Reporter’s dairy – Naughty and Nice Christmas toys

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Here is a warning for parents buying toys for children this holiday season. Consumer advocates in Australia have compiled a list of more than 40 toys that are considered dangerous for kids. Some items on the list are obvious.

A toy car lighter /CGTN Photo

“I think one of the toys that has concerned us the most is a very small cigarette lighter that is in the form of a toy car,” said New South Wales Fair Trading Commissioner Rose Webb. “It is obviously clearly dangerous but it is a toy that a child could easily pick up.”

Dangerous Toys /CGTN Photo

Other toys singled out looked harmless until they were put through a series of tests by Chris Barnes, a product category manager at consumer-based Choice Magazine in Sydney.

“It is looking at, does the toy break up when dropped? Can small parts be pulled off of it? If you bang it and drop it, do small pieces come loose? Does it shatter into pieces, does it have sharp edges, does it have sharp points, are there batteries (and) if there are batteries, are the batteries accessible,” Barnes said.

Chris Barnes inspects toys. /CGTN Photo

Barnes has been inspecting toys for more than a dozen years.

“It never seems to amaze me that year after year we see the same shonky toys that fall apart as soon as you look at them, appearing in stores in different guises every year,” he said.

NSW department of Fair Trading Inspectors /CGTN Photo

State inspectors visited more than 900 stores across Sydney where they looked at thousands of items. The most common toys identified in the safety blitz had small parts that presented a choking hazard for young children.

“In only a matter of minutes a child could choke on one of these toys, particularly on small parts, so it is always important to remain vigilant to keep an eye on your child playing with any toys,” said Matt Kean, the New South Wales Minister for Better Regulation.

Consumer advocates are urging parents to take a closer look at any toy when considering whether to buy it for their children.

“There is such a thing as survivor bias, where you can look back and say well, I played with all of these things and I am OK,” said Barnes. “The kid who choked on it and died isn’t around to tell their story.”