15 Extremely Harmful Toys For Kids (That Reached Stores)

There have always been times when toy makers created products they’ve wished they could take back. Today, recalls are issued when defective toys prove harmful, and/or result in a number of injuries. Typically when this happens, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) helps to remedy the situation through new regulation, or alerting existing legislation. Since 1990 alone, CPSC has recorded 166 accidental children death. The following are some of the most interesting examples of toys that have created a huge stir in that they were extremely harmful. They are 15 killer (sometimes just really harmful) toys.

Jarts/ Lawn Darts

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Obviously this picture is a fake, but it truly illustrates the dangers of lawn darts. By far this is the most dangerous children’s toy ever. Even though the last lawn darts to be made were in 1989, people continue to suffer injuries from them. An estimated 6,100 have been treated in emergency rooms across the country since 1978. The most common injuries from this product include: cranial punctures, facial lacerations and fractures to the skull.

Mini Hammocks

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Who in their right mind would think that a hammock could be a safe place for a baby? Sadly, these Mini-Hammocks proved to be more of a Venus fly trap than a relaxing place for a baby that wanted to chillax. The producers of this product recalled 3 million of these hammocks after there 12 reported incidents of fatalities by asphyxiation.

Fun Fountain by Wham-O

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In 1981, the CPSC recalled this creepy water toy. Even though this was before I was born, I still remember getting hit in the face with that stupid clown hat at least on one occasion. Regardless of the recall and the many eye injuries suffered by countless children, Wham-O continued to modify safer versions of this toy for years following. For those who remember this product (or a variation of it), this was the perfect toy to trick the new guy into getting smashed in the face by that damn clown hat.

Colonial Stellar Probe by Mattel

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Even though Mattel’s missile-launching “Colonial Stellar Probe” met safety standards at the time, it sadly caused the death of a child. Apparently, a four-year-old who accidentally shot the missile into his mouth, ended up choking to death. After this occurred, Mattel recalled this product in 1979. Sadly, following this incident, the market for phallic toys named “probe” dried up.

Water Wiggle by Wham-O

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Again Wham-O was on the hook with the CPSC for another water toy. This time the Water Wiggle was responsible for the deaths of two of two children. After some investigation, it was released that both of these children drowned to death. According to the CPSC, the kids removed the bell shaped head and lodged the running hose in their mouth.

Voltron Lion by Bandai

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Voltron is awesome, Lead paint is not. When this cartoon was released in the mid 80’s, kids literally went crazy for everything Voltron. Shirts, toys, bed sheets; you name it, Voltron was on it. Then in 1986 it was found out that toymakers Bandai were cutting corners and using lead paint on its most popular Voltron toys. The toys were then recalled, and subsequently replaced. Bandai later redeemed themselves by creating the pink power ranger, after that, everything was forgiven.

Leap Frog Play grounds

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Is it sad or funny when a toddler you know flips over a hurdle toy like this? I guess that depends on if the toddler is yours or not. Anyway, this playground was recalled after many children were found to climb on and fall off of this toy. Additionally, there were also 143 reported incidents of toddlers getting their arm stuck in the plastic tube, which resulted in cuts, scrapes, and bruises.

Wego Kite Tubes

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Apparently the slogan for Wego Kite Tube was, “When regular water tubing crashes aren’t painful enough!” In this product’s short time on the market, it was blamed by the CPSC for 39 injuries, including a broken neck and a punctured lung. Just look at the picture above and try and feign surprise that this thing caused bodily harm.

Children’s Folding Chair

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That’s right, it’s a chair. This product was recalled after eleven injuries from entrapment were reported. Entrapment? It is amazing that on 11 separate occasions, a child figured out how to get trapped in one of these folding chairs. I think if a kid does this to himself, it’s his fault, not the chair’s.

Creepy Crawlers

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In the 1960’s Mattel released and quickly recalled Creepy Crawlers. The product came with colorful “goop”, molds, and an open-faced fryer. That’s right, an open-faced fryer…that could heat up to a searing 310 degrees. I guess if the homemade rubber insects and fake forehead eyeballs stop scaring your sister, burning your face off could do the trick.

Fisher-Price Power Wheels

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Most people want their kids to look cool and, at times, bad-ass. And nothing says bad-ass more then a kid on a motorcycle. Unfortunately many of these bikes were defective, which caused the toy’s accelerator to jam. Just picture toddlers on mini bikes unable to stop, crashing into walls, trees and basically everything…This defect resulted in numerous injuries, and as a result 218,000 of these toys were recalled. Though unfortunate, many of the parents understood the first crash was inevitable and were strangely happy to have it out of the way.

Sky Dancers

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By 2000, Galoob Toys, the makers of Sky Dancers, had received 150 reports of injuries caused by their product. These injuries included scratched corneas, temporary blindness, broken teeth, mild concussions, broken ribs, and facial lacerations. Not what you’d expect from a pink castle and flying, little fairies huh?

Aqua Dots

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In 2007, Aqua Dots were brought to market, and this crafty little toy quickly proved to be very popular with little girls ages 4 and up. Interestingly, this toy was recalled after traces of GHB were found in the Aqua Dots. For those of you who don’t know what GHB is, it is one of the main chemicals found in the date rape drug and ecstasy. Literally, children were found comatose and stoned out of their minds after “accidentally” ingesting Aqua Dots. “Toy of the Year 2007?” Really?

Clackers

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Seriously, I wish someone would’ve told my cousin this toy was recalled back in the late 70’s. I think that he thought that because Clackers resembled testicles, that they were made to hit testicles. That little bastard got me more times than I’d like to admit. But I showed him – every time we go out now I tell the ladies that he has herpes..

Giant Exercise ball

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These giant exercise balls have never been recalled, and probably never will be. That doesn’t mean however, that they are not dangerous. If you’ve ever been hit in the face with one of these behemoths, you know what’s it like to be destroyed. Although Chiropractors use these balls for therapy, incidents with these have been known send people to the chiropractor with whiplash. Apparently, there is some sort of viral fad on YouTube right now that highlights injuries incurred by these giant rubber balls. Please enjoy the destructive power of the giant ball.