But we are a little bit puzzled by the folks who are complaining that the toy industry advertises too heavily to children. And that during tough times, it’s not right, because it makes parents feel bad to have to say no! (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood: http://www.commercialexploitation.org/ )

Nobody likes commercials, we’d rather watch the show without them. And the toy industry certainly does market to children… better get used to it – always has and always will.** That’s how children learn what’s out there.

But if you want to blame TV commercials for not buying your kid a doll… well then you really are in sad shape. Dolls don’t have to be expensive; better yet, make one yourself. Some old rags and needle and thread… a few hours and you’ve got yourself a doll.
Here’s one from Martha Stewart

Our advice? Don’t look for excuses or outside sources to blame. Little girls love their dolls unconditionally, it doesn’t matter if they are small or home made. And the smile on their faces when you give them a new doll? Priceless.

**Doll ads from Sears catalogs from the last century get lots of money from collectors; and fashion dolls were themselves originally advertisements. In the 1800′s dolls were dressed in the latest European fashions and sent to America so ladies could see the latest styles!

But to a large extent… new toy safety regulations passed in August by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

Lead:Scope: Materials and substrate of any children’s products.
Requirement: The limits on lead in children’s products will be established as follows and according to this timetable:
1. 600 parts per million (ppm) – effective 180 days after enactment of the Act
2. 300 ppm – effective 1 year after enactment of the Act
Lead in paint and surface coatings (Sec. 101, part (f))

Scope: Children’s products
Requirement: The limit will be reduced from the current 0.06 percent (600 ppm) requirement to 0.009 percent (90 ppm).

Testing: The Act allows for consideration of alternative methods of testing for lead in paint including x-ray florescence technology (XRF) when the total weight of the paint or surface coating to be tested is no greater than 10 mg or no more than 1 cm2 of surface area. Additionally, the Act calls on CPSC to study the effectiveness, precision and reliability of XRF and other alternate methods for measuring lead in paint and surface coatings – and if determined to be at least as effective, precise and reliable as other methods the agency may promulgate regulations governing the use of such methods.

Expense : Testing – Every Doll now has to be tested. That means you need the ‘sniffers’ that can actually detect lead content. Not cheap.
Expense : Reporting – Not only do you have to get good results, but now everyone down the chain has to have them too… from the giants like Wal-mart and Target, to little ole’ me and our three online doll stores.
Expense: Compliance officer. There is so much regulation, testing and reporting needed, that the manufacturers are hiring folks to oversee their compliance. And these folks need to go to China pretty often as well. Expensive.

Tracking Labels for Children’s Products (Sec. 103)
Scope: Children’s products
Requirement: Effective one year after enactment of the Act, manufacturers must place permanent, distinguishing marks on a product and its packaging, to the extent practicable, that will enable the manufacturer and ultimate purchaser to ascertain: the name of the manufacturer, date and location of production and identifying production information (cohort, batch, run number or other identifying information). This provision recognizes that flexibility is needed for different types of products and allows the manufacturer to use its own tracking systems.
This section also stipulates that advertising, labeling or packaging of a product, if it references a consumer product safety rule or standard, must be in compliance with that rule or standard.

Expense: Data Entry, Printing costs, Additional employees. Every baby doll, needs to be identified, labeled and tracked from the factory right into your hands. That’s every single, solitary doll.

Labeling Requirement for Advertising of Toys and Games (Sec. 105)

Scope: Retailers, manufacturers, importers, distributors, private labelers of toys and games
Requirement: Any advertisement that contains a direct means for the purchase or ordering of product, must also contain any and all applicable cautionary statements that are already required under the FHSA on or near the product. (e.g. If a game has a small parts warning, this cautionary statement must be repeated in any point-of-purchase advertising such as a catalog or online retailer.). The legislation stipulates the language, type style and layout that must be used in the cautionary statement in advertising. It is incumbent on the manufacturer, importer or private labeler to inform the retailer of such a requirement for the product in advertising and the retailer to inquire of the supplier. CPSC, within 90 days of enactment, must promulgate regulations related to this requirement. Effective 120 days after enactment for internet websites; 180 days for catalogs and other printed materials.

Yup, that’s Addie and I… we advertise on the internet, so we need to go back and check that every single product has the right wording, the right layout, the right type size and the right location as specified by this law. (We are still waiting to find out the particulars from the government)

There’s more, but we think you get the point. Even though we have never had a product recalled, even though we have always made it a point to do age recommendations, the rules are stricter and more expensive to comply with now.

But as inconvenient and expensive as this may be, we’re still for it. A child’s life is too important. We will do whatever we can to safeguard it.

The ‘baby doll’ is being added to The Strong National Museum of Play’s “National Toy Hall of Fame!

Strong Museum Rochester

From the press release:

Cradle it, feed it, take it for a stroll. The Baby Doll, with its newborn features and realistic qualities, brings out the nurturing side of pretend moms and dads. Loved by children (especially little girls) since the late eighteenth century, manufacturers have made such dolls ever-more lifelike. Most early baby dolls were made of papier-mâché or wood, followed in the mid-1800s by wax, porcelain, and composition, and in the 1950s by plastic and vinyl. In the mid-1850s, a patented German device allowed dolls to say “mama”; and an 1879 patented design made way for a drinking doll that could hold water in her head and then return it to the bottle. In 1933, Effanbee released its Dy-Dee doll, which could drink and wet. The Betsy Wetsy doll soon followed. Today’s dolls can crawl, cry, eat, dirty a diaper, and—thanks to 1990s microchip technology—talk back via voice-activated commands! While the baby doll comes in hundreds of different styles, it continues to inspire children to imitate parental roles and foster their own sense of identity.

Assuming you are like me, you’ll want to know what else is on the list…

To date, the following 41 toys have made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame®: Alphabet Blocks, Atari® 2600 Game System, Barbie®, Baby Doll, Bicycle, Candy Land®, Cardboard Box, Checkers, Crayola® Crayons, Duncan® Yo-Yo, Easy-Bake® Oven, Erector® Set, Etch A Sketch®, Frisbee®, G.I. Joe™, Hula Hoop®, Jack-in-the-Box, Jacks, Jigsaw Puzzle, Jump Rope, Kite, LEGO®, Lincoln Logs®, Lionel® Trains, Marbles, Monopoly®, Mr. Potato Head®, Play-Doh®, Radio Flyer® Wagon, Raggedy Ann & Andy™, Rocking Horse, Roller Skates, Scrabble®, Silly Putty®, Skateboard, Slinky®, Stick, Teddy Bear, Tinkertoy®, Tonka® Trucks, and View-Master®.