Six Retailers Announce Recall of Buckyballs and Buckycubes High-Powered Magnet Sets

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(Image credit: CPSC.)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with six retailers, is announcing the voluntary recall of about 3 million 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.

Importer: Maxfield & Oberton LLC, of New York, N.Y.,

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

(Image credit: CPSC.)

Description: The sets consist 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. 

Remedy: 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:

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

Buckycubes (Image credit: CPSC.)

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.

Consumer Contact:

Barnes & Noble, toll-free at (855) 592-2993 , www.barnesandnoble.com

Bed Bath & Beyond, toll-free at (800) 462-3966, www.bedbathandbeyond.com

Brookstone, toll-free at (866) 576-7337 or online at www.brookstone.com

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

Marbles the Brain Store, toll-free at (877) 527-2460  or online at www.marblesthebrainstore.com

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

Live Science Staff
Live Science Staff
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