Toying with
their emotions

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

The Labor Day weekend means more than the end of summer in some households. It also marks the start of the early-bird Christmas shopping season.
But even among those families who don’t seek an extra head start on the annual holiday spending ritual, there are always birthday gifts and other special occasions to consider. So it’s no surprise that local toy stores are still bustling with activity despite a recent spate of national toy recalls that might lead one to think that the Grinch himself is manning the controls at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
On the contrary, the litany of warnings released by the commission in recent weeks are aimed at preventing kids from illness, and possible death, as a result of exposure to an invitingly colorful and dynamic plaything.
Lead paint and magnets small enough to be swallowed are the two most common dangers documented by authorities on toys from trusted manufacturers like Fisher-Price and Mattel. The recalls have touched popular product lines like Bongo Band Toys and Geo Trax Locomotive Toys, along with iconic brands including Barbie and Batman.
In all, the government has recalled tens of millions of items in the last couple of months alone. The vast majority of the toys were manufactured in China.
"It’s alarming to me," said Danielle Brennan of Pine Valley during a recent visit to a local Toys ‘R’ Us store. "My son is older, but I buy those toys for friends with smaller kids. I have a friend with the (recalled) trains. They have the whole collection."
The full impact of the recalls on the handful of Northeast Philadelphia stores specializing in retail toy sales perhaps won’t be known for weeks and months to come as autumn turns to winter.
For now, stores as a rule have refused to comment on the issue, presumably out of concern that the bad toys will cast an unfavorable shadow over their operations.
This is despite the fact that authorities have pointed directly at overseas manufacturers for their use of harmful lead paint — which was banned in the United States 30 years ago — and the defective magnets.
Yet, four of five stores contacted by the Times referred all inquiries to their national offices. In turn, a spokeswoman for Toys ‘R’ Us refused to comment beyond the text of a general statement released by the company on Sept. 12. The Times was unable to reach a K-B Toys spokesman despite several telephone calls.
Schantell Byrd, a shift manager at the K-B store in the Roosevelt Mall, said that the recalls have affected her location very little. "We’ve had to pull a few things off the shelves," Byrd said. "One or two Barbie items and a few Dora (the Explorer) and Diego items."
However, Byrd doesn’t remember taking a single recall return on her shift and has had few inquiries. The store posts signs detailing current recalls for patrons.
"Most of our customers are regular customers, and they tell us (about recalls). Most (find out) the same time we do. It doesn’t seem to have affected us much at all," Byrd said.
Nevertheless, the recalls remain a point of concern for shoppers like Brennan and Michelle Klein.
"I still see things, and I think they should be recalled, and they’re still on the shelves," said Klein, a Parkwood resident who says she recognizes the products by name.
"Maybe they are replacements. A lot of the Sesame Street stuff and Fisher-Price stuff is going to sit for a long time because people aren’t sure."
Klein said she stopped in a local Toys ‘R’ Us on Friday to do some Christmas shopping and buy presents for a niece’s December birthday.
"I know what I’m buying," she said.
Like Klein, Modena Park’s Rob English was confident that the recalls didn’t affect his shopping for his son Connor, 4.
"He plays mostly with wrestlers, and I haven’t heard anything about them yet," English said. "We’d be devastated if it was the wrestlers. He’s got hundreds and hundreds of them."
English and others admitted that at least part of them worries that the next recall may hit closer to home.
"Sure (I do), with all of the different colors," English said, describing the brightly painted wrestling action figures favored by his son.
"It would definitely influence me before I would buy something," Brennan said. "It’s the unknown."
Julie Vallese, director of information and public affairs for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said that her agency hears similar concerns all the time from consumers by way of its hotline, 1-800-638-2772.
"They really just want to know, ‘If lead paint has been banned for thirty years in this country, how did it get in?’" Vallese said. "They want to know how to tell the difference between a product with lead paint and a product that’s safe."
According to the CPSC spokeswoman, her agency is taking steps to tighten the policies and procedures that allowed tainted products to reach consumers. They’re seeking improved testing and greater accountability from manufacturers, and also seeking stiffer penalties against those who fail to report product safety issues.
"We’re talking to manufacturers, and we’ve just signed an agreement with the Chinese," Vallese said.
As part of last week’s agreement, the Chinese government’s product safety agency agreed to ban lead paint in all toys to be exported to the United States.
The CPSC is looking for action on the home front, too. Astonishingly, there is no federal law against the resale of a recalled product, although the sale of products with lead paint is banned. Some states have enacted their own laws. In Pennsylvania, a state legislator from York County last week introduced a bill that addresses the safety of recalled products.
But a federal law, Vallese said, "would end the patchwork of laws from state to state." ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com