Toy recall spurs parental anxiety

News that about 1.5 million wooden Thomas & Friends children's toys were being recalled because they were made with lead paint raised some parents' anxiety levels. A week after the recall began, however, there have been no reports of children becoming ill from the toys.

RC2 Corp. of Oak Brook, Ill., said the recalled toys, based on the popular children's television show that began airing in the United States in 1989, were made in China between January 2005 and April 2007. The lead paint used to decorate them could cause brain damage if ingested.

But RC2 is the only one of 30 manufacturers licensed to make Thomas & Friends Toys that has initiated a recall. One of the other makers, Schylling Associated Inc. of Rowley, sells more than two dozen Thomas items. The company said it does not use the same factories as RC2 and its toys do not have lead paint. Schylling has received some calls from concerned customers during the past week, said spokesman Stephen Medina, but sales have not suffered.

"We're business as usual," he said.

Schylling, which was founded in 1975 and has about 60 employees , is known for selling classic toys like rubber ducks and tea sets . The company's Thomas items, from whistles to tin drums, only account for about 10 percent of its business.

RC2 said yesterday that it could not provide a list of toy retailers in Massachusetts that sell its products.

Rick Henry, owner of Cambridge-based Stellabella Toys, said that that he did stock some of the recalled items, but that Thomas toys are not a major part of his business. The toys were immediately pulled off the shelf, Henry said, and the recall information was prominently posted. So far, he hasn't been deluged with calls from concerned customers.

"There's been certainly a lot of press," he said. "I've been ready for it, but it really hasn't happened."

But business has been anything but usual for Totally Thomas Toy Depot, which specializes in Thomas & Friends toys. The San Diego store, which carries more than 2,000 different kinds of Thomas toys , has been overwhelmed by inquiries about the toys.

"We were jammed with calls," said Cynthia Wyatt, president of Totally Thomas Inc., which owns Totally Thomas Toy Depot. "Every call was about the recall. Our 800 line was filled and it spilled into our local line. Even our people who were running our store were jammed with calls. They didn't even care that there was an 800 number they could call."

Totally Thomas, like some other retailers, has posted a message on its website, totallythomas.com, to alert customers and direct them to RC2 to find out how to send in the potentially harmful toys to be exchanged.

"We're really concerned about getting the message to parents so they can get the toys out of the kids' hands," Wyatt said, noting that Totally Thomas employees have been trained to spot the dangerous toys and assist customers in the recall process. "I'd be willing to sacrifice sales for that," she said.

According to RC2, the recalled toys account for only 4 percent of its wooden railway units sold in the United States, although it declined to say how many Thomas & Friends toys it produces annually. HIT Entertainment Ltd., which holds licensing rights to Thomas & Friends, said that last year about 50 million toys were manufactured.

RC2 will reimburse customers for postage and also give them an additional toy for free, and has added more people to its customer service line. Wyatt said the company has been acting responsibly since it found out about the lead paint.

"Recalls in the toy industry are not uncommon, and when it happens we usually only get some poster to post with a letter saying to pull the items off the shelves and that's pretty much all," she said in an e-mail. "I think that RC2 is doing their sincere best under the difficult circumstances."

Se Young Lee can be reached at vlee@globe.com.