FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2001
Release # 01-110
CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Kim Dulic, (301) 504-7058
CPSC, Eight Firms Announce the Recall of Zapper Toys
WASHINGTON, D.C.- In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC), eight firms are voluntarily recalling about 835,000
Zapper toys. The following firms distributed these toys: Bonita Marie
International Inc., of Manasquan, N.J.; Dillon Importing Co., of
Oklahoma City, Okla.; Oriental Trading Co. Inc., of Omaha, Neb.; Play By
Play Toys & Novelties Inc., of San Antonio, Texas; Rhode Island Novelty,
of Johnston, R.I.; Sherman Specialty Co. Inc., of Merrick, N.Y.; Toy
Investment Inc., of Kent, Wash.; and U.S. Toy Co. Inc., of Grandview,
Mo. The balloon tongues and the cylinders holding the tongues on these
toys can detach, posing a choking and aspiration hazard to young
children.
The Promotional Resources Group of Companies Inc., of Topeka, Kan.,
previously recalled about 105,000 Bug Zapper toys on June 6, 2000. That
company received a report of a 3-year-old boy who inhaled a balloon
tongue that detached from a Zapper toy into his sinus cavity. He
required medical treatment to remove the part from his nose.
The vinyl Zapper toys are about 2- to 3-inches long, and come in
12 different styles: smiley face, globe with glasses, troll, bumble bee,
lion, bear, tiger, raspberry face, fish, frog, snake, and lizard. When
the toy is squeezed, the balloon tongue attached to its mouth inflates
or rolls out. "CHINA" or "MADE IN CHINA" is molded into the toy.
Toy stores, doctor and dentist offices, and carnivals and circuses
sold and distributed these toys from October 1998 through March 2001.
They were sold for about $1.
Consumers should immediately take these toys away from young
children and take them back to where they were purchased for a refund,
or throw them away. If consumers have questions, call CPSC at (800) 638-
2772 anytime.
