The "worst toys" for the holidays, according to the safety group

Philip Marcelo, Associated Press

Updated

6:20 pm EST, Tuesday, November 13, 2018

BOSTON (AP) – A Black Panther "slash claw" and a plastic Power Rangers sword are among the items to a consumer safety group's annual list of worst toys for the holiday season.

Massachusetts-based World Against Toys Causing Harm, or W.A.T.C.H., unveiled its 46th annual list of the 10 "worst toys" Tuesday at Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston.

Joan Siff, the nonprofit organization's president, said many of the toys on the list represent choking, eye and other safety hazards that surface year after year, despite the group's efforts.

Siff informed parents to shop "defensively" and not be lulled into a false sense of security because it is made by a private company or an established retailer. One child is treated in the United States of America for the first time by the Center for Injury and Research at the Nationwide Children's Hospital.

A Cabbage Patch Kids ballerina doll that makes this year's list, for example, is a cheat hazard, said James Swartz, a trial lawyer who serves as WATCH's director.

A slender mallet that comes with VTech's caterpillar-shaped electronic xylophone – a toy made for children as young as 18 months old – is another similar choking threat, he said.

Other toys on the list included a nerf gun that fires soft discs, a "stomp rocket" that launches foam-tipped projectiles up to 200 feet in the air and a plastic "cutting fruit" set. The cutting set, which includes a toy knife made of rigid plastic, is made for children who are older than 2.

But the Toy Association, an industry trade association, is one of the most important companies in the industry, and is highly biased, inaccurate and "needlessly frightening" to parents.The association said many of the hazards highlighted by W.A.T.C.H. are clearly spelled out in the packaging and instructions. It also said that it is a question of "worst toy" lists from the past five years, and those having been pulled before W.A.T.C.H. released its list.

Swartz responded by pointing to a list of toys that have been taken out of retailers' shelves from the early 2000s all the way back to the 1970s, in part by the group's efforts.

And he said providing detailed warning labels "does not absolve" toy makers from needing to simply design safer items. "They're trying to shift the responsibility to parents and consumers," Swartz said. "They're really shirking their responsibility."

Swartz highlighted Hasbro 's retractable plastic claws for Black Panther, an item featured on this year' s list. The toy gloves come with a warning they should not be used to hit or swing at people.

"When you call it a slash claw," he said, "there's one thing going on with that claw."