The Energon Pub

since mattel, the largest american toy company in the world are now recalling over 2 million toys because of lead found in paint on toys and loose magnets from toys. when you read these type of news as parents, does it concern you from buying toys that are made in china for your children. finally let's talk about transformer collectors, does it bother you from buying transformer toys made in china? i mean honestly speaking chinese made toys or products have the worst quality and safety inspection ever because of the corrupted bureaucrats and dirty politicians. when you're living in world that's run by communism, you bound to live and breathe like a corrupter.

Sweat shop laborers have no work ethic these days.

But in all seriousness, it bugs me to see that damn near everything's made overseas today. Sure it makes stuff cheaper for consumers, but in the long run it does more harm than good to the economy when we're not supporting domestic labor.

i could care less

Oops! Oh well. None of us are going to stop buying Transformers in the name of protesting against China, despite how many of us love criticizing it.

We can only hope someday China turns democratic (my sincere wish, since I am from Hong Kong).

to tell you the truth, it bothers me a whole lot. i mean as a consumer i'm being forced to pay for something that i really want to have, made in china. i have no choice to buy it if i need it.

To a certain point, yes. It bothers me.

But, then I realize one important fact that cannot be changed....if the production was done here, we'd exploit the Mexicans just the same, if not worse.

You want the problem to stop? It's not a matter of not buying the items (because we still would.) it's a matter of forcing our companies to do the right thing.

Which will never happen. Until someone steps in and actually does something about it, there's nothing we can do. And we're not monsters for buying the products either.

It isn't our fault that they use Sweat Shops to produce their products. We didn't tell them to go to China. We weren't the ones who outsourced our labor forces for higher profits and cheaper products.

I hate to sound cold, and it's really not my intention, but when you face the facts...sometimes it's just out of your hands and there's nothing you or I can do.

Should something be done? You betcha.

doesnt bother me. id rather the stuff be made here(USA) but im not gonna protest or stop buying the stuff i like so ill just go with the flow...

Altertron, that is the most stereotypical generalization I've ever heard! Don't blame COMMUNISM for the inherent greed of the subcontracted manufacturers that produce substandard toys. BLAME the Capitalistic society that breeds the consumers who CONSUME the toys.

Way back then at the begining of the Industrial Revolution, a lot of subhuman condition factories were built to cater to the avaricious tastes of the burgening middle class.................what's the difference then from what is happening in China now? Different "race (it was the euros and americans then)" but same old human trait that we all know as GREED!

The bottom line is, well, its the bottom line...........how'd you expect to keep products way cheap? Out source it to countries with despicable human rights records, but then again, how advance is the human rights record of the "civilized" anglo european societies you come from? Well in Canada, USA or UK or even Europe..................just how much does the bottom line count?

There are deadlines to beat, delivery schedules to fulfill. The one who produces the most, gets the golden egg. So, if you want to have toys that truly fits the standard of "safe", you/we the consumer should also be willing to accept that certain prices must be raised. You don't get anything from nothing.

Case in point:

The use of lead has been banned in (all?) Western countries and generally in all of the 2nd and 3rd world countries (in paper that is).

But that was only after its detrimental effects were discovered by medicine and science.

But lead back then........gives the toy its glossy shine, also dries faster. Smart money is, our "classic" G1 toys are no safer (by the latest standards) as the toys that are being recalled today.

Hey most video games you buy are made in mexico. Yes toys are made in china but there also made in india as well as other places. Transformers just happen to come from china. If it wasn't china it would be some other third world country make the toys. Heck even most laptop now a days are made overseas. So you either buy them or don't those are your two choices.

fenrir72 wrote:Altertron, that is the most stereotypical generalization I've ever heard! Don't blame COMMUNISM for the inherent greed of the subcontracted manufacturers that produce substandard toys. BLAME the Capitalistic society that breeds the consumers who CONSUME the toys.

Way back then at the begining of the Industrial Revolution, a lot of subhuman condition factories were built to cater to the avaricious tastes of the burgening middle class.................what's the difference then from what is happening in China now? Different "race (it was the euros and americans then)" but same old human trait that we all know as GREED!

The bottom line is, well, its the bottom line...........how'd you expect to keep products way cheap? Out source it to countries with despicable human rights records, but then again, how advance is the human rights record of the "civilized" anglo european societies you come from? Well in Canada, USA or UK or even Europe..................just how much does the bottom line count?

There are deadlines to beat, delivery schedules to fulfill. The one who produces the most, gets the golden egg. So, if you want to have toys that truly fits the standard of "safe", you/we the consumer should also be willing to accept that certain prices must be raised. You don't get anything from nothing.

Case in point:

The use of lead has been banned in (all?) Western countries and generally in all of the 2nd and 3rd world countries (in paper that is).

But that was only after its detrimental effects were discovered by medicine and science.

But lead back then........gives the toy its glossy shine, also dries faster. Smart money is, our "classic" G1 toys are no safer (by the latest standards) as the toys that are being recalled today.

I completely agree. Communism has nothing to do with this. It's a capitalist society that we live in that encourages maximizing profits, and the best way to do that is to have products made cheaply. After all, it's specialization of resources. China doesn't have many natural resources to use, but they have the largest workforce or human capital in the world. It's simply their advantage as a nation, and specialization allows for the best use of the resources that each nation has.

And to answer the original question, it doesn't bother me much that toys are made in China. I understand that its human rights records are abysmal, but they are seriously getting better with that, and quality control problems have existed in every country that has industrialized.

shortround wrote:Hey most video games you buy are made in mexico. Yes toys are made in china but there also made in india as well as other places. Transformers just happen to come from china. If it wasn't china it would be some other third world country make the toys. Heck even most laptop now a days are made overseas. So you either buy them or don't those are your two choices.

Good point.

It's the dilemma of all the capitalistic societies. It's based on exploitation. Not exploitation as in its unfair, but in that it is a natural system of consumer demand. So if you are willing to give up Transformers... you might be able to make a difference.

This is a great thread going here, but I think it might be more suited for the Philosopher's Forum.

Anyone else?

It bothers me for a lot of reasons.

1.As a parent I worry more about my kids toys.

2. As an American who gets tired of hearing every political year, we have to stop unemployment....

Um catch a clue morons get business over here!

3. And its just not toys being screwed up over in China, its dog food and other things.

It's almost like a conspiracy. I'm being serious when I say that.

But it could just be the mindless sweat shop workers who probably can't read.

Darth Screamer wrote:It bothers me for a lot of reasons.

1.As a parent I worry more about my kids toys.

2. As an American who gets tired of hearing every political year, we have to stop unemployment....

Um catch a clue morons get business over here!

3. And its just not toys being screwed up over in China, its dog food and other things.

It's almost like a conspiracy. I'm being serious when I say that.

But it could just be the mindless sweat shop workers who probably can't read.

You may have hit on something with the conspiracy thing. It does seem a bit odd...

But calling them mindless? Calling them illiterate? That's absolutely unfair. There's more work than just sitting there, throw a piece in the hopper, repeat. I've worked in factories before (and others have to) and let me tell you...there's quite a bit of reading and writing involved. It's not just a simple sort, clean, send off type of thing.

And in the off chance that some of them happen to be mindless and illiterate....it's because no one gave a damn about them enough to show them the right way. No one took the time to educate them or help them receive it.

Sad thing is, even if they would happen to be as stupid as you claim (and that's the only word you needed...), they're still smarter than us, and they're considered 3rd world in some parts of China. We're the richest country in the world and have an education system that hasn't seen a cent of our riches...and it shows. Our children test lower, they're diagnosed as being mentally unstable, etc.. more often, we're nowhere near the top of the list of excellency in education when stacked up against other countries.

We're our own downfall, and now that we've outsourced all of our work, the Chinese, Mexicans, etc are being exploited for little to no money. They're so friggin' happy to get it because it might mean even one dinner today, when you and I can just walk over to the fridge, open the door and see what's left over.

Basically, we outsourced our problems. We have uneducated, homeless, malnourished, mistreated in droves here. We want a quick buck and for less than a cup of coffee. We took all the crap we've done, called it a job and way of life and sh*tcanned it overseas for it to become someone else's burden. The companies make billions on the backs of the Chinese, the Mexicans, etc and by doing so, they've killed jobs for us right here in the states which continues to help add to the homeless malnourished mistreated masses we're slowly becoming. Problem is, everytime we put money back in their pockets, they see it's alright, continue with the status quo, and more and more goes to sh*t.

Am I saying that we should stop buying what we like? No. We all have a vice, and as long as it doesn't hurt us or anyone else, we deserve it after a long week's work. But we must remember that past a certain point...we're screwing ourselves.

Once you come to terms with that, you'll feel some better. Beyond boycotting life entirely, you're really not going to make any impact here.

The only people who can change this, are the ones who flushed our country down the toilet to begin with. But they won't do that, it's going to cut into those precious profits and well, we just can't have that.

NOTE: I just realized some of this may not seem to make any sense. For that I apologize. It's 5:12 in the morning, I'm a little tired and clarity of thought is a premium I obviously can't afford right now. O_o...

Hey bro I agree, it was harsh what I said about them being illiterate or anything else.

I also agree with everything you said, and it's the same time for me, no 5.40am. I'm tired lol.

But the conspiracy thing is something I've been really running over for a bit now.
Its really starting to hit us at every angle, our kids toys, the food we feed our dogs, and the tooth paste we used to kept up hygiene.

It's scary in a lot of ways.

I've also worked in a factory, and enjoyed it very much. So I do understand that point of view as well.

Lol.. if you worry about where your stuff comes from, become a Mormon.

If not, check the bottom of your micromasters, see "Macau" and wonder where that is, open your atlas (or internet nowadays) and learn about Macau, learn about the social life of the employees working the machines that make your toys. Become a man and try to do something if it worries you that much.

Please, enough with the X files conspiracy theories. Back in 2000, only 30% of the World's toys were made in Cina, now, 7 years later its over 80 %!, Where's the conspiracy here?

It's like the MNCs (multi national corporations) shot themselves in the foot by allowing themselves to be beholden to a cabal of commies. No my friend, it all pure and simple "out sourcing" the bastard child of capitalism.

Let's not be too shocked to see the chinese or the vietnamese or the thailanders or the koreans etc cut a little corner here and there, last I heard a lot of American companies were churning out clunkers in the automobile industry (remember recalls concerning defective breaks, tires etc?), heck, even Xbox360 was found to have design flaws in its GPU (over heats).

Going back to the automobile industry, such "stereotypres" on american cars forced the Big 3 to get their act together. Nothing like competition to light their feet near the fire.

But if there is indeed a conspiracy, I think it is media driven, it seems all of them arejust bullying China.Probably needs a new cover story 'cause the "War in Iraq" starting to get stale. Have you people ever wonder what drives them "media editor" to be focusing on a particular non issue when more pressing problems abound like:

1. Universal Health care coverage
2. Education
3. Equal dispensation of Justice (Rodney King and O.J. 'nuff said)
4. racial equality
5. poverty
6. illegal immigration
7. terrorism
8.global warming (it real people we can take our cues from TF generation one if we keep on wasting our natural resources and despoil the environment)

Darth Screamer wrote:Hey bro I agree, it was harsh what I said about them being illiterate or anything else.

I also agree with everything you said, and it's the same time for me, no 5.40am. I'm tired lol.

But the conspiracy thing is something I've been really running over for a bit now.
Its really starting to hit us at every angle, our kids toys, the food we feed our dogs, and the tooth paste we used to kept up hygiene.

It's scary in a lot of ways.

I've also worked in a factory, and enjoyed it very much. So I do understand that point of view as well.

I stand corrected then.

it's like the americans are a bunch of greedy businessmen who want to make more money using the lowest profit to earn big bucks. and the chinese business parties like to sell their cheapnesses to attract more marketplaces globally. there's a lot of inside news stating there's fake salt, sugar, ink, baby powder milk, toothpaste. i mean where's the humanity if they're out of insanity as we speak, there's no justice prevail. with all the corruption and political power rising and going on. citizens and farmers gone poorer and children becomes more illiterate. the country will be close to a destruction. that's why many students chose to study oversea so they can experience freedom and reckless behavior along with the americans as we speak of.

not really... but it annoys me though when i see the"china" incription i ask myself why is it made in china

softimus_prime wrote:not really... but it annoys me though when i see the"china" incription i ask myself why is it made in china

cheaper
cheaper
and cheaper..

neliz wrote:

softimus_prime wrote:not really... but it annoys me though when i see the"china" incription i ask myself why is it made in china

cheaper
cheaper
and cheaper..

oh.... so that's the reason now i know who's to blame on the paint apps!

softimus_prime wrote:oh.... so that's the reason now i know who's to blame on the paint apps!

the buyers from respective company (for instance, levi's jeans) travel to a factory in china, discuss a price (a whopping $0.75) for a finished pair of pants and demand a ridiculous amount 75.000) in a couple of weeks..

no one cares what kind of dye is used or if the stiching is neutronium free...

but how come toy companies like neca or mcfarlane or mezco got so nice realistic paint they are also made in china??? (while looking on celtic predator's feet)

neliz wrote:Lol.. if you worry about where your stuff comes from, become a Mormon.

If not, check the bottom of your micromasters, see "Macau" and wonder where that is, open your atlas (or internet nowadays) and learn about Macau, learn about the social life of the employees working the machines that make your toys. Become a man and try to do something if it worries you that much.

Province in Chine,uled by Portugal until the 20 century and then handed over to China in an official ceremony (small note, the Chinese Guard present were all of the same height, about 1.90 or something). Politiuclay autonomous, it´s a nice place to live.