From BBC News Online:

US toymaker Mattel has recalled millions of toys worldwide for the second time in two weeks.

Chinese-made Sarge die-cast toys from the Pixar film Cars have been recalled because their paint contains lead.

It has also recalled toys containing small magnets that can come loose, including Polly Pocket, Batman Magna, Doggie Daycare and One Piece playsets.

Read more here.

Marty McFly in 1985: "Come on Doc, all the best stuff's made in China"

22 years later, I think Marty might have been wrong :\'(

Ew not again. Our relationship with China doesn't look too good in the future.  :-\\

I do everything possible to keep my children safe, I'm so angry right now.  My children have many of those toys that have been recalled.

We need to do something about these products coming over from China. 

Marty McFly in 1985: "Come on Doc, all the best stuff's made in China"

22 years later, I think Marty might have been wrong :\'(



I think the line was "...made in Japan."


Not only are the toys being recalled, an executive in China committed suicide over this.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070813/ts_alt_afp/chinaconsumerusrecall_070813124620



Cat

I've been following this closely. All I can say is thank dog my kid hates Elmo, Diego, and Dora and doesn't have any of those other toys. I'm keeping a watch out though for anything else that might turn up contaminated. I'm almost tempted to go through his toys and toss out whatever says, "Made In China". :P

Wusses!  We used to play D&D with pieces made of solid lead!  Never did me any harm.  OK, maybe it knocked 300 points of my SAT scores and diminished my attention span to two minutes, but other than that...
:D

Wusses!  We used to play D&D with pieces made of solid lead!  Never did me any harm.  OK, maybe it knocked 300 points of my SAT scores and diminished my attention span to two minutes, but other than that...
:D


It seriously does beg the question of how the hell we survived childhood. My fondest memory was of playing with a little beat up and enclosed plastic maze that you had to get quicksilver through.

Quicksilver=mercury. :o

Kinda makes me wonder also .. As a kid, I had some of those big metal tonka trucks.  I probably inhaled enough lead to fill a thousand pencils :o

And if that wasn't bad enough, we used to burn stuff.  We'd set those little plastic army guys on fire.  This wasn't the sanitized newsreel war play of our parents' WWII childhoods, this was live action, full color, uncensored Vietnam war play, all the naplam and Agent Orange, you had to push for that extra edge.  You'd get that melting plastic with that thread of acrid black smoke trailing up your sinuses...can't be doing you any good, dude! Those little droplets of liquified polymer going "zzzzip....zzzzip.....zzzzip" down to the ground.  Then you get a little hint about napalm when your buddy drops some of it on you, "Eeeeyowww! Fuggin' Joey, my hand, man!"
:D

And if that wasn't bad enough, we used to burn stuff.  We'd set those little plastic army guys on fire.  This wasn't the sanitized newsreel war play of our parents' WWII childhoods, this was live action, full color, uncensored Vietnam war play, all the naplam and Agent Orange, you had to push for that extra edge.  You'd get that melting plastic with that thread of acrid black smoke trailing up your sinuses...can't be doing you any good, dude! Those little droplets of liquified polymer going "zzzzip....zzzzip.....zzzzip" down to the ground.  Then you get a little hint about napalm when your buddy drops some of it on you, "Eeeeyowww! Fuggin' Joey, my hand, man!"
:D


Man, that's mean melting those little plastic soldiers.  What if they had a Mrs. Plastic Soldier and a little baby plastic soldier back at home?  That little type will grow up without his plastic dad :D

Man, that's mean melting those little plastic soldiers.  What if they had a Mrs. Plastic Soldier and a little baby plastic soldier back at home?  That little type will grow up without his plastic dad :D

No, our war play was still quite romanticized...only men in combat got burned alive!
:o

Marty McFly in 1985: "Come on Doc, all the best stuff's made in China"

22 years later, I think Marty might have been wrong :\'(


It was Japan, not China. In the 1950s, Japanese products were known for being shoddy and cheap. Now they make the best electronics, at least.

Kinda makes me wonder also .. As a kid, I had some of those big metal tonka trucks.  I probably inhaled enough lead to fill a thousand pencils :o
and also had parents who smoked?You get more toxins from that because to get lead from lead toys,you have to chew them.

and also had parents who smoked?You get more toxins from that because to get lead from lead toys,you have to chew them.

Indeed...my wicked stepmother was a chain smoker.  The house was littered with overflowing ashtrays.  The b!tch.
>:(

It seriously does beg the question of how the hell we survived childhood. My fondest memory was of playing with a little beat up and enclosed plastic maze that you had to get quicksilver through.

Quicksilver=mercury. :o
I have an antique science textbook for junior high or high school kids and one of the experiments instructs you to buy a certain amount of mercury at the general or dry goods store.

Indeed...my wicked stepmother was a chain smoker.  The house was littered with overflowing ashtrays.  The b!tch.
>:(
Wow.sounds worthy of a metal fan's apartment. :P

Hamley's the famous toy store on Regent Street in London has taken other different toys off the shelf on the same paint scare.

When you look at the big picture,it's amazing.There's people who lived to be 100--they didn';t have all the safety regulatiuons--no fences around pools,no safety locks on chests--just how did they survive so long???? :o

Wow.sounds worthy of a metal fan's apartment. :P

Go to YouTube and look up the Violent Femme's video for "Gone Daddy Gone," that's as good a portrait of my stepmother as any--don't forget the cheap-azz TV dinners and house brand colas!
:P

Can I assume that the toys sold in Pathmark are perfectly all right.

There have been several articles in my local newspaper that because of this, a lot of U.S. toymakers are seeing an increase in business. For decades, they had to compete with cheap stuff from China but with all the recalls, many people are now flocking to U.S. companies.




Cat

Go to YouTube and look up the Violent Femme's video for "Gone Daddy Gone," that's as good a portrait of my stepmother as any--don't forget the cheap-azz TV dinners and house brand colas!
:P
actually safeway's diet sodas are pretty tasty! :D

this is right after the big pet food scare............. :-\\

actually safeway's diet sodas are pretty tasty! :D


Yeah, when we do buy soda (which is not often), we get Meijer brand or another knockoff. They usually sell for about 70 cents cheaper than name brand.

Yeah, when we do buy soda (which is not often), we get Meijer brand or another knockoff. They usually sell for about 70 cents cheaper than name brand.


I wonder if knock-off brand soft drinks have gotten any better since the '80s.  Nowadays consumers demand higher quality--even bargain hunters. 

With my stepmother also bought a regional brand "Adirondack" soda.  Beach picnics and canoing trips it was always Adirondack cola and deviled-ham sandwiches!
;D

I think they're just practicing right now.

Red China is not our friend.  >:(

I wonder if knock-off brand soft drinks have gotten any better since the '80s.  Nowadays consumers demand higher quality--even bargain hunters. 

With my stepmother also bought a regional brand "Adirondack" soda.  Beach picnics and canoing trips it was always Adirondack cola and deviled-ham sandwiches!
;D


It all tastes the same to me. Carbonated water and flavoring. The only name brand soda we usually buy is TaB (for me, Rice can't stand that stuff), and that's IF it is on sale.

Would it be wrong to say I love deviled ham and mustard sammiches? :D

i actually think i like generic pop better, especially generic cola and dr.pepper.

i also love cheapy brand fruit flavored sodas.