| If your kids are anything like my three boys, at some | | | | "cease production and distribution of all metal toys" |
| point in their life, they will undoubtedly fall under the | | | | reported to the Consumer Product Safety |
| spell of a small wooden tank engine by the name of | | | | Commission or reported in the media "to have |
| Thomas. For those parents who are in the know, | | | | possibly been contaminated with lead paint." |
| Thomas & Friends needs no introduction. Endless | | | | The lawsuit, filed on behalf of consumers who have |
| lengths of overpriced wooden train track and a | | | | purchased the toys or received them as gifts, also is |
| painted wooden table designed to replicate the | | | | seeking a court order to notify all sellers and |
| "countryside" is a staple in any respectable | | | | distributors of metal toys "to remove such toys |
| child-rearer's home. | | | | from their shelves and to cease sale and distribution ... |
| For the uninitiated, Thomas the Tank Engine is a blue | | | | until their safety can be established." |
| smiling train engine who is endowed with a set of | | | | A spokeswoman for RC2 issued a statement in |
| stunningly anthromorphic features, including rosy | | | | response to the lawsuit saying, "The only items |
| cheeks, a big smile, and (oddly enough) eyebrows. | | | | subject to our previously announced voluntary recall |
| Thomas and his many friends, who include a litany of | | | | are the 26 wooden products listed and pictured on |
| other tank engines, train cars, and a station master | | | | our Web site. They represent about four percent of |
| named Sir Topem Hat) spend their days engaging in a | | | | total wooden railway units sold by the company |
| variety of adventures. Whether a child follows the | | | | domestically during recall period." |
| video productions of Thomas & Friends, or just | | | | "Though some products in our metal train toy line are |
| follows his/her own imagination, Thomas generally | | | | similar in appearance to products in the wooden line, |
| finds himself learning a good lesson or two by the | | | | they are smaller in scale. None of the metal products |
| end of the day. | | | | is subject to recall. They were produced using |
| Although the world of Thomas & Friends is | | | | different manufacturing and painting processes in |
| generally an idyllic one, there has recently been a | | | | different contract manufacturing facilities." |
| negative side effect of its immense popularity. The | | | | The firm said in addition to replacing all recalled |
| fact of the matter is that Thomas appeals mainly to | | | | products returned by consumers and reimbursing |
| very young children. Unfortunately, children of that | | | | them for return postage, "we are providing them |
| age also tend to put small items in their mouth on a | | | | with a bonus train car as a thank you for returning |
| regular basis. It is for this reason that the recent | | | | the recalled items." |
| recall of Thomas & Friends was necessary. | | | | The lawsuit filed Tuesday is the seventh federal |
| In June, 2007, Illinios based RC2 Corporation recalled | | | | class-action case brought against RC2, according to a |
| 1.5 million units of the popular Thomas & Friends | | | | search of the federal electronic filing database. The |
| railway toys. These Thomas & Friends toys | | | | suit also named as defendants HIT Entertainment, |
| were allegedly covered with lead paint. | | | | the London-based children's entertainment company |
| This month, July, 2007, RC2 Corporation was hit with | | | | that licenses the Thomas & Friends railway toys; |
| a federal class-action lawsuit in Chicago on Tuesday | | | | APAX Partners, the private-equity group that owns |
| that is seeking an injunction against the sale of its | | | | HIT; and Learning Curve Brands, Inc., the subsidiary |
| metal train toys. | | | | of RC2 that markets the railway toys. |
| The lawsuit is seeking a court order requiring RC2 to | | | | |