Twitterling Mobile

We have just received a notification from HABA regarding a problem with the Twitterling Mobile.

One isolated complaint was filed with HABA this week regarding a metal piece falling out of the wooden holder at the end of the string. It is the piece in the woman’s hand as seen in the picture on the left. It is important to note that the piece that fell out for this consumer is metal and not magnetic. The actual magnetic piece is sewn inside the fabric on the birds back and is therefore inaccessible.

There are two different design runs on the Twitterling Mobile. The older version has wooden pieces at the end of the string. The newer version has a plastic end on the string to hold the metal piece. There has been no incidents of failure on the version with the plastic end. The complaint Haba received this week was on the version with the wooden end.

For anyone who have purchased a Twittlering Mobile, please check the end of the string to see whether it is wood or plastic that is encasing the metal. We will be sending out an email notification to everyone who has purchased the mobile from us.

If the end of your mobile has wooden casing, please contact us to receive further instructions on how to get a replacement from HABA. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact HABA or us at KangarooBoo.

Thank you and we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.

Many of you may be aware of this already – wooden toy maker Selecta, a German company that designs and manufactures in Germany had ended distribution of its toys in the US market in December, 2008. Meeting the new US CPSIA standards would have required an increase in the cost of Selecta’s prices by at least 50 percent, Selecta’s US distributor says, effectively pricing them out of the US market.

We were quite sad when we received that news from our distributor, as we truly love Selecta’s innovative yet classic designs and high quality workmanship. We especially like the thermal printing process they use for printing pictures on wooden blocks and game pieces, as well as these wooden books and slightly bigger versions of them. Not only are the colors vibrant and vivid, the thermal printing makes the picture last a very long time. To top it off, Selecta uses natural beeswax to seal it so it’s saliva and scratch resistant, able to stand the test of babies/toddlers play.

The whole CPSIA just does not make sense: European toy testing standards and requirements have always been higher than the American testing standards, and yet that isn’t good enough for CPSIA requirements. The new law is in the right direction of making toys and products safer for children, but the unintended consequences of putting reputable manufacturers out of the market is really bad lawmaking. It is probably not what lawmakers and activists wanted. The extreme irony is that, these reputable toy makers were ones consumers sought after when the Toy Recall of 2007 exploded. We were secretly hoping that the 1-yr enforcement stay issued by the CPSC would extend Selecta’s export by 1-year as well, but that isn’t the case, as confirmed by the distributor.

Once our current Selecta inventory runs out, we will no longer be able to get additional shipments. These are truly Limited Editions, at least in the US market.

Here are more details about the resolution provided to us by HABA for the recent recalls.

HABA resolutions for Recall 1:

Description	Resolution
0972 Lucy Clutching Toy	Item is Discontinued
0973 Little Heart Clutching Toy	Item is Discontinued
0920 Clutching Toy Belinda	Item has been redesigned and remanufactured with no glued on mirrors. A printed reflective foil is now in the circles where the mirrors were. New inventory will be available after September 2008.
2268 Triolino Puzzle	New puzzle pieces have been re-manufactured to larger sizes. HABA can replace or refund consumers at their discretion.
0951 Miro	A new Miro rattle with a metal bell interior has been being shipped to stores for the past several weeks. The new Miro has a metal bell (vs. plastic). This metal bell has a bone shape opening, not the 10 circles as this old one pictured. The new one is safe and has been tested and approved by the CPSC.
1037 Bunny Pacifier Chain	Item has been redesigned and remanufactured with no glued on mirrors. New inventory will be available after September 2008.
1048 Pacifier Chain Bear	Item has been redesigned and remanufactured with no glued on mirrors. New inventory will be available after September 2008.

HABA resolutions for Recall 2:

Description	Resolution
0917 Speedy Clutching Toy	Discontinued as currently designed.
0971 Bella Clutching Toy	Discontinued as currently designed.
0919 Clutching Toy Pixie’s World	Discontinued as currently designed.
0924 Clutching Toy Pirate	Discontinued as currently designed.
0974 Bonita Clutching Toy	Discontinued as currently designed.
0975 Rally Clutching Toy	Discontinued as currently designed.
1062 Pram Decoration Little Hearts	Discontinued as currently designed.
1066 Flori	Discontinued as currently designed.
1067 Triola	Discontinued as currently designed.
1184 Trio	Discontinued as currently designed.
3572 Discovery Ball W/rattle	Discontinued as currently designed.
3571 Discovery Balls, Set Of 4	Discontinued as currently designed.

Haba is voluntarily recalling a number of wooden baby toys. The recall consists of two parts. No injuries occurred from either parts of the lists. First part of the recall has all the items which incidents were reported; the second part consists of items that received no reports, but Haba has chosen “out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of our consumer’s children”.

One of the items on the 2nd part of the list is Miro Clutching Toy. The Miro was redesigned and released late last fall. The redesigned Miro has a metal bell instead of a plastic bell. To check whether your Miro has a plastic or metal bell, look in the center of the toy. If the blue bell has 10 small holes in it, then it is the plastic one and you should follow the instructions on Haba’s site and fill out the Recall Form and send the item back. If the blue bell has one hole and a slit then it is the metal bell, in which case the item is safe, and has been tested and approved by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

If you still have further questions regarding this recall, please contact Habermaass Corp. at (800) 468-6873 ext. 107 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST Monday through Friday, or visit the Haba recall page at www.HABAusa.com/safety.

In cooperation with the Consumer Products Safety Commission, HABA has issued a voluntary recall of a select group of HABA items containing glued on mirrors and/or prisms.

The wooden rattles, pacifier holders, and stroller toys contain small pieces including glued on mirrors and/or prisms that can detach, posing a choking hazard to infants. The head of the ladybug puzzle pieces also poses a choking hazard.

Please visit the HABA Recall page and the CPSC Haba Recall page for more information.

“Part one of this recall involves the following items in which incidents were reported; however, no injuries occurred.” Below are items belonging to part one of the recall:

0972 Lucy Clutching Toy

0973 Little Heart Clutching Toy

0920 Clutching Toy Belinda

2268 Triolino Puzzle

0951 Miro

1037 Bunny Pacifier Chain

1048 Pacifier Chain Bear

* * * * *

“Part two of this recall is a proactive decision by HABA in light of the similar design of these toys to the above toys being recalled. To date, there have been no injuries, incidents or product failures associated with these toys. The decision is made out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of our consumer’s children.” Below are pictures of the items belonging to part two of the recall:

0917 Speedy Clutching Toy

0971 Bella Clutching Toy

0919 Clutching Toy Pixie’s World

0924 Clutching Toy Pirate

0974 Bonita Clutching Toy

0975 Rally Clutching Toy

1062 Pram Decoration Little Hearts

1066 Flori

1067 Triola

1184 Trio

3572 Discovery Ball W/rattle

3571 Discovery Balls, Set Of 4

Click here to read more about the recall from HABA
Click here to open the Recall Application Form

If you have any questions after reading the above links, please contact us or Haba USA.