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DIECAST
Collectible Model Cars And More
| Item# |
Description |
Stock
Status |
| 5738D |
Superior
- Mercedes Benz SLK 230 Convertible (1996, 1:28, Asstd.) 5738D |
New |
| 5068D |
Kinsmart
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII Hard Top (1:36, Asstd.)
5068D |
New |
| 92108BU/12 |
Yatming
- Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible (1957, 1:18, Blue) 92108BU/12 |
Restock |
| 92108YL/12 |
Yatming
- Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible (1957, 1:18, Yellow) 92108YL/12 |
Restock |
| 32322D |
Locomotive
(5.5", Asstd.) 32322D |
Restock |
| A49720D |
Welly
- Audi Series (1:34 - 1:39, Asstd.) A49720D |
Restock |
| 8820D |
Emergency
Team (Asstd.) 8820D |
Restock |
| 54601R |
Mattel
Hot Wheels - Ferrari Dino 246 GTS Convertible (1:18, Red)
54601R |
New |
| K4205R |
Mattel
Hot Wheels - Ferrari F430 Coupe Hard Top (1:18, Red) K4205R |
New |
Tin
Signs
Toys
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Thank you
Lu
Toy Wonders, Inc.
www.toywonders.com
201-229-1700
Pb
101
by Lu Su
It has been
many years since most of us took high school chemistry. There
has been so much media hype this past week on toy recalls, so
it seems fitting to address it. The focus appears to be on the
dangers of magnets in toys and lead in paint. Two types of things
you definitely do not want to ingest. I thought a quick refresher
course on the subject matter of lead was in order.
Pb is is a
chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Pb
(Latin: plumbum) and atomic number 82. A soft, heavy, toxic and
malleable metal, lead is bluish white when freshly cut but tarnishes
to dull gray when exposed to air. Lead is used in building construction,
lead-acid batteries, bullets and shot, and is part of solder,
pewter, and fusible alloys.
USA Today’s Elizabeth Weise did a great job in her Q &
A article on the subject of lead. I will now demonstrate one of
the internet’s most powerful tool: cut and paste. An excerpt
from Ms. Weise’s August 3, 2007 news article reads:
Q: Why is lead a problem?
A: Lead is a neurotoxin. It interferes with a number of processes
in the body and can cause brain and central nervous system problems
as well as anemia, says Carl Baum, a pediatrics professor at Yale
School of Medicine and director of the Yale Lead Program.
Q: How would lead from toys get into children's bodies?
A: It depends on the condition of the toy, Baum says. "Is
the paint broken down? Is the child chomping on the toy? For example,
a child with autism may have some repetitive behaviors, including
hand-to-mouth activities that will put him or her at risk."
Also, some imported inexpensive jewelry has been found to have
high lead levels, and children often chew on necklaces.
Q: Is
that the most common way?
A: No. In the United States the biggest problem is lead-based
paint in older homes. Children can get paint dust or chips on
their hands and then suck their fingers.
Q: Wasn't
lead banned in paint?
A: It was greatly reduced in the 1950s and banned outright in
1977. But in homes older than that the underlying layers of paint
almost certainly have lead in them.
Q: Isn't
lead less of an issue today?
A: Very much so. In 1975, the mean level of lead in the blood
of U.S. adults and children was 15 micrograms per deciliter. Today
it's 2 micrograms per deciliter. That decrease is believed to
be mainly because lead was taken out of gasoline, and therefore
out of the environment.
Q: So
what can parents do?
A: Keep your child away from lead. For more information see Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/lead/.
And from Consumer Product Safety Commission at www.cpsc.gov.
In retrospect,
you would think that we could learn from history –particularly
from the last great Roman empire. This then begs the question
why are we still using lead in products? It was only in our generation
that we decided to remove lead from gasoline. Remember when the
service station attendant would ask “Regular and Unleaded?”
For those who are wondering why the heck we would add lead to
gasoline in the first place, lead served to lubricate engine parts;
but then we ended up breathing it in and that had to stop. Christopher
Beam posted a great article Aug. 15, 2007 on the online magazine
publication Slate. Here is an excerpt from his article:
Toy manufacturer Mattel recalled nearly 19 million Chinese-made
toys Tuesday, including 436,000 toy cars containing lead paint.
That was only two weeks after yanking nearly a million of its
Fisher-Price toys for preschoolers due to lead content. Why would
a toymaker ever use lead paint? Because it's bright, durable,
flexible, fast-drying, and cheap. Paint manufacturers mix in different
lead compounds depending on the color of the paint. Lead chromates,
for example, can enhance a yellow or orange hue. Municipal workers
often use lead paint because it resists the color-dimming effects
of ultraviolet light: The double yellow line in the middle of
the road? That's loaded with lead. Paint manufacturers also add
lead and other heavy metals to make paint stick better instead
of flaking off. Lead used to be a luxury. A house painter in the
early 20th century would show up to a job with two buckets-one
for the paint substrate, one for the lead powder. The more lead
he added, the better the paint, the higher the price.)
Lead paint has other qualities that make it attractive to manufacturers.
For one thing, it resists mildew, making it perfect for wood furniture
and other surfaces likely to get wet. It's also anti-corrosive:
Ship makers have historically applied a coating of lead paint,
often containing the red mineral litharge, to the bottom of metal
ships' hulls. The Romans used lead paint, too-that's why the paint
on some of their ruins is so well-preserved.
But for all its utility, lead is dangerous even in small quantities.
But it's still widely used on bridges, tanks, towers, heavy equipment,
parking lots, road signs, and other large-scale projects. There's
still lead in most consumer paints, too-just much, much less.
Many paint manufacturers now use safer alternatives like zinc
and bromide, although these metals don't quite match lead's luster
or strength.
People have known about lead's harmful effects for centuries.
Benjamin Franklin once wrote a letter about the "bad Effects
of Lead taken inwardly," and some 19th-century paint companies
ran newspaper ads bragging about their lead-free paint. President
George H.W. Bush's dog, Millie, attracted national attention to
the dangers of lead poisoning in 1992, when she got sick from
breathing lead dust during White House renovations.
For those
of you in the toy industry, here are some links to see what specific
toys have been recalled.
List of recalled products:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/child.html
Fisher Price Recall Press Release
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07257.html
For those
of you in the diecast collector model car industry, as of today
and to the best of my knowledge, there has been only one diecast
car that has been recalled. It is a military looking jeep called
Sarge from the Pixar's animated cartoon CARS. For a picture of
this vehicle, I will refer you to this article:http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2007-08-13-china-products_N.htm?csp=34
When the news
reports that “436,000” diecast cars have been recalled,
it is natural for consumers to think EVERY diecast car has a problem.
Because the toy giant Mattel sold this item into almost every
big box store, their quantity just on this single item is huge.
So far the
focus on lead paint on plastic toys and the diecast car Sarge
has been on products that appeal to preschool kids. This makes
sense because children under the age of 3 are more apt to place
things in their mouth. RC2 earlier this summer did a recall on
Thomas the tank –a wooden and not a diecast vehicle. Again
a product like Thomas the Tank appeals to preschoolers.
Please note that even with the lead issue set aside, none of the
diecast cars Toy Wonders markets should be given to children less
than 3 years of age. Infants and toddlers tend to place objects
in their mouth and possibly could bite off a bumper or tire and
thus pose a choking hazard. The larger 1:24 and 1:18 scale diecast
model cars have an age recommendation of 7 years and up. If you
see a parent who wants to purchase a diecast model car with the
intention of giving it to a child under the age of three, please
discourage them from such an activity. I guess to be fair, I should
also say that if you see a parent who wants to purchase a diecast
model car with the intention of ingesting it or putting it in
their mouth, please discourage them from such an activity.
So what has
Toy Wonders done to reduce the risk of lead paint? We purchases
all our diecast cars from either American or Hong Kong based manufacturers.
For those in the trading business, it is common knowledge that
there is a world of difference between Hong Kong based manufacturers
and manufacturers from China. For our smaller cars that have an
age recommendation of 3 years and up, we require that our diecast
manufacturers have their paints tested for Lead (Pb). Furthermore,
although it costs us a little more, we require them to purchase
all the paints from a specific paint manufacturer: The China Paint
MFG. Co. This particular paint manufacturer is reputable and has
been in the paint business since 1932 –so they are not a
young upstart company mixing paint in their garage. They too are
a Hong Kong based and a publicly traded company. For more information
about them see their web site: http://www.chinapaint.com/eng/about/brief.asp.
This company
uses an independent testing agency. They have been awarded several
certificates for quality and safety, which they seem all too proud
to display on their web site. According to the test reports that
we have received, Their paints exceed the US CPSC (Lead content)
and U.S. ASTM F963-03 (total and soluble heavy element content)
requirements. Furthermore the paints used even exceed the European
Community Standard ISO 8124 part 3, which in general have stricter
standards than its American counterpart.
As we all
know, nothing is full proof; so in addition to the above steps,
we forward news articles and safety recalls back to our manufacturers;
they too have no desire to see products recalled and sent back
to them. Moreover, Toy Wonders records every lot that we import
and where it is distributed -in case a recall does need to be
performed one day. We also continue to renew our products liability
insurance policy each year, which like health insurance has become
a runaway expense. So now some of you can start to see why we
are often not the lowest priced supplier; It would be a dangerous
route to take. Our focus has always been on selection and service.
Runaway health insurance premiums and its impact on small businesses
would probably make a good article some day.
