American Girl Dolls

My granddaughter received an American Girl doll for our Winter Solstice Present Day celebration (OK, what ya’ll call Christmas). I was a little worried when it arrived because a quick online check showed that American Girl dolls, by Mattel, are not made in the US but are manufactured in China.

And while an article by CBS 11 of Dallas/Fort Worth News, dtd Dec 10, 2007 admits that American Girl dolls are manufactured in China it says that CBS had an American Girl doll (and accessories) tested for lead. They state that “experts say the doll and its toys are perfectly safe.”

I don’t know what “experts” CBS used as they do not say in the article but according to HealthyToys.org, American Girls dolls are not completely safe. They rated as MEDIUM on the safety scale. While it is true the dolls are lead-free, the one American Girl doll they tested came up positive for the chemical Chlorine.

About Chlorine, HealthyToys states the following:

“Detection of chlorine in a toy component indicates the likely use of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or vinyl, a widely used type of plastic that is of concern to the environment and public health during all phases of its life cycle.”

I won’t bore you with all the details about chlorine, PVC and vinyl but I will provide a few highlights. For example, vinyl contains phthalates [pronounced thal-ates] which are a group of industrial chemicals that add flexibility and resilience to many consumer products. Phthalates have been associated with disturbed hormonal processes, birth defects of the genitals, altered levels of reproductive hormones in male babies, an increased risk of breast cancer and asthma, among many other things. In short, PVC is NOT something you want kids playing with if you can help it.

And while the plastic and vinyl industry claim that phthalates and vinyl are “perfectly safe” (Jeeze, where have I heard that one before?)--others, lots of others, disagree. You can check out some additional scary details about vinyl on the EPA website. Eeesh!

So, yes, American Girl dolls probably don’t have high levels of lead but they are made out of vinyl which more than likely contains unhealthy and perhaps dangerous levels of phthalates.

And lastly, American Girls are not made in America, anymore.

Luckily, the doll my granddaughter received was an original version of the Kristin doll which was manufactured by the Pleasant Company in Middleton, Wisconsin in 1991. (Mattel bought out the Pleasant Company in 1998.)

My granddaughter’s other grandmother bought the doll for her on eBay. It came with clothes and accessories whose tags state they were made in Germany. So, at least the clothes are definitely safe.

I’m not really feeling too secure about the whole vinyl issue with this version of the doll but at least I’m not worrying about lead. I am hoping that perhaps the vinyl is stable now or has at least, off-gassed most of the toxins. Who knows? *sigh*

Anyway, if you’re looking for a safe American made doll check out the Stuffington Bear Factory. While they don’t have plastic dolls, they do have lots of very cute stuffed animals and outfits to dress them in. I purchased a green bunny and a couple of outfits. The little handmade clothes are so adorable and the bunny is well made. And most important of all, they are completely safe, made in the USA and my granddaughter loves them.


Stuffington Bear Factory is located in Arizona. It’s web site says they have been in business since 1959.

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TOYS: Roy Toys Vs Lincoln Logs

On the Roy Toy web site the About Roy Toy history page is an interesting read.

According to the information on the site, the original owner/founder was Roy K. Dennison. The company began making it's wooden toy construction sets in Maine in the 1930's. It went out of business in the 1960's.

Fast forward thirty years and grandson, Bruce Dennison, revives the company and brings it to the Internet. The company is still located in Maine.

I emailed the Roy Toy company. I asked if all their products were made in the USA? The customer service rep (?) reply is below: (btw, the answer is YES!)

customerservice@roytoy.com	Sun, Dec 2, 2007 at 7:38 PM
Reply-To: customerservice@roytoy.com To: LeadFree<madeinusablogger@gmail.com
We do manufacture all of our products100% in Maine USA. Thank you for supporting USA products, Sue Dennison Roy Toy Manufacturing 599 Jacksonville Road East Machias, Maine 04630 Ph: (207) 255-0954 Fx: (207) 255-0955 sdennison@roytoy.com www.roytoy.com

On the other hand, a message on the K'NEX company website by President/COO, Michael Araten, says,

"K'NEX Brands manufactures and sells building sets under the KID K'NEX® and K'NEX® brand names and Lincoln Logs®.* We are also the exclusive distributor of BRIO® products in the U.S. and Canada. Lincoln Logs are manufactured in China by an ICTI certified factory. "

K'NEX bricks are made in the US however. But then, a lot of LEGO'S are too.

Lincoln Logs on the other hand are no longer manufactured in the US at all, they are now made in China.

So if you're looking for "Lincoln Log" type toys, buy Roy Toy. Besides being made right here in the USA, the Roy Toy log sets are less expensive and look cooler than Lincoln Logs.

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UPDATE: Jan 23, 08

I bought the 250+ pc. Deluxe Building Set ($49.95) of Roy Toy logs for my granddaughter for a Solstice present. The set is huge! The logs fit together well and it is a good bit of construction style toyworks. My granddaughter and I have played with it several times, building the farm house, barn and fences. It was a lot of fun, once we finally figured out how to build them.

Overall, it is a great toy but I do have a couple minor complaints. One is the instructions that come with the set. They are rather sparse and unhelpful. I wish the company had included better instructions or at least offer some to download from their web site...maybe a PDF or two...that would be nice.

Also, the bag that the logs come in is pretty useless for storage. In order to play with the set you must dump all 250 pieces out and sort thru them (imagine a jigsaw puzzle of 250 logs) to build anything. This takes forever. To solve this problem, I fashioned an open top storage tote out of the shipping box. I cut the lid flaps off, put a couple slits in each and slide them together to make cubby holes -- one for each size/color of logs. A little pink duct tape for reinforcement and we now have a nice little organizer for the set.

If you have a little kid that enjoys building stuff, then get them a Roy Toy set. It's a sturdy, imagination inspiring, safe, USA made toy. But make sure you buy or better yet, make an organizer to keep the parts sorted and ready to put together. It makes playtime much easier and more fun for everyone.

TOYS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Here are some links to MADE IN USA toy companies.

One of the best seems to be Holgate Toys of PA. Their website says they have been in business since 1789! Wow! The toys are wooden, well-crafted and awesome. Unfortunately, they seem to be overloaded with orders this year and so they have a disclaimer stating that shipping may take a little longer to process.

Here are some other interesting USA toy makers/sellers:

Fat Brain Toys have an online "Wizard" (database) of toys you can search by interest, age, gender, price ranger and country of origin. Just click on the USA map or the link next to map on any of their pages.

North Star Toys, located in NM. A family owned and ran business since 1979.

Maine Toys, located in Maine, since 1973. They sell wooden, handcrafted, lead free toys both online and in local stores. For a list of their local retailers, click here.

Freep.com (powered by The Detroit Free Press) has published an article entitled "Not Made In China: Toy shoppers worried about lead can find wonderful gifts in new places" which lists safe toys manufactured in the US but also some made in other countries such as Germany and Mexico. I say, buy US if you can. Support your country and your economy.