Action Man has retired...
After a break of around 3 or 4 years for various reasons: new website; different yarn; more dolls; injured leg (to name but a few), I have been checking up on the CE Mark for ensuring the safety of children's toys.
"The CE Marking is the manufacturer's declaration that his toys meet the essential requirements of the European Toy Safety Directive (TSD) 88/378/eec, and that such toys are therefore entitled to free movement throughout the 28 European Union & EFTA member states. The CE Marking has often been described as the "products' trade passport to Europe" "...
This has become a prime requisit if knit4dolls are to actually sell children's toys and not just the knitting patterns for them. The first thing to confirm was that clothes for toys are included under this safety issue, and 'Yes', they are.
There were a couple of areas that I needed to check. Firstly, I use snap fasteners on clothes and accessories to allow the child to open and close the items. Clearly they must be sewn on securely so that they will not become lose whilst the child is playing with them. It is unusual to use snap fasteners with knitted items but they are exceptionally good with cotton yarns and cotton threads. I had considered using 2 or 3 strands from the yarn itself to sew on the snap fasteners thereby ensuring the same colour, but decided against it. Yarn has been developed for knitting with its desired number of strands, not for sewing with just a few. So, to ensure safety, I am using a variety of cotton thread that match as near as possible the many different shades of yarn available. They might not be a perfect match to the item, but at least they will be safe.
The second safety issue that was worrying me was the size of the shoes. Our knitted shoes in particular (as opposed to our trainers, boots and slippers) a very small and, as such, might be swallowed by a child. However they are no smaller than those shoes supplied with Barbie by Mattel. So it seems a good policy to put an age limit on our toy products that match those on Barbie, ie. for 36+ months only.
It seemed that this CE Marking business was going to be a doddle... until I inspected the toys themselves, the male action figures: Action Man and HM Armed Forces!
The Action Man figures have long been out of production by Hasbro, but have been re-established as collectors' items, and similar new figures have grown in popularity.
However, they are labelled as 'Collector's Items', and are not suitable as children's toys, having an age restriction of 14+ years on them.
Well, on to HM Armed Forces action figures... or not. 'Not!' and I am still in shock. Although this toy has only been on the market for a few years,
it does not appear to be available any more from
This was a sturdy toy, but it did come with a variety of small items. It was sold for 5+ year olds, and was not suitable for under 36 months of age. Shame really... I liked this toy. It was, unfortunately, made to a smaller size scale to Action Man and Barbie, and there were a few other issues with it, however, all under the bridge now... It does leave knit4dolls without a male action figure. There is Ken, Barbie's boyfriend, but he does not have great appeal to some boys. And we are introducing Lottie and her friend, Finn, who is a boy, and is expected to appeal to young boys.
As I think back, I feel so ashamed that I didn't design forces clothing for Barbie. This might be a good idea for the future...!
