The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has filed an administrative complaint against the makers of a desk toy that could affect both retail and promotional businesses. On Wednesday, the CPSC filed a lawsuit against Maxfield & Oberton Holdings LLC, makers of the popular Buckyballs magnetic toy, seeking to stop the sale of the items and requiring the firm to offer full refunds to customers.
According to the filing (PDF), the Buckyballs and Buckycubes products “contain a defect in the design, packaging, warnings, and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury to the public.” The commission reports that dozens of young children and teenagers have accidentally swallowed the small, high-powered magnets, which become attached inside the body and can result in holes in the intestines and blood poisoning, and can potentially be fatal. Several retailers, including Amazon and Urban Outfitters, have voluntary stopped selling the products, and eBay has taken steps to remove listings of the items.
Magnetic products have been in the news repeatedly as a result of government action. Last week, manufacturer Battat Inc. agreed to pay a civil penalty of $400,000 after failing to report a defect in a children’s toy that included small magnets, and in late 2011, the CPSC issued a warning about the tiny rare earth magnets, asking parents to keep them out of the reach of children.
Maxfield & Oberton responded to yesterday’s filing in a statement posted on Buckyballs’ website. “We are deeply disappointed that the CPSC has decided to go after our firm—and magnets in general,” said Craig Zucker, CEO of Maxfield & Oberton. He maintained that the products are marketed exclusively toward adults and do not violate any CPSC regulations.
“As a small business owner I’m left wondering what to tell my employees and their families,” Zucker said. “How can this happen in America?”
It is not the first time that Buckyballs have come under government scrutiny. In May 2010, the CPSC and Maxfield & Oberton voluntarily recalled about 175,000 Buckyballs that were labeled “Ages 13+.” Federal mandatory toy standards require that high-powered magnets are not sold to children under 14. Since 2011, the items have been marketed exclusively at an adult audience. The commission maintains that, despite changing the marketing, incidents of ingestion by children continued to occur.
“The subject products are defective because their labeling and warning labels cannot guard against the foreseeable misuse of the product and prevent the substantial risk of injury to children,” the filing claims. “Therefore, the warnings and labeling on the subject products are defective pursuant to sections 15(a)(2) of the CPSC, 15 U.S.C. 2064 (a)(2).”
The lawsuit is specifically against Maxfield & Oberton’s two products, although the consequences could be far-reaching. Aside from the fact that an industry member could sell Buckyballs as part of a program, there are a number of similar magnetic ball-bearing desk toys available for promotional products suppliers. Although they are not targeted by this filing, should the CPSC win the case, similar lawsuits could be raised against other manufacturers. In addition, New York Junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand proposed that the CPSC ban the sale of all high-powered toy magnets this past June.
CPSC said it had been in negotiations with Maxfield & Oberton to voluntarily stop the sale of the products, but that the company refused, leading to yesterday’s lawsuit. It is only the second stop-sale order the commission has issued in the last 11 years.
Zucker responded that his company has no plans to settle with the CPSC. “We will vigorously fight this action,” he said.
