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by Hal_Eisner from Los Angeles

Last Post 44 days Ago


114 shopping days till Christmas!
Sep 5, 2007 | 2:52 AM
Category: News
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A third Mattel recall! More Chinese manufactured toys! Will all of this affect your toy buying this year? Any toy ... not just those made by Mattel.

Here's why I ask. I spoke with a couple of people in the toy industry. One, who has been in the business for a long time, told me he's cut back on his Chinese toy imports until he gets a better handle on what's going on with Chinese made toys. With the holiday shopping season not that far off he says timing is terrible for this sort of thing.

Consider this:

80% of toys sold in the world are made in China.

65% of Mattel's toys are made in China.

Since August 1st, Mattel has recalled 95 of its toys made in China -- millions of items.

In the Chinese toy industry there's a great deal of concern. One company owner got a feeling that these problems have led some to believe all of the Chinese toy industry is problematic. Another called this "a wakeup call" to do a better job. And, all of this as some of the companies gave foreign media tours of their facilities. Reporters could see workers putting together toys in assembly lines and lab workers testing toys and paint. Besides small magnets that could damage a child's internal organs if swallowed, its the paint that's been at issue. Specifically, lead in the paint. When ingested by children the stuff can cause brain damage.

Mattel has beefed up its testing. Lauren Daugherty, a spokesperson for the company, told me the following:

"Over the past few weeks, Mattel has worked hard and fast to test all of its vendor-made toys shipping for the holiday season. And, we've implemented a strengthened three-stage safety check for all future production of toys. We've now completed the testing of all our vendor-made toys which will be in stores for the fall and holidays.

When you go to Mattel's website company chairman and CEO Bob Eckert is very clear about how hard the company has worked to deal with this issue. He not only apologizes for the situation, but also promises that if there are any further issues he'll continue to do the "right thing." He says the safety of our children is his personal priority.

The question is will what's happened in anyway cloud your thinking when you shop for the holidays?

OK -- your turn...


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Member Comments Total Comments: 12
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Paul_D read my blog
Sep 5, 2007 | 8:50 AM

All this talk about lead based paint. I have never known of a kid actually eating paint but I have heard of kids eating paint. I don't know what it is about the paint which makes kids want to eat it. I like chinese food but I never got into chinese toys other than chinese checkers but there were too many marbles to place on the board. Hal, I have been thinking about this paint eating situation and I am not convinced there is a link between eating paint and brain damage. it might be that brain damaged kids are the ones who eat the paint. can we talk to some doctors about this paint eating issue?
Hotmamajama read my blog view my photos
Sep 5, 2007 | 10:08 AM

I've got 1/2 done, hopefully teddy bears will
be safe for the babys.
samo714 read my blog view my photos
Sep 5, 2007 | 12:43 PM

i'm not worried about the tainted toys. mostly cuz i dont know anyone young enough that i should buy toys for. i'm sure sooner or later they are gonna figure that whole mess out. i just feel bad that a great toy company is getting a bad rap for one incident. but then again if the toys were tested, how did some of the tainted ones leak out?
Hal_Eisner read my blog view my photos
Sep 5, 2007 | 1:43 PM

Lead-based paint has long been known to be problematic. When my oldest daughter was born we lived in a decades-old duplex. Besides putting baby locks on everything, the first thing we did was to make sure none of the paint was lead based. As we soon found out ... babies put everything in their mouths.
ddain read my blog view my photos
Sep 5, 2007 | 1:46 PM

I'm waiting for our government to step forward and do something. I don't get the impression that the Chinese are really going to do something to change things up. You don't really hear them apologizing for doing this, do you?
samo714 read my blog view my photos
Sep 5, 2007 | 2:59 PM

well i think american toys should be made in america.only we would know what our standards are for such products. i doubt that other companies out of america would know how important the standards are or even care. they just want to get the job done quickly, and in the cheapest way possible.
craftyguy read my blog
Sep 5, 2007 | 8:49 PM

how bout making toys here howbout making t.v.s here??etc ..etc....why not because of cheap labor we cant compete with the chineese mexicans or any other third world nation and we pay for this way with sub par materiels and shody labor it goes back to a very true saying you get what you pay for..
pacman1 read my blog view my photos
Sep 6, 2007 | 10:35 PM

WHAT THE HELL IS MATTEL INC DOING RECEIVING TOYS MADE IN CHINA? IF I RAN MATTEL ALL EXPORTS FROM CHINA WILL BE TERMINATED UNTIL HEALTH/SAFETY INSPECTIONS ARE CONDUCTED AND CLEARED FOR SALE IN THE USA.... MATTEL MUST START GETTING TOYS FROM GERMANY OR HAVE THEM MADE RIGHT HERE IN THE USA. CHINESE PRODUCTS MUST BE BANNED UNTIL THEY ARE INSPECTED OND DECLARED SAFE BY THE GOVERNMENT AND ALL ORGANIZATIONS
sebar read my blog view my photos
Sep 7, 2007 | 1:01 AM

My good man Hal, there is a very simple solution for all of this. Its simply called making them here or rather "MADE IN AMERICA" where there are plenty of starving people who need work rather than giving all of our jobs away. I do not know of any other country on Earth where the government is trying to make it so their citizens cannot survive. Do you know any other industrial country that is trying to give away the jobs to other countries and purposefully trying to cause its own citizens to lose their jobs and potentially everything else in life.

Had the greedy idiots at Mattel just made the toys here, they wouldn't have lost all of this money and the products would have been safe too. Its time to let our people have a job so they can buy food, clothes and put a roof over their head and even find some prosperity in a country that is trying to systematically exile them from being able to do these things.

Made In America, by Americans, now that is the real free trade!

American Author, Poet and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!
sebar read my blog view my photos
Sep 7, 2007 | 1:06 AM

P.S., I have always gone out of my way to not buy products made in China with perhaps the one genuine item such as Authentic Chinese Fortune Cookies, or maybe Chinese tea though our American tea is far safer. Other than that if I can get a product not made in slave labor industries in China I gladly go out of my way with pride.

Made In America, by American hands...

American Author, Poet and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!
craftyguy read my blog
Sep 8, 2007 | 10:17 PM

that's cool sebar but that computer your using and the TV your watching i guarantee isn't made here..and most likely the car you drive ..there has been a TV made in America since zenith back in the late 80s..we lost everything to foreign investments and cheap labor..why do you think our government isn't stopping this invasion from south of the border..wake up ..the worst part is we let it happen....look around on the freeway as Mexican trucks roll american freeways..we are losing our way of life..to big corporations who don't give a damn about real Americans who work for a family ..we are being sold out ..
sebar read my blog view my photos
Sep 9, 2007 | 2:37 PM

1981 Zenith Solid State 25 inch television still working fine. Lincoln Towncar mostly made by American hands. My Stetson's all made in America (including my John Wayne Saddlemaster...Proudly) and yes I wear my cowboy hats all the time, they are all made in America, and yeah every opportunity that I am not forced to I buy American where I can, so I can look myself in the mirror every day knowing I have tried (tough as it is with the political NAFTA sellout) that I am trying. I agree with you Craftyguy that this is the case, in fact I do not disagree with you. But when and where I can, I generally buy American as the environment permits so I do stand wholly by my words. I have always stuck by what I say or post because I have candor and character in what I am saying. If I am wrong, I am big enough to apologize as well, because I make mistakes like anyone else. But I do buy American and use American where and when I am able to, just as I post it and call it.

American Author, Poet and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!
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Hal_Eisner

Hal Eisner has worked as a television reporter in Los Angeles for a quarter century, most of those years spent right here on FOX 11 and Channel 13.

Member Since: 7/4/2006


 

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