Rant - Score 1 for Mattel and Fisher Price, Score 0 for actual SAFE, QUALITY & EDUCATIONAL TOYS

I have stopped buying ANY toy that is made in China. For Christmas this year Santa is bringing baby girl the Chalet Doll House from PlanToys. It costs us a pretty penny and other than a few small items for her stocking, which are wooden figurines by Ostheimer, that is the extent of her Christmas. Well ok maybe a few books here and there, if I can find ones NOT made in China. Christmas is not a time to spoil our children with mass amounts of toys anyway. It is the Celebration of the birth of our Lord, something I am making sure my family remembers and celebrates. Next year I do not know what I am going to do.

See the United States Congress recently passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requiring that all toys being imported to the US pass extensive testing fees of up to $4,000 per type of toy they make. They will also be required to permanently label each toy with a batch number and date. This will in most cases force the toy companies to recreate their molds.

So what does this mean for the little mom and pop businesses that sell wooden toys for a living? Well they will more than likely disappear. And probably no more SAHM or SAHDs selling handmade toys on etsy.com. Good quality wood, educational and Waldorf style toys are going to be even more expensive and harder to find.

One European company Selecta has already announced that after Dec 31, 2008 it will no longer be selling it's toys in America, how many more will follow?

So I want to say thank you to Mattel and Fisher-Price for having your toys made in China for lower costs and quality, which caused most of the recalls, all so you can make more money at my child's expense. And a big thank you to my Government for taking the choice away from me to buy my daughter good quality toys and leaving me with cheap, plastic crap from China.

I'm urging every American to read the following and write your Congressperson and Senator immediately!
Please read this from the Handmade Toy Alliance. You can also sign their online petition. And PLEASE, PLEASE pass this on to your family and friends.

And Honey you probably better start now making something for baby girl for next Christmas.

Help Save Handmade Toys in the USA from the CPSIA
The issue:
In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public’s trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small part, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.

The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and update their molds to include batch labels.

For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of mandatroy testing will likely drive them out of business.

*A toymaker, for example, who makes wooden cars in his garage in Maine to supplement his income cannot afford the $4,000 fee per toy that testing labs are charging to assure compliance with the CPSIA.
*A work-at-home mom in Minnesota who makes dolls to sell at craft fairs must choose either to violate the law or cease operations.
*A small toy retailer in Vermont who imports wooden toys from Europe, which has long had stringent toy safety standards, must now pay for testing on every toy they import.
*And even the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public’s trust: Toys made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade toys will no longer be legal in the US.
If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while Kraft and Dole prospered.

You can read our Proposal to Improve the CPSIA here.

How You can Help:
Please write to your United States Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA to save handmade toys. Use our sample letter or write your own. You can find your State Representative here and Senator here.


NEWSFLASH FROM A NATURAL & EUROPEAN TOY IMPORTER

As many of you may have heard, the company Selecta has decided to pull out of the USA market effective Dec. 31st 2008. We need your help to make sure other quality companies are not forced to make similar decisions.

While we all applauded efforts by the federal government to tighten the safety standards for toys, we all got much more than we bargained for. The law that was passed extends to all products directed to children 12 years of age and younger, and includes such things as clothing & toys and much more, with very few exceptions or exemptions. That wouldn’t be so bad, but there are a few requirements that, if left as is, will force most small businesses (and many medium & large sized businesses) out of business….including retailers, work-at-home moms and independent crafters making products for children. The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing on Wednesday, December 10, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled “Implementation of the CPSIA: Urgent Questions about Application Dates, Testing and Certification, and Protecting Children.” This is an oversight hearing examining implementation of Public Law 110-314 (H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)). Witnesses will be by invitation only.
The staff briefing for this hearing will be held on Monday, December 8, 2008, at 4:00 p.m. in room 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. 3.

1. Existing Inventory: The law states that any affected product that does not meet the new standard (with the exception of phthalates) cannot be sold from the shelves after February 10th. The problem is that the law includes many new items that have not been under a previous regulation, and have not been tested. To test these items now, on the retail or wholesale level is prohibitively expensive, and/or simply not possible. So it is very difficult to confirm compliance (although most items in most companies would be compliant), and at the same time, penalties for selling anything that doesn’t meet the standard are very stiff.

2. 3rd Party Testing by SKU: The law will require 3rd party testing in the future for each sku (or style). The large pair of jeans have to be tested separately from the medium size of jeans…even though all materials are the same. This makes testing prohibitively (impossibly) expensive. There are other ways to form a testing regimen and be just as satisfied with the results.

3. Markings: All products manufactured after August 12th, 2009 must have markings on the package and permanent markings on the product indicating where, by whom, and when the product was made. Large corporations can afford purchasing multiple dies to do this. Small companies cannot. European companies with limited sales to the USA likewise cannot.

4. Complexity: The law is extremely complex. Needlessly so. It is requiring companies to hire lawyers just to get a grasp of what is required of them. Also, the requirement of including certificates of compliance of each product shipped, with each product is overly burdensome. Electronic certificates has been approved, and will help, but even then there is a substantial cost to the additional administration—which does very little, if anything, to improve the safety of our toys.

5. Frequency of Testing: Experts are still trying to get a clear grasp of this. However, it is very possible that each batch must be tested/certified. This is fine for large companies running 10,000 or 100,000 pieces per batch. For small manufacturers, with small runs, it multiplies the enormous cost from point #2, even higher.

What this means is small, innovative companies that typically make niche products, will be forced out of business, or forced to narrow their product range and sell to the mass market. Product availability and selection will diminish. We will be primarily left with imported plastic toys from China. Yes, quite ironic isn’t it.

URGENT Action:

The Subcommitte that put this law together is meeting to review its implementation on Wednesday. We need to send a message to them to revise the law or its implementation in ways that will maintain the integrity of the safety standards, but will not decimate the children’s natural products market. Here is a link to the list of Committee Members. Please contact your Representative of Congress. If any one of these Representatives on the Subcommittee is YOUR representative, PLEASE be sure to call & email them to voice your concerns about the provisions in the law as they affect you and the children’s products industry in general. Please do this as soon as you are able.
Here is a link to some suggestions for talking to our representatives from WAHM Solutions.

What else can you do? Pass this on in your e-newsletters, in your stores, among your friends. There is much disinformation in the market, and it is up to us to warn consumers and colleagues of the pending disappearance of the natural & specialty toys we have come to rely on in the recent years.

This is a critical time to raise our voices and be heard. Important issues that affect us will be discussed in a public way next week…NOT after Christmas.
What else can you do? Join the Handmade Toy Alliance, join the online community cpsia-central and become informed & involved. Contact the media, discuss this in forums and in your own online communities. It isn’t just small businesses that are at risk, it is the very nature of the toys & products our children & grandchildren will have access to in the future.

Rave - Clover Toys

I just discovered another great toy store in Ballard. It's called Clover Toys. There was so much great stuff I don't know where to begin. I went there looking for a wool felt kit by Woolpets. It is not a huge store but I think baby girl and I were in there for an hour and a half, at least.

They carry Ostheimer figures. These are great wood toys for children, very durable and it allows them to use their imagination.

They have a wonderful selection of books, including the How to books (that's what I call them) by Munro Leaf How to Behave and Why, Reading Can Be Fun, etc.

They also have a cute little craft section with felting kits, wool felt and roving.

Wood puzzles, Haba toys, Kathe Krause, Plan Toys are some of the toy companies they carry.

Go check them out!

Rave - No batteries required for fun

Baby Girl is still not feeling well but I wanted her to get some fresh air so I bundled her up and we headed out side for a walk around the yard. As usual she waned to go down the side stairs and to the back yard. While on the patio she saw our Bubble Wands and pointed to them. I got them down for her and she tried to dip them into the outside cat's water bowl. I decided to try to make some bubbles for her. It was an overcast, slightly windy and cool day, not the type of day you typically think of when making bubbles. But it turned out to be a great day for them. We purchased the Bubble Wands last year at the University Street Fair. For $20 we bought all 4 wands and got a tray to hold the bubble solution. The company is called Majic Bubble Wand and they are a local Company here in Washington State. With their products being American Made in Oregon. Baby Girl had a blast trying to pop the bubbles and was even able to make her very own bubbles (thanks to the wind helping).


Look a the size of that bubble!


Turtle, Flower, Fish & Heart Wands

Want some good old fashion fun for the kids that actually gets them out of the house and doing something? Then pick up a set of wands right now, no batteries required.

Rave - Izilla Toys has "Not Made in China Dolls"

Run don't walk to Izilla Toys in Seattle. They have the Petitcollin baby dolls from France along with dolls for older children and they have Vinyl Dolls by Kathe Kruse from Germany.

Rave - More not made in China

Today I took a spin to Top Ten Toys here in Seattle. I wanted to see if I could find something for Baby Girl for Christmas. So far the only thing I had was my Vinyl Baby Doll made in France for her. Making your way around a toy store is not easy when one has a 16 month old in a stroller when all she wants to do is get out. After making my way around the store once I reluctantly let her out of the stroller.

While she was looking at the toy cars I was checking out the magnetic letters. She loves to play with the magnets on our fridge and I thought it might be a good stocking stuffer for her. But I could not find letter that were not made in China. But I did notice a display stand with magnetic play sets. They are called "Create a Scene" by Smethport and they are MADE IN USA. Some of the playsets they had were, Rainforest, Africian Adventure, Pirate Adventure, Doll House, Bugs & Farm. There were others but I can't remember them right now.



The ages are for 3+ but I thought since she likes our magnets so much as long as we play with it together it shouldn't be a problem.

Doing a quick search I found a few places that sell this toy.
Super Dairy Boy
Farm Goods For Kids


I also found another baby doll not made in China. It is the Diana Collection from The Doll Factory. Top Ten Toys had a white, black and asian baby doll. I did not get the chance to really look this doll over but from looking at their web site it looks like the babies are anatomically-correct. I called the number listed on their website and the woman told me that all of their anatomically-correct dolls are made in Spain. But before you buy check for yourself.

Rant - Mattel did it again

So here we go a third recall of Mattel toys. This time it is Barbie and accessories, It's a Big Big World and GeoTrax toys. The Chairman and CEO of Mattel even has a video on their site saying how they are stepping up testing of their products and that the safety of our children is important to them. I think it's more along the lines of them wanting to keep the money coming in and not the other toy companies who don't use China Manufactures and have not had any recalls of their toys do to safety issues. Which is one reason why they are in China right, money?
Now like I said before I know not all Chinese people are to blame here. There are a few within these companies who are making decisions behind Mattel's back. But I am so tired of American Companies going outside of the US to have products made.
I for one have completely changed how I buy items for my family, have you?

Rave - Izilla Toys

So a few posts ago I blogged about this great toy store we found called Izilla Toys. While we were there I signed up my daughter for the Birthday Club, since it was after her birthday I was not expecting anything from them till next year. So I was totally surprised when Well in the mail today was a post card to my daughter saying Happy Birthday and that it is worth 5 dollars at Izilla Toys.

Rave - Another great toy store

Today husband, baby girl and I visited another great Seattle Toy Store, Izilla Toys. We found these great vehicle toys from a line called Viking Toys. They are plastic with rubber wheels, if you have hardwood floors this is a MUST toy. It rolls like a dream. I don't remember where they were made exactly, Sweden maybe, but I know it was not China. Google them and buy them up!
Baby girl was having fun crawling around and looking at everything. I know future birthday and Christmas presents will be found there.

Dinner was at our favorite sushi restaurant Hana on Capitol Hill. Their California Rolls are the BEST!!! I ate 3 all by myself.

And we stopped at Top Ten so Hubby could see. Baby girl was again excited to see Rody Pony, she seems to love him. We picked up some wood blocks, made in USA and a toy boat made in Austria.

Rave - Alternative to Toys-R-Us

I've discovered a great toy store here in Seattle, Top Ten Toys. It was great seeing different toys made out of wood, not that junky cheep plastic stuff that will fill up our land fills someday. There still were a lot of toys made in China, but if you looked you could find things made in Germany, Italy & Austria to name a few.

I received a response from Haba toys regarding where their toys are made.
Thank you for contacting HABA USA where we as parents ourselves really do care about the products our company produces for our children.

In order for any company to provide as many product offerings as HABA currently does it would be nearly impossible to manufacture every single item within our own factories. We tried to for many years; however we had to expand our product selection in order to continue to provide our consumers what with new diversified products.

Nearly all of our wooden products are still made at our own factories in Germany. We use the natural beech and birch woods that are native to the area. In fact even if an item is final assembled in China, the wooden parts/pieces still come from our factories in Germany and are sent over to CHINA for final assembly. We don’t paint our products, we stain them.

The stains we use on our wooden products are all water based, non-toxic stains (also made in Germany). They are continually tested by an independent, third party laboratory to meet and/or exceed all of the European EN 71, CE and American ASTM safety standards. You can be assured that our stains used on our wooden products are safe. The stains are in fact edible; if your child is teething and he/she bites through the wood this poses no health risk whatsoever.

HABA is committed to healthy working environments and quality products for children, regardless if they are made at our own factories in Bad Rodach, Germany or at subcontracted factories in other countries, including CHINA. We are proud to be one of the few manufacturers using only the best producers in CHINA that are independently inspected and do not endorse unfair labor practices. The easiest way to share with you where our products are made is to provide you with the attached PDF file that is basically my wholesale pricelist (without the prices of course) but with the Country of Origin on each item. I hope this helps!

And a response from Hape Toys
I can understand your concern. Working so close to children and the many children in my life I take the safety of children extremely important. With all of the news as of late we are having a PR piece created about the safety and procedures of HaPe. I will also have a letter emailed to you to confirm the safety of our products signed by the owner himself. I hope this email will suffice in the meantime of waiting for the letter. The products we distribute here in North America they all used the German paint and passed all the rigorous safety tests and is lead free.

I feel a little safer purchasing toys from both of these companies but will probably still test them at home just to make sure.

Rant - Made in China

So another toy recall from Mattel, are we surprised? I'm not, and let me tell you that I am changing the way I buy my child's toys from now on. Sure most of us can now afford to buy our children the latest Elmo toy but at what cost? My child's health is not for sale to the lowest bidder. So tomorrow I am taking back her Fisher Price Elmo Giggles Remote that she got for her birthday and her Busy Zoo by Parents. Both made in China.

I was talking to a friend who has 2 children older than mine. She told me about Melissa and Doug & Ryan's Room and that they make good quality wood toys. I knew at home our daughter had received a Melissa and Doug toy as a gift. I was anxious to get home to take a closer look at it but when I did disappointment set it. On the bottom MADE IN CHINA.

In doing research I saw a blog mention an email from Doug (of Melissa and Doug I assume) saying that “It’s quite possible to make great quality children’s items in China, which meet all safety regulations, but the key point is that you have to test and inspect very frequently to be sure that your factories are always following your instructions explicitly. I assure you that’s exactly what we do.

From our experience, the key to doing this correctly is not simply to insist that your factories follow your instructions, but then to go one step further and to AUDIT, INSPECT, AND TEST very frequently. That is the most important part of the process, and it’s something our company has always taken VERY seriously.”

I don't know about you but this statement does not put me at ease. It says to me that they have experienced problems and are trying to catch any others. But they can't test EVERY toy, right? The factory heads know this, who's to say someone doesn't slip in lower quality products to save themselves a few what ever their currency is. And that is the one that our dear friends bought, wrapped in the beautiful wrapping paper and given to my daughter on her first birthday.

In searching around for toys not made in China I came across these sites:
North Star Toys. Handmade by a husband and wife team in New Mexico.
Green Toys
Haba German Toys Some are made in China, check each item. You can download a PDF from Oompa Toys (see below) showing where each Haba toy is made.
Oompa Toys
Oompa Toys has also addressed parents fears over toxic toys by showing the toy brand name, where it was designed and where the toy is made

And if you want to test the toys (or anything else) you already have you can get lead test kits here.

If you know of other NOT made in China toy brands please let me know!

Rave - Smartypants, Biryani & Cupcakes

So today started out with the whole family going out to look for lighting. Our first stop was Seattle Design Center. This place is HUGE. Many showrooms with some open to the public, very nice things but spendy.

We wound up buying our 5 can lights at Alexander Lighting.

Next on the agenda was lunch/dinner at Chutney's Bistro in Wallingford at Wallingford Center.. But by the time we arrived it was 3:30 and they were closed. We were VERY hungry but I talked hubby into waiting till 4:30 when the reopened. So we killed some time at Harolds Lighting. Found a great table top fan. and something we didn't expect to see in a lighting store, niches. Now I want to add one to each bedroom!

So back to Wallingford Center we go but Chutney's was not open yet, so we looked around. First thing we saw was Cupcakes. We bought some for dessert. Two Red Velvet, one Hummingbird, one Vanilla Chocolate and a mini Green Tea. I can tell you the Hummingbird and Green Tea cupcakes are delicious. Hubby ate the Vanilla Chocolate and the Red Velvets are for tomorrow's dessert.

I also found Smartypants! I mentioned them in the previous post, they just crack me up.

Lunch/dinner at Chutney's was fantastic as usual. I always get the Lamb Biryani. I must learn how to make this!!