Toys You Should Remove from Your Child’s Christmas List

With Halloween and the election behind us, the holidays are almost here. Parents and grandparents have begun to think about what to buy the children in their families for Christmas and Hanukkah, and many kids have started writing up their gift lists. Though we all want to do whatever we can to make our kids happy, it is also important that we keep them healthy and safe, and sometimes our goals are at odds with what our kids want. The job of buying responsibly and avoiding toys that have a high risk for causing injuries falls squarely on the shoulders of adults who frequently know nothing about the items that are on the kids’ lists. As product liability lawyers, the attorneys at Wallace Law are all too aware that it is better to avoid toys that can cause harm then to file a product liability lawsuit later. That’s why we are providing you with our rundown of the most dangerous toys on the market this year.

Every year, a consumer watchdog group called World Against Toys Causing Harm, or WATCH, publishes a list of the toys that it has reviewed for safety concerns. There is good reason for doing so: in the last two years there have been 19 toys recalled over safety issues, with over 800,000 individual products that had been released onto the market called back: half a million of those occurred during the year 2016.  Children are admitted into America’s emergency rooms for toy-related injuries every three minutes. Some of the problems involve small parts, while others involve toxic substances or materials that are too rigid that can cause injury.  Some have strings that pose choking hazards while others are insufficiently labeled for proper use or danger warnings. The group’s list of the ten most dangerous toys include the following items and reasons for concern:

• Peppa Pig’s Muddy Puddles Family – Contains small parts that present a choking hazard
• Kids Time Baby Children’s Elephant Pillow – Poses a suffocation hazard but no warning is provided by the manufacturer
• Slimeball Slinger – The toy fires its ammunition so forcefully that there is a significant risk of eye injury
• Banzai Bump N’ Bounce Body Bumpers – Toy poses risk for impact injury
• Nerf Rival Apollo XV-700 Blaster – Eye injury risk, no warning provided
• The Good Dinosaur Galloping Bunch – Dinosaur’s pointed tales pose risk of puncture wound, no warning provided
• Peppy Pups – Toy has long string card that risks strangulation, no warning provided
• Flying Heoes Superman Launcher (also other versions including Spider Man, Batman, Ironman) – Toy poses risk of facial and eye injuries
• Baby Magic Feed and Play Baby – Toy comes with spoon that can be swallowed and block airway, no warning provided
• Warcraft Doomhammer – Toy risks serious blunt impact injuries

Though nobody wants to disappoint their child by failing to provide them with the toy that they are looking for, as adults it is our responsibility to be responsible and vigilant, especially when product manufacturers fail to do so. If you or someone you love has been injured by a toy that you feel represents negligence on the part of a toy manufacturer, contact us to set up an appointment. We will advise you as to whether negligence has taken place and whether you have a right to file a product liability lawsuit seeking compensation for the damages suffered.