Tainted Chinese toys cause industry headache

There is no law now that requires toy testing, although toy makers adhere to voluntary standards and big retailers also do their own testing.

Tighter controls will add more costs to makers, which could result in higher prices at the stores, but a number of parents say they’re willing to spend more for a toy if they knew it is safe.

“I would pay up to 50 percent more for something that I knew was well-made and safe,” said Amy Lemen, 41, the mother of a 5-year-old daughter, Audrey. The Austin, Texas, resident, who didn’t have any of the tainted toys, said the latest recall will make her focus more on eco-friendly toys. Lemen may also buy fewer toys this holiday season, investing instead in more experiences such as taking her daughter to Sea World in San Antonio.

For now, toy companies that make their goods in Europe or in the U.S. are clearly benefiting from consumers’ worry. Toy experts say that European makers adhere to higher safety standards than in the U.S. And even though European toy makers are shifting some of their production to China, the products are required to be tested before they re-enter the country of origin.

Michael Araten, president of K’Nex Industries, Inc., which produces the namesake brand, known for its plastic construction toys, and is the exclusive distributor for Brio in North America, said that deliveries to stores are up 25 percent in August and he expects a 30 percent increase this holiday season.

One online seller of European wooden toys, Oompa Enterprises Inc. has fielded hundreds of calls from concerned consumers since the Fisher-Price recall, according to CEO Milanie Cleere. She estimates those calls are coming in at about four times the volume they did before the trouble began.

She said she has personally spoken to several callers, including Landry, the mother from New York City, assuring them she carefully tests products her company sells.

Some experts believe the shift of focus from a toy’s popularity to its safety could lead to new, better criteria among parents.

“This is the time consumers have to look at the individual needs of a child — age, skills and interest — when buying toys and not just buy what the buzz or hot toy list is about,” said Marianne M. Szymanski, publisher of Toytips.com, a toy guide.

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