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Looking for Toys NOT made in China

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ruchiratripathi
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Post by ruchiratripathi » Fri, 21 Sep 2007 4:23 pm

I have to say that I am very disappointed by the tone of a number of posts. This forum is meant to provide support and information and not sit on judgement on decisions that have been made by someone. I am surprised that even the moderator is speaking in the same tone.

Parenting is difficult as it is without someone telling you that you are being paranoid or doing a lousy job. I hope in the future posts get more support especially in the parenting forum.

Thank you to everyone who tried to help with meaningful information.

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Fri, 21 Sep 2007 8:20 pm

ruchiratripathi wrote:I have to say that I am very disappointed by the tone of a number of posts. This forum is meant to provide support and information and not sit on judgement on decisions that have been made by someone. I am surprised that even the moderator is speaking in the same tone.

Parenting is difficult as it is without someone telling you that you are being paranoid or doing a lousy job. I hope in the future posts get more support especially in the parenting forum.

Thank you to everyone who tried to help with meaningful information.
You know, instead of climbing on your high horse, you would actually do well to go back and read all of our posts. With the exception of one or two there are nuggets of truth in every one of them. While I take exception with JP occasionally this doesn't mean either of us are right or wrong, usually just our personal points of view. The same goes for every poster here. Did you stop to think before you wrote your initial message why you did not want any toys made in China? Obviously, you didn't look or research too deeply as the quality control of those toys, before leaving the factory and being loaded into containers are the responsibility of the Toy Brand Name carrier. Mattel has their own QC people in those factories. As they do in the US, Mexico, Chile, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia. Factory contract manufacturers the world over tend to try to get away with anything that will cut costs. Why do you think we hire Indian Engineers in the shipyards here in Singapore? Cheaper. If any shortcuts are taken and something happens who's the blame? Usually the QA/QC on the project. Just like the Nichol Highway collapse. Poor QA/QC. The USA auto manufacturing industries have had more recalls in the last couple of years then in the past 20. My 2 years old Escapade that my mother uses on the farm has been recalled 5 times now to fix stuff. Oh, they were made in the US and not China.

Buying Chinese made goods is not any different than buying anywhere else. As a parent, if you are worried about a toy, have a good look at the toy itself, if you see small parts that can easily come off and be swallowed or paint that seems flaky then don't buy it. But don't condemn an entire country because of an incident or two.

A little common sense would go a long way here as would a bit of levity. All work and no play as it were...... Remember everybody on these forums from posters to moderators are working somewhere else for a living and none of us gets paid a tinker's dam for giving our comments, knowledge, opinions and wisecracks. Neither do we get paid for moderating these threads so that you can post without advertisers, spammers, racists and trolls. Lighten up. Life will be a lot less stressful. If you are this uptight now, what are you going to be when you've got teenagers who come home with body piercings?

Parenting? My kids are 23 and 18. Tell me about parenting. :roll:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

earthfriendly
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Post by earthfriendly » Sat, 22 Sep 2007 2:59 am

Seems to be a trend the world is heading. Quantity over quality as evidenced by the abundance of Walmarts and Dollar stores. Corporate priority is profit margin. Chicken and egg problem. Corporation would source out countries for its low labor and pass on the savings to the consumers. Consumers are getting used to paying low prices and demanding more of it. Corporations have to keep prices down to keep customers happy. Seems like a vicious cycle to me. I like the Rowntree blackcurrant pastille. 30 years ago have to pay about SGD.80 for it. I was shocked to see asian market selling it 3 for USD .90. You would expect price to go up significantly after all these years, especially taking into account inflation. And what makes it possible? Made in China. A term quite unheard of 15 years ago when that country still behind closed doors under Mao's rule.

As consumers, we also have responsibilities not to be overly unreasonable by demanding the lowest prices for everything. It has to come out of somebody's pocket, somehow !

Ever wonder how consumer goods of older day are much higher in quality. Hubby inherited Erectus set that his grandfather used to play with as a kid. The pieces and parts are still holding up.

earthfriendly
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Post by earthfriendly » Sat, 22 Sep 2007 7:03 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:
earthfriendly wrote:The same reason why I buy organic even though there's no concrete evidence to suggest it is a better alternative. For the paranoid moms out there, the best toys are the ones made of wood without paint in them. And if you are really worried, there's always the option of having your kids tested for lead.
Have you been keeping up with the scandals in the US this past year? What with the "Organic" Spinach and other more recent organic veggies?

Have you ever really looked when you see those thousands of workers on those huge tracts of land picking crops like spinach, potatoes, cabbage, asparagus, broccolli and so forth in both the US and other countries (lots of uneducated itinerant workers). You never see any rest facilities do you? Where do they defecate? Whizz? Throwup after a rough night? On your "organic" crops of course. Think about that the next time you pay a premium for them things. (The nasties found on the organic spinach was E Coli ).

Just as a side note, think about all the rice eaten in Asia. Have you ever seen a rest room in the rice padi?
This is definitely a more organic experience than I bargain for ! You've got a point there. I purchased a tomato plant from farm stand and ask the vendor to recommend an organic fertilizer. He wouldn't. Organic products have a possibility of contaminations e.g. ecoli since they use natural ingredients. He was not able to get a manufacturer guranteeing safety of their organic products in writing !

No country or company is immune to unsafe products. It is quite impossible to offer 100 % safety net. People make mistakes and bad things happen all the time. However, it is important to have a system in place for corrective actions, should things go wrong. This I see lacking in the recent recall of China's toy. Long supply chain and general lack of accountability makes it hard for them to pin down the problem. However, they have sent delegates to USA and promised to implement measures to make it possible. And they also promised not to use lead paint for products intended for US market. I find it amusing as lead was outlawed in US for many years now. Apparently, China still uses lead within the domestic market. Unfortunately, they are just not up to par with countries out there. :(

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Post by Plumss » Tue, 23 Oct 2007 4:47 am

Sorry Plumss, but you just registered and made 3 posts all just spamming your website. Please advertise in the Classified Section of this site. That way you won't be locked out of your account as a spammer. I have deleted the other two.

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