For Buckyballs Toys, Child Safety Is a Growing Issue

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Friday, August 17, 2012

For Buckyballs Toys, Child Safety Is a Growing Issue

By ANDREW MARTIN

Three years ago, two pals from Brooklyn came up with the idea of creating a desktop toy out of powerful magnets. Their creation, Buckyballs, became an instant hit. And by this year, the two — Craig Zucker and Jake Bronstein — had expected annual sales to reach about $25 million.

But their business plan has hit a major, unanticipated snag.

Buckyballs are made from rare-earth elements, which makes them much more powerful than most magnets — and potentially more dangerous when ingested. Though the product is marketed to adults and festooned with warning labels, regulators have moved to stop sales because children keep swallowing Buckyballs and similar products made by others.

An administrative complaint filed last month by the Consumer Product Safety Commission seeks to require the company — officially called Maxfield & Oberton Holdings — to tell the public about the problem and offer customers a refund. The safety commission also asked 12 other manufacturers of rare-earth magnets to voluntarily recall their products and stop sales; 11 have complied.

Besides Buckyballs, Zen Magnets, a small company in Denver, refused. Last week, the safety commission filed an administrative complaint against Zen Magnets too.“The labeling, the warnings, the packaging does not work,” Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the safety agency, said of the products. “You have young children who come into a room and get their hands on a loose magnet or two.”

The action involving Buckyballs and Zen Magnets is unusual because the safety commission rarely files an administrative complaint, which is essentially a request for a mandatory recall. The last one, filed 11 years ago, was against Daisy Manufacturing, which makes BB guns. In Buckyballs’ case, a hearing will be scheduled before an administrative law judge, who will decide whether to grant the safety commission’s request.

In the meantime, Mr. Zucker has started an aggressive public campaign to win support for Buckyballs. Using the cheeky slogan “Save Our Balls,” his company has taken out newspaper ads in Washington, directed at President Obama and lawmakers, and stoked a campaign on social media Web sites like Facebook and Twitter.

In doing so, Mr. Zucker has found enthusiastic support from those who believe the Obama administration has pushed regulation too far.

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