Have you been hanging on to a beloved but slightly dinged-up plastic toy from your own childhood, in order to pass along to your kids when the time is right? Unfortunately, you might want to keep them out of reach. Apparently, Congress updated federal safety standards for toys in 2008, which means that anything from before that year didn’t have to meet those standards. “Vintage toys should be kept on a shelf for your enjoyment, not for a child to play with,” says Patty Davis, Deputy Director of the CPSC Office of Communications and the agency’s Press Secretary.
Sure, not everybody will be too concerned (and a lot of us aren’t ready to face the notion that the early 1990s constitutes “vintage” now). But better to have the info to make your own call, and if nothing else, you might just want to wait until they’re past the stage where every single thing goes straight into the mouth. Alternatively, this is a good excuse to keep your most treasured items for yourself.
— Kelly Faircloth, Executive Editor |
