Dollar Store Toy Box

Ok, so the makers of Lego have decided to come out with a new line of Lego toys for girls called Lego Friends. They have all those other sets like Star Wars, tanks and whatever so it seems to make sense to make something that girls might be interested in, if they aren’t interested in the ones that are already out.

This is apparently causing some issues with some people who feel that these new sets are implying that Lego toys haven’t really been for girls before and I don’t think it should be taken that way. One of my cousins, a girl, had a ton of Lego toys including a medieval castle set 20 years ago and it was never a problem.

One of the complaints was that the toys were bright pink which I don’t really see as a problem. Some girls like pink, like my nieces, and just because an adult is going to view that badly, doesn’t mean little girls are going to notice or even care. One of the reasons lead paint was used in toys was because it gave the toys a shiny look that got a kids attention.

Pink is just a color used to get a little girls attention and it has been for a long time. It seems like this is being viewed as something to imply views of the past, but it’s just a color that is generally viewed as being a girl color and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. My cousin had a non-girl set and maybe that is what she wanted and maybe not. All I remember was that being kids, it didn’t matter. That was the toy we had to play with.

I’m sure there are girls out there who like Star Wars and the other Lego sets that would be typically viewed as a toy for boys, but perhaps not all girls wanting a Lego set would welcome tank set 42 or a Lego X-wing. In that case, there are these new Lego sets as an option for girls who might like something like this.

I think what it comes down to most if you don’t like the Lego sets then don’t buy them. If your girl likes the other sets then pass over these new girl ones and get a different one. A funny thing about products is that when they don’t sell, the companies stop making them and they go away. Also, all making complaints about a product does it bring attention to it and that might end up having the opposite effect.

So what do you think? Is this something that is being blown out of proportion or has Lego really done something stupid?

Something else before I go. Sorry for the LONG delay in posting, but two jobs and full time school really take a lot of time and energy out of a person. The site is still around and I am trying to update more frequently.

Thanks to all the people who are still around awaiting for new stuff to be posted.

Posted on December 16th, 2011 by Mike
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Fans of Mega Bloks can now look forward to some new sets to play with in the form of Blizzard based game sets. Blizzard has set up a licensing agreement with Mega Bloks to create themed Mega Bloks sets based on their most popular games Warcraft and StarCraft.

Blizzard is very careful on who they allow to create merchandise based on games so this should be a very big thing for Mega Bloks so hopefully they don’t blow this opportunity.

It confuses me a little bit because Mega Bloks are something you have to assemble and depending on the complexity of the set, it could take a while. That time could be spent playing their games.

Then again, maybe that is meant to counter all the issues with people playing their games too much. Something to get you away from the computer or gaming console to make toys based on the people, places and things you see in their games. But could fans of the game pull themselves away to make/play with those toys. Oh the dilemma.

I also wonder why they picked Mega Bloks over Legos. Legos seem to have more experience making sets based on popular franchise, such as Star Wars, and Legos seem to be more of a collector type item to have over Mega Bloks. If some guy told me he collected Lego sets I wouldn’t give it a second thought however if a guy told me he collected Mega Bloks sets, that would sound a little weird to me.

The sets are supposed to be released in the summer of 2010, but there is no mention on what these sets might consist of specifically.

Mathew McCurley has some ideas for potential sets listed here along with more information about the Warcraft and StarCraft Mega Bloks sets. I never played the games so I don’t know the references, but you might.

Posted on June 26th, 2011 by Mike
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It was an embarrassing day for a motorist on the Interstate 526 bridge that crosses the Wando River. He witnessed a helicopter smoking and plunge toward the water below. The only problem was it wasn’t real, it was a toy helicopter.

After rescue crews made it to the scene, one of the police officers on site noticed it was only two feet long and thus, no one needing rescuing. Two people under the bridge were flying the helicopter and nothing was mentioned as to why they were flying there. It could have been innocent or it could have been a prank.

Although not specified what toy helicopter it was, you can rule out this recalled toy helicopter since its only 7 inches long.

It’s easy to pick on the guy for not noticing it was a toy, but you never know. If you only got a quick glance of it, you might not notice it was a toy. Looking at the sky with nothing to compare distance with, it could have been real and farther away.

Had it been real and he hesitated, people could have died. You never know if you would spot a toy or not in the same situation. It’s like playing game shows at home. It’s easy to yell out the answer in your own living room. It’s completely different when you have millions of people watching

For the details, read the full Post and Courier article here.

Posted on August 20th, 2009 by Mike
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For the past couple weeks I have been posting about several toy makers and toy distributors who have been fined a civil penalty over making or selling toys found to have safety issues.

Family Dollar Inc was the big name in a recent bizjournal.com report that said nine companies were being fined, but only Family Dollar Inc was mentioned. In a follow up to that story, the other eight companies are now listed with their fines.

I had originally thought that Family Dollar Inc was the big name because they were either the biggest name in the group or it had the largest fine of the nine, but they don’t have the biggest fine and it could be argued they aren’t the biggest name in the group.

Dollar General and Cardinal Distributing Co. Inc both have a $100,000 fine, $25,000 above the Family Dollar Inc fine.

Hobby Lobby Stores and First Learning Company Ltd have to pay $50,000 fines, Michaels Stores Inc has a $45,000 fine, A & A Global Industries Inc and Raymond Geddes & Co were both fined $40,000 and Downeast Concepts Inc had the lowest of them all with only $30,000.

This probably won’t be the last of civil penalties for toy companies and toy distributors who made or sold bad toys.

Posted on July 19th, 2009 by Mike
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It’s not something you might expect in terms of copyright infringement or similar issue, as usual for a dollar store, but rather a violation of the trademark law.

A recent ruling posted at courthousenews.com states T-Mobile won its case against Sam’s One Dollar Store for selling modified T-Mobile phones. The phones were deprogrammed and could be used outside T-Mobile’s wireless network, making it an unauthorized use of the phone.

Since the owners of the Sam’s Dollar Store, Noushad Mian and Shazia Noushad Mian, didn’t show up in court, T-Mobile asked for default judgment and they were awarded $25,000 by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor. The dollar store owners didn’t fight the charge so it was deemed reasonable.

I never would have thought a dollar store would be selling real phones, but they weren’t allowed to. You’d also think they’d want to avoid such issues because they probably aren’t making a fortune despite increased sales at dollar stores.

Posted on July 14th, 2009 by Mike
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Joining Mattel, Fisher Price and OKK Trading, the Family Dollar Inc discount stores now has to pay a fine due to allegations that they were aware of and still sold toys with high lead content reports Bizjournal.

Unlike Mattel, Fisher Price and OKK Trading, who generally make the toys, Family Dollar is merely the discount dollar store that sells the toys. They have agreed to pay $75,000 to settle the allegations of violating the laws.

The Family Dollar Stores Inc is said to be one of nine companies fined for that reason, but the other eight aren’t listed, making Family Dollar the big name of the group or the company that has to pay the most of all nine companies. The total fine is over $500,000 for the nine companies combined and the $75,000 Family Dollar has to pay is at least 10% of what is fined.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission allegations say the companies knew they were doing it and the companies say they didn’t. No surprises there, but it is a surprise as to why they didn’t mention the other eight companies that were included in the fine.

Isn’t it kind of important to know what companies were fined so you can see if you happened to buy anything from them?

Posted on July 9th, 2009 by Mike
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Over 4,000 projectile firing toy guns were found during an inspection of a Melbourne importer. Toys guns were banned in Victoria back in 2002 due to the risk of blindness and other injuries to children. These toy guns are said to be destroyed. The company is probably only out about $4,000 for the 4,000 guns, har har.

The Melbourne importer, Mr Jia Hao Huang, has admitted to bringing toy guns into Victoria and has pleaded guilty to charges of breaching the fair trade act. Since the ban, beginning in 2002, over 18,000 toy guns have been confiscated.

It’s odd to think that toy guns would be banned just because of what could happen. I’m all for safety, but you’d think the parents wouldn’t get their kids anything like that if they didn’t think their kids were responsible enough not to shoot their eye out.

In addition to that, drinking could cause accidents and smoking can cause diseases. What about banning those and other products that could do damage or kill people?

I guess it’s the whole “kids don’t know any better” deal. I doubt alcohol and smokes would ever be banned because the people who are allowed to drink and smoke should know better.

Read the story here.

Posted on July 4th, 2009 by Mike
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This is something you wouldn’t find at any dollar store, even the so-called dollar stores that charge more than a dollar on things.

This new toy is called Homage and it’s a metal robot that transforms into a jet. It’s been said to have similarities to cylons or possibly a variation of a terminator in appearance.

When in robot form it stands almost a foot and a half tall at 17 inches and it’s posable. Just from the image in jet form, it’s tough to make out how it’s a jet, and it looks very sharp and pointy with a possible impalement, laceration or puncture hazard.

It’s by no means meant to be a toy for kids just because it transforms. With a $2000 price tag for a commissioned piece, it would be the kid’s birthday and Christmas presents for the next decade. It would also need to be ordered well ahead of time because it takes 3-4 weeks to deliver. It’s really meant to be a collector’s item more than anything I would think.

But even with the $2000 price tag, if a kid played with that, it definitely has safety issues and, in that respect, it’s similar to a dollar store toy.

Kudos to the creator though, it looks awesome.

Check out the story at Chipchick.com.

Posted on June 28th, 2009 by Mike
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It looks like something is finally being done about toy safety issues with another toy company being issued a civil penalty. Bloomberg.com reports that Mattel has to pay a civil penalty for violating the lead paint standards in their toys with Fisher Price included in that penalty.

As with the OKK trading civil penalty, the CPSC alleges that Mattel did it with knowledge of the violation, but Mattel basically claims it was an oversight and worked to stop the problem once discovered. But did they only do that because they were discovered?

Mattel, in agreement with the CPSC, has to pay a sum of $2.3 million dollars. It’s the largest fine against a toy company and it’s intended to send a message to other toy companies to make sure they follow the standards or something will be done about it. Something should be done about it since Mattel had to recall more than 21 million dangerous toys imported from China.

By the way, it doesn’t really matter if the Mattel one was issued before the OKK Trading so don’t bother pointing it out.

Guess we’ll have to see which toy company will get the next civil penalty. At least the reason won’t be a surprise, the violation of lead level standards seems to be the safe bet.

Posted on June 28th, 2009 by Mike
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It looks like the OKK Trading toy company has to pay a civil penalty for violating the federal lead paint ban and other child safety standards. The federal ban started back in 1978 making it over 30 years young. Some OKK Trading action figures were recalled late last year for high levels of lead paint.

Okk Trading has agreed to and is supposed to pay a penalty sum of $665,000. Several problem toys have been outlined in the full CPSC article here. The CPSC alleges that OKK Trading knew the toys violated the child safety standards, but sold them anyway, a claim OKK Trading denies. Although it’s possible OKK Trading knew, it would be difficult to prove.

It’s not surprising OKK Trading denies it even if they did know. For now, they only have to pay the civil penalty over the blunder of selling dangerous toys whether they knew or not. This forces them to put better checks in place so they don’t get a bigger fine for a second offense.

Admitting they knew they were doing something bad would really bring down the punishment, but even if they didn’t know, is a few hundred thousand dollars enough to send the message? I guess if they are dollar store toys, maybe.

Posted on June 25th, 2009 by Mike
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