Playskool Offers Free Gift For Busy Elephant Cord; Entanglement Risk Cited

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Playskool, Inc., of Pawtucket, RI, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), today announced a repair program for the "Busy Elephant" crib toy Model No. 5405. Some of the Busy Elephants were made in Korea and these have a 5 1/2-inch knit cord which attaches a small stuffed mouse to the Busy Elephant. Playskool has received ten reports of the Korean-made knit cord unraveling into a long thin cord and becoming entangled around the body or neck of a child.

Busy Elephants with "Made in China" on the sewn-in label are not affected.

For Busy Elephants with "Made in Korea" on the white sewn- in label, Playskool is asking consumers to cut the knit cord at the point where it immediately joins the Busy Elephant and at the other end where it joins a small stuffed mouse. Return the cord to Playskool immediately. A free gift will be provided to consumers who return the knit cord to Playskool.

The Busy Elephant is a stuffed elephant approximately 15 inches high with several activity features, such as a clicker dial on one foot, a mirror on the other, and a mouse in a stomach pouch. The mouse is attached to the elephant by the knit cord. The product was distributed nationally through wholesale, retail, variety stores, and chain stores and sold for approximately $19.00.

The toy was manufactured between 1987 and 1989. A total of 740,000 Busy Elephants were manufactured, although only 453,000 units made in Korea have the type of knit cord which has the potential for unraveling.

CPSC learned of the problem with this crib toy from consumer complaints made to the agency.

To help monitor the effectiveness of this repair program, Playskool is offering a gift to consumers who mail in the knit cord. For details of this offer, or if consumers have any questions, call 800-752-9755.