Sarge diecasts recalled - lead paint

[dodgesuperbee]

About 253,000 diecast Sarges were recalled by Mattel because the paint used on them may contain lead. Both the ones sold as singles and the two-packs were recalled, but the Sarges made in Thailand are okay.

If yours says "7EA" and "China" on the bottom, you can contact Mattel for a replacement. You'll have to mail him back. It's not clear from the Mattel website whether you pay the postage or they do.

I hope Mattel is actually replacing them with a lead-free Sarge instead of a random Cars diecast. He was hard enough to find the first time around! I suppose if your Sarge is never going to be played with by a child you don't have to worry as much, but it's your call.

My son misplaced his somewhere in the house anyway, but at the least I'll take Sarge away until Larry's old enough not to put Hot Wheels in his mouth, which I still catch him doing sometimes.

This recall is very sad, especially since the president of the toy company in China killed himself. So far there haven't even been any reports of children being harmed by the lead, not that it isn't a serious health hazard.

service.mattel.com

[pookydoc]

hmm..i got two..but i don't see where the "7EA" is..mine says "made in either China or Thailand as marked"..well..it wont' matter to me..i don't play with them XD..and i had plenty of contact with lead pellets for shooting school..oh well..
does yours just say just "china" on the bottom of yours??..mine has abuncha blahblah crap on the bottom
why don't they ever check the lead content before they send them out..i've seen SO many recalls because of lead....

[Insane Pirate Dragon]

I'm not going to worry about sending them back. All but one is in their packaging and I don't plan on eating him any time soon.

I have enough trouble finding them to buy as it is.

[pookydoc]

oh yeah!! nevermind *smacks forehead* i was looking at the wrong dude..nevermind..i don't have individual sarges..but i have the dual package..but opened it..i have them both sitting on my dresser..but i ain't worried either XD

[Amethyst]

Mine says China, as in its made there.... those crazy japanese, trying to kill us ;D

does that mean mines deseased?

[pookydoc]

if his number is one of these he is XD

H6414 M1253 K5925 L6294 L4051

[Dr Frankenstein]

amethyst said:

Mine says China, as in its made there.... those crazy japanese, trying to kill us ;D

does that mean mines deseased?

Japan ≠ China.

Plus, as long as you don't put them in your mouth, there's no risk.

[Tracker89]

I really don't mean to offend anyone Chinese...but is it just me or are a lot of unsafe products coming out of that country? Tainted pet food, poisonous tooth paste, defective tires, paper-mache cars, and now this.

Yes, everything I just listed is real. I remember Kamui making a very big deal about the pet food thing.

[Reiji Neko Mitsukai]

Poor Sarge. He's the only one getting recalled.

[dodgesuperbee]

If you leave them in the packaging you won't have contact with the actual toy and I can't see how you'd be at risk of harm. Likewise, if you bought it as an adult collector and not someone like my son who I've caught with a mouthful of Hotwheel tires (LOL!) you're probably fine. Just keep the recall in mind if you ever sell your Cars collection (perish the thought!) to someone else, especially if there's a chance a child will end up handling the toys.

Tracker89 ~ Yes, it is a huge issue here because if you stroll through the average American toy stores, you'd be very hard pressed to find ANY toys actually made here. I find it astounding that the companies in China did not test the paint for lead before applying it to hundreds of thousands of toddler toys, because surely the test would have cost far less than the recall of said toys and the bad public relations surrounding it. My parents have had awful luck with recalls -- my dad got sick from eating Peter Pan peanut butter (fortunately just for a day) and one of their cats grew very ill, repeatedly, from eating Iams cat food before they heard of the recall and changed its food. $300 in vet bills later, Iams is supposedly going to reimburse them.

Reiji ~ Now he hasn't been recalled, so don't anyone go throwing theirs away, but Mater made the 2006 list of unsafe toys compiled by one watchdog group. The reason? His tow hook can break off and become a choking hazard. My son managed to break off Mater's hook within days of receiving the toy...in fact, he has a LOT of the dollar-store toys on the following list and most of them broke into small pieces just as the watchdog group warns. He's not that rough with the toys but I should sign him up as a toy tester...if the toy has a flaw, he finds it.)

uspirg.org/html/2006DangerousToyList.pdf

[Insane Pirate Dragon]

And they want us to send them in the mail.

I see this as a way to get them away from resell them to us again.

[Tracker89]

A car site I go to reported on this:

www.autoblog.com/2007/08/15/mattel-recalls-sarge-for-high-levels-of-lead/

For his part, we're quite certain that Sarge would become apoplectic upon learning he was actually made in China.

XD

[Diablos Scorpio]

pookydoc said:

if his number is one of these he is XD

H6414 M1253 K5925 L6294 L4051

That is the longest code ever lol. My Sheriff only has 2936 EA. Still don't have a clue about Sarge, but I'm not gona get him out the box just to see if he's got lead AIDs xD

[pookydoc]

LOL not all of it silly XD..it is a 5 codes..they were lined up like that...but their 5 seperate codes...

and Sarge's number would be on the very bottom of the box..you wouldn't have to open him up

[dodgesuperbee]

Update on the Sarge recall: If yours is recalled, Mattel will pay the cost of mailing it AND give you a $7 voucher for another Fisher-Price or Mattel toy.

The good news is, most of the diecasts didn't cost $7 new so if you ship yours back, you'll come out ahead money-wise and could even buy two diecasts with the voucher if they're about $3.50 each.

The bad news is, I haven't seen any new Sarges since the recall (anyone else?) so there's no guarantee you'll be able to replace him with another Sarge.

From the Mattel site (I finally located our Sarge and he is the lead one, but I'm going to put him away until my son is much older rather than return him):

Your product is affected by this recall program.

Please remove this toy from the hands of children, immediately.

We would like to send you a prepaid mailing label so you can return your Sarge Die Cast toy to Mattel for a replacement product voucher.

You will receive the prepaid mailing label via email. To ensure accurate and timely delivery, please add [e-mail] to your allowed sender list on any spam blocking filter you may have in place.

Once you receive your label, please follow the instructions included to return your product. A replacement product voucher in the amount of $7.00 will be sent to you within 10 - 12 weeks upon the return of your toy. Please note that Canadian consumers will receive a voucher in the amount of $8.00 Canadian funds. This voucher may be used at most national retailers and is good toward any Fisher-Price or Mattel manufactured product.