Dave's Cool Toys Blog

Welcome to Dave's Cool Toys Weblog

The official Blog of Dave's Cool Toys, hosted by Dave. I'll be posting about new toys we are carrying, new toys in the market, general toy information, or stuff we just thought was cool (usually toys). We welcome your feedback and comments.

Dave Ference   
Dave's Cool Toys

Bears. Inside Out.

Kent Rogowski has created one of the most unusual books I've ever seen. Simply called, "Bears" He opens up Teddy Bears, turns them inside-out, re-stuffs them, then takes their portrait.

The absurd creatures that result from this make for the most interesting photos. Many of them seem a bit sad, some seem to be on life-support due to what I believe are noise making devices, now on their outsides.

The description from his website states "They are at once hideous yet cuddly, disturbing yet endearing, absurd yet adorable, while offering a metaphor for us all to consider. These bears, which have lived and loved and lost as much as their owners, have suffered and endured through it all. It is by virtue of revealing their inner core might we better understand our own." OK. I think that might be going a bit far. But I was fascinated with them.

Check out some of his inside-out teddy bear photos here.

Freakiest Fish 2008

Just in time for Halloween, Oceana has announced the winner of this year's Freakiest Fish contest. And the winner is... the Fanfin Seadevil. The wire-like filaments that stick out of it's body detect movement in the water. Fortunately, you probably won't come across this beauty at the beach. It's rarely been observed or captured.
To send a halloween card with this lovely fish, click here. They have a few other cards with the runner's up as well.

Personally, I don't think this fish compares to last year's Blobfish. He was something else.

Link.

Banzai Water Park... more like a foot bath.

I came across this horrible misrepresentation of a toy today. It's the Banzai Wild Waves Water Park . A savvy consumer, David Ng scanned the "Water Park's" box and took a photo of his children standing next the actual product to show how extremely misleading the product shot is. Many manufacturers spend a great deal of time and money making their product look as good as possible, but this obviously goes well beyond that and purposely tries to deceive the consumer. Apparently, the box also claims that you may not return the item to the store you bought it at (try and stop me!)

I checked on Amazon for this item and the photo there (at left) was a somewhat more realistic version. Clearly the children in this shot were photoshopped in. Probably at the last minute to avoid prosecution. The box also states "product may not be as appears on image". Well that may well protect them legally, but that statement opens the possibility of putting anything you want on the box! One of the many strengths of the Web is the ability of consumers to get the word out about poor quality products, and they certainly have done that at Amazon.

For a fascinating look at the difference between advertising photography and reality check out Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality.

Mr. Bacon Head (Mr. Potato Head in disguise)

So you've got about ten Mr. Potato Head's sitting around your house. You've used all the eyes (even the "angry eyes"), ears, mouths, even the pipe (if you have one). Maybe you even have Darth Tater.

But now you're bored with the accessories you can purchase. What to do? I know! Bacon!

That's about all I can figure this guy was thinking when he created this excellent Mr. Bacon Head.

Incidentally, I think I'm linking to the original photo of this guy, but I couldn't be sure.

And... while I was bopping around on the web, looking for other Mr. Potato Head items, I found this cool little article and pictures of Walt Disney Imagineers working on a giant Potato Head Animatronic.

I also came across the most amazing story (I couldn't link to it because this is a G-Rated blog and some of the comments were not).

The photo you see here is not an octopus hat for a Mr. Potato Head. It is a picture of Louis the octopus at the Blue Reef Aquarium, in Cornwall. He was given a Mr. Potato Head for Christmas and he loves it so much he will become agressive and attack the net when workers attempt to remove it from the tank. He's even learned to get food out of the secret compartment in the back.

Spore. Was it worth the wait?

This years most hyped video game (so far) has been Spore. And it looks way-cool. Everyone has been waiting and building anticipation for the release on September 8. Well, now the dust has settled and reality has set in. How do people like Spore? Well, the user reviews have not been good. At this moment on Amazon it has received 1,314 reviews and has only one star.

However, the poor reviews are not entirely for the game itself, but rather for the Digital Rights Management that Electronic Arts has put in place on the game. Apparently you can only make three installations of the game, then you must contact the manufacturer to request more codes (you pay for the call). Users have commented that you do not "purchase" the game you "rent" it. They have also called the software that is installed with the game a "virus" that is impossible to remove without reformatting your drive. It runs in the background at all times, using system resources. Many commenter said they had decided not to purchase Spore because of the very restricted digital rights.

But how is the game? I had a hard time finding out how users liked it because so many of the reviews I've read simply bash the game because of the digital rights. The most I've found is that some users feel that the game is far more limited in how you can create creatures than they were led to believe. Some reviewers have also commented that it's less of a game and more of an experience. Someone looking for hard-core gaming will be disappointed. I also noticed that professional reviewers seem to love the game. They rave about how innovative and vast it is.

My guess is the user reviews are being a bit unfair and will turn in favor of Spore once players begin exploring the universe. Electronic Arts' choices with regards to the Digital Rights Management are unfortunate. What will matter the most is how they handle the situation. Will they be strict with their policy, or will they admit they made a mistake and rectify the situation. They have the opportunity to turn a negative into a positive. Will they see it that way?

Spore sells for $49.99 and is available on Mac and PC.

Bigfoot Body Found? Maybe...

Amazing scientific discovery, or sad hoax? According to two "Bigfoot hunters" this is the body of a Bigfoot (the creature, not the large vehicle) and they have made history.

If it is currently after Noon on Friday, August 15, 2008, you probably already know whether this is an actual Bigfoot specimen, or a man in a wet costume.

Either way, this photo will probably spur a lot of new Bigfoot toys (see how I cleverly tied this into toys so it would be appropriate to post it here).

The story goes like this. Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer claim that they not only have a Bigfoot body, but that they also have video of several live Bigfoots (Bigfeet?). I haven't been able to find any information on how the Bigfoot died.

Now, I don't want to pre-judge these guys, but appaently at least one of them was involved in a bigfoot hoax in the past. It also is somewhat suspicious that photos of a dead bigfoot are not any better than the grainy, contrasty photos we've seen of live ones. Other problems with this story are that the guys involved run a Bigfoot expedition business and that they are hoping to sell the body for much more thant one million dollars (which they supposedly turned down).

The details on this amazing creature/pathetic hoax are as follows (directly from their press release):

• The creature is seven feet seven inches tall.
• It weighs over five hundred pounds.
• The creature looks like it is part human and part ape-like.
• It is male.
• It has reddish hair and blackish-grey eyes.
• It has two arms and two legs, and five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot.
• The feet are flat and similar to human feet.
• Its footprint is sixteen and three-quarters inches long and five and three-quarters inches wide at the heel.
• From the palm of the hand to the tip of the middle finger, its hands are eleven and three-quarters inches long and six and one-quarter inches wide.
• The creatures walk upright. (Several of them were sighted on the same day that the body was found.)
• The teeth are more human-like than ape-like.
• DNA tests are currently being done and the current DNA and photo evidence will be presented at the press conference on Friday, August 15th.
  

NES System Lunchbox. way-cool.

If you like toys, like I do, you probably have a few old video game systems sitting around the house. Maybe you let the kids have them in their room, maybe you keep them to play older games, or maybe, you are keeping them until you have an amazing idea with what to do with them.

Well... this guy got an idea and turned his Nintendo into a lunchbox. It is very cool. As I was reading his instructions, I felt a few things could have been done differently, such as the hinges should be on the inside. Some of the comments were similar, and some were interesting such as a red power LED that turns on when there's food inside (I like that). It certainly needs some sort of latch. So how much is an old NES worth? I looked them up on eBay and they seem to be going for about $20.00, so that makes this a rather expensive lunchbox. But you could probably pick up a non-working one for much less.

If a lunchbox isn't what you were looking for, how about an Alarm Clock? I also found one that was turned into a DVD player. You can also purchase an analog clock made from an old Nintendo cartridge (although I think you could make a better one yourself).

And last, but not least, I found an NES controller turned into a wallet!

I'll be watching the thrift shops for old NES systems now.

NES lunchbox mod

NES Alarm Clock mod

NES Cartridge Analog Clock

NES Controller Wallet

Human Flipbook

This is excellent.

I love flipbooks. They are little movies in the palm of your hand. They could be stills from an actual movie, cartoon drawings, or they can be made by hand on any note pad.

I've got a nice little collection of flipbooks and when I started Dave's Cool Toys, they were one of the first items I looked for. Needless to say, I sometimes search the web for new flipbooks and similar items. The last time I was surfing, I came across this wonderful website for the Erbert & Gerbert's Human Flipbook. It's actually a page about a TV commercial for Erbert & Gerbert's Subs & Clubs. What a wonderful commercial it is!

I'm not sure how old this commercial is and if it's still running. I hope so. They used 150 T-shirts, created a flipbook-style animation on them, then photographed each t-shirt on a model (actually an intern) in order to create an extremely creative Human Flipbook commercial. Click below to watch the video now, or go to www.humanflipbook.com to watch, and be sure to watch the "making of" video.

Bob's Pickle Pops (don't call them Pickle Sickles)

I like a good pickle. So do my wife and kids. So, when I came across the Pickle Sickle, now called Bob's Pickle Pops (more on that later), I was intrigued. Their slogan is "The bizarre tasting popsickle craze from TEXAS you cant get enough of". Poor grammar and punctuation aside, it had me curious, so I ordered a box of 16.

Bob's Pickle Pops come in liquid form in a plastic sleeve. You pop them into the freezer and wait for them to freeze solid, then snip off the end, and eat them. What are they actually made from? They are actual pickles, squeezed like oranges into a juice. There's some coloring added, which explains the bright yellow-green color. The full ingredient list is: Water, Cucumber, Vinegar, Salt, Alum, Calcium Chloride, Natural Flavoring, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Oleoresin Turmeric & Yellow #5 (Colors), Polysorbate 80 (Emulsifier). This was basically the same as the ingredients listed on the giant gallon jar of pickles from BJ's in our Fridge. 1 pop has only 3 calories, 0g of fat, 0mg Cholesterol, and 245 mg Sodium (10% of the Daily Value).

As for the name change. Apparently the name "Popsicle" is a registered trademark of Unilever and they weren't too happy with the name "Pickle Sickle". They contacted the company and they decided to change the name to avoid any possible legal muck. Probably a smart move.

The USDA has accepted Pickle Pops as a healthy alternative to sugary pops (such as Popsicles), which means they are acceptable to be sold in schools in the U.S. The USDA doesn't determine what is allowed to be sold in schools, however, and it it therefore up the individual state or district.

And how do Pickle Pops taste? First let me say I really wanted to like Pickle Pops. I really did. And I tried them a few times. But they were a bit like eating very salty, frozen vinegar. I just couldn't finish one. My wife wouldn't try them. My younger son said he liked them, but I noticed he "saved" it for later (it's still in the freezer). My older son didn't like them at all and his friends either wouldn't try them or didn't like them.

Pickle Pops are available from their website, www.bobspicklepops.com, $19.95 plus Shipping and Handling for 20 pops. They are expecting to begin showing up in supermarkets around the country soon. They are also available in a Hot Pepper version (oh my). They are available for fundraisers as well.

OK. As I'm writing this, I feel like maybe I didn't give Pickle Pops enough of a try. So I'm going to the freezer right now and try them again...

No, I just can't eat them. I ate about 7 small bites and just couldn't eat any more. Sorry Bob.

Dave's Cool Toys Shipping Charges Increase (Sorry)

Unfortunately, due to the soaring cost of fuel, and the subsequent increased shipping costs, Dave's Cool Toys has been forced to increase our shipping charges. I have spent a great deal of time working out these charges to keep them as low as possible. We are not trying to make money from what we charge for shipping. For that reason, I have increased the lowest charge more than the rest and added a charge for orders over $100.00. This allows the bulk of our orders to increase by only 25 cents. We thank all our our loyal customers for their support and understanding! Go here to see all our shipping charges and policies.

Etch a Sketch Clock

I love the Etch A Sketch. Although I've never been very good at drawing anything with it. I can do steps! Yay!

And I've seen some amazing things done with it. At Toy Fair in NYC, we've seen Tim George demonstrating and showing some of the most amazing Etch A Sketch artwork. He gets specially-made Etch A Sketches from Ohio Arts that can't be erased, so he doesn't lose his art when he travels.

We may have posted a link in the past to how an Etch A Sketch works. Don't have an Etch A Sketch? Try it here online!

But I recently came across the most amazing video of a clock made from an Etch A Sketch. No, it doesn't just have clock-hands in the middle like the one you can purchase on this site (oops, sorry, I had to remove the link because of adult content on the site).

This Etch A Sketch acually draws the time every minute, then erases itself and draws it again. It was built by Angela Yuan using the Arduino electronics platorm.

Check out the video

Etch a Sketch History: Etch a Sketch was invented by Arthur Granjean in the late 1950's. He built it in his basement and called it "L'Ecran Magique" (The Magic Screen). He displayed it at the 1959 International Toy Exhibition in Nuremburg, Germany where it was discovered by executives of the Ohio Art Company. It was patented, marketed on Television, and the rest is history.

Toy Fair '08 - Sledding in the Grass

Sledding in the summer? Sign me up!

One thing we love to find at Toy Fair is innovative new toys that nobody has seen before. At Toy Fair '08, the Slicer was definitely one of those toys.

What do you do when you want to sled in the summer when there's no snow. Make your own snow. That's sort-of the idea behind the Slicer sled. Except it carries it's snow (actually ice) with it. The idea is based on Ice Blocking, which is riding a block of ice down a hill, and is apparently popular in Australia. Of course the Slicer will keep your butt warmer than sitting on a block of ice.

In the winter, the Slicer seems like it would make a great sled. It's made from Polyethelene plastic for durability and it's got two runners that allow it to steer well.

But summer is where the Slicer does what no other sled can. It comes with two "Icer" containers. Fill them up with water and put them in the freezer until they are solid ice. When you are ready to go sledding, the Icers attach to the bottom of the Slicer with the ice side down. This creates an icy surface on the bottom of the sled, which is what allows you to sled in the grass. What happens is that the ice melts slightly on the bottom "floats" on a thin layer of water. Of course, it's winter now, so we have no way to test the summer sledding abilities of the Slicer, but our research has shown that it certainly does work and kids love it. If we get the chance to test it out when it's warmer, we'll post a full review here.

According to the manufacturer, under optimum conditions, the ice should last up to an hour. You can purchase additional Icer trays so you have more ice ready to go when they run out (if you have the room in your freezer). The Slicer works best in warmer temperatures (above 78 degrees), because the ice melts more readily, making it more slippery. Of course the ice will also not last as long. It also works best on short grass for obvious reasons.

Since the Slicer doesn't run on rails in the summer, but on two blocks of ice, it doesn't steer at all. It may spin around, and wipe-out's would be expected. Sledding can always be a dangerous activity (I received a concussion while sledding many, many, many years ago when I was a child), but sledding in the summer has additional concerns. For one thing, if you take a tumble, there's no soft snow to break your fall. I would think that a bike helmet might be a good idea, as would parental supervision and careful choice of hills. You may also get some strange looks, but it will be much easier getting back up the hill in the summer.

One other feature of the Slicer is that the ice trays store inside the sled, so you won't misplace them in the winter. Nice.

The Slicer is the kind of toy I love. It's innovative, there's nothing else like it, It's well thought-out, and it lets you do something you may not have thought possible... sled in the summer. Excellent!

Toy Fair '08 - Who pooped in the pool?

This one goes into the "Oh my" category. There's a lot of that at Toy Fair. But this one tops them all this year (in my humble opinon).

What you are seeing here is, indeed, inflatable, floating poo. But it's better than that... it's also squirting poo. That fits on your head. This interesting item is one of the Frolicking Floaters.

Frolicking Floaters are inflatable pool toys that you "get into", or basically put over your head. They are equipped with water guns which pull the water right out of the pool (no refilling, very smart). They have a "protective face shield" in them (window) so you can see who you are shooting, and the manufacturer makes a point that there is plenty of ventilation inside.

Ventilated poo. OK.

Besides the poo, they come in Killer Whale, Frog, Turtle, and Camoflage Octopus in pink, green, gray, and tan.

They are available on the Frolicking Floaters website for $25.99. Unfortunately, the poo is not available at this time. (How many more times can I say "poo" in this post?) In fact, the only ones available at this time are the octopus. I'd hold out for the poo.

Toy Fair '08 - Nightmare Before Christmas Diorama

This is for the serious collector.

Shown here (photo with permission) in their booth at Toy Fair, is the Nightmare Before Christmas Diorama by JUN Planning Co. The photo at left does not do it justice. Click on it to see a larger version. This diorama is huge. The details are... detailed. This is the perfect place for serious collectors of the JUN Planning figures to display their collection.

There was a little bit of a language barrier with the lovely lady I spoke with and some translation issues with their catalog, but I believe that the Spiral Hill section of the diorama is expected to be released in July, 2008, with other sections to follow. There will be 4-5 sections that fit together to create the entire (enormous) diorama.

When I walked into JUN Planning's booth at Toy Fair, this took my breath away. Their figures are also just wonderful. I wish I had room for it!

Toy Fair '08 - FunFlyStick

One of my "Oh Wow!" moments at Toy Fair 08 was when I was wandering down an aisle and looked over at a booth and noticed a woman holding a wand which seemed to be making a metallic object float and dance in the air. It looked like a scene right out of Harry Potter. What was watching was the FunFlyStick. It was like watching real magic.

The manufacturer says "Conceived in Russia, prototyped in Europe, and designed to its neat look in USA a true wizard's magic wand, FunFlyStick, presents a cutting edge of modern technology."

FunFlyStick is battery operated and makes a little humming sound when turned on. The objects it can make float do have to be fairly light. What you see in the photo here is one of the "flying models" that are included with the toy. It's made of mylar (same material as the shiny balloons) and it's extremely light. When not floating, it crumbles into a little pile, but when you toss it into the air and use the want to float it, it will open up into the full shape.

FunFlyStick uses static electricity to create it's magic.

FunFlyStick has been selected by the Olympic Committee as a gift at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing! Unfortunately for us, this means that they have put all their resources to fulfilling that demand and they won't be available in the US (or at Dave's Cool Toys) for a few months.

UPDATE: FunFlyStick is finally available and we have them! Click here to check it out.

In the meantime, check out the video below to see it in action.

Dave's Cool Toys visits Toy Fair '08

We have just returned form Toy Fair 2008 in New York City. If you're not familiar with Toy Fair, it's one of the worlds largest gatherings of toy manufacturers showing their newest and best to industry buyers. I'll be reporting some cool things we saw over the next few days. We came home with mountains of catalogs and literature which I'll be sorting and paging through for some time. Check back on my blog to see what we thought was interesting. Many of those items will show up on our site in the coming months.

First let me say that we aren't looking for the next Tickle-me-Elmo at Toy Fair. We are looking for truly new items. Sometimes they are from one person with a great idea, staffing their booth with whatever relatives could attend. If you're looking for news from Hasbro, you won't find it here.

Our first impressions of Toy Fair were that we were underwhelmed. The day we went, Sunday, February 17, 2008, it was not very busy. Vendors seemed subdued, bored, or un-interested. Not all of them, of course, but generally. In the past, we could barely get through aisles because of the crush of people. Not this year. Sometimes (in past years) we were blocked by people gathered around a booth or new item and had to strain to look over the crowd to see what all the fuss was about. Not this year.

The most notable trend we saw at Toy Fair was "Green" toys. These are toys meant to be better for the environment or to highlight and teach about the environment. This is a big trend due partly to the many toy recalls last year due to lead content. Most of them left us cold. I love the idea of green toys. We carry lots of natural wooden toys and I'm always looking for great toys that are also good for the environment. But the toy also has to be a great toy. Most of them were not great toys.

One line we saw was Green Toys and was made from recycled milk cartons.  They had a very nice dull finish which set them apart, and they were nicely made. But their main selling point was that they were made from milk cartons.  And they were costly. Their 4-piece Sand Play Set (pictured here) would retail for about $20.00. Yikes! Otherwise, they were simple plastic play-sets, available anywhere for far less. Hopefully, in the future, Green Toys will apply their process to cooler toys and bring the price down.

Warning: Preachy rant ahead... Perhaps it's just me, but my idea of helping our children and the environment isn't spending $20 for a plastic play set. The best thing we can do for them is to turn off the TV, iPod, Computer, and Video Games, and get them (and you) outside more. Go camping. Go hiking. See the environment everyone is trying to "save". The problem with recycled plastic toys is that they still require plastic to make them. Whatever happened to paper milk cartons? What was wrong with those? I'm OK now.

My favorite "green" toys are still natural wooden toys. They look great, they feel great, they are made from a renewable resource, and they don't require harsh chemicals and huge amounts of water to manufacture. They also can last for generations. We did see some wonderful wooden toys at Toy Fair and we'll blog about some of them soon.

Lego is Googled

One January 28, 2008, Lego turned 50! To celebrate the iconic building block's milestone, Google honored them with a Lego Google Doodle (a stylized version of the Google logo).

Apparently Lego has played a big part in Google's history. Co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin used Lego bricks as the case for ten 4-Gig hard drives when they were first developing the search engine and can still be found at Stanford University in an exhibit. Lego can also be found in and about Google's offices.

Lego will celebrate their anniversary with several promotions this year. Right now you can purchase the LEGO Town Plan 50th Birthday Exclusive with a letter from Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the company's owner.

We've always loved Lego and a quick search of Amazon turned up 1,694 results!

Some of our favorite Lego products include the Lego Brick Lunch Box, Lego Brick Icecube Tray (make your own lego brick icecubes). Of course there's nothing better than a basic bulk set, which can become anything you want.

Lego can also be quite cutting edge. Check out the book Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against!

For serious Lego fans there's the Lego Castle Chess Set. At about $80, it's a bit pricey, but it's way-cool. If that's a little too costly, try the Lego Checkers at around $15.00

For lessons in building incredible Lego creations, try the Lego Design School.

The nice thing about Lego is there's something for just about everyone. Little kids enjoy Duplo, and adults can enjoy the Lego Corkscrew and Opener Bar Set. If you only have a few bucks to spend, you can pick up the SpongeBob Squarepants Lego Pen or you can drop a grand on the Lego Statue of Liberty Sculpture.

No matter what you're building, dont forget your Brick Separator. Trust me.

What Song is This?

This amazing video not only shows what you can do when you put your mind to it, but also that some people have way too much time on their hands. Watch the video and try to guess before the half-way point what song is being sung. Once the video reaches the middle, it will play backwards and the song will be quite familiar.

J.K. Rowling's book "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" sells for $4 million

A book of fairy tales by J.K. Rowling sold at Sotheby's for almost 4 million dollars on Thursday. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" was created, handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling and is bound in Moroccan leather with sterling silver ornaments and mounted moonstones.

The book was purchased by Amazon.com and is one of only seven copies. It was expected to sell for about $100,000, but went for Just under 4 million (£1,950,000).

The money will benefit the Children's Voice, a charity co-founded by J.K. Rowling and Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, a member of Britain's House of Lords, to help improve the lives of institutionalized children in Europe. Apparently many children and teenagers in Europe grow up in institutions, often in unacceptable conditions. Rowling said the proceeds of the auction will "help institutionalized children who are in desperate need of a voice." The goal of Children's Voice, is to ensure that there is a minimum standard of care for children across all of Europe. Most of their work has so far been in Romania with future work beginning in Moldova, the Czech Republic, Georgia and Aermenia.

The other six copies were given to people who were closely associated with the Harry Potter series.

Amazon has posted reviews of the fairy tales and photos of the book. Amazon's editors are currently answering any questions posted about the book on their site.

Ms. Rowling watched the auction on the web and was very pleased at the money raised for the charity. "This will mean so much to children in desperate need of help," she said in a statement. "It means Christmas has come early to me."

Amazon is planning on a tour of the book in libraries and schools.

I think it's wonderful that Amazon has posted photos of the book and tales and will continue to make it available to the public through schools and libraries.

To see the book, Amazon.com reviews of the tales, and ask questions, click here.

Aqua Dots Recalled due to Ecstacy health scare

There have been quite a few toy recalls lately that have caused quite a bit of concern in the US. But this one is much scarier than most recent recalls (to me, anyway).

Moose Enterprises makes the award winning Bindeez craft system in Australia. In the U.S., it is sold by Spin Master as Aqua Dots. I've seen this item advertised on television and in craft stores and it's available at Amazon and other online retailers. It's quite cool. Children create art with beads that chemically fuse together after they've been sprayed with water. The Super Station was recently named the 2007 Toy of the Year by the Australian Toy Association.

Moose Enterprises has recalled the toy in Australia after children swallowed the little beads that make up the finished craft item. The children became sick because, apparently, the beads metabolize in their system into gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), a drug commonly known as "Liquid Ecstacy".

So far, two separate incidents have been reported in Australia with children swallowing quite a few beads.

In a statement released 11/6/07, Moose said that following a review of ingredients used in the production of its Bindeez beads, some batches did “not exactly match the laboratory tested and approved formula.” The said that substitutions of chemicals used to make the beads “was not at any time approved by Moose, nor was Moose made aware of any substitution by the supplier.” The bead supplier and country is not known at this time.

The company will begin adding Bitrex, an ingredient with a foul taste, to it's beads formula to discourage children from eating them in the future. All new shipments wil include the new beads

At this time, Aqua Dots have not been recalled in the U.S. and I wasn't able to find out if the beads used in the US have the same "formula problem" that the Australian beads seem to. (see update below)

For product recall information, visit the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website.

UPDATE: The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled AquaDots in the US as well.
At least two children have been hospitalized in the US after eating the beads.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: According to a product description, the toys were supposed to be coated with 1,5-pentanediol, a nontoxic compound found in glue, but instead contained 1,4-butanediol, a potentially harmful chemical widely used in cleaners and plastics.

Both 1,4-butanediol and 1,5-pentanediol are manufactured in China and elsewhere, including by major multinational companies, and are also marketed over the Internet.

There is a significant difference in price between the two chemicals. The Chinese online trading platform ChemNet China lists the price of 1,4 butanediol at between about $1,350-$2,800 per metric ton, while the price for 1,5-pentanediol is about $9,700 per metric ton.