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Melissa & Doug toys - Page 2

post #21 of 62
11/19/08 at 5:50pm
NAK so sorry for type-os.

heres a few reasons off the top of my head:
-we had their toys,then my dd had high lead levels. we hired an expensive lead inspector and had a million tests done on our home,thigns in the home and ourselves. its about 98% sure that the lead exposure was from M&D toys. Her lead levels went back down once we ditched them all. my best friends child had the same issues,she got rid of her m&d,her child's lead went down. anotehr frined of mine many states away brought in some of her m&d toys to be tested by a professional. They had lead.. *biggest reason for us personally to avoid them*
-they are made poorly,the paint chips off so easily, most of their toys aren't even real wood but particle board (which has formeldahyde in it) glued together then painted over.
-they are made in china in factories
-they have HORRIBLE customer service. They attacked my friend when she called askign them about lead issues. they never returned my calls and trust me i made a million to them.

I know I can come up with a lot more reasons to never support this company but these are just the ones off the top of my head. Honestly, I will leave it at this,too b/c last time I tried to tell everyone about this I was attacked (forgive me for warning other familes about this company GEESH!). I understand a lot of ppl can only afford M&D but that doesn't make them safe or a good company,kwim?
anyways,HTH!

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post #22 of 62
11/19/08 at 5:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dogretro View Post
Thank you SO MUCH for all of your replies! This has really shed some light on the issue for us! It looks like, because of the paint problem, we will not be purchasing these toys.

Personally, I am not one to instantly dismiss a company only b/c their product is made in China. For many companies, it is cost prohibitive to manufacture anywhere else. A great example of that can be found in the safety statement of the company Gollnest & Kiesel KG: http://www.threesisterstoys.com/GKSafety.pdf I think that MIC, like many other things, needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

Again, thank you v much for sharing your experiences. It is such a shame that we have to get stuck paying shipping on quality toys
use code mdcmom at three sisters toys for all orders above $25 and shipping is free
post #23 of 62
11/19/08 at 6:01pm
OP, like you, I don't instantly dismiss toys that are MIC. It's a case by case basis for me, and I generally buy from toy manufacturers with good records that I trust to maintain high standards - a few of those have some manufacturing in China. None have all their manufacturing there, though, and I do prefer non MIC in general.

I'm with others on M&D - I find the quality shoddy, and they aren't a company I trust. Any painted toy needs to come from a company I really trust, and M&D isn't it.
post #24 of 62
11/19/08 at 6:34pm
PHP Code:
They attacked my friend when she called askign them about lead issues. 
this is also what happened to me. i called just to inquire about the lead reacall in europe on their clock toy. they denied it several times, then admitted it was true, then said i shouldn't worry since the recall was not in the US.

they need to get their act together!
post #25 of 62
11/19/08 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElaynesMom
Besides being MIC, not the greatest quality (paint chipping badly, etc) there were recently some recalls in Canada (Aug. 2008 and Sept. 2008) because a couple Melissa and Doug toys were found to have barium in their paint. Some forms of barium are used safely in medical testing, while other forms can be highly toxic and are even sometimes used in rat poison. I just don't want to risk it.

http://209.217.71.106/PR/recall-retr...0&StartIndex=1

http://209.217.71.106/PR/recall-retr...&StartIndex=16
I'm so glad I found this thread. I just bought the stacker linked here at a discount store in the US.

What should I do with it? I know that sounds naive, but we compost or recycle almost everything, and have very little "trash" at our place...
post #26 of 62
11/19/08 at 9:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by annalivia View Post
and the others we bought or were given (sushi set, stacking train, rainbow stacker) have all been heavily painted and really prone to chipping and peeling which made us a little uneasy since their stuff is MIC, and I'm not very confident in anyone's oversight there.
.
Same here. Chipping paints, MIC. Also, I think that it is weird that their wooden puzzles have a fake woodgrain sticker over them so they look more "wooden."
post #27 of 62
11/19/08 at 9:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElaynesMom View Post
I can't answer why Melissa and Doug toys weren't featured in the article you mentioned, but I can tell you why I don't use them.

Besides being MIC, not the greatest quality (paint chipping badly, etc) there were recently some recalls in Canada (Aug. 2008 and Sept. 2008) because a couple Melissa and Doug toys were found to have barium in their paint. Some forms of barium are used safely in medical testing, while other forms can be highly toxic and are even sometimes used in rat poison. I just don't want to risk it.

http://209.217.71.106/PR/recall-retr...0&StartIndex=1

http://209.217.71.106/PR/recall-retr...&StartIndex=16
Yowza! We have that stacker and the train. I think I am just going to ditch all of the painted stuff. I am going to hang onto the puzzles until they start to fall apart, as they seem to be holding up pretty well for now. Thanks so much for that link!

I realize that my stacker and train are most likely not from the batch that were recalled, but I still feel funny about letting DS play with them.
post #28 of 62
11/19/08 at 9:57pm
Ugh..we've had issues w/ chipped paint on wooden toys. I always wonder..why do they have to ruin it and paint it???

We do have M and D toys, mostly puzzles and a wooden doll house we got used off CL. We have a huge problem w/ family buying us cheap plastic crap toys too and it is really frustrating! When we move back West we plan on leaving lots of toys behind!

Oh another thing about pressed wood...it also has layers of chemical glue in between each layer of wood. So..anything in that glue is also in the toy and in your child's hands and/or mouth. Ick! Odds are the adhesive in the glue is synthetic and not natural. And just found that Formaldehyde is an ingredient in pressed wood adhesives as well..which emits from the products. Now how to tell if M and D use any of these ingredients? You probably won't be able to...and are much better off not buying from them and looking into a more natural product.

But if someone can find info on what they use in their pressed wood, I really would like to see it, please :
post #29 of 62
11/20/08 at 1:10am
Thread Starter 
counterGOPI ~ Thank you SO MUCH! I am ordering toys from 3 sisters for dds xmas & that code will come in handy! Although they are actually one of the more considerate companies and have that fabulous $5 shipping

As far as "not being able to afford" other toys, I was doing a side-by-side comparison this afternoon between the Hasbro catalog and Oompa toys, and many v nice natural toys are comparable in price. Some are even cheaper. I know that for me, when I initially saw the $20+ price tags on so many things, I got upset. But when I started looking at more mainstream toys, I noticed that action figures are $7 ea, Disney baby dolls (that fall apart after a month ~ personal experience!) cost $20, a motorized baby zoo costs over $30.. I think I need to put together a spread sheet or something else easily readable for others, cuz the more I look around, the more buying well-made natural toys seems to be cost-effective!
post #30 of 62
11/20/08 at 12:33pm
GGGGGRRRR!!!! I am so frustrated that M&D toys have been recalled for barium. My son has SO MANY of these toys and I simply can't afford to replace them. And, since M&D isn't recalling them in the states, I have no choice but to throw them out!!!!

Anyway, does anyone know where to get wooden puzzles that aren't made by M&D??? My son loves puzzles and I think they are a really important skill for him, but I can't find any that aren't M&D. Please help!
post #31 of 62
11/20/08 at 3:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronsMommy View Post
GGGGGRRRR!!!! I am so frustrated that M&D toys have been recalled for barium. My son has SO MANY of these toys and I simply can't afford to replace them. And, since M&D isn't recalling them in the states, I have no choice but to throw them out!!!!

Anyway, does anyone know where to get wooden puzzles that aren't made by M&D??? My son loves puzzles and I think they are a really important skill for him, but I can't find any that aren't M&D. Please help!
http://www.oompa.com/cgi-bin/category/WoodenPuzzles

Also, check out Selecta, Haba, Speil and Holz and Ravensburger puzzles. Mostly online, but I've been able to find some at teacher supply stores, too.
post #32 of 62
11/20/08 at 9:37pm
I work in a large-ish daycare centre and we have quite a few M&D toys there. Mostly puzzles, but they've always held up well and they're used very frequently. I've never noticed any paint chipping but perhaps it happens less in puzzles... anyway, I just bought DS the stacking cardboard letter blocks and I can't imagine they'd be dangerous, would they? We also picked up the construction puzzle but I'll be keeping a close eye on it for breakdowns... I'm really sorry to hear this because I was so happy to find some un-plastic toys for christmas! I've literally never seen them anywhere but secondhand stores in this area before and getting our hands on them is difficult. I'm thinking of taking up felting to make him some toys myself. It's so crazy, you can't even trust toys nowadays...
Thanks for this thread!
post #33 of 62
11/26/08 at 4:47am
Thread Starter 
With Christmas fast approaching, and this new info about M&D, I have had the chance to talk to some of my family members about our toy decisions for dd, and they have gone v well! Here is one fun lil tale: My mom and I were at toysaurus & I was telling her that M&D were now on our "no" list b/c of the info you all had given me. I was sad b/c I had wanted to get dd their stacking train. Well, Imaginarium brand had their own stacking train, so my mom wanted to buy it. I said "I dont know" b/c I knew nothing of the brand. She said shed buy it & if it was unsafe, she would bring it back. I looked it up online & some reviews said the paint chipped. It was MIC & Imaginarium had one lead recall last year. Called my mom up and said, "NOPE". She took it back to the store & the girl asked why she was returning it. Mom told her and the girl said, "Isnt this all so scary?" My mom said yes, and that it is coming out that M&D are not that safe, either. The girl was shocked and said that they sell "so many" M&D toys. So, yeah for my mom, becoming a toy activist, heehee!!!! Im so proud of her AND dd is still getting her stacking train as toysaurus has an un-finished/un-stained one in their new line of eco-friendly toys! It is still MIC, but w/ no finish on it, I dont have to worry about lead paint.

Again, thank you all for the info and support!
post #34 of 62
11/26/08 at 12:24pm
Do you have a link to the unfinished train? And do you know where it's made?

DS just received the M&D stacking train for his birthday a couple of weeks ago. I am hesitant to let him play with it, but he LOVES trains, he goes nuts for them. Last year for his birthday we were given the Imaginarium one and against my wishes my SIL ripped it out of the package and handed it to him where he began to promptly chew on it (it was his first birthday, oy!). Long story short, by the next day a 2.5" piece splintered off and he almost choked on it. TRU refused to take it back because I didn't have the receipt and told me to "take it to Walmart because they'll take anything back."
post #35 of 62
11/26/08 at 12:56pm
We have some M&D wooden fruit and wooden pizza. The fruit is fine, but the paint is scraping off the pizza pieces. It's irksome. We have their fish wooden puzzle and it's fine.

:sigh: Back to the drawing board!
post #36 of 62
11/26/08 at 1:14pm
No more M&D for us either. We've had chipping paint and one toy fell apart shortly after we opened it. The stuff is junk.
post #37 of 62
11/26/08 at 2:48pm
Thread Starter 
alysmommy ~ Toys r us is lucky that you didnt sue them! I cannot believe they would not take it back when it is their own stores brand! Here is the link to the unpainted train: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=2985592 According to the info, the wood has received the Forest Stewardship Council seal of certification. It is made in China, but since my main concern w/ China is lead, I feel okay about this product since in is decorated by burning the wood, not painting it. I am not thrilled that the new eco line is produced in China, but one step at a time I suppose :~
post #38 of 62
11/26/08 at 2:53pm
Aw, man...I just got dd a shape sorter from M&D. I shoulda know it was "too cute" to be true...
post #39 of 62
11/26/08 at 3:01pm
You can find lots of good deals on handmade toys on http://www.etsy.com.

We got FABULOUS puzzles from this guy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5438664
post #40 of 62
11/26/08 at 3:08pm
M&D toys were one of the main reasons dh and I began to make our own wooden toys. M&D have just gotten too big to adequately test their products, and I'm just now willing to risk my child's health when quality toys are available on the internet.

In addition to etsy, check out hyena cart - lots of homemade toys and dolls by moms and dads. - www.hyenacart.com
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