The bill passed by congress last week limiting lead and phthalates in children’s products is encouraging, but far from a complete solution needed for toy safety.  We are thrilled to see the efforts made by the House and Senate but know that it will be years until the benefits are fully realized.Here’s what we like about the bill:

•  Lead will not be allowed in any part of children’s products unlike the current rule which only affects surface paint.
• The amount of lead allowed in children’s products will be lowered to 100 parts per million.
• Phthalates will be banned for the first time.
• Testing will be mandatory on all toys and children’s products

Weaknesses of the bill:

• It’s going to take a while before the new regulations are enforceable.
• A database will be created with toys that have safety problems, but nothing will be done to showcase the products that truly are safe.

At No Strings Attached Toys, we have been pursuing stricter safety standards since last year when we opened.  From the beginning we have made a strong effort to ensure that the products we sell are lead free by thoroughly researching the manufacturers we do business with and by becoming the first known retailer to test toys for lead in its complete inventory.  We have tested thousands of toys for lead in our store and at other stores, schools and homes.  We began a database at the beginning of the year showing lead testing results alongside toys that have been recalled because of lead content. Today we are announcing our commitment to update that database at http://unleadedtoylist.com with 2500 toy test results by November of this year.  The database will highlight toys that are lead and phthalate free based on tests conducted by us, manufacturers, and other reputable third party sources.  This database will be more useful than the one offered by the federal government that will only list safety issues and violations which will only be added after incidents occur. Our next goal is to see that toys at schools and daycares across the country are tested for lead so that children will no longer be exposed to leaded toys and educational products in the classroom.  Many products that have been developed for schools have been recalled and are likely still in use at schools today.  We would propose that grants should be available to have testing done to further the efforts to eliminate poisonous toys.

We’ve cut our prices on everything once again.  Our already great prices have been cut even more on over 250 lead free toys this morning.  Take advantage of huge savings on Melissa and Doug toys, classic wooden games and toys, our new infant toys, Calico Critters, and so much more.  We want the stimulus checks to go even farther so we have extended our free shipping offer for orders over $40 and cut prices to up to 40% on everything we sell.

The Ice Cream Parlor Play Food Set by Melissa and Doug is finally in stock after months of waiting.  The scoops stick to the scooper and the wooden cones by internal magnets.  This is one of many new play food sets released by Melissa and Doug this year.

This week, nearly 50 new lead free products were added to our inventory including Calico Critters, new infant toys by Taggies and Early Years, games by iplay and magnetic play sets by Imaginetics.  This is just the beginning of many new products anticipated in the coming weeks.  We want to hear from you.  What are we missing that we ought to carry in our store?

Here’s a way to get up to $35 in free toys!  Have you heard of Revolution MoneyExchange?  It’s similar to PayPal but with fewer fees.  It is a very secure way to transfer money and can now be used at No Strings Attached Toys.  It’s very easy to create an account and when you do, they will give you $25 to sign up.  Better yet, sign up through our referral button below and we will give you a $10 credit in our store on top of the $25 sign up bonus.  Pay for a purchase at No Strings Attached Toys using the $25 signup bonus from MoneyExchange and we will add the $10 credit, giving you $35 in free toys.  Even better, all purchases made at No Strings Attached Toys using MoneyExchange get a 5% discount on top of any other discount offered.

So here’s how this all works.  First, you sign up by clicking on this button. 

Your account will be credited immediately with a $25 bonus once your account is active.  You will then be ready to place your order using MoneyExchange.  When you checkout, select MoneyExchange.  We will then send you a transfer request for the amount due minus the $10 discount and minus an additional 5% just for using the new service.  If the amount due is less than $25 after our discounts on your introductory order, you will have paid absolutely nothing out of pocket.  Once you approve the transfer request, your order will ship.

The $10 discount is a one-time special for those referred by us.  The additional 5% discount is a special that will be available on any purchase completed using MoneyExchange until further notice.

For any questions, concerns, or additional information, please contact us.

No Strings Attached Toys had the privilege of attending Toy Fair this week in New York City.  Over the next several days we will post information on new products and companies that we find appealing.  We paid attention to each manufacturer’s safety standards first and foremost and overall are impressed with steps that many have taken to greatly reduce the chances of lead tainted products.  Many new products will be featured on our blog and in our toy store over the next few months as we continue to evaluate these toys.  Among the new toys we expect to carry are an assortment of green toys that are environmentally friendly.

As it becomes available, lead safety information will also be added to our lead testing site at http://unleadedtoylist.com. 

We recently added over 100 new toys in our store and nearly 200 new toys to our online store.  To celebrate, all plush, puzzles, art supplies, and craft projects are on sale through the end of February.

All art supplies, craft projects, stamp sets, and bead sets are 10% off.  All puzzles, including jigsaw puzzles, peg puzzles, sound puzzles, and floor puzzles are 20% off.  All stuffed animals are 25% off.  In total, more than 300 products are on sale. 

Come into the store and say hello or shop online to see what’s new.

After 2 months of testing toys and other household goods for lead, No Strings Attached Toys has finally loaded some preliminary test results on it’s new website (still in BETA): UnleadedToyList.com.  Currently the majority of the nearly 400 initial products on the website are either products for sale at No Strings Attached Toys or products that have been recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  There are hundreds of results of past tests that still need to be loaded over the next week.

Right now, the selection of test results for many categories is very limited.  During this BETA phase, we encourage users to email requests for additional lead tests for a particular product, brand, or category of products.  We will test products that have been requested before testing random items.  If a product contains no lead, we want you to know about it.  If a product hasn’t been recalled, but contains lead, we want you to know about it. 

We will be conducting numerous product lead tests at major retail chains and will report the results in our lead test database.  If you take a look at the website, please send us your feedback to let us know how we’re doing.

Responding to recent inquiries for testing toys at home for lead, we have decided to offer in home lead paint testing for a fee.  We will always offer free testing for products brought into our store.  For travel expense and 15 minutes of testing, we will travel up to 10 miles from LaFayette for $25, up to 25 miles for $50, 50 miles for $100.  Testing fees beyond the first 15 minutes are $75 per hour.  For any location farther than 50 miles away, special arrangements may need to be made.  For any questions, call 315-677-9070 or 1-877-522-TOYS.

We are always happy to test your toys or other household goods for unsafe levels of lead for free in our store.  We recommend that you call ahead of time to make sure that we can accomodate you before you come in.

After finding toys with lead at a local church, we decided that we would travel to preschools, daycares and churches to test toys for lead.  We would even go to waiting rooms at doctor and dentist offices to test toys in waiting rooms.  Parents are able to keep safe toys at home, but they don’t have much control once outside the home.  In an effort to rid the area of lead tainted toys, we will test as many toys as possible in the community.  We will bring our portable X-Ray Fluorescence equipment to these organizations and businesses.  Parents, patients, and customers will have peace of mind, knowing that their children are only exposed to lead safe toys while at daycare, preschool, or in waiting rooms.

This lead testing service is offered for free within the Syracuse area for up to 30 minutes of testing.  For large quantities of toys requiring more than 30 minutes to test or for distances greater than 25 miles from LaFayette, we will have to charge for travel and testing time.  To schedule this service or for additional information, send us an email or call us at 315-677-9070 or 1-877-522-TOYS.