TIA: Safety Act puts $2B crimp in toy biz

There''''s only one problem with all of this CPSIA stuff -- the CDC (as in -- an arm of the Government) decided 20 years ago that lead poisoning (a) comes from ingestion (most of the things that have been banned by this law would never have been eaten) and (b) that the most common cause of lead poisoning is lead based paint -- in buildings....This law is not needed, does not solve the real problem, and is causing real financial pain to families as well as businesses. I guess Congress would call those "unintended consequences" -- starting with the families who can no longer find reasonably priced used clothes, books, or toys, because the Thrift stores can no longer safely sell them....And that''''s just the beginning

There''s a food chain here and somebody is always getting fat.

The only people making money here are the testing services...and the people in the shadows. I only wonder what politicians are connected to this debacle.

The toy testing that cost me $600. about 5 years ago now cost over $2,000.!

Just like there is time to push an agenda through during a time of crisis. This is sick stuff!

I don''t want to hear them complaining. If they were taking measures to
ensure kids safety before then all of these new regulations wouldn''t be in
place. They are acting like little kids caught with their hand in the candy
jar... momma puts them in time out and they cry.

I'm concerned about where all the unsaleables are going to end up, in a land fill? I believe they should have put a sell through date into affect.

Oh, right, CreativeGreenius, it was those greedy money-grubbing black-mustachio-twirling top-hat-wearing Toy Magnates getting rich that caused all this.

Well how about this: maybe it had something to do with those greedy, penny-pinching moms and dads wanting to needlessly buy more toys creating demand for toys that didn't cost a lot of money. What did their kids need toys for anyway? The good, green earth is full of sticks and rocks and bugs for them to play with, or at least it would be if half of them didn't live in cities where you can be sure the cops will knock on your door if you let your children play outside.

CPSIA is "for the children" all right... just not THOSE children.

Gosh, I thought that a central premise of competent business management was that you always strive to secure the lowest cost for a given component providing it meets the standards of safety and quality that the company and government have set. Isn''t that the way you hold prices down for the consumer and maybe make a little profit?

Oh, I forgot. We''re talking about those money grubbing, profiteering scum who are just out to poison their consumers.

Or maybe, just maybe, this is an over reaction to a rare case of a vendor who cut corners and rightly got caught.

Nahhhh, that can''t be it. Let''s go ahead and spend billions of dollars and put thousands of people out of work and hundreds of companies out of business. That''ll teach ''em!

The toy industry has no one to blame but themselves for contracting out so much of their business to the lowest bidder. The quality of the toys has suffered in addition to the products.

Too many fat cats in executive suites have gotten stinking filthy rich at the expense of consumers and the market of children they made their dough off of.

$2B is small change compared to the money saved by years of sending production to the lowest bidder. Lots of people - mfrs, retailers, consumers - made or saved lots money with this Russian roulette game of labor arbitrage.

It is too bad those who didn't play that game are caught up in the testing expense of all of this as well. They are the only ones with a legitimate complaint.