Vintage Toys

1981 Colorforms Tummy Ache the Junk Food Game, hamburger piece: 11 ppm Lead (safe by all current standards… but…)

For those new to this website: Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005). Since 2009, Tamara has been using XRF technology (a scientific method used…

1981 Colorforms Tummy Ache the Junk Food Game, board with spinner: 29 ppm Lead (safe by all current standards… but…)

#VintageToys | Summary Article by Theme 2020 | Vintage Toy | Vintage Toys

This is a summary with links to all our articles on testing vintage toys! (Including FisherPrice, Legos, Hot Wheels & more!)

1977 Walt Disney Winnie The Pooh & Tigger Too – read along book: 17 ppm Lead (safe by all standards.)

Posted: Sunday, March 22, 2020 Introduction: Tamara Rubin is an independent advocate for consumer goods safety, and she is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children. She began testing consumer goods for toxicants in 2009 and was the parent-advocate responsible for finding Lead in the popular fidget spinner toys in 2017. She uses high-precision XRF testing (a…

1977 Walt Disney Winnie The Pooh & Tigger Too – read along tape: 495 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe), 35 ppm Arsenic.

Vintage (1990s?) TYCO plastic building blocks (Duplo-style): Lead-free, Cadmium-free, Arsenic-free!

Green TYCO building block – 30 seconds Copper (Cu): 150 +/- 15 ppm Nickel (Ni): 13 +/- 8 ppm Iron (Fe): 55 +/- 20 ppm Titanium (Ti): 2,167 +/- 295 ppm Continue reading below the image. Red TYCO building block – 30 seconds Barium (Ba): 189 +/- 108 ppm Bromine (Br): 19 +/- 3 ppm Iron…

Blue vintage (1990s?) Duplo building block – by Lego: Lead-free, Cadmium-free, Arsenic-free, Mercury-free!

Blue Block – 30 second reading Barium (Ba): 198 +/- 108 ppm Copper (Cu): 538 +/- 28 ppm Iron (Fe): 38 +/- 24 ppm Titanium (Ti): 8,650 +/- 480 ppm This piece is discussed in detail on this video – link here. I will update this post shortly, but just wanted to start by making sure the XRF readings were…

Vintage (1990s?) AAA rubber toy blue whale (made in China): Lead-free, Antimony-free, Cadmium-free, Arsenic-free & Mercury-free!

Whale – 60 second test Barium (Ba): 492 +/- 56 ppm Br (Bromine): 22 +/- 5 pm Zinc (Zn): 304 +/- 33 ppm Iron (Fe): 210 +/- 68 ppm Titanium (Ti): 15,100 +/- 1,800 ppm This piece is discussed in detail on this video – link here. I will update this post shortly, but just…

Vintage (?) “Made In China” Parasaurolophus Plastic Dinosaur: 1,333 ppm Lead (90 is unsafe for kids) + 88 ppm Cadmium

When tested with an XRF instrument the large gray dinosaur pictured here (year of manufacture unknown) had the following readings: Lead (Pb): 1,333 +/- 71 ppm Cadmium (Cd): 88 +/- 13 ppm Barium (Ba): 717 +/- 84 ppm Antimony (Sb): 625 +/- 34 ppm Bromine (Br): 62 +/- 10 ppm Tin (Sn): 127 +/- 23…

1986 Dor Mei Toys Spinosaurus: 5,341 ppm Lead. 90 ppm and up is considered illegal and unsafe for toys made today.

The amount of Lead that is considered unsafe and illegal in a modern item manufactured for use by children today is anything 90 ppm or higher in the paint or coating or anything 100 ppm or higher in the substrate. As a result of the high levels of Lead found in this 1986 “Dor Mei”…

Another reason to avoid vintage toys – 1985 Imperial Toys T-Rex: 7,872 ppm Lead. This would be illegal if made today.

Another reason to avoid vintage toys — toy triceratops: 6,298 ppm Lead. This would be illegal if made today.

Introduction (for those new to this website): Tamara Rubin is a federal-award-winning independent advocate for consumer goods safety and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children, her sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005. Since 2009 Tamara has been using XRF testing (a scientific method used by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)…

Vintage Walt Disney Productions Made in Hong Kong Donald Duck Pocket Puzzle: 16 ppm Lead (safe by all standards.)

My husband bought this for me as a present at a local yard sale. He buys stuff for me when he thinks it might have a lot of Lead (and when he thinks my readers might like to know if it has Lead or not!) Isn’t he sweet! Lol. Thanks hubs. When tested with an…

Vintage (1978-1988) yellow Lego® guy w red hat: 5,096 ppm Cadmium [≥40 is unsafe] & 26 ppm Arsenic

Click here to read my recent post that fully discusses the concern for Cadmium found in vintage (1970s-1980s) Legos®. Below is the full XRF reading set for the vintage yellow Lego® head with red hat pictured here [test results are replicable, and were done for a minimum of three minutes – 180 seconds, for the…