News from CPSC: Six Retailers Announce Recall of Buckyballs and Buckycubes High-Powered Magnet Sets Due to Ingestion Hazard

-----------NEWS from CPSC-----------
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Communications
4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814, www.cpsc.gov
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Six Retailers Announce Recall of Buckyballs and Buckycubes High-Powered Magnet Sets Due to Ingestion Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2013/Six-Retailers-Announce-Recall-of-Buckyballs-and-Buckycubes-High-Powered-Magnet-Sets

Recall Date: April 12, 2013
Recall Number: 13-168

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with six retailers, is announcing the voluntary recall of all Buckyballs and Buckycubes high-powered magnet sets sold by these companies. CPSC continues to warn that these products contain defects in the design, warnings and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury and death to children and teenagers.

Imported by Maxfield & Oberton LLC, of New York, N.Y., Buckyballs and Buckycubes consist of sets of numerous, small, high-powered magnets. These sets vary in the number of magnets included and come in a variety of colors. Individual magnets in the set are about 5 millimeters in diameter. Individual magnets in Buckyballs are spherical and individual magnets in Buckycubes are cube-shaped.

About three million sets of Buckyballs and Buckycubes have been sold in U.S. retail stores nationwide and online since 2010 for between $5 and $100.

Consumers should take the high-powered magnet sets and all associated individual magnets away from children and teenagers and contact the retailer from which they purchased the product to obtain instructions for their remedy:

* Barnes & Noble, toll-free at (855) 592-2993 or online at www.barnesandnoble.com and click on "Product Recalls"

* Bed Bath & Beyond, toll-free at (800) 462-3966 or online at www.bedbathandbeyond.com and select "Safety and Recalls" under Customer Service, then click on Recall Information

* Brookstone, toll-free at (866) 576-7337 or online at www.brookstone.com and click on "Recall Information" under Shop Brookstone

* Participating Hallmark retailers, toll-free at (800) 425-5627 or online at http://www.hallmark.com/recall-product/

* Marbles the Brain Store, toll-free at (877) 527-2460 or online at http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/buckyballs-recall-faq

* ThinkGeek, toll-free at (888) 433-5788 or online at www.thinkgeek.com/buckyballs/index.shtml

These retailers have agreed to participate because Maxfield & Oberton has refused to participate in the recall of all Buckyballs and Buckycubes.

In July 2012, CPSC staff filed an administrative complaint against Maxfield & Oberton Holdings LLC, of New York, N.Y., after discussions with the company and its representatives failed to result in a voluntary recall plan that CPSC staff considered to be adequate to address the very serious hazard posed by these products. This type of legal action against a company is rare, as CPSC has filed only four administrative complaints in the past 11 years.

CPSC has received 54 reports of children and teens ingesting this product, with 53 of these requiring medical interventions.

Photos are available at http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2013/Six-Retailers-Announce-Recall-of-Buckyballs-and-Buckycubes-High-Powered-Magnet-Sets

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov.

Media Contact
Please use the phone numbers below for all media requests.
Phone: (301) 504-7908
Spanish: (301) 504-7800

CPSC Consumer Information Hotline
Contact us at this toll-free number if you have questions about a recall:
800-638-2772 (TTY 301-595-7054)
Times: 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET; Messages can be left anytime
Call to get product safety and other agency information and to report unsafe products.

CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products-such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals-contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, go online to: SaferProducts.gov, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing and speech impaired. Consumers can obtain this news release and product safety information at www.cpsc.gov. To join a free e-mail subscription list, please go to www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx.





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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in
receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to a
product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please
tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov.

Media Contact
Please use the phone numbers below for all media requests.
Phone: (301) 504-7908
Spanish: (301) 504-7800

CPSC Consumer Information Hotline
Contact us at this toll-free number if you have questions about a recall:
800-638-2772 (TTY 301-595-7054)
Times: 8 a.m. � 5:30 p.m. ET; Messages can be left anytime
Call to get product safety and other agency information and to report unsafe products.

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This message is from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov),
an independent federal regulatory agency, located at 4330 East West
Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814 Toll-free hotline: (800) 638-2772.