<![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train - Consumerist Comments]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train - Consumerist Comments]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @agent2600: AGENT2600, what do you know about China? or anything in general, how old are you? 14? every comment i see you make about China screams ignorance. I'm really surprised that you haven't been banned, I mean unless this site is supposed to be some kind of anti China propaganda site.

iKnow

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @Walt3k: I agree. I'm sure companies here in America have created quite a few toxic products in it's day. It's not a China issue, it's a corporate issue. If you skip corners in production to save money you might potentially skip corners in safety.

swedub

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> One thing I find interesting about (at least) Americans is the enthusiasm which they will pour into the latest scare, craze, etc. Lead paint is dangerous, sure. In the long run it can cause a lot of problems. Any smokers on this forum? Any that smoke in the same space as your child? How about air freshener..glade and such? Spray that around the house? Petroleum-based wax, toxic cleaners, fabric softners, food additives in addictive snacks which make the kids quiet... you get the idea. Many products which (at least) Americans have grown accustomed to thanks to the immediate gratification they bring to our senses are, in the long run, toxic...I think some even more than lead paint. I can't help but think the products we can buy will change when our focus, a relentless focus, changes. If our quality and health were paramount, then the dollars we spend would initiate the changes we desire. However, I don't think that is even enough because product packaging info can lie, be insufficient, or even be non-existent. A government populated with people who felt pressured to change that packaging is the only way to change it, I think. I don't think there is enough competition left in many industries to enable demand/replacement to effect change. I dunno though.. it all sounds so hard. I think I will go have a smoke, eat some Cheese Puffs with a Coke and watch some good reality TV show. Ahhh..much better..

Walt3k

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> ...And of course, just because a company reduces its costs by $x doesn't mean that they'll drop their retail price by the same amount. Au contraire, Wall Street would KILL them if they did. So the impact of using a more trustworthy sourcing model has even LESS impact to Joe & Josephine Consumer's pocket.

...And HUGE benefits for most Americans.

Trai_Dep

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> The myth that Chinese manufacturing knocks off multiples off the retail price is just that. There've been several studies and articles in academic/business journals that note that - once you account for increased monitoring, coordination, shipping and QC costs - Chinese-sourced goods are about 40% cheaper compared to US-sourced ones.

Sure, that's a large percentage. But it's not 10x, 5x, 4x.

And its generally the lower-end side of the product line.

Barring - or adapting a prove your products aren't toxic, substandard, counterfeit or stolen before we allow it in the country - Chinese products won't be as huge a hit as one might think.

Some companies (Wal-Mart) would be sad, since they've sunk so much infrastructure into exporting US jobs overseas as part of their competitive advantage. Awww, poor Wal-Mart!

All this doesn't account for the (significant) spill-over economic benefits of sourcing more work here. Which, again: significant.

Trai_Dep

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> You always hear people say that everything will cost 2 to 3 times as much if they are made in the US, but maybe if the CEO's of these companies didn't get multi-million dollar bonuses, private corporate jets, etc. then maybe the products could be competitive in price. The "But it will cost 2 to 3 times as much" excuse sounds exactly like "We need illegals cause they will do job no one here will do" excuse.

Kaneohe7

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> Sounding off on this message board doesn't do much. How about writing your congress rep, the companies themselves and buying the more expensive products?

Everyone knows cheap prices = cheap products. You seriously think Americans would work for anywhere near the cost of Chinese factory workers?

Lets Check Reality here for a second
These workers work basically YEAR round with little vacation roughly 40-60 hours a day (if you think they abide by overtime laws you are fooling only yourself)

They earn hundreds a month, as in a few hundreds.

Just calculate the cost increase if you were to put America workers even at minimum wage.

Oh and on buying cheap goods and pushing down prices all the time.. Just look how popular Wal-Marts are in the US.

This stuff isn't going to fix itself anytime soon people. Down the road maybe, but not anytime soon.

miburo

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> The idea that 'brand' can distract consumers from the reality of how, where, and why things are made is slowly going the way of broadcast television and buggy whips. It's not a tidal wave or trend of revelation yet, but every time a crisis or less scary discovery pits reality vs. branding nonsense in stark, clear terms, the branding always loses. The challenge is to keep consumers educated, which will keep companies alert and engaged. I've written in some detail about the brand implications of this subject at Dim Bulb, [dimbulb.typepad.com], if you'd like to check it out.

JonathanSalemBaskin

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @shoegazer:

I'm pretty young, but i was around for the end of the "Made in the USA or EU or Japan" era...products made in these countries were always better.

I think it has a lot to do with the regulations on workers wages, when people are getting paid a approprate amount for the type/amount of work they do, they tend to produce higher quality good. I meen look at "Made in Taiwan" products, though not nearly as regulated as the US or Japan, there is still much higher standards there then in China...and well...look at taiwanese products, usally they are fairly good.

Now if Geek Squad could just realize this, we would be in bussiness :-p.


agent2600

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> Mattel's safety checks on products manufactured in China are touted as the industries best. The level of intentional deception needed to get tainted products through is unfathomable. This Chinese factory was deliberately poisoning our children so they could cut corners and make a bigger prophet. Rather then taking the responsibility and properly regulating their factories, the Chinese government remains in denial and on the defensive. This is 100% completely unforgivable.

You may be surprised to know that this comment is coming from someone who was previously very comfortable with our trading practices with China.


Trust_Shattered

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> Yes, people are pretty much preaching to the choir here. Bad quality control leads to poison train, fine.

Just to be devils' advocate, how certain are you that "Made in the USA" will provide any more reassurance that the product is better / higher quality / less poisonous? At least in China they can execute their FDA guy.

shoegazer

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @royal72:
The problem isn't with a lot of the people on these boards, the problem is with those people that never keep up on consumer news and all of the stuff we do. The mass market just goes out and buys everything and anything without any regard for the safety of the product or where it has come from. As long as it's "a bargain".

Darkest Daze

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> We may end up with a few less toys because of the increased expense, but we have been buying wooden toys and blocks, and cloth dolls for our child. So far, in her almost 2 years on the planet, none of my little one's toys have been recalled, which is good. We probably have fewer toys because of the increased expense, but we think that is not a bad thing (and we still have plenty of toys).
Cheapest is not always best, especially where kids are concerned.
Also, would it be that difficult to test products for lead more frequently? Mattel/Fisher Price is a huge company, and the kind of lead tests done with swabs are cheap. I've done them on ceramics of questionable origin before to test glaze.
This has really gotten beyond scary to the point that I seem to be reading every label on every thing that comes into our home. I now reject a lot of things (food especially).
Maybe that is what I should have been doing all along, though.

marsneedsrabbits

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @wessev:

I agree with you! I also wonder if this is also some conspiracy to devalue the Chinese yen while the U.S. greenback is still sinking against other world currencies. Perhaps the plan is to suddenly exploit the poisons, the hazards, etc from China to the point where U.S. manufacturers will suddenly have a need to come back to the U.S - thus giving the U.S. economy the shot in the arm it needs to regain it's global competitiveness.

I know it sounds crazy, but it just might work!

MisterE

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> Even if these toys were made in the US, it's likely that their components would still be made overseas. It seems like one of their suppliers decided to give the lead paint (for whatever reason) and their checks missed it. If the paint is still imported, it'd still contain lead. Remember, a lot of the pet food that was contaminated was made in the US, with some foreign ingredients.

Of course, the theory that US companies are more ethical or safer than foreign companies seems dubious. Remember Enron, Worldcom, all of the stock options scandals, the Ford Explorer rollovers, fen-phen, Vioxx, etc?

Karl

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @agent2600: "chinese governments consumerism brainwashing"

And that's BAD? YOU COMMIE!!!

miborovsky

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @royal72: thank you. The "everyone on the faceless internet is the same" assumptions do get tiring ...

Buran

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> Cutting China out would help bring value back to the dollar by raising prices of goods back to "real" levels. It's actually absurd how much crap people can buy even with a minimum wage job, when they should be saving money.

lorddave

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @Buran: lol my apologies and let me adjust my statement...

as long as everyone (not including buran) continues to buy the cheapest disposable products and support retailers like walmart and manufacturers using the equivalent of slave labor, this will just continue... so quit your (not including buran) bitching and change your habits.

royal72

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @ChewySquirrel: so an Elmo doll would cost $120 if it was made in the US?

color me skeptical.

Crazytree

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @royal72: Excuse me, but some of us are doing exactly that, and we still get this unacceptable treatment. I politely suggest you not make baseless accusations.

Buran

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> as long as you continue to buy the cheapest disposable products and support retailers like walmart and manufacturers using the equivalent of slave labor, this will just continue... so quit your damn bitching or change your habits.

royal72

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> dabacial?

timmus

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> I wonder at what point companies will find that it is no longer cost effective for them to continue to outsource their manufacturing to the third world. Surely the cost of recalls, potential lawsuits and the bad publicity when a recall has to be done has to eat away at whatever savings these companies get from outsourcing and exploiting cheap labor.

wessev

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @ChewySquirrel: @Buran:

Embargo China...ya makes sense to me to. The only reason things from china are cheaper are because americans arn't willing to sell themselves out like the chinese are (don't give me that they have to work to live bullshit, most of the workers in chinese factories come from substance farming communities, and only come to factories to work because of the chinese governments consumerism brainwashing)

I would pay more for things that don't break

remember in the early 90s...electronics made in japan and USA = good in taiwan ok in china = bad

still holds true today, people just like to pretend that chinese goods arn't subpar

and don't think that america is the only country in this problem right now, Japan is in the same dabacial


right now the chinese government is brainwashing and selling out its own people to just pump more money into the country. the fact that we are supporting it makes us just as bad as the chinese factories that cut corners.

agent2600

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @joeblevins: I'm not sure how dangerous it is, but they DO put everything in their mouths. My four-month-old has already started doing it. I could easily see her ingesting paint off toys, especially once she has some teeth.

jurijuri

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @ChewySquirrel: Really? Then why did I pay the same price for some socks made in the USA than for the socks made in China right next to them at the store?

And yes, I would pay. Yes, it is a solution. Yes, lots of other people would too. We're sick of this crap.

THERE IS AN ANSWER. But these people are too spineless to do it.

Buran

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @joeblevins: children put EVERYTHING in their mouths.

When shopping for a birthday gift for my 1 year old niece, I found lots of stuff I liked for her, but put it all back when I flipped the box and saw "Made in China". Even though the box said "non-toxic" and the sales lady said the same, I just can't trust anything made in China.

ptkdude

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> @Buran: That's not a solution unless you want to pay 3-4 times more for everything.

ChewySquirrel

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> The picture is actually scarier than the story.

How dangerous is a little bit of lead paint? I understand that prolonged exposure to lots of it is bad. But I can't imagine a toys worth really would cause any issues at all.

joeblevins

]]> <![CDATA[Mattel Thought They Could Outsmart The Chinese Poison Train]]> Difficult?

DON'T OUTSOURCE TO CHINA.

Fixed in four words.

Buran

]]>