Log, big, heavy, wood, and safe for babies

Seems like Ren and Stimpy were on to something with Log. I'm an expecting father, and I know that the stuff coming out of China was scary but this article is freaky.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/03/news/companies/toxic_toys/index.htm?postversion=2008120314

I know I shouldn't buy into all sensationalism.. but this seems to be backed by some semi good science. So, If I get a plastic or painted toy for xmas for my soon to be child, It's got a 1 in 3 chance of having some nasty stuff in it.

Time for me to start making wooden toys I guess.........

Now, don't get in a bunch. I note that two of the items that they are complaining about are PVC and flame retardents. The flame retardents are probably required by safety regulations anyway! And PVC is vinyl, which means that sneakers and backpacks are "toxic" too, among millions of other everyday items, like the siding on your house.

The healthytoys.org statement about how testing to the current safety regulations is unacceptably minimum reminded me of nothing so much as Jennifer Anniston's boss in Office Space telling her how many pieces of flair she needed. "It doesn't matter what the minimum is - why would I want something that just meets the minimum?"

And also note that they admit that they didn't even try to make a random sampling or representative range: "The group's Web site said that the sampling was not random or intended to be representative of all toys on the market". Which means, in plain words, that they picked the worst toys they could find to make the numbers look bad.

I believe I chalk most of my interest up to "new father paranoia"

but.. with all the health problems that run in my family, I don't hurt my kids any more than my DNA already will. If you know...

I have already begun to eliminate as much plastic out of our house as possible.. PVC etc..

Organic baby mattress blah blah blah.. It all ain't cheap.

ignorant wrote: Seems like Ren and Stimpy were on to something with Log.

Is the Ren & Stimpy Log civil war doctor play set still available? children singing "it rolls down stairs alone or in pairs, its big, its heavy, its wood" :D

Pfft big deal. When I was a kid I had rusty metal tonka trucks with lead paint and PVC wheels.

GameboyRMH wrote: Pfft big deal. When I was a kid I had rusty metal tonka trucks with lead paint and PVC wheels.

Yessreeebob. Lead paint didn't make a bit of difference when whacking your little brother across the skull with it.

Im sure my opinion will change when i become a father, but our population still managed to grow in a world of lawn darts, lead paint, and honda 3 wheelers. I miss the old tonka trucks

And ain't nones of us here bein affected by nunuh thoes led toyz

Quick google search shows that EU has banned PVC in baby toys and the FDA has given notice that certain plasticizers are toxic in certain types of medical devices.

even if you only believe half or a quarter of the stuff out there.. makes me scared to have my kid chewing on it.

The paint on the Tonka was nothing compared to the air when we used to pump lead out the tail pipe.

914Driver wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: Pfft big deal. When I was a kid I had rusty metal tonka trucks with lead paint and PVC wheels.

Yessreeebob. Lead paint didn't make a bit of difference when whacking your little brother across the skull with it.

So I ain't the only one. I also survived: the arm flung across the chest instead of a child safety seat, treehouses, minibikes, motorcycles, those rubber tipped wooden arrows, dirt clod fights, bottle rocket wars, lawn darts (even the youngest knew better than to stand under those things!), go carts, etc etc etc. I drove a Ford 8N tractor around on our property with a bush hog when I was 8 years old, there's pics in the family albums to prove it. Hell, when I was a kid the polio vaccine had just been invented, I clearly remember the day my brothers and I got ours.

Now we are raising generations of wussies afraid of their own shadows and hung up on video games.

Jensenman wrote: Now we are raising generations of wussies afraid of their own shadows and hung up on video games.

yup.. by eliminating carcinogens and toxic outgasing will really make my kid a wuss... most likely he/she will be made a wuss like his dad because of nasty asthma.

A video blast from the past:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GsN7VbuTvc

Iggy:

I don't think you're being paranoid. I'm not a daddy, and I'm trying to avoid anything made in China/third world countries like the plague. Not enough stuff (i.e. FOOD) is tested when it comes into the states, and the Chinese will make your Barbie doll out of rat poison and dead political prisoners if it'll save em a buck. Obviously, I'm not big into new federal regulation, but I do, absolutely think there should be standards on labeling country of origin...like BIG berkeleying labels, and none of this "Imported by" bull E36 M3.

Mrs. poop and I have actually been trying to buy as much hand-made in the U.S. stuff as we can, and as much organic, U.S. food as we can. Neither are as expensive as you might think if you know where to look.

seriously who wouldn't want THIS for Xmas..

american made. non toxic beeswax finish 100% american maple.

http://www.maplelandmark.net/action.lasso?-database=mlwproducts1&-table=web&sku=76225&-response=detail.lasso&-search

poopie.. funny enough I agree, mostly from the standpoint that some countries can be trusted to stick to good practices and standards in manufacturing and some cannot.. Chinese milk anyone?

Ignorant...

I'm only 18, and when I went back for Thanksgiving, I played with my old toys again (they were fun, shut up).

The best Christmas gifts were Playmobil stuff. Trains, Ships, cars, whatever. German made. Really high quality (probably expensive too), and a lot of fun. The trains moved on to LGB trains, what a cool hobby--bigger than the lionel trains, so I liked them a lot better.

This is a few years off for you, I think that we got them when we were about 3 and up, but they might have stuff for younger kids too. It'd be worth a look anyways.

Oh, and on the wood theme... Pinewood Derby Cars! Even if you don't get your kid into Indian Guides or Boy Scouts, do them any ways. I think we have about 20 in our basement. I need to take a picture and post those one here sometime.

My wife and I were talking about it just the other day. Call me protectionist or xenophobic or whatever, but when I consider how much we owe China already, and how--as poopie so aptly put it-- they'll "make your Barbie doll out of rat poison and dead political prisoners if it'll save em a buck", I'm just really not interested in buying Chinese-made goods right now.

Good old American know-how has come up with plenty of ways to poison and maim children over the years. We can do it again.

ignorant wrote:

Jensenman wrote: Now we are raising generations of wussies afraid of their own shadows and hung up on video games.

yup.. by eliminating carcinogens and toxic outgasing will really make my kid a wuss... most likely he/she will be made a wuss like his dad because of nasty asthma.

Dang, did you ever miss the point. I was referring to the penchant for today's parents to, understandably, coddle their kids too much when they are very small and then continue that into later years, thus robbing them of much life experience. Instead, these kids sit on their asses and play video games.

I was NOT saying they should be exposed to hazardous chemicals to make 'em tough.

I made the polio reference because that was very real, it scared the shi+ out of kids my age because it was and is a horrible crippling diease and it was mostly conquered by medicine. The advances in modern medicine have been a two edged sword, though: as an adjunct to the overprotectiveness, some doctors say we feed kids way too many antibiotics and this defeats the body's own natural defenses, meaning since our bodies never have to fight off infections etc we never develop our own defenses. Some say that's what's behind the increase in reported asthma cases.

It really surprises and saddens me; when I was a kid every day after school and all day long on the weekends there were kids outside playing, you could hear them everywhere. Now in the afternoons I don't hear a damn thing in my neighborhood. No kids. Nothing. Occasionally on the weekends you hear them. There is something deeply wrong with that. Even worse, other people I talk to say the same thing about their neighborhoods.

I am not advocating feeding kids poisonous stuff, no way. I am just not crazy about the overprotectiveness and the tendency to move all of life indoors in front of a monitor.

LOL^^

I know my mom got E36 M3 from a neighbor once because we were in her yard playing tackle football. Afraid we'd get hurt. After that we just played in the street :D

Jensenman wrote: It really surprises and saddens me; when I was a kid every day after school and all day long on the weekends there were kids outside playing, you could hear them everywhere. Now in the afternoons I don't hear a damn thing in my neighborhood. No kids. Nothing. Occasionally on the weekends you hear them. There is something deeply wrong with that. Even worse, other people I talk to say the same thing about their neighborhoods. I am not advocating feeding kids poisonous stuff, no way. I am just not crazy about the overprotectiveness and the tendency to move all of life indoors in front of a monitor.

I agree. Thanks for the explanation. Since my wife is teacher, I know there are some CRAZY overprotective parents out there.. seriously nutty. My wife was watching one of those "wife swap" type shows the other day. The "new" wife was washing clothes in the washing machine, but decided to dry the clothes outside to save money. The "husaband" objected because it was unclean. Crazy germ people are also out there.. They really freak me out. Its as if they want to bathe junior in rubbing alcohol all the time.

I am very happy that my wife has gone camping a few times and likes to take little hikes now. I don't want my kids to grow up like me, mostly inside. Though I did spend a lot of time in the woods near my house.

ignorant wrote: seriously who wouldn't want THIS for Xmas.. american made. non toxic beeswax finish 100% american maple. http://www.maplelandmark.net/action.lasso?-database=mlwproducts1&-table=web&sku=76225&-response=detail.lasso&-search poopie.. funny enough I agree, mostly from the standpoint that some countries can be trusted to stick to good practices and standards in manufacturing and some cannot.. Chinese milk anyone?

I agreed with Salanis a few minutes ago too. I'm pretty sure it's a sign of the apocalypse.

Just to throw it out there again (it's part of my "final solution,") I don' think we (the US) should be trading with countries that don't have the same labor standards as ours - period. How the berkeley is anyone in the US supposed to make a buck manufacturing anything when someone across the pond can pay a 4-year-old girl 2 cents a day to do it?

poopshovel wrote: I agreed with Salanis a few minutes ago too. I'm pretty sure it's a sign of the apocalypse.

No, it's not.

GameboyRMH wrote: Pfft big deal. When I was a kid I had rusty metal tonka trucks with lead paint and PVC wheels.

Is that intended as a warning or reassurance?