Group lists drone, fidget spinners as unsafe toys
Fidget spinners, a plastic Wonder Woman battle sword and a remotecontrolled Spider-Man drone are among the toys topping a consumer safety group’s annual list of worst toys for the holidays.
The group, World Against Toys Causing Harm, or Watch, unveiled the top 10 list Tuesday at a Boston children’s hospital. The nonprofit organization has been releasing the lists for more than four decades.
Watch claims that the popular fidget
spinners contain small parts that can be a choking hazard. Mattel’s Wonder Woman sword has the potential to cause blunt-force injuries, it said, and Marvel’s Spider-Man drone has rotating blades that can lead to eye and other bodily injuries.
The Toy Association, an industry trade group, dismissed the list as “needlessly frightening” to parents because all toys sold in the U.S. meet rigorous safety standards. It also criticized the organization for not testing the toys it focuses on.
National toy safety standards are inadequate, as can been seen by the high number of recalls each year, Watch President Joan Siff said.
The nonprofit group said there have been at least 15 recalls representing nearly 2 million dangerous toys since December.
Siff stressed that the toys named each year have common hazards that the group sees year after year. She pointed to the Pull Along Pony by Tolo Toys that’s marketed for children over age 1 but has a 19-inch cord.
“We don’t need a testing lab to know that’s a strangulation and entanglement hazard,” she said.
With people increasingly doing their holiday shopping online, it’s more important than ever to have the most current information about the safety of a toy online, Siff said.
For example, Hallmark’s Disney-themed Itty Bittys, plush stacking toys for babies, were recalled over the summer due to fabric pieces that posed a choking hazard. But the toy still is readily available online because many websites are not monitored for recalls, Siff said.
Among the other toys that made this year’s list is Nerf ’s Zombie Strike crossbow, which the organization says poses the risk of eye and face injuries because it uses a pressurized, pullback lever to shoot soft projectiles.
Razor’s Heel Wheels are strapped onto children’s shoes to turn them into improvised roller skates, but pose a burn risk because they include “real sparking action.”
Slackline is a tightrope-like device by Brand 44 that is meant to be anchored between two trees. Watch says that can lead to severe injury and death.
The Association, Toy an industry trade group, dismissed the list as “needlessly frightening.”