Spin Master's highly anticipated North American 'Bakugan(TM ...
PR Newswire (press release)
TORONTO , July 21 /PRNewswire/ - The 'Call to Brawl' will roar at Comic-Con in San Diego, CA July 23rd - 26th as Spin Master Ltd. showcases its highly ...

Coming Soon - The View Master Movie
Chip Chick
Dreamworks is working on the deal with Mattel who owns Fisher Price to acquire the rights to the toy in order to make the movie. ...
View Askew
DreamWorks Turning View-Master Toy Into Movie, And I Can't Add A ...
DreamWorks is Making a ViewMaster Movie
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No refunds for poison toy yields lawsuit
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, AR -

A Little Rock couple who bought a now-recalled Aqua Dots toy for their three young children are suing the American distributor of the toy who is refusing to refund their money and offering a “replacement” instead.
“Consumers do not want, nor should they be forced to accept, another toy from the same company that has been irresponsibly marketing and selling poison to their children,” charges the lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Little Rock.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status, in the hopes of representing as many as 4. 2 million consumers across the country who bought the Chinese-made toy that was recalled on Nov. 7 for safety reasons and now can’t get their money back.
The craft toy, which allows children to create various multidimensional designs using small, colored beads, has been sold nationwide since April, retailing for between $ 17 and $ 30, according to the Web site of the U. S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.
A Jacksonville toddler is among children around the globe who have ingested the beads and then passed out or become ill after the beads’ coating metabolized into a chemical compound known as the “date rape drug.” The boy, 20-month-old Jack Esses, slipped out of consciousness, waking only to throw up, after swallowing the beads on Oct. 30, said his mother, Shelby Esses. He was nearly unconscious when taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, but woke up after six hours and was quickly “back to his normal self,” his mother said.
The hospital conducted tests and consulted a toxicologist, who speculated that GHB, the so-called date rape drug, was the only drug to produce those effects.
After the boy’s mother got a list of the chemicals used to make the beads, the toxicologist recognized one that turns into GHB, or gamma hydroxy butyrate.
The compound can induce unconsciousness, drowsiness, coma and even death.
The toys, which have been distributed in 40 countries, were supposed to be made using a nontoxic compound found in glue, but instead were made with a compound widely used in cleaners and plastics that is significantly less expensive than the nontoxic compound.
The lawsuit filed Thursday by attorneys Alex G. Streett and his son, James A. Streett, both of Russellville, doesn’t seek damages for injuries. James Streett said Thursday evening that he didn’t know if lawsuits about the safety of the product have been filed elsewhere.
His clients, Donald C. Erbach Jr. and his wife, Stephanie Streett, both of Little Rock, are the parents of three children, ages 5, 4 and 1. The children, whom James Streett declined to identify by sex, weren’t harmed by the toy purchased from Wal-Mart in the summer, but could have been harmed by the “dangerous defects,” the lawsuit says.
James Streett also declined to say whether the attorneys are related to Stephanie Streett.
The lawsuit names as a defendant Spin Master LTD and Spin Master, Inc., which is based in Ontario, Canada, and has a showroom in Bentonville.
 

Spin Master Recalls Toys After Concerns in Australia (Update2)
Bloomberg -

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Spin Master Ltd., a Toronto-based toymaker, recalled about 4.2 million of its Aqua Dots products after children who swallowed the beads became comatose, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said tonight.
The Chinese-made arts-and-crafts toy, which features small beads that bond with water, contain chemical 1,4-butanediol, an industrial solvent that the body converts to gamma-hydroxy butyrate, commonly known as the ``date-rape'' drug, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Web site.
``We have asked Spin Master to fully explain what it believes happened,'' Toys ``R'' Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh said in a statement issued yesterday. Company spokeswoman Donna MacNeil didn't return calls.
Two children in the U.S. who swallowed the beads were hospitalized after they became comatose. Both eventually recovered, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement. The product, which is labeled Bindeez outside of the U.S., sickened two Australian children as well, Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported Nov. 6.
``1,4-butanediol is a common industrial raw material,'' Ho Wing Shing, a biochemistry expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said yesterday. ``High concentration of the chemical can damage our nerve system.''
Stopped Sales
Toys ``R'' Us Inc. stopped sales of Aqua Dots yesterday. Amazon.com Inc. started removing the toys from its Web site today, spokeswoman Patricia Smith said in an e-mail. Target Corp. began pulling the items from shelves today, spokeswoman Amy VonWalter said in an interview.
Shipments of Aqua Dots and Bindeez have been stopped, Spin Master said today in a statement. The company said it's working with U.S. and Canadian product-safety agencies.
The Bindeez toys were recalled by Melbourne-based Moose Enterprise Pty. Ltd. after a ``small number'' of children swallowed the beads and required medical attention. Moose will introduce a ``foul-tasting ingredient'' into the product's formulation to ensure children don't eat multiple beads when Bindeez is reintroduced.

No refunds for poison toy yields lawsuit
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, AR -

A Little Rock couple who bought a now-recalled Aqua Dots toy for their three young children are suing the American distributor of the toy who is refusing to refund their money and offering a “replacement” instead.
“Consumers do not want, nor should they be forced to accept, another toy from the same company that has been irresponsibly marketing and selling poison to their children,” charges the lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Little Rock.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status, in the hopes of representing as many as 4. 2 million consumers across the country who bought the Chinese-made toy that was recalled on Nov. 7 for safety reasons and now can’t get their money back.
The craft toy, which allows children to create various multidimensional designs using small, colored beads, has been sold nationwide since April, retailing for between $ 17 and $ 30, according to the Web site of the U. S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.
A Jacksonville toddler is among children around the globe who have ingested the beads and then passed out or become ill after the beads’ coating metabolized into a chemical compound known as the “date rape drug.”
The boy, 20-month-old Jack Esses, slipped out of consciousness, waking only to throw up, after swallowing the beads on Oct. 30, said his mother, Shelby Esses. He was nearly unconscious when taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, but woke up after six hours and was quickly “back to his normal self,” his mother said.
The hospital conducted tests and consulted a toxicologist, who speculated that GHB, the so-called date rape drug, was the only drug to produce those effects.
After the boy’s mother got a list of the chemicals used to make the beads, the toxicologist recognized one that turns into GHB, or gamma hydroxy butyrate.
The compound can induce unconsciousness, drowsiness, coma and even death.
The toys, which have been distributed in 40 countries, were supposed to be made using a nontoxic compound found in glue, but instead were made with a compound widely used in cleaners and plastics that is significantly less expensive than the nontoxic compound.
The lawsuit filed Thursday by attorneys Alex G. Streett and his son, James A. Streett, both of Russellville, doesn’t seek damages for injuries. James Streett said Thursday evening that he didn’t know if lawsuits about the safety of the product have been filed elsewhere.
His clients, Donald C. Erbach Jr. and his wife, Stephanie Streett, both of Little Rock, are the parents of three children, ages 5, 4 and 1. The children, whom James Streett declined to identify by sex, weren’t harmed by the toy purchased from Wal-Mart in the summer, but could have been harmed by the “dangerous defects,” the lawsuit says.
James Streett also declined to say whether the attorneys are related to Stephanie Streett.
The lawsuit names as a defendant Spin Master LTD and Spin Master, Inc., which is based in Ontario, Canada, and has a showroom in Bentonville.