After last year’s massive toy fiasco something had to be done to increase toy safety, as unsafe toys were easily overlooked by regulators. Thus the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act was passed, demanding that every toy should be tested for lead, even those made only from natural materials.

Independent toy companies are at risk as they cannot afford all these tests. This is pretty ironic, as independent toy companies were created with the purpose of making safe toys and to compete with the industry’s giants. On the other hand, there have been many toy-induced accidents and some kids even died.

 The most frequent cause of death was the obstruction of the airways by small toys or small pieces that come off. Also, riding toys have also proven to be quite dangerous.

The most important thing when buying a toy is reading the label and knowing for who the specific toy was designed.

It is also important for toys to encourage children’s use of their imagination, as most of them, as complex as they are, offer everything without soliciting any imaginative effort from the child. This time of year is known for the explosion of shoppers and because children are waiting for Santa, toys are one of best selling items from the winter holiday.

It is a sad thing that independent toy makers will be seriously affected by the new regulations and expensive testing they will have to do, but the new law actually makes sense and safety, surely, comes first.