Dear friends and customers of Thomas,
HIT Entertainment is very sorry for the recent recall of a number of Thomas and Friends items in the Wooden Railway range. The RC2 Corp. recall came about because the surface paint on the affected Thomas Wooden Railway products contained lead in excess of CPSC standards. Lead can be harmful if ingested in large quantities.
We fully understand that everyone expects every single product that bears the Thomas & Friends brand must be safe for children. In this case some of the Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway products manufactured under license by RC2 Corp. have fallen short of that expectation.
While HIT requires all of the carefully selected licensees who manufacture products sold under the Thomas & Friends brand to adhere to all safety standards, wherever those standards are applied in the world, that requirement was not met in this situation.
RC2 and Hit Entertainment have been working on ways to improve product development to ensure quality products and maintain a child safe environment. Although this recall only affects a small percentage of the total range of Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway products, having even one item fall short of safety standards is unacceptable to us.
RC2’s recall website, www.recalls.rc2.com , gives detailed information to allow customers to determine if any of the products you have purchased are affected, and on how to return any that should be replaced.
The Thomas & Friends website, http://www.thomasandfriends.com, has information about the recall and a link to the RC2 site for ease of reference. RC2 has also set up toll-free numbers, the details of which may be found at the following link http://recalls.rc2.com/recalls_Wood_0607.html, HIT’s own consumer services personnel in the US can be reached toll free at (1-866-894-6710) to direct inquiries appropriately. To contact Hit Entertainment via email please use the following link, http://www.hitentertainment.com/portal/contact_form/.
RC2 informs us that notices and posters with the recall information have been provided to retailers who stock the products, and they have been asked to immediately remove all affected products from their shelves and to put the posters up for consumers to see. In addition, we immediately discontinued sales of the affected products from the HIT Online Store www.HITshopusa.com , and also asked operators of “Day Out With Thomas” events to discontinue sales of the affected products.
All customers deserve to know that all Thomas & Friends products are safe for them. Nothing is more important to RC2 and Hit Entertainment than ensuring that this is the case, and rebuilding your trust and loyalty.
HIT Entertainment
