The Recall Desk
CriticalCPSC·13168·Announced 2013-04-12

Buckyballs and Buckycubes High-Powered Magnet Sets Recalled Due to Ingestion Hazard

Six retailers are recalling Buckyballs and Buckycubes magnet sets because small magnets pose a risk of injury and death if swallowed by children or teens.

What this means for you

Highest-severity recall. Risk of serious injury or death is documented or strongly suspected. Stop using the product now and follow the agency's instructions.

Our severity reasoning: The source text explicitly states that the products pose a 'substantial risk of injury and death' and that CPSC has received reports of ingestion requiring medical intervention, meeting the criteria for a Critical severity score due to the risk of death and serious injury.

Plain-English summary

Six retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Brookstone, certain Hallmark retailers, Marbles the Brain Store, and ThinkGeek, are recalling Buckyballs and Buckycubes high-powered magnet sets. The products were imported by Maxfield & Oberton LLC of New York, N.Y., and sold nationwide and online since 2010 for between $5 and $100. The recall is being conducted by the retailers because the importer has refused to participate in the recall of all Buckyballs and Buckycubes.

The recall is due to defects in the design, warnings, and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury and death to children and teenagers. The sets contain numerous small, high-powered magnets, with individual magnets measuring about 5 millimeters in diameter. Buckyballs magnets are spherical, while Buckycubes magnets are cube-shaped. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received 54 reports of children and teens ingesting the product, with 53 of these incidents requiring medical interventions.

Consumers should take the high-powered magnet sets and all associated individual magnets away from children and teenagers. They should contact the retailer from which they purchased the product to obtain instructions for their remedy. Contact information for the participating retailers is available on the CPSC website.

The recalled product

Product
Buckyballs and Buckycubes high-powered magnet sets
Manufacturer
Maxfield & Oberton LLC, of New York, N.Y.
Category
Consumer Product — Toys / Novelty Items
Hazard

Distribution

Distributed nationwide across the United States.

Related recalls

Same hazard · ingestion

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