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Recalled toys a problem for resale shops, charities

Posted October 19, 2007 11:00 pm

Time Landis

Kitty Boyce has two binders full of toy recalls from the past five years, including six added this week.

Wes Barr, a local coordinator of Toys for Tots, has 1,500 toys to sort through by early November.

With the holiday shopping season closing in, resale and consignment shops, as well as charitable organizations, are trying this fall to make sure waves of recalled toys don't find their way to shelves and donation bins.

"It's a nightmare. Most of the people who bring these toys in don't even realize it, even with all the publicity," said Boyce, owner of The Kids Closet in Rochester. The resale shop for children has been in business 16 years.

Boyce has kept a running log of recalls the past five years, but she has been especially busy this summer and fall tracking recalls from such major brands as Mattel, Disney, Fisher-Price and Gymboree.

The largest recalls were for toys made in China that contained lead-based paint.

"Lately, it's like changing the recall board every day," said Boyce, who is also vice president of the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops.

If a customer brings in a toy or other recalled items on her list, Boyce said, they are advised to return the product to the manufacturer.

Toy recalls have become a liability issue for resale businesses, she said.

"When you sell something, you assume the manufacturer's warranty," she said.

Charitable organizations such as The Salvation Army and Goodwill also have issued national alerts, prompting stores in some regions of the country to temporarily refuse toy donations.

Local Salvation Army administrator Van Werth said two retail shops in Springfield continue to accept toy donations, but managers at both the stores regularly get updated recall lists.

"Hopefully, people would not be so insensitive as to donate something on a recall list. We want them to follow the manufacturer's procedures," said Werth, who is co-administrator in Springfield with his wife, Cheryl.

Sharon Durbin, president and CEO of Land of Lincoln Goodwill Industries, said recall lists also have been posted for employees there. But she said the real problem for resale shops is that recalled toys usually don't show up right away.

"It may be two or three years out when it's donated," said Durbin.

Goodwill has four stores in Springfield, and one each in Chatham, Jacksonville, Champaign and Bloomington.

Repeated recalls also have become a challenge for the annual Toys for Tots campaign of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. The organization collects donations each year to distribute to underprivileged children.

Barr, who is coordinator of the Sangamon County campaign, said donations for the 2008 drive, scheduled to begin Nov. 1, are not the primary concern. Recalled toys already have been removed from retail shelves, he said.

Toys for Tots accepts only new toys. But Barr said the group will have to sort through one-by-one about 1,500 toys remaining from last year.

"If we do get something on the recall list, we'll ask people to talk to Wal-Mart or Toys-R-Us to see if they can exchange them. If (not), we'll have the national organization pick them up," said Barr.

The Toys for Tots campaign is in 500 communities nationwide and Puerto Rico.

The National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops sends e-mail updates to its 1,000 members when recalls are announced, said Adele Meyer, executive director of the association, which is based in Detroit.

She said the organization also has worked with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to ensure stores are aware of proper recall or disposal procedures.

"The whole point of these particular recalls for toys was that they contain lead.

Just throwing them away and having them end up in the landfill is not a solution," Meyer said.

Resale shops and second-hand stores are not the only challenge. Early this month, eBay warned sellers who list recalled items that they could be kicked off the Web site and required to forfeit their fees.

The announcement came after more than 100 recalled Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway sets were found on the site.

Boyce said she often sees recalled toys, cribs and other products at garage and yard sales, though she said sellers aren't necessarily aware of the recalls.

"What's even scarier than the lead paint is the cribs … because children have died," she said. "Especially in the yard sales, you have to really watch. I've seen so much out there this summer, it's scary."

Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536 or tim.landis@sj-r.com.

Product recall information:

n The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission lists product recalls on its Web site, www.cpsc.gov. Consumers can report a dangerous product or a product-related injury by calling the CPSC toll-free hotline, (800) 638-2772, or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html.

n The Illinois attorney general's office also has a toll-free hotline for information on product recalls, (888) 414-7678, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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