Mattel recalls "Sarge" for high levels of lead
Safety concerns and Chinese cars will go hand-in-hand until the country's automakers start building vehicles capable of undergoing a Western-market crash test regimen without performing involuntary exploratory surgery upon their occupants. Tuesday's announcement of another recall by Mattel showed that safety concerns apply to some Chinese-made toy cars as well. The car in question this time is "Sarge," the military Jeep character featured in Disney/Pixar's 2006 summer feature, Cars. The recall involves approximately 253,000 Sarge die-cast toys like the one shown above, which could pose a danger to children due to the use of lead paint. Caregivers are instructed to take the toys away from children and contact the toymaker for further instructions. The full Sarge recall details can be seen here. As we mentioned before, this is just part of a much broader toy recall (the second in weeks) announced by Mattel on Tuesday that involves over 9 million Chinese-made toys, the latest in a string of high-profile problems with imported Chinese-made goods this year.
For his part, we're quite certain that Sarge would become apoplectic upon learning he was actually made in China.
Thanks for the tip, starlightmica!
[Source: US Consumer Product Safety Commission]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
felipe 9:19AM (8/15/2007)
i deal in the semi/component market. we get in counterfiet parts on a daily basis. the supplier just moves to the next unit down and changes their name. it is a free for all over in that market, things need to change fast and it would seem all these recalls, poor ratings and hazardous contaminants could be a catalyst.
i also read that they were telling olympic athletes NOT to arrive early for training because of poor air quality.
furthermore, they are going to launch rockets to clear clouds so the weather is nice... thats cool and all i suppose, provided the rockets are made elsewhere.
hope things change there soon.
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KT 9:39AM (8/15/2007)
These toy recalls, the tainted pet food and the horrific crash tests of the Chinese cars should block any potential future importing of Chery vehicles.
Anyone in America that even slightly considers buying one of these cars (if they ever start selling them) probably deserves their fate. I don't think they'll ever find anyone to partner with after all the recent recalls and other bad news coming out of there.
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Tim 9:43AM (8/15/2007)
If you deal with cheap Chiness goods you're taking a gamble. If you buy cheap Chinese goods you're contributing to the problem. Retailers will sell whatever the consumer wants. If consumers demand high quality, non-Chinese merchandise then that's exactly what they'll get. The American consumer has demonstrated that cost is king (quality be damned) so cheap crap is what we get and now we must pay the price. There is no free ride.
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Owen 1:13PM (8/15/2007)
Tim,
You're spot on. The biggest problem I see (working for a company that does manufacture products in the USA) is that our own government (and lawyers) makes it difficult to label things as made in the USA. Because we never know where our steel vendors got their steel from, technically we can't say that our product is made in the USA, even though we punch it, form it, weld it, paint it, assemble it and package it all in the USA, we can't put on that label, "Made in the USA" without getting sued by one of our competitors. So even if you wanted to buy something "Made in the USA", determining whether or not it truly is has become more and more difficult. I personally like the labels that cars have that list the percentage of components made in which country and final assembly locations on the window sticker.
Don 3:56PM (8/15/2007)
This is what we've traded our future in for...utterly horrible Chinese brands, parts, accessories, and whatever other crap they make. Wonderful. Here's looking to the future!
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roitberg 5:40PM (8/15/2007)
Please: don't surrender your Sarges! Teach the children not to eat toys! Imagine if all the toys that can be eaten will be recalled? Resist! Save your Sarge!
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