My kids are like most kids. They see a commercial on TV for toy race tracks or Moon Sand or Aqua Dots and they want those things.
Well, Moon Sand turned out to be pretty cool, but we made the mistake of buying Aqua Dots and they sucked.
They were kind of a pain to work with. You load these little pea-sized balls into a little pen and squirt them one at a time out of the pen's tip into a grid of holes. Once you have all the colored balls in place, you spray them with a mist of water and they are supposed to stick together. After they dry, you can pull of this cool little design you made -- even layering them to make 3D works of dot art.
They just didn't work that well for us. We tried. They frustrated our kids too.
Today I heard that Aqua Dots are the latest toy to be recalled. From the radio reports I heard driving home this morning, it seems when they get wet they turn into a chemical similar to the date rape drug HGH and that two kids have been hospitalized in the U.S. from Aqua Dot poisoning. The radio reports warned that Aqua Dots are also known as Aquadots, Aqua Beads and Bindeez.
I just read a post on Blogging Stocks about them which says:
Yes, you read that right, it has been announced that millions of toy products in North America and Australia have been taken off the shelves after it was discovered that they contained chemicals that, when digested, convert into the date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate (street name of GHB). The toys in question are toy beads that go by the name Aqua Dots, and are considered a highly popular holiday item which is distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. For Australian consumers, the toy sells under the name of Bindeez.
Just how popular is this toy line? This year in Australia it was named toy of the year. Just how dangerous is the ingestion of the drug? If swallowed, one of these beads can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.
Just one bead? How scary! I'm glad all of our Aqua Dots got thrown out weeks ago.
I was going to link to the Moon Sand site, but it turns out that Moon Sand is made by Spin Master too and Spin Master's site is not responding today. No surprise.
Update: I just tried Spin Master's website again and it loaded with a giant link to the official Aqua Dots Recall site called AquaDotsRecall.com.
GrimJack
EZ Street
Jon Sable, Freelance
Comments (11)
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Dossy Shiobara 285 days ago
How much do you wanna bet that teens will be trying to buy Aqua Dots before people return it for the recall, at a premium above and beyond its original MSRP?
"Got Aqua Dots? Wanna party? txt me!"
Angry Lab Rat 285 days ago
Wow. How many toxic and deadly Chinese-made toys need to be recalled or pried from our kids' teeth before we finally pull our industries out of China? Three recalls in as many days (AquaDots, Curious George dolls, and childrens sunglasses) makes me wonder if they are TRYING to poison our kids!
For more comments, see my blog post on this topic at: http://angrylabrat.blogspot.com/2007/11/now-china-is-givi...
Murty 284 days ago
Teens may try for party, but parents won't let that happen once aware of danger.
This toy is ment for small kids so forget about premium, parents will dispose them very quickly.
Story on CNN and other sites request to dsipose quickly but dnd't mention it is safe to dump in trash or need to return to store.
Patty 264 days ago
Around November 9th I went to the website...www.aquadotsrecall.com, filled out the info to have something sent to me for returning the Aquadots. I still haven't received anything. Now, when I try going back to this same website, there isn't one there. I have a recall confirmation number and everything! What's up with this. Has anyone else had problems like this?
Anonymous 141 days ago
I have called 6X also have a confirmation # & each time am told they are still testing the new ones before they can send them, No mention of a refund. I called our area TV station someone from there is helping me with this issue. Hope I can get some results. Last time I called was now promised sometine in May
Holly 260 days ago
Patty, I also went to the Spin Master site and received the confirmation number on the day the recall was announced in the beginning of November. It is now December and nothing...I will never buy a Spin Master product again.
Leslie 255 days ago
Has anyone heard any recalls for moonsand? I have heard that it can be toxic but cannot find any information on it. It is the only thing my 4 yr old is asking for it but don't know if I should get this for him.
chris 238 days ago
i've found in lab experiments the "moon sand" causes birth defects,shortness of breath, skin irritation and an overabundance of joy insmall mammals.
Jan 226 days ago
I filled an online computer request for replacements of our aqua dots beads, approx. 2 months ago. Currently, I am on the phone (sitting on hold) with 'spin master' inc., hoping for further assistance. Has anyone received replacement beads or a product refund? It is not looking very promising at this point.
Jan 226 days ago
Just got off the phone with spin master, they said if an online registration form was completed that the replacement dots should be arriving in the mail around the first week of February.
Anonymous 47 days ago
It is now July and I still haven't received any replacement aquadots. This is getting so frustrating. First Spinmaster promised the aquadots by Jan, then by March, then by May, and the latest promised date was mid June. Has anyone received theirs yet?