CPSC, Imperial Toy Corporation Announce Toy Balloon Recall

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 7) -- Imperial Toy Corporation, in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, today announces the recall and repurchase of Blobo Plastic Bubb-A-Loons Item Nos. 028, 338, 339, 548 and 625, a plastic balloon toy which the Consumer Product Safety Commission has deemed to be a banned hazardous substance. Due to an error by the manufacturer in Taiwan, the product contains benzene. The Consumer Product Safety Commission believes that eating or inhaling benzene over an extended period of time may cause a type of blood disorder known as dyscrasias.

Blobo Plastic Bubb-A-Loons are distributed nationwide by Imperial Toy Corporation. The product is sold in individual metal tubes and in packages of tubes. More than 15 million such tubes have been shipped by Imperial since 1973. Imperial Toy Corporation has voluntarily agreed to cooperate with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and recall all of these products, offering a full refund to purchasers.

The Blobo Plastic Bubb-A-Loons are sold in three sizes of individual tubes, each packaged in cellophane with a plastic straw, all of which are being recalled. The recalled tubes are the six-gram size, Item No. 028, having a suggested retail price of 10? ; the twenty-gram size, Item No. 339, at 39 ?; and the thirty-gram size, Item No. 548, at 59?. Blobo Plastic Bubb-A-Loons are also distributed in packages containing a metal tube and plastic straws mounted on display cards. Imperial is also recalling a three-tube package, Item No. 338, at a suggested retail price of 39?; and a five-tube package, Item No. 625, at 69?. No other Imperial products or Blobo Plastic Bubb-A-Loons item numbers are involved in this recall. Consumers who suspect that they may have purchased one of these articles should stop using it immediately. Imperial is in the process of notifying its retailers and distributors of the recall and repurchase procedures. Consumers are urged to destroy the product or return the Blobo Plastic Bubb-A-Loons to the place of purchase for a full refund. The notification process to distributors is expected to take three weeks and any time after that, consumers may return the product to the place of purchase.

For further information, consumers may call the Consumer Product Safety Commission's toll-free Hotline at (800)638-2772; or Imperial Toy Corporation at (213)489-2100, or write the company at 2060 East 7th Street, Los Angeles, California 90021.