Saturday, December 1, 2007

No Chinese made toys for children this Christmas

According to CC reports -Lead on toys was bad enough, but last week's recall of a toy tainted with a date rape drug threatens to turn into a lump of coal for toy retailers just as the key holiday selling season gets started.
The recall of Aqua Dots comes just as the industry was starting to see shoppers return to toy stores after summer's high-profile recalls of more than 21 million Chinese-made toys with high levels of lead or dangerous magnets.
Aqua Dots, distributed by Spin Master Ltd. in the U.S. but made in China, was on many retailers' hot toy lists, and there are very few substitutes, retail executives say.
Reports of children knocked unconscious after swallowing the tiny colorful beads set off a whole new level of worry among parents.
The good news for shoppers is that they're being bombarded with free shipping offers and fat discounts as rivals like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys "R" Us try to out do each other and draw reticent consumers. Most of the discounting had been planned, but at least one toy retailer -- eToys.com -- added a free shipping offer after a disappointing October.
The beads were coated with a toxic chemical that metabolizes into gamma hydroxy butyrate or GHB -- the so-called date rape drug.
While many toy merchants say so far shoppers largely have not been rejecting Chinese-made toys -- which make up 80 percent of U.S. playthings -- they are being choosier.
Interactive showed that one-third of Americans say they will be buying fewer toys this holiday season due to safety concerns, and 45 percent said they will avoid buying toys made in China.

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