Consumerist
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recalls
Mattel Announces Recall Of 155,000 Toys
Today Mattel announced a recall of 155,000 Mexican-made toys being sold in countries throughout Europe and the United States. There's no lead contamination this time around; the recall was announced "due to concerns that small pieces could detach from the toys and cause children to choke." The product is the Laugh & Learn Learning Kitchen Toy, part of the Fisher-Price range. More » -
lead contamination
Amazon Pulls Fisher-Price Medical Kit After CR Lead Report
Mike Antonucci from the Mercury News tells us that Amazon.com has pulled the lead-tainted Fisher-Price Medical Kit from its website after fielding questions about a Consumer Reports investigation that found "troubling" levels of lead in the blood pressure cuff. More » -
awards
Sleeping Pills For Kids? The 2007 International Bad Product Awards
The Consumer's International 2007 International Bad Product Awards are here, folks. Let's have a big round of applause for: More » -
lead contamination
Consumer Reports Finds "Troubling" Levels Of Lead In Unrecalled Fisher-Price Toy
Consumer Reports is busy testing lead levels in children's toys that are not on any recall list just to see if they are safe. They're nice like that. More » -
news from the swamp
Liveblogging The Senate Commerce Committee Hearing On Toys, Children's Products, And The Chinese Sweatshops In Which They're Made
Starting today at 9:30 a.m., the Senate Commerce Committee will examine the lives of the young Chinese workers who assemble our Barbies and Tiggers without the workforce protections or social safety nets enjoyed by western workers.
Today's hearing will feature just one panel. Labor activists from the National Labor Committee and the International Labor Rights Forum will appear beside a past president of the Toy Industry Association - formerly called the Toy Manufacturers Association, before the widespread use of Chinese sweatshops.
Storytime kicks off at 9:30 a.m., complete with heart-wrenching testimonials, pictures of sweatshops, and maybe even a surprise appearance from Senator Stevens. Cookies and apple juice, optional.
(AP Photo/Lee Celano)09:30: The Committee has provided 20 kpbs of video link goodness.
09:40: Subcommittee Chairman Dorgan will be leading the hearing; we always enjoy the when Chairman takes the reigns and doesn't punt to a junior Senator.
09:41: 80% of our toys are manufactured in China. More »
9:20 AM on Thu Oct 25 2007
By Carey Alexander
3,162 views, 6 comments -
Despite problems involving Chinese-made goods sold in the U.S., a Chinese spokesperson says that orders for Christmas toys are "up" and that factories can't keep up with demand. But he also says, "I urge the importers of Chinese toys to come to China and buy more Chinese toys and I wish children around the world a Merry Christmas," which makes the claim sound like PR spin. [Reuters]
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lawsuits
Shareholders File Lawsuit Against Mattel Over Toy Recalls
Mattel's shareholders are upset. A pension fund in Michigan has filed a shareholder lawsuit against the company, claiming that they mishandled product safety procedures and were therefor responsible for 3 toy recalls this summer. The lawsuit also alleges that executives with knowledge of the defects sold $33 million in stock before the recalls were announced. More » -
indoctrination
Barbie Teaches Credit Cards 101: "You Never Run Out Of Money!"
Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique, the correctly named Barbie toy, features a built-in credit card swiper and a life-size credit card for young children to use when buying outfits for their dolls. According to the Amazon website, "Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop." More » -
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recalls
Media Roundup: What Should Parents Do About Recalled Toys?
The toy recalls are still big news and something (the autumnal equinox, perhaps?) triggered an avalanche of "Oh, no! What should parents do?" advice stories from the media. Most, if not all, mentioned recalls.org,but you can also subscribe to Consumerist's "recalls" feed. More » -
recalls
Lead Recall Watch: 11,395,350 Items Recalled For Lead Contamination In 2007
Here at Consumerist we've been keeping an eye on the 2007 lead contamination recalls. Here's September's update: More » -
mea culpa
The Unpleasant Truth Behind Mattel's Unexpected Apology
Mattel Executive Vice President for Worldwide Operations Thomas Debrowski recently surprised consumers and policy makers alike by offering an exceptional and expansive apology to Li Changjiang, the head of China's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine: More » -
news from the swamp
Liveblogging The House Energy And Commerce Subcommittee Hearing On Toy Safety
Starting at 10 a.m., the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will ask how best to protect children from lead-tainted imports. The hearing will be chaired by former Black Panther, Bobby Rush (D-IL), and comes exactly one week after the Senate Appropriations Committee grilled the CPSC and toy industry representatives at a similar hearing.
Parading before you today will be two familiar panels: The first will feature acting Consumer Product Safety Commission Chair Nancy Nord and Commissioner Thomas Moore, who skipped out of last week's hearing for a dentists appointment. The second will be devoted solely to Mattel CEO Robert Eckert.Keep hitting refresh for up-to-the-minute coverage, including pictures of Members playing with lead-ridden children's toys.
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)9:30: Video Link - The House knows better than to use Real Player. Fun fact: before entering the Senate, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) was the Vice-President of Marketing for Real Networks.
10:10: Nancy Nord just snuck in, holding up the start.
10:13: Bang a gong, we are on! Good turnout today. It looks like ten members are in their seats and ready to give opening statements. More »
9:30 AM on Wed Sep 19 2007
By Carey Alexander
3,258 views, 1 commentLatest by Elaine Chow: I audibly said "ew" when Burgess started shilling for Texas. I don't know why, but something about the way he more »
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chinese poison train
Mattel, Lead, Congress, Matthew 19:24
Testifying before congress today, Mattel CEO Robert Eckert demonstrated the size of the aperture it's easier for a camel to pass through than for a lead toy manufacturer to get into heaven. [NYT] -
news from the swamp
Liveblogging The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing On Toy Safety
Today is a big day for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). Starting at 11am, the Chairman of the powerful Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will kick off a series of hearings examining the toy industry's seemingly magnetic attraction to lead paint. Durbin, whose Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Consumer Product Safety Commission's budget, will grill toy industry representatives, consumer advocates, and members of the government over plans to protect America's children from the dangers silently lurking on toy shelves by establishing an independent testing regime.
The Subcommittee will haul not one, but two Consumer Product Safety Commissioners to testify, along with the heads of Toys R Us and Mattel, who recently agreed to start testing their products for lead paint contamination. Representatives from Consumers Union and the official-sounding American National Standards Institute will round out the motley crew of pedoprotectionists.
Keep hitting refresh for hot, steamy, liveblogging action!
(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)10:35: Video Link - Today's hearing will be carried live on C-SPAN. If you can't wait until 11, hit the link now for coverage of the U.S.-China Consumer Product Safety Summit.
11:00: Right on time! Looks like this will be a family affair; members from the Senate Commerce Committee will be stopping in. Expect to see Senators Pryor (D-AR), Nelson (D-FL), and Klobuchar (D-MN) soon. More »
10:30 AM on Wed Sep 12 2007
By Carey Alexander
5,052 views, 11 commentsLatest by phoenixcat: I repeat my info from the other lead article today-- IQ deficits, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, stunted or slowed growth, more »
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Various Barbie
Accessory Toys (lead), Fisher Price Big Big World 6-in-1 Bongo Band toys (lead), Fisher-Price Recalls Geo Trax Locomotive Toys (lead), NettoCollection "Moderne" and "Loft" Cribs (entrapment, strangulation), d-Scan Jubee Bunk Beds (collapse). Mattel's CEO appeared in a new apology video, featuring shots of people in lab coats going through the motions of testing toys (we like how the guy in the beginning nods his head as he writes down a figure, nice lil piece of overacting there).
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chinese poison train
More Mattel Lead Painted Toy Recalls Tomorrow
Toy-giant Mattel will recall yet more toys covered in deadly lead-tainted paint, the AP reports.
Anonymous sources indicated a Fisher-Price toy and its accessories and a Barbie playset would be the recalled items, and the recall would number into the hundreds of thousands.
We're not surprised. As we predicted on August 18th in a post commenting on a video Mattel's CEO made after their last recall, that as companies audit their suppliers more intensely, they're going to find more defects.
Mattel to Announce 3rd China Toy Recall [AP] (Thanks to super5at)
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impotent government
Mattel's Reputation With The CPSC Is Officially Crappy
Mattel is being investigated (again) by the CPSC over the timeliness of its latest batch of recalls. According to the WSJ, Mattel knows it is required to inform the agency within 24 hours of receiving information about a defect that could cause injury—it just doesn't do it because it thinks its not fair. More »
mattel
New York, 10:49 PM
Sun Nov 22
7 posts in the last 24 hours
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