The Associated Press reports that tests on 1,200 children's products -- most of which are available for sale -- revealed that 35% contain more lead than allowed by federal recall standards used for lead paint. Lead poisoning can cause irreversible learning disabilities and behavioral problems and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and even death

Of the toys tested from the shelves of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us, here are three that had particularly high lead levels:

• A Hannah Montana card game case,
• a Go Diego Go! backpack; and
• Circo brand shoes.

Continue reading Will Wal-Mart-sold Hannah Montana brand lead paint poison your children?

Will Wal-Mart-sold Hannah Montana brand lead paint poison your children? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: Aqua Dots Recalled

Continue reading Latest recall: 'Aqua Dots' toys contain date rape drug GHB

Latest recall: 'Aqua Dots' toys contain date rape drug GHB originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Most mergers are driven by the notion, sometimes wildly mistaken, that the combination will bring both a competitive advantage. Some pairs of companies, however, seem so intuitively right for one another, no bottom-line considerations should be allowed to interfere with their matrimony. Like a toddler and a sleeping cat, the interactions of these two seem inevitable

Continue reading Mergers I'd like to see -- Mattel (MAT) and Waste Management (WMI)

Mergers I'd like to see -- Mattel (MAT) and Waste Management (WMI) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Proactive J.C. Penney (JCP) turns up lead levels in Winnie the Pooh playsets

Proactive J.C. Penney (JCP) turns up lead levels in Winnie the Pooh playsets originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Holiday shopping season started early -- Is it that time of year already?

Holiday shopping season started early -- Is it that time of year already? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This holiday season parents will need to choose between buying American and getting the toys their kids want. According to USA Today, That's because 80% of all toys sold in the USA are made in China. Some internal toy-industry estimates show only about 10% are actually made here.

Not only are few toys made in the U.S. but the ones that are don't appeal to the typical American child. That's because 10% of toys that are U.S.-made are wooden, old-fashioned "nostalgia" toys, such as blocks or puzzles, that may not hold the interest of kids older than toddlers. As noted in my post last month, there's Slinky, the twisty-wire-walking toy from the 1950s, and some plastic toys like K'Nex construction sets.

And here's the bad news about U.S. toys -- while they're safer than those made in China, they have some problems of their own. For example, U.S.-made toys were the subject of four of the 40 toy recalls the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) announced in the 2006 fiscal year, or 10%. Chinese-made toys were the subject of 28, or 70%. The other recalls were divided among toys made elsewhere in Asia and Europe.

If you have advice for parents seeking safe American toys that their children will actually want to own, please comment below.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

America doesn't make the toys your kids want for the holidays originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Unfortunately, the discovery that certain Toad vehicles could be potentially unsafe was made in August, after Toads had been sent as bonus gifts to some families. Many of the Toad bonus gifts are safe, however some may not be. If you received a Toad vehicle as a bonus gift from us, please check its underside for the tracking code 1656OW00 to determine if it is one of the recalled toys.

Continue reading Thomas & Friends bonus gift sends lead paint back to kids: Thanks but no thanks

Thomas & Friends bonus gift sends lead paint back to kids: Thanks but no thanks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mattel (NYSE: MAT) actually apologized to the Chinese government for making it appear that poor quality control by the country's manufacturers caused defects in its toys. The Associated Press reported that Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's EVP of global operations, said this at a meeting in China yesterday: "Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys."

The press and investors have not heard this kind of talk from the toy company before, and it was assumed that the factories that make toys for Mattel were at fault for using lead paint in several products.

Mattel's CEO was dragged before Congress earlier this week and beaten like a red-headed mule. Congress wants to know why the company did not catch problems earlier and had to recall over one million units.

The AP says that a large part of Mattel's profits result from outsourcing manufacturing to Chinese factories. With low labor costs in the country that is probably true. Moving production to another country could take a great deal of time and would pressure Mattel gross margins.

It would not be beyond the realm of possibility to think that the Chinese pressured Mattel into its statement. The US company may have given in rather than be forced out of relationships with its current suppliers.

If Mattel's new statement is accurate, and the company is at fault for all of the problems that caused the recalls, it is hard to imagine how all of the senior executives at the company still have their jobs.

Something about the incident does not make sense.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 247wallst.com.

Mattel's (MAT) odd apology to China originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) will begin to safety test toys made based on its characters. The move is novel because Disney had until now relied on manufacturers such as Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) to make sure that the products its licenses were safe.

Disney, though, can no longer afford to count on others to defend its brands and reputation.

The move is deeply humiliating, especially to Mattel because it sends the signal that Disney cannot trust the large toy company. The New York Times was told by Andy Mooney, the chairman of Disney's consumer products division that "It sends the message that we are looking over their shoulders." Disney's tests will focus on about 2,000 toy makers and 65,000 products each year.

The Disney testing may turn out to be no more than window dressing to get its shareholders and customers to believe that it can police a huge industry which involves factories all over the world, especially in China, and tens of thousands of retail outlets.

But Disney feels it need to do something to protect its brands, even if it is almost entirely symbolic.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Click here for Mattel toy recall news

Peter Cohan: Is China hurting Disney's (DIS) reputation?
Sarah Gilbert: Mattel's third toy recall: Parents response ho-hum, could Barbie survive?
Zac Bissonnette: Toys 'R' Us joins the recall club -- and how you can capitalize
Brian White: Mattel toy recall: Wal-Mart (WMT) steps up toy inspection efforts
Michael Fowlkes: More children's products join the Chinese recall list
Beth Gaston Moon: Mattel (MAT): Looking into the latest recall
Michael Fowlkes: Chinese executive found hanged following Mattel (MAT) toy recalls
Hilary Kramer: Mattel, Inc. (MAT): Buy or sell after recall?
Tom Taulli: Mattel toy recall: Lessons for business owners

Disney (DIS) to test toys based on its characters originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It seems like almost every day, when I turn on my computer, I read about yet another kids' product being recalled due to high lead content. Today was no different. Today's news involved another 300,000 or so Chinese made products that have been found to posses excess levels of lead paint and recalled.

You really have to wonder just how far does this problem stretch? How long has this been going on? I, for one, have a hard time believing that this problem has just started; it has probably been going on for a long time and only now is being watched. It is a scary thought to say the least.

Today's recall involves around a quarter million pairs of SpongeBob SquarePants address books and journals that contain harmful amounts of lead in their spiral bindings. The books were sold between June 2006 and July 2007 in stores across the U.S. Late is better than never, but for the kids who had bought the books LAST JUNE, I hate to say that the damage has probably already been done. Why did it take over a year to figure this out?

Continue reading More children's products join the Chinese recall list

More children's products join the Chinese recall list originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: Mattel toy recall

Continue reading Fisher-Price to recall one million toys made in China

Fisher-Price to recall one million toys made in China originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Aug 2007 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.