

The resulting voluntary recall was so confusing that consumers had no way of knowing whether they were buying a dangerous toy. It did what the law requires: The commission first accommodated the toy's maker, negotiating the wording of the news release meant to warn parents. The commission did not sweep Magnetix off store shelves. What followed was neither decisive nor swift, but an illustration of how weakly most children's products are regulated in America.

"I thought it was a defective product," Midgett said, "and should be recalled."

In the weeks after Kenny's death, the alarm was finally sounding inside the agency's ranks. Parents and caregivers had warned the government of that very danger, but the safety commission failed to act. They connected inside Kenny's intestines, strangling his bowels. died on Thanksgiving Day 2005 after swallowing loose magnets from his older brother's broken Magnetix toys. He could see that it wouldn't take much for the tiny magnets to break loose, the way they had several weeks earlier in the suburban Seattle home of the Sweet family. To a child, the magnets behave like they're alive. He quickly understood why the toy was so popular. Consumer Product Safety Commission says he could feel the powerful attraction and repulsion of the embedded magnets. Remembering that day, the self-described "toy scientist" at the U.S. Midgett connected and disconnected them as a child would. Privacy Policy.Inside a gray government cubicle littered with colorful construction toys, Jonathan Midgett played with pieces from a Magnetix set, one of the year's hottest sellers. Under which this service is provided to you. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018Ĭable News Network. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes.
Magnetix toys free#
toys include plastic rods with embedded magnets that connect to colored metal ball joints.Ĭonsumers are being urged to stop using the toys and return them to MEGA Brands for a free replacement. MagnaMan figures have body parts attached to each other by magnets and the Magtastik and Magnetix Jr. The toys were manufactured in China.Īccording to the CPSC, the affected toys were sold in stores between January 2005 and December 2007. MEGA Brands recalled several million Magnetix toys last year for a similar problem. The CPSC said it and MEGA Brands received 44 reports of magnets coming loose, including one incident in where a 3-year-old boy needed to have a magnet removed from his nose. If more than one magnet is ingested, they can attract each other and cause internal damage or blockages which can be fatal. toys can fall out and can be swallowed or inhaled. The CPSC said small magnets inside 1.3 million MagnaMan, and 1.1 million Magtastik and Magnetix Jr. NEW YORK () - Toy maker MEGA Brands has recalled about 2.4 million magnetic toys due to a choking hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday.
