Nintendo’s Lapel Pin Scandle ‘08

So, you thought that GTA IV was the only thing video game related that was harmful to your kids. Well, you thought wrong mister, or misses. If you were one of the lucky ones that snagged one of the Nintendo Character lapel pins…..STOP….don’t put it in your mouth.

WHOO, that was a close one, in case you were thinking of eating your lapel pin, think again. Nintendo has just announced they will be conducting a recall of their character lapel pins. The pins were sold in the company store in Redmond, WA, and the Nintendo World Store in New York. While eating lapel pins in general isn’t healthy for you, Nintendo has announced they also contain an unsafe level of lead.

Here is a quote pertaining to the problem, “The pins contain amounts of lead that potentially could cause health problems if ingested or swallowed. NOA purchased the pins from Bluegrass Promotional Marketing (Charlotte, NC), which imported them via Pro Source Inc. (Troutdale, OR). By their nature, these lapel pins are not intended for children, but NOA is voluntarily informing consumers about this issue and encouraging them to return them to NOA. Nintendo of America apologizes for any inconvenience this causes lapel pin owners”

I always assumed it was common sense that objects with sharp pointed ends, should be kept away from children. If your toddler does end up swallowing a lapel pin, then I’d venture to say lead poisoning is the least of your worries. In the days of suing McDonalds for making people obese, it shouldn’t be a surprise that statements like this have to be made. It is just a little sad though, we aren’t using more common sense. Hopefully, I will have another post written today with actual video game news. Sorry, I went on a little rant there, so what do you all feel about the lapel pin recall?