The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Wooden toy vehicles recalled by Target due to choking hazard

Target is recalling about 495,000 Bullseye’s Playground wooden toy vehicles.

The wheels on the vehicles can detach, posing a choking hazard to children. Four reports of the wheels detaching have been received including a report of a missing wheel when the package was opened. No injuries have been reported.

This recall includes the Bullseye’s Playground toy vehicles. The vehicles were sold individually in stores and as an 8-pack set online.  The vehicles include a caboose, Santa in sleigh, ice cream truck/food truck, train, police car, fire truck, taxi, and digger.

Fewer children’s products recalled in 2018, study shows

The number of children’s products and the total number of those products recalled in 2018 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission declined more than in any year in the last decade, according to a report by Kids In Danger, a children’s safety advocacy organization.

The report reviews 2018 recall data from the commission, which show a reduction of activity at the agency. Fifty-two children’s products were recalled in 2018, down 44 percent from the 93 recalls in 2017.

“It is tricky to say whether low recall numbers are a good thing – pointing to safer products – or a sign of lax enforcement, leaving dangerous products on store shelves and in our homes,” said Nancy Cowles, executive Director of Kids In Danger. “Indicators this year, such as less effective actions in lieu of recalls and fewer findings of design defects in the recalls that were announced, make us worry it is the latter.”

The report, “A KID Report: 2018 Children’s Product Recalls,” shows:

Facts and figures for the 2018 holidays

It’s that time of year. The holidays are upon us. Hanukkah has been celebrated and today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the day with the least daylight and the longest night. Christmas is approaching rapidly as is Kwanzaa, Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

Celebrants

Nine-in-ten Americans — and 95 percent of Christians — say they celebrate Christmas, according to a Pew Research Center survey. These figures have generally held steady in recent years. Today, 46 percent of Americans say they celebrate Christmas as primarily a religious rather than cultural holiday.

Top 10 stores for Cyber Monday shopping

Cyber Monday isn't just for Black Friday leftovers. Some of the year's best sales will take place on Monday, Nov. 26. So, you may want to save part of your holiday shopping budget for Cyber Monday deals.

Which stores will be offering the best savings? DealNews.com offers 10 suggestions, based on the best sales last year from Cyber Monday and the Sunday before.

1. Amazon

Best for: Gaming, toys, home, and almost anything else you can buy online

While plenty of other retailers offer Cyber Monday sales, none of them match Amazon's. Last year, DealNews.com saw three times as many Cyber Monday deals at Amazon as the next highest retailer.

10 gifts you probably won’t be able to buy this Christmas

 

Photo: Northwest

It’s possible some of the most popular holiday gifts won’t be available as we get closer to Christmas. Every year, last-minute shoppers find empty shelves when hunting for the season's top toys and gadgets – and they either end up paying huge prices or buying less exciting alternatives.

DealNews offers this list of products you probably won't find on store shelves in December. If you need to buy them, shop now.

1. Fenty Beauty by Rihanna
2. iPhone X
3. Google Pixel 2
4. Xbox One X
5. Nintendo Switch
6. SNES Classic
7. Hatchimals Surprise
8. Fingerlings
9. LOL Surprise
10. FurReal Friends

See “10 Things You Won’t Be Able to Get This Christmas” for details.

Copyright 2017, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

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Albertsons asked to ban toxic chemicals in everyday consumer products

Albertsons, the nation’s second largest grocery chain and its subsidiaries such as Safeway, are being urged to stop selling products containing or packaged with toxic chemicals such as lead, formaldehyde, parabens, and BPA.

Mind the Store campaign and health advocates across the country are calling on Albertsons to announce a safer chemicals policy to reduce and eliminate toxic chemicals, as Walmart, Target, and other retailers have done.

In a week-long campaign, advocates will be demonstrating outside stores across the country holding signs and distributing brochures to customers while wearing Hawaiian shirts, pool floats, and other summer items to remind consumers about the present of these chemicals in daily lives. Advocates will also be distributing petitions and making calls to the company’s headquarters.

Super Bowl 2017: Ads mostly unremarkable, but violence takes a new turn

Every year I watch the Super Bowl ads, hoping they’ll get better. I write about the ads because so much attention is paid to them, and they cost huge amounts of money. For Super Bowl 2017, the cost is $5.02 million for 30 seconds.

While last year I saw a small improvement in the ads, fewer sexist and ageist ads, violent ads continued to dominate this year, which along with the violent football game, is questionable TV viewing for kids.

However, one new disturbing type of ad emerged – T-Mobile’s ad featuring pain and sexual pleasure.

Facts and figures for the holiday season this year

The holidays are upon us. What are consumers up to in 2016?

Spending

Consumers plan to spend an average of $936 during the holiday shopping season. Total spending includes gifts for others, spending on themselves, food, flowers, decorations, and greeting cards for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, according to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation. Total planned spending this year is second to the record spending in 2015, $953.

Fifty-eight percent of consumers plan to buy something for themselves, spending an average of $140, up 4 percent from last year’s $134 and making it the second-highest level of personal spending in the survey’s 13-year history.

After Christmas sales are starting as early as Dec. 20

In 2012, "After Christmas" sales started appearing on Christmas Eve.

The sales have steadily crept back since then, according to DealNews.com. Last year an "After Christmas" sale from Macy's started on Dec. 20, with orders still guaranteed for pre-Christmas delivery.

Although most After Christmas sales still fall between Christmas and New Year's, tapering off through the month of January, many stores and websites are offering them earlier.

Trouble in toyland: Watch out for hazardous toys when you shop

Some toys that have been recalled for lead, powerful magnets, or other hazards may still be available for sale in online stores, according to U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund’s 31st annual “Trouble in Toyland” report. Consumers may also have recalled toys in their homes.

The report lists 44 different toys, for a total of 35 million toys, recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission from January 2015 to October 2016.

“We should be able to trust that the toys we buy are safe,” said Mike Litt, consumer program advocate for U.S. PIRG. “However, until that’s the case, consumers should understand two things: first, not all recalls may be well-publicized so you should check your house for previously recalled toys and second, some toys that are recalled may still be available online.”