Toy Bender

I’m sorry that I have to do this to everyone, but it’s time I put on my serious pants for a moment.

When a parent buys a toy for a child, the last thing on their mind is that toy may very well kill or maim their son or daughter. However, not every toy is completely safe and there are hundreds of toy recalls every year to get dangerous toys off the market. A friend to the site, Keith, recently sent me an article that discussed where many of the dangerous toys come from (real link). It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but one out of every twenty four toys recalled comes from China. More shocking is that Chinese made products are responsible for 60% of all product recalls today.

So do you freak out and throw away all your kids’ Naruto toys? Yes, because Naruto sucks. The rest of the toys you buy at the store from companies like Hasbro and Mattel generally are safe. The toys that you have to keep an eye out for are those crappy dollar store type toys. According to the New York Times article these toys, “…are manufactured and sent to the United States often without the involvement of major American toy importers.” An example of this was a gross out fake eye that was filled with kerosene. Not the type of item you’d find at your local Wal-Mart, but one you might find in a supermarket, gas station, or dollar store.

Still, there is a hazard of even the safest toys causing a problem. Earlier this year Easy Bake ovens (real link) were a high profile toy from Hasbro that faced a large recall and is a toy produced in China. More recently, Thomas the Tank Engine toys were recalled (real link) because they were painted with toxic lead paint. One of the main problems here is that there are so many products made in China that the rate for recalls will of course be higher. Another problem is that while there are legitimate companies working hard to provide parents and collectors with the best toys possible, there are many others trying to turn a quick buck at the expense of safety. No matter where the toy comes from, there are people out there who don’t care about children. I’m one of them, but at least I don’t run a toy factory.

A good way to watch out for toy dangers is by subscribing to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission’s RSS feed (real link) so you’ll get every recall as it happens. You can’t protect your kids from everything dangerous, but just staying on top of the news will help you avoid any disasters.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is not letting your kid eat paint.

toy, toy collecting, action figure, China, recall, safety