NationStates Jolt Archive

So Aqau Dots are being recalled because they contain chemicals that break into GHB when eaten. WTF with the toys?

Toy Containing 'Date-Rape' Drug Pulled
AP
Posted: 2007-11-08 09:52:36
Filed Under: Recalls
WASHINGTON (Nov. 7) - Millions of Chinese-made toys for children have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two children in the U.S. and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

With only seven weeks until Christmas, the recall is yet another blow to toy industry - already bruised by a slew of recalls this past summer.


In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, a highly popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. They are called Bindeez in Australia, where they were named toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year.

It could not immediately be learned whether Aqua Dots beads are made in the same factories as the Bindeez product. Both are sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.

The toy beads are sold in general merchandise stores and over the Internet for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused together when sprayed with water.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the drug's effect on children was "quite serious ... and potentially life-threatening."

The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday several hours after published reports about the recall in Australia.

The two U.S. children who swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said Wednesday afternoon.






In Australia, the toys were ordered off store shelves on Tuesday when officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were hospitalized after swallowing the beads. A 19-month-old toddler also was being treated.

The news jolted the toy industry because Aqua Dots has been one of the few bright stars of the toy selling season, which, along with overall retailing, has gotten off to a sluggish start. The item, which had been heavily advertised, had appeared on many toy experts' list of must-have holiday toys, and toy sellers are now in the midst of canceling advertising and scrambling to figure out how to replace it.

Chris Byrne, a New York-based toy consultant, noted that the incidents could have been isolated, and Spin Master may be erring on the side of caution.

"This is something that they could not have foreseen. This is an extremely hot toy. ... It's a little scary," Byrne said.

In a statement, Toys "R" Us Inc., said that it issued on Tuesday a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product line in its North American stores and on its Web site after it learned of the news. "We understand that Spin Master and U.S. regulatory authorities are investigating this product and we have asked Spin Master to fully explain what it believes happened," said the toy seller in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate recall was announced for 405,000 children's products made in China, most of them toy cars, because of dangerous levels of lead.

The recall includes about 380,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. of Goodlettsville, Tenn., and 7,500 Dragster and Funny Car toys imported by International Sourcing Ltd. of Springfield, Mo.

Four of the recalled products were imported by Schylling Associates Inc. of Rowley, Mass., including the items Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toy, Dizzy Ducks Music Box, "Robot 2000" collectable tin robot and Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top. The company recalled another 66,000 spinning tops Aug. 22.

Representatives from Schylling Associates Inc. were not immediately available for comment.

Wednesday's recalls include about 7,200 "Big Red" Wagons imported by Northern Tool & Equipment Co. of Burnsville, Minn. Totaling about 405,700, the recalled children's products all had excessive levels of lead in their surface paint.

Although no illnesses connected to the toy car recall have been reported, lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Children's products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-11-07 21:14:05

In Australia, the toys were ordered off store shelves on Tuesday when officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.
I can understand the 2 year old doing it, kind of, but a 10 year old? What, did she see the 2 year old do it and think it was a good idea? If it wasn't for modern medical care, alot of people would be dead at 10.

I can understand the 2 year old doing it, kind of, but a 10 year old? What, did she see the 2 year old do it and think it was a good idea? If it wasn't for modern medical care, alot of people would be dead at 10.

maybe we should let them extinguish themselves through evolution?

Dammit; They finally invent a toy with built-in sedatives and somehow, they screw it up. :mad:

:p

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. I think it's time to go back to not buying toys and forcing kids to use their frigging imaginations for a change.

When I started reading, I thought, "What the fuck is an Aqua-Dot?" Then I got to the description, and I'm still thinking that. A plastic bead with a chemical coating that fuses together when you spray it with water? Who in their right mind would assume that wouldn't be too toxic to give to a kid? And how is that entertaining enough to be a toy in the first place? No wonder kids end up chewing on the damned things -- out of sheer boredom.

Nope, nope, I've had enough of this. All the kids on my holiday list are getting blades and recipes for explosives. It's the only safe way to go.

Nope, nope, I've had enough of this. All the kids on my holiday list are getting blades and recipes for explosives. It's the only safe way to go.

Never give a toy without batteries. Make sure to include a starter kit.

Does this possibly mean that China is going to sink? Without all the exports to the US and other Western nations how will the economy of the fastest economically growing country stand? All this less then a year before the Olympics come to China... Kinda sad. I think this will pretty much regulate China back into a third world country for a long time.

Never give a toy without batteries. Make sure to include a starter kit.
NO!! Absolutely not! The little twerps can learn to make their own batteries out of salt water and potatoes. But I might give them a kit to build their own 75,000 volt electrostatic generator. Let them figure out what to do with that, if they're really human and really have human brains.

EDIT: In fact, now that I think about it, I think I'll just give them all a stick and a length of string, and tell them to come back when they've invented a toy.

Does this possibly mean that China is going to sink? Without all the exports to the US and other Western nations how will the economy of the fastest economically growing country stand? All this less then a year before the Olympics come to China... Kinda sad. I think this will pretty much regulate China back into a third world country for a long time.

Sad? I see no reason why China should not suffer for such wholesale incompetence and corruption.

I can understand the 2 year old doing it, kind of, but a 10 year old? What, did she see the 2 year old do it and think it was a good idea? If it wasn't for modern medical care, alot of people would be dead at 10.

Hey, I'm playing with them. One of them sticks to my hand. I don't notice. I put my hand to my mouth. I swallow the bead.

NO!! Absolutely not! The little twerps can learn to make their own batteries out of salt water and potatoes. But I might give them a kit to build their own 75,000 volt electrostatic generator. Let them figure out what to do with that, if they're really human and really have human brains.

EDIT: In fact, now that I think about it, I think I'll just give them all a stick and a length of string, and tell them to come back when they've invented a toy.

While I understand the the concept, I think it needs polishing.

When I was a child my parents did give me wood and string, along with a childs tool kit. They were less than impressed when I found some nails and made a simple but effective flail with them. Our neighbours were even less impressed with the stitches in their sons' head.

Sad? I see no reason why China should not suffer for such wholesale incompetence and corruption.
Here, here! I agree, lately it seems every toy imported from China has been recalled for some reason or another, they deserve to have their economy falter for not inspecting their toys more carefully.

Hey, I'm playing with them. One of them sticks to my hand. I don't notice. I put my hand to my mouth. I swallow the bead.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/06/2082480.htm
In the past week-and-a-half a two-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl swallowed large amounts of the beads and became seriously ill.
Your 10 years old, if you're this damn stupid, too bad, sucks for you.
"Hey, these stick together after getting wet, I bet they are candy! ... hey, this doesn't taste like candy, maybe if I eat some more..."

And how many senses do you need to be missing to not notice that something is stuck to your hand and that it is in your mouth?

It was more of a sarcastic sad then anything else. I mean really I have nothing against the Chinese but if they are going to be that stupid they deserve to falter forever. The West has handed them economic prosperity on a golden platter in the form of exports and they are pissing it away. Its funny how Communism calls for no greed and they are a "Communist" country who is more greedy then most American business men would risk being.

While I understand the the concept, I think it needs polishing.

When I was a child my parents did give me wood and string, along with a childs tool kit. They were less than impressed when I found some nails and made a simple but effective flail with them. Our neighbours were even less impressed with the stitches in their sons' head.
Well, then your neighbors should have thought to give their kids old pots and pans to use as armor, shouldn't they? Seriously, I am tired of having to do everyone else's thinking for them. I'm especially tired of living in a world in which every experience is so packaged and branded that people fall out of the habit of thinking to such a degree that they can't even make basic risk-assessment decisions for themselves any more -- even to the minimal level of thinking, "This coating melts and fuses together when wet? That's just chemically creepy, and I don't think I want my kid, The Nibbler, playing with it."

Here, here! I agree, lately it seems every toy imported from China has been recalled for some reason or another, they deserve to have their economy falter for not inspecting their toys more carefully.

It's more like unregulated capitalism at its finest. The owners of the factories that make the defective toys often use lead and other toxic products to cut down on production costs, and either try to bribe or hide their dirty secrets from inspectors. Employees who collaborate in the coverup get paid a bonus, while those who fess up are often dismissed.

Here, here! I agree, lately it seems every toy imported from China has been recalled for some reason or another, they deserve to have their economy falter for not inspecting their toys more carefully.

I'm tired of doing Americans' thinking for them too. If we insist on relying on China to maintain our safety standards, then we deserve to be poisoned. We'd be suffering at our own lazy, thoughtless hands.

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. I think it's time to go back to not buying toys and forcing kids to use their frigging imaginations for a change.

When I started reading, I thought, "What the fuck is an Aqua-Dot?" Then I got to the description, and I'm still thinking that. A plastic bead with a chemical coating that fuses together when you spray it with water? Who in their right mind would assume that wouldn't be too toxic to give to a kid? And how is that entertaining enough to be a toy in the first place? No wonder kids end up chewing on the damned things -- out of sheer boredom.

Nope, nope, I've had enough of this. All the kids on my holiday list are getting blades and recipes for explosives. It's the only safe way to go.
it's like those bead toys where you put the beads on the form and use an iron to melt them together and it makes a useless piece of plastic.
Except, with aqua-dots you spray them with water so you don't need grown up help.

I quit buying my kids toys like a year ago, they are a waste of money, if they want toys they can buy them. I purchase books, computer games, movies and sundry electronics.

it's like those bead toys where you put the beads on the form and use an iron to melt them together and it makes a useless piece of plastic.
Except, with aqua-dots you spray them with water so you don't need grown up help.

I quit buying my kids toys like a year ago, they are a waste of money, if they want toys they can buy them. I purchase books, computer games, movies and sundry electronics.
Toys havn't been good in years anyway. And by toys I mean action figures. Legos are good, but they are absurdly priced.

And I'm not sure what part of "spray water on it to make it permanently stick together" didn't signal "possibly toxic" to anyone. Though it breaking down into GHB is just classic.

it's like those bead toys where you put the beads on the form and use an iron to melt them together and it makes a useless piece of plastic.
Except, with aqua-dots you spray them with water so you don't need grown up help.

I quit buying my kids toys like a year ago, they are a waste of money, if they want toys they can buy them. I purchase books, computer games, movies and sundry electronics.

Excellent. They no longer need mommy and daddy's supervision to poison themselves. What a great idea.

And now that I think about Smunkeeville and her stories about her children, I think of a new Mc Frontalot song - Bizarro Genius Baby. No reason.

Here, here! I agree, lately it seems every toy imported from China has been recalled for some reason or another, they deserve to have their economy falter for not inspecting their toys more carefully.

Every toy? Hardly. Several toys are bieng reported, but it's not every toy by far, and I don't really see a few toys with a slight risk of lead is going to crumble their economy.

Also, how did the 2 year old get a hold of these beads? There's got to be age warnings on these toys.

Excellent. They no longer need mommy and daddy's supervision to poison themselves. What a great idea.

I thought the whole point for buying your kids craft items was so you could make something together........but apparently not.

I wonder really about how screwed up the next generation of children will be. Did you know they make DVD's for newborns now? :eek:

I thought the whole point for buying your kids craft items was so you could make something together........but apparently not.

I wonder really about how screwed up the next generation of children will be. Did you know they make DVD's for newborns now? :eek:

Oh geeze. I've been been wondering how screwed up my generation will be. It's going to be horrible. :eek:

Frankly I think the fact that kids are eating their own toys has more "WTF factor" than China producing Teh Ebil Products of Doom.

Every toy? Hardly. Several toys are bieng reported, but it's not every toy by far, and I don't really see a few toys with a slight risk of lead is going to crumble their economy.

Also, how did the 2 year old get a hold of these beads? There's got to be age warnings on these toys.
You assume the parents arn't idiots who were lucky to make it through childhood and have any interest in watching over there kids at all.

The best toy we had when we were little was a huge set of wooden blocks that my dad cut from a bunch of 2x4s. You could make ANYTHING with those. We made cities and amusement parks and rocket ships... anything we could think of. And they were the simplest things to make... chop up some leftover lumber into squares, rectangles and triangles, sand the edges and off you go. No need to even paint them, we imagined all the colors we needed them to be based on what we were creating.

As we grew older we got Legos (just the blocks, not those stupid kits that tell you what you have to build from them) and Erector sets and such... but they were always about making up what you wanted to make. We did get model kits (to make cars and such), but they weren't as much fun as Legos.

So the irony of a toy that drugs kids into a coma is certainly not lost on me... we have been heading towards it for years.

You assume the parents arn't idiots who were lucky to make it through childhood and have any interest in watching over there kids at all.


You're right... I forgot that we still live in a world that doesn't require a licence to have children. I must occasionally come up from my fantasy world when joining in these discussions. :p

I'd imagine the lads in Taiwan are enjoying a bit of "Whose laughing now..."......

I thought the whole point for buying your kids craft items was so you could make something together........but apparently not.

I wonder really about how screwed up the next generation of children will be. Did you know they make DVD's for newborns now? :eek:

yep... the Baby Einstein series... a bunch of images set to classical music. Spamming for the newborn!

I remember a time where one kid shot his eye out with one of those spring loaded toys. for years later, all springloaded toys had their pieces permamently attached to the toy.

So Aqau Dots are being recalled because they contain chemicals that break into GHB when eaten. WTF with the toys?

Toy Containing 'Date-Rape' Drug Pulled
AP
Posted: 2007-11-08 09:52:36
Filed Under: Recalls
WASHINGTON (Nov. 7) - Millions of Chinese-made toys for children have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two children in the U.S. and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

With only seven weeks until Christmas, the recall is yet another blow to toy industry - already bruised by a slew of recalls this past summer.


In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, a highly popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. They are called Bindeez in Australia, where they were named toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year.

It could not immediately be learned whether Aqua Dots beads are made in the same factories as the Bindeez product. Both are sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.

The toy beads are sold in general merchandise stores and over the Internet for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused together when sprayed with water.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the drug's effect on children was "quite serious ... and potentially life-threatening."

The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday several hours after published reports about the recall in Australia.

The two U.S. children who swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said Wednesday afternoon.






In Australia, the toys were ordered off store shelves on Tuesday when officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were hospitalized after swallowing the beads. A 19-month-old toddler also was being treated.

The news jolted the toy industry because Aqua Dots has been one of the few bright stars of the toy selling season, which, along with overall retailing, has gotten off to a sluggish start. The item, which had been heavily advertised, had appeared on many toy experts' list of must-have holiday toys, and toy sellers are now in the midst of canceling advertising and scrambling to figure out how to replace it.

Chris Byrne, a New York-based toy consultant, noted that the incidents could have been isolated, and Spin Master may be erring on the side of caution.

"This is something that they could not have foreseen. This is an extremely hot toy. ... It's a little scary," Byrne said.

In a statement, Toys "R" Us Inc., said that it issued on Tuesday a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product line in its North American stores and on its Web site after it learned of the news. "We understand that Spin Master and U.S. regulatory authorities are investigating this product and we have asked Spin Master to fully explain what it believes happened," said the toy seller in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate recall was announced for 405,000 children's products made in China, most of them toy cars, because of dangerous levels of lead.

The recall includes about 380,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. of Goodlettsville, Tenn., and 7,500 Dragster and Funny Car toys imported by International Sourcing Ltd. of Springfield, Mo.

Four of the recalled products were imported by Schylling Associates Inc. of Rowley, Mass., including the items Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toy, Dizzy Ducks Music Box, "Robot 2000" collectable tin robot and Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top. The company recalled another 66,000 spinning tops Aug. 22.

Representatives from Schylling Associates Inc. were not immediately available for comment.

Wednesday's recalls include about 7,200 "Big Red" Wagons imported by Northern Tool & Equipment Co. of Burnsville, Minn. Totaling about 405,700, the recalled children's products all had excessive levels of lead in their surface paint.

Although no illnesses connected to the toy car recall have been reported, lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Children's products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-11-07 21:14:05

Is it only me or is China intentionally trying to poison the rest of the world? :eek:

Is it only me or is China intentionally trying to poison the rest of the world? :eek:

Communism was only a ruse...... (http://thenostalgialeague.com/galleries/fuman/04karloff.jpg)

The real issues here are;

How did under 3 year old children end up swallowing toys that have a 3+ warning on them because of the swallow risk?

Why do we feel the need to ban a toy that has sold hundreds of thousands of units because poor parental supervision has caused five children to be poisoned but refuse to ban guns when a teenager shoots up a school?

Why are we trying to blame China for a dodgy chemical in a toy when developed western nations are active in the arms trade?

Why do we 'westerners' have such f***ed up priorities?

I thought the whole point for buying your kids craft items was so you could make something together........but apparently not.

I wonder really about how screwed up the next generation of children will be. Did you know they make DVD's for newborns now? :eek:

Oh geeze. I've been been wondering how screwed up my generation will be. It's going to be horrible. :eek:
Apparently, it's never to early to start stunting their physical and intellectual development, because you know, you can never be too stupid or too useless.*


*It used to be "too rich or too thin" but times have changed.

The real issues here are;
How did under 3 year old children end up swallowing toys that have a 3+ warning on them because of the swallow risk?

One of the children was 10, I believe.
But bad parental supervision and decision is my guess.

Why do we feel the need to ban a toy that has sold hundreds of thousands of units because poor parental supervision has caused five children to be poisoned but refuse to ban guns when a teenager shoots up a school?
Hundreds of thousands of poisoned units.
Think of the possibilities there, just by random chance.
Guns are entirely different. You need to physically pick it up, when it is loaded, with the safety off(if there is one), point it at a person, and then pull the trigger; in order to actually kill someone with it.
A 2 year old swallowing a toy is an entirely different matter.

Why are we trying to blame China for a dodgy chemical in a toy when developed western nations are active in the arms trade?
Because they put it there?
Oh.. so.. we all have our faults so we shouldn't blame anyone when their faults endanger people?

Why do we 'westerners' have such f***ed up priorities?
Why does anyone?

Toys havn't been good in years anyway. And by toys I mean action figures. Legos are good, but they are absurdly priced.

I agree. I'm 17 and still play with legos (my structure in my basement is t3h aw3sums4uc3), but I go broke just buying one set. :(

And I'm beginning to think the US government needs to give business incentives to invest in India or South America -- where, you know, there's a possibility of us regaining our image, and where we don't have to worry about idiocy.

And think about it -- if we can repair our image in Central and South America, rebuild their economies, etc, we get better, nonpoisoned products, their nations are overall better, which means less illegal immigration, more friends and trading partners, and we don't have to worry about being world police on that continent.

Sounds like a plan, no? Albeit long-term.

yep... the Baby Einstein series... a bunch of images set to classical music. Spamming for the newborn!

I remember a time where one kid shot his eye out with one of those spring loaded toys. for years later, all springloaded toys had their pieces permamently attached to the toy.
Wait -- are you talking about an actual, real life "you'll shoot your eye out, kid" incident? That really happened? I thought shooting one's eye out was just a parent myth. (No, actually, I think I remember that event. ;))

Ah, nostalgia. Back in the day, when Americans weren't so afraid of boo-boos that they would bomb the shit out of other countries just to make themselves feel safer, parents used all kinds of catastrophic terms to describe minor injuries that kids could inflict on themselves.

Phrases like "you'll shoot your eye out" and -- my neighborhood classic -- "you'll crack your head open." I can't tell you how many kids in my neighborhood cracked their heads open in playgrounds without ever showing any ill effects or even visible bruising. Little Timmy didn't come to school one day -- what happened to him? "Oh, he cracked his head open on the swings, and his mom made him stay home." Next day, there's Little Timmy with not so much as a bandaid to show for it.

Inherent in all that disaster-speak was the assumption that kids would be running some risks as they explored their environment, and adults watched out for those risks and used language that would make even little kids aware of them as well. Result: At an early age, we learned at least rudimentary risk assessment skills. I remember being as young as 7 or 8 and looking over a new playground with my friends and agreeing that it would be all to easy for us to crack our heads open on those swings, they were so poorly designed.

Compare those days of yore to today, when people will actually buy a toy that contains a dissolvable chemical mixture of unknown ingredients, in a conveniently swallowable size and shape, and hand it over to their children to play with without adult supervision -- just because it said it was okay on the package. And then act surprised when one of their little brats swallows it and gets sick. We've gone from little kids being able to assess risk, to no one even bothering to think about risk.

Is it the Chinese who are trying to poison these kids, or their parents? I can't help but wonder, because I find it so hard to accept that Americans can really be as stupid as they act.

I can understand the 2 year old doing it, kind of, but a 10 year old? What, did she see the 2 year old do it and think it was a good idea? If it wasn't for modern medical care, alot of people would be dead at 10.

That was my first thought after seeing this on the news as well.

As we grew older we got Legos.

I agree. I'm 17 and still play with legos (my structure in my basement is t3h aw3sums4uc3), but I go broke just buying one set. :(

:headbang: Lego is singular AND plural dammit!

:headbang: Lego is singular AND plural dammit!

Say it ain't so!

:rolleyes:

When I first read this, I thought it said "Help the chinese try to date rape our children"

Easy enough mistake, given corporate America's love tryst with the Communist Party of China's wage depression policies.

I just realized..these Aqua Dots may come in handy...
*chuckles maniacally*

So if you find little plastic beads in your drink ... don't drink it!

The real issues here are;

How did under 3 year old children end up swallowing toys that have a 3+ warning on them because of the swallow risk?

Why do we feel the need to ban a toy that has sold hundreds of thousands of units because poor parental supervision has caused five children to be poisoned but refuse to ban guns when a teenager shoots up a school?

Why are we trying to blame China for a dodgy chemical in a toy when developed western nations are active in the arms trade?

Why do we 'westerners' have such f***ed up priorities?well I am all for banning Chinese guns.. but US guns should never be banned :D :mp5:

Apparently there was the correct chemical and the bad chemical for the glue used in the product. The correct chemical cost 3-4 times as much, you do the math...

:headbang: Lego is singular AND plural dammit!

I'm an American, I have a licence to butcher the language however I feel.

Apparently there was the correct chemical and the bad chemical for the glue used in the product. The correct chemical cost 3-4 times as much, you do the math...I am doing the math.. I am trying to figure a way to buy these beads wholesale.. and sell them at the raves.. :D

So if you find little plastic beads in your drink ... don't drink it!well, If I find little plastic beads in my drink ... It means my girlfriend really needs some :fluffle: ASAP..

*drinks the beaded Orange Juice* :D

well I am all for banning Chinese guns.. but US guns should never be banned :D :mp5:
Damn Straight! People on manical shooting sprees shouldn't have to worry about lead poisoning from their guns!

well, If I find little plastic beads in my drink ... It means my girlfriend really needs some :fluffle: ASAP..

*drinks the beaded OJ* :D
you know it's late when the first thing that pops into your head is O. J. Simpson wearing beads...

Wait -- are you talking about an actual, real life "you'll shoot your eye out, kid" incident? That really happened? I thought shooting one's eye out was just a parent myth. (No, actually, I think I remember that event. ;)) yep... the old 'Battlestar Galactica' Toy line from the late 70's/early 80's

Ah, nostalgia. Back in the day, when Americans weren't so afraid of boo-boos that they would bomb the shit out of other countries just to make themselves feel safer, parents used all kinds of catastrophic terms to describe minor injuries that kids could inflict on themselves.

Phrases like "you'll shoot your eye out" and -- my neighborhood classic -- "you'll crack your head open." I can't tell you how many kids in my neighborhood cracked their heads open in playgrounds without ever showing any ill effects or even visible bruising. Little Timmy didn't come to school one day -- what happened to him? "Oh, he cracked his head open on the swings, and his mom made him stay home." Next day, there's Little Timmy with not so much as a bandaid to show for it.

Inherent in all that disaster-speak was the assumption that kids would be running some risks as they explored their environment, and adults watched out for those risks and used language that would make even little kids aware of them as well. Result: At an early age, we learned at least rudimentary risk assessment skills. I remember being as young as 7 or 8 and looking over a new playground with my friends and agreeing that it would be all to easy for us to crack our heads open on those swings, they were so poorly designed.

Compare those days of yore to today, when people will actually buy a toy that contains a dissolvable chemical mixture of unknown ingredients, in a conveniently swallowable size and shape, and hand it over to their children to play with without adult supervision -- just because it said it was okay on the package. And then act surprised when one of their little brats swallows it and gets sick. We've gone from little kids being able to assess risk, to no one even bothering to think about risk.

Is it the Chinese who are trying to poison these kids, or their parents? I can't help but wonder, because I find it so hard to accept that Americans can really be as stupid as they act.

I remember a news story about are parents today coddling their children too much. When everyone gets a trophy for a sporting event, when tag and other children games are banned because of possible hurt feelings... It does make one wonder.

Man, I remember when a scraped knee was a badge of honor, now it's an excuse to sue someone.

When everyone gets a trophy for a sporting event, when tag and other children games are banned because of possible hurt feelings... It does make one wonder.
Yeah, that's stupid. If children don't learn to take the pressure in their childhood, that little toy pressure of losing in tag, how are they supposed to take the heat of life?
Or will they end up learning what a duvet is?

Agree with the "prepackaged" bit. If it comes in a glossy plastic box, it must be safe! I sometimes notice that line of thinking in myself, natural awareness warning "Check it first, it's electric!", but habit answering "It's a decent brand, all should be OK".
On one hand, trusting things makes the life easier and more efficient, you never worry, just plug - the QC does their job, you do yours. On the other, I've been disciplined by guns and relatively dangerous work; how are the "external safety" people going to handle weapons and hazardous equipment? You can sue toymaker if you cut yourself, you can't sue Colt if you become an hero.

Shenzhen isn't far from me at all...

Anyone in the market for some pre-ban aqua beads?

Anyone in the market for some pre-ban aqua beads?
Lazy kid. You should learn to make poisons yourself, not rely on some crappy toxic beans. It's easy, we made more.


The best toy we had when we were little was a huge set of wooden blocks that my dad cut from a bunch of 2x4s. You could make ANYTHING with those.
As we grew older we got Legos (just the blocks, not those stupid kits that tell you what you have to build from them) and Erector sets and such... but they were always about making up what you wanted to make. We did get model kits (to make cars and such), but they weren't as much fun as Legos.
Yeah, self-made toys rock. I spent most of my pre-school time and summer vacations on a farm (well, figuratively) - there our main toys were axe, saw and hammer. "Ah, toy ones, surely no one will give 5yo a real sharp pointy saw?" - No, quality saws, we went with older boys to the woods to get some small lumber for our "boy castle". Then add planks, nails, screws, metal brackets, and go build three-floor "castle" with a tower. Three floors are a must, they prove we're cooler than others - otherwise it's just a big shack. Well, cool kid these days in the country wasn't the one who had a fancy phone, it was the one who made the coolest stuff and was the best at using it.
Needless to say, we've learned the real medieval bow technology, since the whole point of a bow is to hurt (Worried about eyes? Here go daddy's BLPS goggles). Not as forgiving as wooden swords, but well, having all shot real guns, we knew what is safe and what is not.

I recall I've played with legos (perhaps these were a cheap imitation, there were just blocks) ones until I was school age - then I got two new toys which made everyone around lose interest in lego.
The first was just a big set of steel planks, plates, brackets, all with holes in them, with a box of nuts, bolts, shafts and washers. It was probably cheap, as my father bought way more soon, and later his friend made for us some larger parts from sheet aluminum. That toy wasn't fancy at a glance, but now you could build really anything with it - cranes, small towers, etc, they looked like the real thing, they turned and moved, you could modify anything. Adding custom parts only made it more fun. That toy was an order of magnitude more challenging than lego: it was then when I learned that a load-bearing plank should be vertical, that long vertical planks under high load can lose stability and collapse, so they need stiffeners, that mating steel and aluminum makes the latter corrode if wet.

Another toy was I don't even know what, but basically consisted of about fifty polycarbonate balls with steel mechanics inside - electric motors, fixed gearboxes, clutched ones with a magnet switch (can switch to drive left or right shaft), reverse gears, hubs, battery packs (all balls can be opened), spotlight pods, just simple shafts. Perhaps expensive, but not very.

It wasn't long before these two toys became one, of course. Nothing was fancy about glass balls and steel planks, but, other kids with fancy plastic transformers, RC cars, and whatever were envious as hell. Because it might not have bright colors or wire control instead of radio (we took some old military electronics parts for these), but no shop toy or even kit is as fun as a five-foot Humvee model you build entirely yourself and modify as you want. Looks not very real, being unpainted, but then you can replace the engine, you've built a real switching gearbox, you can bolt a gun on the top and add a motor, then put a laser pointer into that gun. And, most wonderfully, we with other kids came up with what we can change there - what if we add two extra wheels, or put a fan on it, or add robotic arms (I know, it's fail)? The thing could have its chassis lengthened or width increased, all it takes is a few dozen bolts moved. We put motors to turn the laser, then made the trunk open and show toy missiles... for long it couldn't steer, but then we added two motors and made left and right independent, the only problem was thick control cable. We tried to ride it and someone broke it, jumping on the back, but no worry: you build it yourself, you can fix it - and this time make sure to add stiffeners.
All that was when I was between 8 and 10 years old. You shouldn't screw around with some beads or plastic figures at that age, because there's so much more fun to be had.

Later came time to build other things, with raw sheet metal and wood, using drill, electric saw and cutter, even welding machine (with adults helping). Now tell me about the danger of toxic beads. We used old lawnmower motors, of course made own guns, using some gunpowder (sometimes self-made, sometimes not), plumbing and heating wire, even built a turret for the boy castle which could turn and elevate its potato gun. Ah, I really miss these days, I wish it was socially acceptable for adults to play these teenager games.

When you think about it, the Chinese didn't deserve to get favored nation trade status anyway. This is the perfect situation to use to back out of it.

It was more of a sarcastic sad then anything else. I mean really I have nothing against the Chinese but if they are going to be that stupid they deserve to falter forever. The West has handed them economic prosperity on a golden platter in the form of exports and they are pissing it away. Its funny how Communism calls for no greed and they are a "Communist" country who is more greedy then most American business men would risk being.

Or we could all stop trying to live up to Western ideals & actually live up to our own ones.

On the OP, why would anyone give a child under 4 years beads? Isn't that under the "contains small parts, may be swallowed" warning? The ten year old is just, well, stupid.

I dunt get all these toys anyway, when I was a kid I made my own dolls, we played Stingers with sandbags, jumped out of trees and skinned ourselves.
The only toys I ever got were either of the teddy variety or my plastic horses.
What's wrong with bouncy-balls, yo-yos and slinkies?

Give the kid a skate-board & helmet, tell them to go teach themselves to skate & not come back until they can. At least that's a skill.

Its official.. I am not scare mongering when I say that this is a preemptive assault on the western world, it will soon be followed up by full scale invasion after 30% of our population has been wiped out by imported toy products.

Its official.. I am not scare mongering when I say that this is a preemptive assault on the western world, it will soon be followed up by full scale invasion after 30% of our population has been wiped out by imported toy products.

And 'Chinese' food is a plot to make us all fat and unable to defend ourselves when they start marching through the streets.