Following up on yesterday’s news, The News Register (OR), the Post-Crescent (WI) and The Dispatch (NC) have additional information and images of the recalled bendable toys distributed to libraries around the country as reading program incentives. Manufactured by Highsmith the toys were distributed to thirty-six states (Update: 08/11 12:39 GMT …now reported by the NJ Courier News as forty-one states…), and perhaps hundreds of libraries.
Did your library have them?
Nope
They said that our system had ordered some but we hadn’t
1 pack
We ordered one pack, but only gave out 3. Now we are scrambling to find those families, get back the toys, and give them something else. (The kids should still get a prize!)
Our worry is the terrible PR, because you can bet your bippy that the newspapers aren’t listing that we only gave out 3, but that it was a terrible oversight by all libraries. It may or may not be true, but we aren’t evil.
Here’s another update:
Any library who purchased bendables from Highsmith, KIPP or directly from
Oriental Trading Company/OTC should be made aware that all of the bendables
come from the same manufacturer/supplier and were distributed to Highsmith
and KIPP and probably all other novelty companies in the U.S. by OTC. OTC
WILL BE under federal scrutiny whether they admit lead content or not. I
am SO disappointed in the responses people have been receiving from OTC.
Bottom line, the paint on the toys has lead in it and now I have learned
that the Indiana State Department of Health/Poison Control has tested
bendables from KIPP (who gets them from OTC like Highsmith did)and has
found lead not only in the paint on the toys, but also in the rubber used
to make the toys.
No matter what OTC says, DO NOT GIVE THESE TOYS TO CHILDREN!!! It doesn’t
matter where or from whom they purchased them, they are all made by the
same outfit.
FYI…..
I just received a phone call from the Animal Hospital of North Ashville, NC.
She told me they have been giving the dog/cat bendables out for years!
She wanted to let me know that she called the company she got them
from *Oriental Trading Company OTC* and spoke with 3 people….
OTC Supervisor Andrea informed her that the bendables are …they had testing done by a reputable testing company.
perfectly safe. That Highsmith used a disreputable testing
company
In fact she (Andrea) would feel perfectly safe taking one home
and giving it to her child.
No matter what OTC says, DO NOT GIVE THESE TOYS TO CHILDREN!!! It doesn’t
matter where or from whom they purchased them, they are all made by the
same outfit.
72 Bendy Cats
We gave these toys out to 72 kids last week and spent all day contacting families. Most parents were understanding though a few with toddlers were panicked. Frequently heard “God, I don”t know where the kids put them.”
Furthermore, under the category of “Give a Kid a Book” see the US CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION‘s “Toy Hazard Recalls”t ml
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.h
Misty Fiords