Attorney Fred Pritzker, a leading child safety lawyer, is providing free consultations to parents whose children have swallowed Water Balz, Growing Skulls, “Despicable Me” H2O Orbs and Fabulous Flowers, all “toys” that grow in water to 400 times their size. “Companies that sell children’s products have a responsibility to test products for safety. In this case, simple common sense would suggest that there could be a problem,” said Fred, who has won millions for children and their parents in cases of personal injury and wrongful death, including cases where the children swallowed toys and needed surgery to remove them.
You can contact Fred for a free consultation here.
Below is the recall information from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) with comments by our law firm.
Name of Product: The recalled products areWater Balz [“expands 400x their size”], Growing Skulls, “Despicable Me” H2O Orbs [grow “to the size of a racketball”] and Fabulous Flowers [“grows 400x their size”].
Units: About 94,700 of the recalled products were sold in the United States and 600 in Canada
Importer: Dunecraft Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio imported these products.
Hazard: When the marble-sized toy is ingested, it expands inside the body and causes a blockage in the small intestine, resulting in severe discomfort, vomiting, dehydration and could be life threatening. The toys do not show up on an x-ray and require surgery to be removed from the body.
Incidents/Injuries: The firm received one report of an 8-month-old girl from Humble, Texas who ingested a Water Balz and suffered an intestinal obstruction in August 2011. The Water Balz had to be surgically removed.
Description: This recall involves marble-sized toys that absorb water and grow up to 400 times their original size. They were sold as Water Balz (round-shape), Growing Skulls (skull-shape), H2O Orbs sold under the “Despicable Me” brand (round-shape) and Fabulous Flowers (flower-shape). They were sold in packages of six in green, yellow, red, blue and black colors. “Dunecraft,” the name of the toy and the model number are printed on the toy’s packaging.
| Name | Model Number | Amount Recalled |
|---|---|---|
| Water Balz | BC-0338 | 81000 |
| Growing Skulls | BC-0320 | 11850 |
| H2O Orbs “Despicable Me” | DM-0447 | 1800 |
| Fabulous Flowers | BC-0440 | 36 |
Sold at: Water Balz and Growing Skulls were sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, Five Below, Hobby Lobby, Lakeshore Learning Materials, Microcenter, Urban Outfitters Direct, Wegmans and other stores nationwide, and online at amazon.com, incrediblescience.com, keyporthobbies.com, americantoystores.com and other websites from September 2010 through November 2012 for about $3 per package. The H2O Orbs “Despicable Me” were sold exclusively at Universal Studios stores during June 2012 for about $3 per package. Fabulous Flowers were sold exclusively at Milaeger’s in Racine, Wis. from June 2012 through November 2012 for about $3 per package. [Note: In some cases, a retailer can be held liable for injury and death from a product sold at the store.]
Manufactured in: The recalled products were manufatured in China and United States.
Remedy: If you have any of these products in your home, you should immediately take this recalled toy away from children. If no one has been injured by the product, you can contact Dunecraft for a free replacement toy. [Note: If this product needs to be surgically removed from your child, the product needs to be saved as evidence for the lawsuit against Dunecraft and others.]