Top 10 Worst Toys

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Heelys, shoes with detachable wheels in the heels, topped this year's "10 Worst Toys" list created by the Massachusetts consumer group World Against Toys Causing Harm.

But I love number 10 - what the???

Fear Factor Candy Challenge - Age Recommendation: None
These bags of candy and meat from Brand New Products, L.L.C., are marketed to pose a "candy challenge" to children. The selection "is based upon the television series which sometimes features contestants competing to eat as much as possible in the shortest time.
So these bags of candy encourage children to eat as much as quickly as possible - nice touch.

For full list:
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/11/21/wheeled_shoes_top_list_of_worst_toys/

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Remember when Christmas used to mean getting bikes that we'd ride without helmets or protective gear, BB guns, pocket knives and every manner of flying projectile imaginable? Somehow, we managed to survive.

Of course, every kid I knew was able to distinguish between a lamp and a toy, so maybe we were just smarter then.

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I don't understand how the Al Gore Eco-Ego-Warrior Global Action Figure didn't make the list.

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These people are stupid.

Ok, why are the shoes with wheels dangerious? More dangerous than say, skates?

And water balloon flinger? A choking hazard? Like say, anything else small?

The decoration thing I can see.

The pyramid stacker is dangerous? What the hell do you think generations before played with? Soft, cushy pillow like blocks?

The bow and arrow set is a little dangerous....but remember the ones with the suction cups on the ends? Those were pretty sweet and didn't have sharp tips.

The doll didn't appear to have small buttons...but maybe....

They are boycotting Lil' Snoopy? Good grief...how would they strangle themselves with that? And the cord is not long enough for entanglement, is it?

Superman lamp ISN'T a toy so why are they worried about it?

The Sky blaster has the potential to be harmful but would you get one of those for your 6 year old? Probably not. It's a toy more suited for an older child.

The Fear Factor thing is just plain stupid. What parent would BUY that for their kids???

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Bella Dea wrote:

These people are stupid.

Ok, why are the shoes with wheels dangerious? More dangerous than say, skates?

???

Bella, this is very much a coincidence, but I saw a pair of these wheelie trainers for the first time today, as I was going round the Supermarket getting some man grub for the football tonight on TV.

I was aware of a kid screaming her head off, and it turned out to be a girl (7 or 8 years old?) on the floor, apparently having unintentionally done the splits.

I can only assume that she wasn't used to wearing them, and had put her heel down as she walked, without thinking.

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I guess... but what about roller blades and skates? And god forbid the SERIOUS danger of ice skates. Not only can you fall, but they have pointy tips (toepick!) and if they run over a finger, goodbye!.

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Wheelies have been out for years, all my kids had them growing up. Many stores banned them because the kids were crashing into shoppers.

What about the Geraldo Rivera Talking Katrina Reporter doll? Did it make the list?

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Bella Dea wrote:

I guess... but what about roller blades and skates? And god forbid the SERIOUS danger of ice skates. Not only can you fall, but they have pointy tips (toepick!) and if they run over a finger, goodbye!.

Maybe the kids are totally aware of the "movement" factor all the time they're wearing those, whereas with these trainers, the kids can choose to walk almost normally if they want/need to.

I'm thinking it's the transitional period, when the kid first puts them on and isn't used to the fact that they can't expect to walk heel first?

They look like great fun, otherwise.

I'd have LOVED a pair when I was a kid.

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anyone seen the Barbie strap on? Lot's of folks don't like it but I think it's cute.

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Companies will pick something to death wont they?

Small chocking hazards? I can see that..

Uh................... a string.......? Well, dont get your child tennis shoes. In fact, you shouldnt have them yourself. Might as well throw out your tv too. It has a wire. In fact, every appliance you have has a wire. Better throw them out.

So, how DO they test for chocking on a toy with a rope? Wait until it happens?

I wonder how many of those people grew up with pellet guns, skates, skate boards, bikes.. all those things that are not sold WITH protective equipment..
Arent helmets sold seperatly ANYWAY?
I mean.. hell.. if you by a motorcycle, you definatly dont get a complimentary helmet. And only one slip in those and you could die. Forget just losing an eye..

Remember Lincoln Logs?

Talk about blunt trauma..
Funny, they are still sold today. And THEY didnt hit the 10 worst toy list.

Leggos, with sharp pointy edges..

Pretty soon, kids will only be able to play with stuffed toys wrapped in cloth bags so they dont suffocate/bite the material/tear a hole/get a string stuck in their throat/like it/have fun/ fall over it/throw it at someones face/blah/blah/blah

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So how many of you are going to wrap up one of these for your little one?

Source

Quote:

Third Child Injured By Magnetix Toy By Michelle Esteban
SEATTLE - A third mother has come forward to tell her story of how a Magnetix toy she bought for her son is not only dangerous, but could be deadly.

Four-year-old Marcell now knows it's wrong to eat magnets, but at the time his mom says he probably thought the tiny magnets looked like candy and would taste like candy.

But, Marcell's X-rays and his mother, Angela, tell the real story.

"I pretty much knew he may not make it," said Angela as she described the agonizing 90 minutes her son was in the operating room.

Marcell had emergency surgery last May, two days after he got violently ill. He had excruciating stomach pain and wouldn't stop vomiting.

"I just prayed, just prayed," said Angela. Everyone, including Angela's primary care physician, thought it was a bad case of the stomach flu.

Stumped doctors knew it was something more. They took an X-ray, and found the problem: three magnets magnetized together in his intestines. Doctors operated immediately.

They not only found the three magnets, but eight tiny holes in Marcell's intestines. The magnets eroded through his intestine wall.

"I was in denial, 'cause I didn't think a toy could do this to my baby, I didn't think this could happen," saidAngela.

Six months after Marcell's scare, 19-month-old Kenny Sweet of Redmond was rushed to the hospital. Doctors found magnets in his intestines too.

But for Kenny, it was too late, and he later died. And just last week, we learned an unidentified 5-year-old was hospitalized for the same thing. He's in intensive care at Seattle's Children's Hospital.

The common thread? Each of them say the children swallowed magnets from a Magnetix building set.

They are powerful magnets encased in plastic. In all three cases, the magnets were out of their plastic hardware.

"If it's happening here, it's happening elsewhere," warns Seattle attorney Sim Osborn. He represents Kenny's and Marcell's families.

He wants Magnetix to pull the magnet toys off the shelf and has filed a lawsuit seeking a court-ordered injunction to do just that.

"I had these toys in my house, I've thrown them out, and told everyone I know," said Osborn.

The company that manufactures the Magnetix toys said that the toy meets federal safety standards and has an appropriate age and choking hazard warning.

"These children didn't choke, these children had their intestines pulled together by these super strong magnets," insists Osborn.

The particular toy set that Marcell had was labeled safe for ages 3 to 100. Even though Marcell met the age requirement -- he was 3 1/2-years-old at the time of his surgery -- his mom is convinced that no age is safe.

"I want them pulled off the shelf...I don't want to see more children die, I almost lost mine I don't want anyone else to lose theirs," Angela said.

The toy maker says the incidents are avoidable with proper supervision, but the families say it's unavoidable because they believe Magnetix makes an "unreasonably dangerous toy."

The Consumer Product Safety Commission told KOMO 4 its investigation is "serious and ongoing." A Commission spokesman said the goal is to make sure Magnetix and a child dying are never used in the same sentence again.

I know we all hate regulations, and without them the Darwin Awards would be even more fun, but the reality is problems can be avoided when basic little precautions are taken.

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I absolutly agree with you GW.

But-

http://www.highlights.com/images/us/local/products/detail/006958.jpg

^^ who... ( im not , in any way blaming parents) but who gives a toddler a toy with bb sized magnets?

I would not, in anyway think this was ok for Jillian until she was about 9/10

I DO think that company has thier age limit incorrect. This is NOT appropriate for a 3 or 4 year old child. But common sense has to kick in sometime as well ya know?

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Reminds me of good old Johnny Switchblade Adventure Punk. And of course the entire "Bag O'" line of toys: Bag O' Glass, Bag O' Vipers, Bag O' Sulphuric Acid...Fun stuff!

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If I understood the news story I saw on this -the magnets are not visible, they were supposed to be glued into the interior of the toy. Apparently the toys fell apart and the magnets fell out. The label on the box said the toy was appropriate for children 3 and up. I know I look at the age recommendation when buying a toy, but I don't stress test them. Think of how many parents work and leave their children in care of others that may not be a watchful. Many children go to nursery and daycare where the parents do not see all the toys available for children to play with.

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Toys were a tool of natural selection. I remember LAWN DARTS, POGO STICKS (I excelled at pogo stickery), we used to have BB gun fights. the only rule was that you couldnt aim at ones head, (Like that rule was followed if someones head was sticking out from behind a wall).
Go-KARTS, (in which every kid who had a father with a mind the same age as his son, would immediately begin to "trick out" so it could shoot down the streets at 60 or more mph).

M-80's. I remember my dad got some from Camp Pickett Va where he was doing something and he brought these big display boxes of small bomblets home and we opened the packages like two obsessed kids.

Some of my fonder memories of my own father was him uttering the words "Cool" when he went and bought an RC model airplane for me and we got the thing going and it crashed.

How about lawn trampolines. Ill bet that thousands of kids from the 60's are now crippled adults who totally missed landing back on the trampoline and would up breaking half their allotment of bones.

Todays toys are for pussies.

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farmerman wrote:

How about lawn trampolines. Ill bet that thousands of kids from the 60's are now crippled adults who totally missed landing back on the trampoline and would up breaking half their allotment of bones.

Todays toys are for pussies.

Traditions continue - my neighbors son bite his tongue in half while jumping on a trampoline just last summer. I got to drive them to the emergency room while he cried in the back of the car and his mother held his piece of tongue in some ice. They did sew it back on and he seems to be fine.

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I remember when I was a kid and the only toy I ever had was a stick and a tire.

I would spend hours rolling the tire with the stick and usually around July or August the stick would break and the tire would roll out its course and fall down in the weeds on the side of the road.

Then I would cry my eyes out as I walked back toward the house and my mother would come racing out of the house, wiping apple pie fragments off her apron, and say, "What's wrong, Gustav?"

I would tell her my stick broke and continue to cry and she would pick me up and put me on her lap as she sat down in the rocking chair and comfort me by patting me on the head and telling me, "Now now, Gustav. Maybe this Christmas there will be another stick under the tree."

My eyes would grow wide in anticipation and I would jump of her lap and race around the yard pumping my fists in the air.

And when Christmas rolled around, sure enough, another stick was beneath the tree.

I loved my mother for that. (And my dad)

How many other kids received a stick every Christmas.

I was one of the lucky ones.

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Alfalfa, is that you?

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shewolfnm wrote:

I mean.. hell.. if you by a motorcycle, you definatly dont get a complimentary helmet. And only one slip in those and you could die.

Actually, if you buy it new from a dealer, you should demand exactly that. I did. I haven't got the bike anymore, but I've still got the helmet.

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Actually the pogo sticks they make now are far superior in construction and jumping ability than the ones you remember from your childhood, unless you are about 16. So are the scooters and skateboards and inline skates..... Much more serious injuries now.

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