cpsia

Zhu Zhu Pets have been this year's Beanie Babies: toys that are so ridiculous in concept, so cheap and simple in execution that you knew they were going to cause long lines and incredible prices on the Black Friday back-alley aftermarket. This year being as it was, retailers were accused of...

Buh-bye, Dora the Explorer and your fairy princess castle. So long, Skarloey the train. Catch you later, phthalates in baby bottles. There's a new sheriff in town. Make that the CPSIA-riff.As retail stores and toy manufacturers everywhere pick up their XRF guns and get to work testing for lead in...

Your kids' books with the hologram covers, your girls' boot-cut jeans with fake crystal details, all your children's toys, every single thing with a snap, are about to become contraband. As the new Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act, the CPSIA, goes into effect on Tuesday, February 10 -- in...

Thrifty shoppers, Goodwill, and those planning to hold a yard sale anytime after February 10 all took a deep breath of relief yesterday, only to be replaced with a gasp of continued disbelief over the CPSC's new children's products act. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which cracks down...

I can't remember the last clothing I bought for any of my three little boys from a regular retail store. I (and my wallet) prefer to stock their closets with a funky variety of clothes picked up at thrift stores, garage sales, and the Goodwill outlet. Same with the majority of our toys and kids'...

For Christmas last year, I bought my boys all handmade wooden toys. There were the delightful and pricey trucks from England; sweet round shields from here in Portland, Ore.; and the castle pieces made in Vermont. This year I'm planning to get a few more trucks, a dragon, and a couple of princes...