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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.,
Hazard: These products contain defects in the design, warnings and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury and death to children and teenagers.
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:
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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
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.
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