/view/1978/50/
August 17th, 2007 @2:17 am
The publicity on this “ginormous” Mattel recall is very confusing – because the CPSC lumped this 9.5 million magnetic toy recall together on the same day with a much more minor recall of a Sarge “Cars” toy that has lead paint. The Polly Pocket toys were made in China, but even the CEO Bob Eckert has admitted that the problem with them is NOT production quality in China or managing a rogue vendor but rather design flaws. Quite simply, the tiny but powerful magnets were not properly secured. Supposedly after Januay 2007 the newer Mattel models have little white covers to keep the magnets inside. BUT better safe than sorry, right? For better pictures, the action steps you need to take to return the toys so other kids don’t come across them, and tons of helpful links on the Barbie and Tanner, Doggie Daycare, Batman, and Polly Pocket recalls please go to: http://magnetscankill.spaces.live.com.
This site was developed to inform parents and reporters about the dangers of “multiple magnet ingestion” and magnets in toys. After the tragic death of Kenny Sweet in November 2005 due to Magnetix building sets we needed to raise awareness about this potential hazard in your home and the large corporations that kept hushing up injuries and paying secret settlements all the while coming out with new magnetic toys targeted at children as young as preschool-age. And to see a homemade video showing an actual set of defective MEGA Brands Magnetix Extreme Combo go to Youtube and type in “Magnets Can Kill.”
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