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(erielack) OT - Thomas the Tank Engine Toys Recalled Because of Lead Paint

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/business/15recall.html

Thomas the Tank Engine Toys Recalled Because of Lead Paint
By ANGEL JENNINGS
Published: June 15, 2007

The toy maker RC2 Corporation pulled a number of its Thomas & Friends
trains and accessory parts off the shelves yesterday after learning
that the red and yellow paint used to decorate more than 1.5 million
of the toys contained lead.

The James Engine is among those Thomas & Friends toys being recalled
because the red and yellow paint used to decorate them contains lead.

Lead, if ingested by children, can cause long-term neurological
problems that affect learning and behavior.

“Parents should not delay in getting these toys away from their
kids,” Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety
Commission, said yesterday.

An alert posted at a Web site devoted to the toy line,
www.totallythomas.com, included a list of more than two dozen items
affected by the recall. The company noted that toys that bear a code
containing a “WJ” or “AZ” on the bottom of the toy or the inside of
the battery door are not included in the recall.

The company at first urged consumers to mail in their Thomas toys, at
their expense, in exchange for a replacement and a free train, an
offer that angered some consumers.

Many Thomas the Tank Engine fans have collected dozens of trains,
boxcars or railroad stations, and shipping several heavy pieces could
quickly become expensive. Later yesterday, the company, which is
based in Oak Brook, Ill., agreed to handle the shipping cost for all
consumers who request it.

The affected Thomas toys were manufactured in China, which has come
under fire recently for exporting a variety of goods, from pet food
to toothpaste, that may pose safety or health hazards. “These are not
cheap, plastic McDonald’s toys,” said Marian Goldstein of Maplewood,
N.J., who spent more than $1,000 on her son’s Thomas collection, for
toys that can cost $10 to $70 apiece. “But these are what is supposed
to be a high-quality children’s toy.”

Ms. Goldstein’s 4-year-old son owns more than 40 pieces from the
Thomas series, and seven of them were on the recall list, including
the Sodor deluxe fire station, a footlong piece that is a little
heavier than the average train.

Ms. Goldstein said she wondered who would pay for testing her son for
lead poisoning if her insurance did not cover it.

Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey


       
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