Bah Humbug: Where Have All The Toys Gone?
December 21, 2007
Dec 21, 2007 -- /prbuzz/ --This summer, hundreds of thousands of innocent children, many not even old enough to say ‘No’, woke up in the morning and were thrust into a state of confusion and despair when their favorite toys were no where to be found. Toys that they had taken to bed with, toys that they proudly took to play groups, toys that share their secrets were all gone. Their prized lunch boxes were gone, replaced with brown paper bags. Their parents tried to explain to them that these companions had been “recalled”, that the people in China have not been careful, and if they continue to play with them, they can get very sick. Ridden with guilt, many parents and grandparents had replaced these toys with others, but in the back of their minds, they are plagued with serious doubt about the safety.

Consumers are outraged. How could this happen? What happened to good old-fashion American quality control? What is the long term damage these recalled toys have on the future leaders of the most powerful nation? But one question lingered, but few have asked, “What happened to these millions of recalled toys and products? Did they end up in some land fill? Or sold to third world countries?

Mattel mentioned back in August that it planned to recycle as many components of its returned toys as possible, including selling or reusing zinc and some of the resins used to make the toys. Lisa Marie Bongiovanni, Mattel's vice president for corporate communications said in a discreet statement, “We quarantine them, we do not release them, we do not export them, we do not ship them out of the country.” So, Ms. Lisa Marie, stop beating around the bush, inquiring minds want to know, just exactly where are these contaminated products? Since you do not export them, they must be still somewhere here in the U.S?


Then Ms. Lisa Marie added, “It depends on why the toy was recalled. Sometimes, we destroy the toy completely. Other times, we are able to recycle certain parts, and other times there is a 'fix' to the toy, the same fix that we would send to consumers.
About the Press Release
Mattel recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys this summer. With the rapid frequency of food and electronics recalls over the last six months, many consumers have forgotten about these toys. “What happened to these millions of recalled toys? Did they end up in some land fill? Or sold to third world countries? Toy manufacturers aren’t saying.


 
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