Recalled Toys Still on Sale at Wal-Mart

Here is how the old WMW SPIN, works to decieve you:

“Apparently you have to pry recalled merchandise from Wal-Mart’s cold, dead fingers before it stops trying to sell it to unsuspecting customers.”

Notice how ‘recalled merchandise’ is mentioned, and then only Wal-Mart is named!!  But, if you read further, you will see:

“Tests conducted on some toys and other children’s products sold recently at Wal-Mart, Target and Toys “R” Us stores.....The Clean Water Action, a Washington-based non-profit firm, said it tested 50 children’s toys sold at those retailers and at Walgreens....The CWA said 11 of those toys - some of which were made out of vinyl - contained lead, including two that contained “extremely high levels of lead.”

Notice, how 50 toys were tested, but only 11 contained lead and only 2 contained “extremely high levels of lead”, but nowhere, does it say these were “Recalled” items!!  And, other than the 2, the rest fell within acceptable limits of lead!!  And, where were those 2 products found, at Wal-Mart?  No, they were found at Target!!  In fact, Wal-Mart was only 1 of 4 stores that the items were found at, and if the 2 were found at Target, that means the toys from Wal-Mart were within acceptable limits!!

So, the statement, “you have to pry recalled merchandise from Wal-Mart’s cold, dead fingers”, is totally false, according to the rest of the article!!

...Wal-Mart is named!!

Seventy-one percent of the toys sold in the United States come from China, and Wal-Mart now sells one out of five of the toys we buy.

Why not focus on the dealer with the largest market share (20%)?

...the rest fell within acceptable limits of lead!!

Is that “acceptable limits” for my kids, or yours?

Why not focus on the dealer with the largest market share (20%)?

Because 80% of the 3 billion toys sold in the US in a year (70 to 80% of which are made in China) isn’t anything to worry about?  Even if Wal-Mart were to shut down every store it owns and operates tomorrow, this would still be a problem. No one should get a free pass.

No one should get a free pass.

My point, precisely!

...that means the toys from Wal-Mart were within acceptable limits!!

Listen up, RDS! tjc says no free passes.

Ken V,

“Listen up, RDS! tjc says no free passes.”

I agree, but let’s put things in perspective here!!  If Wal-Mart sells 20% of the China made toys, that means 80% are sold by others, so Wal-Mart is only 1/5th of the problem!!  And, try to be honest, no retailer can afford to test 100% of the products they sell and then weed out everything that doesn’t test ZERO for contaminents, nothing is totally contaminent free, that is why they have limits as to what is safe and what is not!!  But, here, everything falls on the back of Wal-Mart, being spun into a giant catastrophe!!  Of the 3 billion toys sold in the US in a year, how many children have been harmed?  I know, we would like that to be Zero, but let’s get real, nobody can guarantee NO kids will get hurt from any product!!

You have made things perfectly clear here, you will say ANYTHING to help get rid of Wal-Mart!!

RDS,

“Apparently you have to pry recalled merchandise from Wal-Mart’s cold, dead fingers before it stops trying to sell it to unsuspecting customers.”

I prefer to call emotionally-charged add-ons like this, “Alex Goldschmidt, in his own words”. 

Time for a reality check.

For the rest of you, what this is, is an industry problem.  The old Wal-Mart Watch rally call “Wal-Mart squeezes their suppliers into manufacturing products with cheap components” simply doesn’t play-out in an industry which has built billions of dollars in brand equity over several generations on such household brands as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Transformers, as well as countless board games.

These are the brands kids want, and today’s parents will do everything in their power to make sure their little ones get what they want.  Period.

That said, tjc is right on the money—while Wal-Mart is clearly the biggest reseller of toys, by far, there are still many others, out there meaning if WM were to suddenly disappear overnight, other toy resellers would be ready to (quoting Ken V, here) “pick-up the slack” and continue to sell the merchandise Mattel and Hasbro cranks-out.

On the other hand, when it comes to certain “discount” proprietary store-branded toys (i.e., WM’s “Kid Connection"), I am going to agree with Ken—no free passes for any retailers, on these “exclusive” lines, as you can look at the packaging and know it’s little more than cheap plastic which is sold only to turn a quick buck for the chain in question.

Bill

Bill,

You mean that you don’t know that companies are only looking for that ‘one time’ sale?  And, it is a good idea to ‘kill off your customers’?  How do these people manage to live, with such ‘negative’ thoughts and ideas?  What does it mean, when you think everybody is out to get you?  Isn’t that called being ‘paranoid’?

RDS:"How do these people manage to live with such negative thoughts and ideas?...I don’t know,RDS,just HOW DO YOU?  “What does it mean when you think everybody is out to get you?Isn’t that being called paranoid?” ...Boy howdy,you done hit that one on the head! Thats exactly how you behave when anyone exhibits healthy skepticism about WalMart!

ddrb,

“Thats exactly how you behave when anyone exhibits healthy skepticism about WalMart!”

There is a difference between healthy skepticism and outright lies, twisting the truth and false statements!!

RDS:Thats exactly what other bloggers here have been trying to tell you and Nick!

ddrb,

“RDS:Thats exactly what other bloggers here have been trying to tell you and Nick!”

If that is so, then why don’t you start trying to get to the real truth, instead of the slanted B.S. that your side posts?  Start answering the questions posed, or refute what we say with facts, instead of calling people names or changing the subject!!  I’m sorry that you don’t like facing ‘reality’, but try to follow anyway!!

RDS:In certain situations,I’ve got a problem being a “follower"- “If your not one of the “lead horses”,get what you get to look at all the time? (And it aint your reality I’m talkin’about!)

ddrb,

“I’ve got a problem being a “follower”

Well, you seem to have no trouble being a WMW follower!!  Like a sponge, you seem to take in everything they say, no matter how obsurd it sounds!!

RDS:"Like a sponge you seem to take in........” Tell me,did you see that in your crystal ball”,Psycho the Psychic?"Or perhaps that should be “Psycho the WalMart SIDEKICK?"(I didn’t know that sponges absorbed sounds,absurd or otherwise!)

are you calling r-bob a clown , the wm clowns unite.