More Chinese toys recalled today

Michael Fowlkes — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:30:00 EST

It is starting to sound like a broken record, but today we get news of more recalls of toys made in China. Today's annoucement involves around a little more than 600,000 items of children's toys and jewelry.

The culprit of today's recall is once again excessive amounts of lead paint in the products. About one-third of today's announced recalls by the Consumer Product Safety Commission involve the popular Thomas & Friends toy line.

Earlier this summer, RC2 (NASDAQ: RCRC), maker of the toy product line had a recall of around 1.5 million items, and today's recall involves another 200,000 more of the popular toys.

It definitely seems like there are going to be more recalls coming as more intense scrutiny gets applied to Chinese imports. With the upcoming Christmas shopping season parents are definitely going to be cautious of what they buy, and rightfully so. For a complete list of products recalled in today's recall and in past months recalls, you can find a comprehensive list on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's website.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer

More Chinese toys recalled today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thomas the Tank Engine toys recalled

Beth Gaston Moon — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Scandals

In a voluntary recall, toy maker RC2 (NASDAQ: RCRC) has taken specific toys off the shelves from its line of Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway figurines. The company said earlier this week that the surface paint on some items manufactured between January 2005 and April 2006 contain lead.

Lead paint has historically been a problem in homes with children because, if ingested, the element can cause neurological problems that may impact behavior and learning. So far, there have been no reports of illness or injury due to the paint.

Upon reading this news brief, my first move was to email my oldest friend, whose five-year-old son, Ethan, has a slew of toys from the Thomas collection. In fact, Ethan currently lives for three things (after his parents and sister): Disney movies, his dog and best friend George, and his Thomas the Tank collection. Sure enough, some of his items were included in the recall, and they've been packaged for shipping. Too young to comprehend the dangers of lead paint, he's naturally beside himself with devastation, but safety, of course, is first.

Concerned parents can visit the Totally Thomas website, which lists the more than two dozen specific toys impacted by the recall. Those toys with a code "WJ " or "AZ" on the bottom of the toy are not part of the recall. The company has now agreed to pay for the return shipping for all consumers who request it. This PDF shows close-up photos of all the trains involved.

RCRC officials estimate that the company will suffer a second-quarter charge of $1 million to $2 million relating to this recall. In midday trading, the shares have managed to gain 1%.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Thomas the Tank Engine toys recalled originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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