Most of us aren’t going to spend hundreds of dollars on an Apple Watch for our kids, but there are many less-expensive, kid-targeted smartwatches available. Unfortunately, a new report claims that your young one’s tiny screen may also be a huge privacy risk. [More]
toys
Lawmakers Say Mattel’s Always-On ‘Aristotle’ Kid Monitor Raises “Serious Privacy Concerns” For Families
By 9.29.17
Despite announcing the product in January, toy giant Mattel has still not released the always-on, always-listening Aristotle kid monitor that has already raised red flags among privacy advocates. Now, a bipartisan pair of U.S. legislators are asking Mattel to address what they see as serious concerns about this connected-home device that is intended to track info about your kid from birth through adolescence. [More]
Toymakers Won’t Let Toys ‘R’ Us Die Because That Would Be Bad For Their Business
By 9.20.17
Although the news of the Toys ‘R’ Us bankruptcy may have thrown some shoppers into a pre-holidays panic at first, the company will be keeping its stores open and its shelves stocked with toys. Not only because it wants to cash in during its biggest season, but because its suppliers need it to stick around. [More]
Walmart Hopes Exclusive Toys Will Get You To Do Your Christmas Shopping There This Year
By 9.11.17
Walmart doesn’t want to share — hot holiday toys, that is. In a bid to undercut competitors and attract more shoppers this holiday season, the big box store is betting big on exclusive toy offers. [More]
79,000 “Trolls” Slap Bracelets Recalled After Injuring Five Children
By 9.7.17
As a child, it was always exciting to receive a book that also included a toy, because well, I was a kid. But as it turns out some of those toys could be dangerous. Case in point: 79,000 slap bracelets included in the DreamWorks Trolls: It’s Hug Time! storybook were recalled after several children were cut by the accessories. [More]
Safety Regulators Issue Safety Alert For Still-Popular Fidget Spinners
By 8.10.17
Following several incidents in which it became increasingly clear that toys-of-the-moment fidget spinners weren’t just exploding in popularity, but actually exploding, federal safety regulators have issued a safety alert aimed at reducing the potential for injuries and fire hazards associated with the gadgets. [More]
Which Major Retailers Sort Their Toy Departments By Gender?
By 7.25.17 — Updated: 7.26.17
While some toy companies have been giving up on long-held preconceptions about gender-specific products in recent years, we were curious how this was affecting retailers, so we checked out a few of the big chains. Here’s how the major stores sort their toy departments so you can shop by your preference. [More]
Winkel Colorburst Toys Recalled Because They May Crumble, Seem Edible To Babies
By 7.21.17
The Winkel Colorburst is an adorable and colorful teething toy. “Colorful loops made from soft, pliable plastic are easy to grasp and hold,” its manufacturer, Manhattan Toy, says on its website. Yet on some of the colorbursts, the plastic loops may become brittle and break, and the infant may try to eat these pieces, because that’s how infants roll. [More]
New Barbie Doll Lineup Lets Ken Settle Into His Dad-Bod, Live Out His Man-Bun Fantasy
By 6.20.17
The times, they are a-changin’. And much like Barbie’s evolution into a doll that comes in sizes other than “impossibly perfect,” Ken is getting a new look that more closely reflects today’s reality: He’s got a man-bun, a dad-bod, and comes in a more diverse range of skin tones. [More]
Parents In Germany Face $26,500 Fine If They Don’t Destroy Controversial ‘My Friend Cayla’ Dolls
By 4.14.17
After researchers found that My Friend Cayla dolls were recording users’ and sending this information out to a third party specializing in voice-recognition for police and military forces, officials in Germany told parents to get rid of the toys. In case families didn’t take that request seriously, the country’s telecommunications regulator has since clarified that parents who don’t destroy their Cayla dolls could face more than $25,000 in fines. [More]
Target Recalls 560,000 “Hatch & Grow” Easter Toys Over Ingestion Hazard
By 4.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
If you bought a Hatch & Grow Easter egg or Dino toy from Target for your child’s basket this weekend, you might want to make alternative plans: Target has recalled 560,000 of the toys as they pose an ingestion hazard that can only be remedied with surgery. [More]
Regulators Investigating Hoverboard Fire That Killed 3-Year-Old Girl
By 3.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Nearly eight months after the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 500,000 “hoverboard” scooters from eight manufacturers over fire hazards posed by the devices’ lithium-ion battery backs, the agency has opened an investigation into a fire that killed a 3-year-old girl in Pennsylvania on Friday. [More]
German Officials Tell Parents To Destroy Doll That Records Conversations
By 2.17.17
Late last year, research indicated that certain toys may be collecting audio recording and personal information from children and sending that data to a company that used the information to improve the voice-recognition tools it sells to the military and law enforcement agencies. While consumer advocates quickly filed complaints with federal regulators in the U.S., across the pond, authorities in Germany are now directing parents to get rid of the “My Friend Cayla” doll. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Hatchimals-Maker Deceived Consumers Over Toy
By 1.24.17
A month after the holiday’s hottest toy — Hatchimals — left many parents, and their youngsters, disappointed when the interactive toy failed to hatch, one woman left holding an allegedly useless item has sued Spin Master, the company behind the plaything. [More]
Parents Report Finding “Sophie The Giraffe” Toys Filled With Mold
By 1.16.17
Except for certain cheeses, you wouldn’t sit around and gnaw on something full of mold, and you wouldn’t want your child to do so, either. That’s why parents were horrified to see photos online of familiar Sophie the Giraffe toys full of mold. Mold! [More]
Tax Proposal Could Result In Higher Prices On Toys
By 1.11.17
Lawmakers are currently mulling over a proposed tax code overhaul intended to reduce the tax burden on U.S. companies that could also have the net result of raising prices on the products those companies manufacture overseas, a change that could hit toy companies particularly hard. [More]
More Hatchimals Problems: Parents Claim They Say Curse Words
By 12.29.16
Yesterday, the hot holiday toy of 2016 came under fire when parents complained that the Hatchimals they bought for their kids failed to hatch. Now, some who have hatched the interactive toy say it came with an unexpected feature: an R-rated vocabulary. [More]
