Buckyballs toy company fights Nanny State: #SaveOurBalls

twitchy.com ^ | 7/30/2012 | Twitchy Staff

[RedCell]

Buckyballs, the three-year-old innovative toy company that makes magnetic desk toys for adults, is in the fight of its life. The Obama administration’s Consumer Product Safety Commission has filed a lawsuit to stop the firm from selling its products and to issue a recall of its toys. Several retailers have yanked the magnets, despite the company’s clear warning that Buckyballs and Buckycubes are for adults — not children.

Buckyballs executives have taken to social media and radio airwaves to save the company.

[TChad]

http://www.getbuckyballs.com/buckyballs-only-marketed-to-adults-cpsc-press-release/

I keep thinking of Irwin Mainway.

[dr_lew]

What about Lego's. They are extremely hazardous and pose an extreme choking hazard.

Not remotely comparable. Have you ever handled one of these Bucky things? They can pinch your fingers. It's like jaws snapping.

[Jim from C-Town]

regardless, they are intended for teens and adults, not children. They are not inherently dangerous when used as intended BY ADULTS. They are certainly less harmful than simple minded video games awash in blood and violence that MANY young children play for hours at a time. They are less dangerous than an ordinary kitchen knife and certainly less dangerous than a hand gun. That is why I don't let my children play with either.

This is something the government, PARTICULARLY the Federal Government has NO place. They are simply bureaucrats looking to justify their existence.Crying the constant verbiage of the Left 'it's for the good of the children' (At least those who survived the womb. The most dangerous place for an American child)

I am certain that more children die yearly from all manner of things impossible to regulate.

This is the problem with a nanny state. They can never stop trying to protect you from yourself. LIFE IS DANGEROUS. It is deadly. No amount of regulation can change that. after all we claim to live in a free society. Sometimes personal freedom causes your own or a loved ones injury. That is the flip side of all the positives surrounding freedom.

[Jim from C-Town]

regardless, they are intended for teens and adults, not children. They are not inherently dangerous when used as intended BY ADULTS. They are certainly less harmful than simple minded video games awash in blood and violence that MANY young children play for hours at a time. They are less dangerous than an ordinary kitchen knife and certainly less dangerous than a hand gun. That is why I don't let my children play with either.

This is something the government, PARTICULARLY the Federal Government has NO place. They are simply bureaucrats looking to justify their existence.Crying the constant verbiage of the Left 'it's for the good of the children' (At least those who survived the womb. The most dangerous place for an American child)

I am certain that more children die yearly from all manner of things impossible to regulate.

This is the problem with a nanny state. They can never stop trying to protect you from yourself. LIFE IS DANGEROUS. It is deadly. No amount of regulation can change that. after all we claim to live in a free society. Sometimes personal freedom causes your own or a loved ones injury. That is the flip side of all the positives surrounding freedom.

[1010RD]

Consumer Product Safety Commission, a panel of 5 people, rules over 314,000,000 people?

What’s a dictatorship look like anyway?

I’m lucky to own an illegal set of Jarts. If you want to see crazy bureaucrats read up on the banning of Jarts.

[1010RD]

The CPSC just like the newly instituted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wasn’t ever necessary. The market clears bad actors and finds some balance. Fraud is covered by torts and class action suits.

There are always risks inherent in freedom and there will always be bad guys. The history of regulation shows that eventually the regulated control the regulators. Look at Wall Street.

Had we had zero regulation of Wall Street the current crisis wouldn’t have happened. Trust is a commodity. Smart people trade in it. That said, we need a series of simple, clear as day rules like Glass-Steagall to govern everyday life and transactions. Then Congress can retire for ten years.

Too much meddling harms people.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[relictele]

Please don’t tell supporters of the ban about sharp kitchen knives! They are already in every home but apparently because irresponsible adults may allow kids access we should get rid.

Madness.

[Pontiac]

I did play Jarts a few times with family friends when I was a kid.

[thackney]

I hate to tell you, but these things do represent a frightening and insidious hazard.

My home is full of things that would be frightening hazard to toddlers and small children. Do you think all of those items should be banned?

[King Moonracer]

Sit all day, watch infotainment about the elite, eat mush, and die. Liberal heaven is hell!

[Postman]

Thanks for the kind words. Your son seems to have a great sense of impish humor. May he never lose it.

I realized that my comments could sound as if I were advocating a ban on the sale of these little glazier point magnetic thingies and similar but I wasn’t. I think it’s the same illogical nonsense as regulating the weapon rather than the person using it.

What the CPSC is doing sounds like very selective big government persecution of a private company for specious (political?) reasons. I find that scary as Hell.

[zeugma]

They can have my balls when they pry them from my cold, dead, ... ah ... hands. Time to order a few more sets of BuckBalls.

[zeugma]

I try not to be a nanny-stater ... but these small, powerful magnets are indeed a level above your average choking hazard because of the danger they pose. The problem, as Dr. Lew noted, is that if kids swallow two or more of these things, the magnets can clamp together inside the child, pinching various things together that should not be pinched, creating ruptures, tears, and places where gangrene can begin. The REAL problem is that unless you as a parent, grandparent, or caretaker have specifically been TOLD that this can happen, you might not know, and might not realize the danger even after some magnets have been ingested. I only found out about the danger myself when our kids were toddlers. I had no idea at all, until I read about it in a parenting magazine. The child does not have to choke — just swallow a couple of magnets. The danger is worse than many things categorized as poison.

I'm glad you try not to be a nanny-stater.Perhaps you should try harder.

The solution is to keep these things away from small children, much like we do many dangerous things like razor blades, poisons, and any number of other things.

These are NOT kids toys. The packaging clearly states that many times. Are we to remove this product from the market because some folks can't be bothered to read the clear all-caps warning labels screaming at them?

[zeugma]

Not remotely comparable. Have you ever handled one of these Bucky things? They can pinch your fingers. It's like jaws snapping.

I have 12 sets sitting my my desk. I can build amazing things with them, including some really intricate shapes that you wouldn't think would be possible if you just looked at the finished product. They've never harmed me. That's because I'm an adult playing with an adult toy. How many kids die from riding bicycles every year? A heck of a lot more than have been harmed by BuckyBalls.

[Cboldt]

Next up will be the coin-cell batteries. Eat a hole in your innards.

[tnlibertarian]

[I nearly choked on a Crunchberry when I was 5...ban cereal!]

Cereal killer!

[Salamander]

Okay girlfriend....time to trot out that hilarious bubble wrap and gruel thing....:D

[Salamander]

Even though they didn’t come with warning labels I would let kids play with my ball pythons but not my boas.

Common sense is cool.

[Salamander]

Har!

:D