Buckyballs, Buckycubes Discontinued

Tina Benitez-Eves -- Gifts and Dec, 11/5/2012 3:25:37 PM

NEW YORK - Maxfield & Oberton, manufacturers of Buckyballs and Buckycubes, have decided to discontinue the controversial desk toys.

In a statement issued on the company's website, the company said, "Due to baseless and relentless legal badgering by a certain four letter government agency, it's time to bid a fond farewell to the world's most popular adult desktoys, Buckyballs and Buckycubes. That's right: we're sad to say that Balls & Cubes have a one-way ticket to the Land-of-Awesome-Stuff-You-Should-Have-Bought-When-You-Had-the-Chance."

In July, The Consumer Product Safety Commission filed a lawsuit against the Buckyballs makers to stop selling the magnetic accessories, which it stated were hazardous to children and linked to a dozen injuries, according to the CPSC commission. If swallowed, the powerful magnets can pierce holes in the intestines, and some children have even required surgery after ingesting parts of the product, according to the commission.

"We maintain our strong opposition to the CPSC's claim that our vigorous safety program and the five warnings on our product's packaging are insufficient. We market our products only toward adults," a spokesperson for Maxfield & Oberton told Gifts & Decorative Accessories. "Unfortunately, the CPSC will not consider our proposal to work together to launch an educational campaign to complement our own efforts."

The spokesperson stated that some of the bigger retailers were intimidated by the CPSC, but Buckyballs and Buckycubes were still being sold at more than 5,000 smaller retailers.

The company will discontinue Buckyballs and Buckycubes but continue to sell sets on its website until all products are sold out, according to the spokesman. "There are only a few thousand sets left and available on our website," said the spokesperson. "Once they're gone, they're gone for good. We don't expect them to be around much longer and encourage fans and supporters to act fast."

Moving forward the company is going to focus on new products and moving its brand forward. "We made a tough decision after a lot of thought based on how to protect the integrity of the business, the brand, and begin to move forward. It was time for our team to start focusing on the future and providing innovative products for our loyal customers."

They added, "We have a loyal following and want to be able to focus on creating innovative products for those customers."