Lead paint… blah, blah… China… blah, blah… toy recall… I think we all know the lead paint drill by now. I mean, seriously, when is somebody going to do something about this? U.S. importers need to complete better due diligence on the crap they are bringing into this country.

The latest toy to apparently fall prey to China’s shoddy manufacturing safety controls are the ever-popular Thomas & Friends wooden trains. RC2 Corp. of Oak Brook, Illinois, is recalling almost 1.5 million of the trains that they have made directly for them at a Chinese plant. The trains may contain lead-based paint, which of course is extremely toxic if ingested. And as any parent with a basket full of these things knows, the paint is not exactly chip resistant especially in the hands of a toddler with a strong pitching arm.

The Thomas & Friends recall is one of the first in our recent memory that wasn’t gum ball machine junk, so perhaps this situation will finally get the attention it deserves when parents are having to return or discard hundreds of dollars worth of toys. Visit the RC2 website for the alarmingly long list of train toys being recalled. It should be noted that if any of your kids any of your kids’ Thomas trains on the list have the codes “WJ” or “AZ”, you can breathe a little easier as they are not included in the recall.

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