Safety Recall: Cars Sarge Jeep

This is important safety recall information for those of you who have bought the 'Sarge' Jeep from the Cars toy line. I'm not sure if it applies to the new 'Supercharged' line or the old releases or both. As a Jeep owner and fan, I'm a little bummed it had to be Sarge that gets recalled, but safety comes first.

From AZCentral.com:

'Sarge' die cast toy cars

Units: About 253,000

Importer: Mattel Inc., of El Segundo, Calif.

Hazard: Surface paints on the toys could contain lead levels in excess of federal standards. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: The recall involves die cast "Sarge" 2 ½ inch toy cars. The toy looks like a military jeep and measures about 2 ½ inches long by 1 inch high by 1 inch wide. The recalled toy has the markings "7EA" and "China" on the bottom. The "Sarge" toy car is sold alone or in a package of two, and may have the product number M1253 (for single cars) and K5925 (for cars sold as a set) printed on the packaging. The cars marked "Thailand" are not included in this recall.

Sold at: Retail stores nationwide from May 2007 through August 2007 for between $7 and $20 (depending on whether they were sold individually or in sets).

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the recalled toys away from children and contact Mattel. Consumers will need to return the product to receive a replacement toy.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, call Mattel toll-free at (888) 597-6597 anytime, or visit the firm's Web site at www.service.mattel.com

According to the Mattel US site, if your Sarge is one of the affected ones, they will send you a prepaid envelope to return the toy for a $7.00 ($8.00 Canadian) replacement product voucher. No word on whether this means you will receive a new Sarge when they are made, or if new Sarge's will be delivered to stores. Also, there appears to be no word on how Mattel will handle multiple toy returns from the same person.

Unfortunately, this lack of quality control seems to be more common from toys made overseas but hopefully all of the affected Mattel toys are removed before serious harm comes to anybody.