Mattel to announce toy recall

[miami_fan]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/14/recall/index.html

(CNN) -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission will announce Tuesday morning that some of Mattel's "Sarge" die cast toys from the Pixar "Cars" movie line will be recalled because of excessive lead in the paint.

The affected toys also include Barbie Doll and Tanner, which the commission says pose hazards because of small magnets.

These products were produced by one specific contract manufacturer during a narrow time frame.

The recalled Sarge Cars were sold individually and in assortment packs in retail stores nationwide from May 2007 to August 2007. The Sarge character is a small die cast car measuring about 3 inches in length.

The car is an Army green color and features a white star on the hood. Surface paint on affected products contains lead in excess of permissible levels.

For Mattel, the parent company of Fisher-Price, it would be the second toy recall in two weeks.

The company told CNN it is holding its own news conference on Tuesday.

"Nothing is more important than the safety of our children," said Mattel Chairman Bob Eckert in an full-page ad published Tuesday in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

"Our long record of safety at Mattel is why we're one of the most trusted names with parents," Eckert wrote. "And I am confident that the actions we are taking now will maintain that trust."

A Mattel representative would not confirm the recall or any specifics if it, but the company said it is working with the CSPC on a joint announcement.

The safety commission announced a voluntary global recall by Mattel, the world's leading toymaker, on August 2.

Its Fisher-Price pre-school division recalled 1.5 million toys that were made in China, over worries that their paint may contain too much lead.

The toys included likenesses of Big Bird and Elmo, as well as the Dora and Diego characters.

Days later, Chinese officials temporarily banned Lee Der from exporting products. The Southern Metropolis Daily, citing unidentified Lee Der workers, said the recall cost the company $30 million.

The manager of the Lee Der factory committed suicide over the weekend, government officials said. Zhang Shuhong hanged himself in a warehouse in the city of Foshan, said an official with the Guangdong Public Security Department.

The recall was among the largest in recent months involving Chinese products, which have come under scrutiny worldwide for containing potentially dangerous high levels of chemicals and toxins.

A Chinese quality inspection agency also announced a temporary export ban on Hansheng Wood Products Factory and said police were investigating the use of "fake plastic pigment." Such pigments are a type of industrial latex used to make surfaces smoother and shinier.

Hansheng made wooden railroad toys that a New York company, RC2 Corp., sold under the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line. RC2 had to recall 1.5 million of the toys earlier this year because of lead paint.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I was seriously expecting this thread to inform us that Elmo, in fact, does not know our names.