Posted on 12/13/2007 5:34:12 PM PST by Cagey
Dollar Tree announced Thursday the recall of about 300,000 toys.
(A previous version of this story incorrectly listed Dollar General as an affected retailer.)
They include bead and wire toys for babies and Speed Race Pull Back and Go Action cars.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said that the toys, which were made in China, have high levels of lead that violate federal paint standards. There were no reports of injuries.
One group of toys has colored beads that slide on wires attached to a natural wood platform. They have item number 903419 and date code 71 printed on the back of the packaging.
The toy cars are yellow with black stripes and white with red stripes. Item number 873820 and date code 77 are printed on the back of the packaging.
They were sold at Dollar Tree, Dollar Bill$, Dollar Express, Greenbacks, Only One $1 and Deal$ stores nationwide from March 2007 through October 2007 for $1.
People should take the toys from children and return them to the store for a refund.
For more information, call Dollar Tree at (800) 876-8077 or visit DollarTree.com
It will cost you more than $1 in gas.
Don’t be messin’ with my Dollar General!
This is disconcerting. We had Operation Christmas Child recently at our school, in which families bring a shoebox filled with things for a child, which get shipped overseas. I know many people shopped at the Dollar Store for some of the items they put in the boxes. Of course, they are long gone.
Do we not check stuff when it is shipped in, to make sure it’s up to the standards we expect of our own manufacturers??
susie
The answer is no we don’t check. The safest thing to do is just don’t buy anything stamped “Made in China”.
While I agree with you, I have found that if I follow that, I cannot buy much of anything. And of course, that might be fine and dandy, but I do occasionally need something. It’s quite frustrating.
susie
Ding Ding Ding ! Your the Winner !
These toys, Speed Racer Pull Back & Go Action! cars and Baby Toys Baby Bead & Wire Toys, have been recalled due to excessive lead. (December 13, 2007)
Let's keep buying Chinese toys and maybe we can deplete their lead supply so they can't cast bullets.
FYI Ping
Are they going to have to recall the Bag O Glass or Johnny Switchblade: Adventure Punk?
What do people expect when they buy cheap-cheap stuff at such stores?
Many people buy the toys out of necessity. It’s all they can afford. Also, China produces the vast amount of toys manufactured in the world.
I realize that, but the stuff in those stores is so cheaply made, I’m not sure they are getting a bargain. Plus other problems are coming to light.
Yes, as a general rule of thumb poor people buy cheaply made things for little money and rich people buy well made things for a lot of money. You can buy a pair of cheaply made dress shoes from China in wal-mart for $50.00 or a well-made pair of American-made shoes from Alden for $500.00. Most people can’t afford the $500.
There really isn’t a place for a “but...” People generally buy at the level that can afford.
Also, a side note. Those folks in the middle disdain both the very cheap and the very expensive. A woman, for instance, in the middle wouldn’t be caught dead buying a pair of $9.00 shoes for a special dress event, but would just as easily ridicule anyone who spent $900 for a pair of shoes as well.
Even a lower level there is such a thing as value for the money. Many people buy a lot of cheap-cheap things for the same money that they could buy fewer well made but more expensive things. It’s the old quality over quantity issue.
The point is, they are not getting value, they are getting cheap-cheap. There is a difference.
IMO people buy cheap-cheap because they either too impetuous save up for fewer better quality things (they want lots of things NOW) ... OR they are deluded into thinking they are getting something for nothing ... a timeless fantasy.
The Dollar stores play on that fantasy. That’s the reason they are so popular and you see them everywhere.
In the meantime, China’s industrial workers are busy and ours are not.
I once bought a pair of $10 shoes at Ross. They were leather, made in Italy and I had seen them 2 seasons ago for $300 in an upscale store. I have worn them a lot and they still look and feel great ... will probably last a decade. THAT is value.
The marketplace is flooded with ‘cheap-cheap’ stuff. Essentially disposable. I would go so far as to say that most people don’t know how to take care of good things anymore.
You can’t really compare China’s industrial workers to our industrial workers.
I once found a hundred dollar t-shirt in a discount store for five bucks.
We can compare that China’s industrial workers are growing in numbers and ours are dwindling in numbers.
A worker in China earns about 1/10 the hourly wage as one in the U.S. And no, eliminating the minimum wage, OSHA, lawsuits, and taxes will not bring down the cost of producing the same product in the U.S. to “China price.”
Whatever the wages, if people bought quality over quantity, China wouldn’t be doing as well.
Now, that may or may not help American factory workers ... it could just as well help Italian or Swedish factory workers ... whoever is making quality goods.
But people won’t do that. They will buy lots of cheap-cheap stuff over fewer quality items. Which means China will do well.
Quality isn’t all that much of a factor in mass produced merchandise. A DVD player made in China works just as well as one made in the U.S.
American still has a huge base of artisans working in the jewelry, furniture and other fields, but the market is limited for such things. The typical American isn’t buying that $70,000 diningroom table or $500,000 necklace, though internationally the demand for such things is very, very high and “manufacturers” can’t produce them fast enough, particularly with the cheap dollar.
“The safest thing to do is just don’t buy anything stamped “Made in China”.”
My wife and I have started a new tradition this year. Nothing “MADE IN [Communist} CHINA” will be given or accepted as Christmas gifts. Believe me, it’s tough on all fronts, especially when you have 5 grandchildren with 2 of them being babies that want toys. Looks like grandpa will be spending more time in the workshop in the coming years.
Buy American!
Is there really such a thing as a “hundred dollar T-shirt”?
That's ironic. Children overseas are making the junk.
There is such a thing as a $150. t-shirt.
So when you open a gift from someone and it appears to have been manufactured in China what, exactly, do you intend on saying to them?
We’ve already made it clear to all those that we exchange gifts with that that is our policy. So far, everyone thinks it’s a good idea. We would rather receive nothing than contribute to the Chinese communist economy. We also understand it is very difficult, if not impossible, to be completely “China-Free”, especially in this age of electronics (like my computer).
If the unexpected does happen, I suppose we would donate the item to our local no-kill dog shelter thrift store.
FYI, I wear a size XXL T-shirt and/or just about any caliber/gauge ammo would be fine. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
OTOH, two of my grandkids elected to buy about 50 toys at the local dollar store and take them to the Salvation Army and donate them, rather than only give away two toys for Christmas.
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