Toys

Find out where to donate for Toys for Tots .

By Eyewitness News (WICHITA, Kan.) The Step 2 Company recalls two types of ride-on toys. A pin on handle of  the "Whisper Ride Buggy" and the "Push Around Buggy" could come loose causing minor injuries. The toys were sold between August 1999 and March 2010. Step 2 is offering a free repair kit. Pictures of Toys and How to Order a Repair Kit  

By Kim Wilhelm (WICHITA, Kan.) Toys for Tots says it is overwhelmed with the outpouring of support following a weekend burglary at its warehouse. At this time, they do not need any more toys or money for this year.  Gunnery Sgt. James Watts, the Toys For Tots Coordinator, says they have enough to fulfill the needs for the fourteen charities which partner with the organization. Numerous people, including many area businesses have stepped up to donate toys or money.

Toys "R" Us is recalling Imaginarium 5-Sided Activity Center kits due to a choking hazard. The toys were imported from China and sold nationwide from August 2009 through September 2010. More than 20,000 Imaginarium toys are involved in the recall. The multi-sided center has two triangle-shaped ends with a wooden multi-colored xylophone on one and a mirror on the other. The three sides are square-shaped and include moveable block letters, rotating gears and sliding shapes.The name "Imaginarium" appears in a blue, oval-shaped logo underneath the mirror on one end. The second 'i' in the logo is dotted with a shooting star.

Hundreds of boys and girls may go without Christmas toys this year, the Salvation Army says it still has around 400 unclaimed angels on its trees. "The need is huge this year," said Craig Plank the Director of Development and Communication for the Wichita Salvation Army. The Salvation Army has seen a 30% increase in the demand for toys this year. They went from helping more than 8,000 kids last year to just more than 11,000 this year, an unexpected increase.

Brad Pistotnick's office looks like Santa's workshop, albeit a little smaller. His staff are serving as elves stacking toys taller than some of the kids who will unwrap the presents Christmas day. "It just makes me feel good," says Brad Pistotnick. It's a simple reason why Brad Pistotnick has turned his office into toyland for the last three years and spends nearly fifteen-thousand dollars of his own money to give back to Wichitans in need. "They're just normal people, that are having a hard time," says Pistotnick.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Little Tikes Co. is recalling about 1.6 million toy workshops and trucks, after an 11-month-old boy got a plastic nail lodged in his throat. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the boy from Goose Creek, S.C., recovered after being hospitalized. The recall includes a variety of toys manufactured by Little Tikes of Hudson, Ohio, in both the United States and China. They were sold with red or blue plastic toy nails that are about 3 Πinches long.

Despite early controversy on the route, organizers of the Wichita Toy Run are calling it the most successful one they've ever had. It had over 3,000 motorcycles, even more toys, and a lot of fun. "I really love it, the parade, the waving, the hollering, the horn tootin," said one rider. But this year's Toy Run, a charity event to collect toys for underprivileged kids, was surrounded by controversy. Their parade license was denied after road construction forced them to come up with a new route and police couldn't block off the intersections along it. Meaning no parade, the motorcycles would have to obey all traffic laws.

Parents are used to warnings about choking hazards or lead paint in toys, but they rarely think about hearing loss.  The "Dora Tunes Guitar" is one of the toys singled-out by safety experts because of concerns it's too noisy. According to the 27th annual "Trouble in Toyland" report, issued by the Public Interest Research Group, the guitar has the potential to damage a child's hearing after long exposure. "Dora's pretty loud," says Wichita hearing specialist Dr. Thomas Kryzer.

A lot of people have the idea that major charities are rivals competing with each other. But Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, Toys for Tots and Inter-Faith Ministries say they don't think of it that way.  Instead, they say they want to help each other help as many needy people as possible. These four non-profits teamed up for what they called a Community Day of Giving.  They assembled at the Dillons store at Rock and Central to catch people going in, telling them what's needed, then hoping they come out with some things to donate.  Some people like Virginia Fabian were very generous.

They're colorful and alluring, but Consumer Reports says there's a potential safety hazard with popular small toy balls and beads that expand dramatically in water. There are many of those super-absorbent polymer balls on the market, although one was recalled late last year - Dunecraft Water Balz. It was recalled after an 8-month-old swallowed one. She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors couldn't see anything on the X-ray. But in surgery they removed a ball almost 1 1/2 inches in diameter from her small intestine.

Parents are used to warnings about choking hazards or lead paint in toys, but they rarely think about hearing loss.  The "Dora Tunes Guitar" is one of the toys singled-out by safety experts because of concerns it's too noisy. According to the 27th annual "Trouble in Toyland" report, issued by the Public Interest Research Group, the guitar has the potential to damage a child's hearing after long exposure. Read the Trouble in Toyland Report "Dora's pretty loud," says Wichita hearing specialist Dr. Thomas Kryzer.

A lot of people have the idea that major charities are rivals competing with each other. But Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, Toys for Tots and Inter-Faith Ministries say they don't think of it that way.  Instead, they say they want to help each other help as many needy people as possible. These four non-profits teamed up for what they called a Community Day of Giving.  They assembled at the Dillons store at Rock and Central to catch people going in, telling them what's needed, then hoping they come out with some things to donate.  Some people like Virginia Fabian were very generous.

The Wichita Toy Run finds a new way to deliver Christmas toys to children in need. "The biggest issue on that was the safety factor," said George Schaeffer, who's been helping out with the Toy Run since it began. With more than 3,000 bikers in the parade last year growing safety concerns led to a change in format for the annual event.  This year, instead of a parade from downtown to the Kansas Coliseum bikers rallied in the historic Delano District to make their donations to Toys for Tots.  The Toy Run usually is responsible for about 40%t of the program's total.

Safety concerns from the public, the Wichita Police Department, and the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office have driven a popular toy run to make changes.  The Wichita Toy Run Committee has announced its run that attracts thousands of riders every year, will now be a rally. Come November fourth, the historic Delano district will host the "Wichita Toy Run Rally. "  Long-time Delano resident and business owner Nancy Lawrence helped the Wichita Toy Run Committee with the change from a run… to a rally.

A funeral service is set for the organizer of the Wichita Toy Run. Holly Potelle died in a motorcycle crash on Monday near Viola. The service will be held at eleven o'clock Saturday morning at Chaparral High School, 467 N. State Road 14 in Anthony. Memorials may be given in memory of Holly to T.S.A. at Harper Junior High School or to the Wichita Toy Run and can be sent in care of the Prairie Rose Funeral Home. Potelle is survived by her husband, Jeff Potelle; two sons, Lucien and Grayson; and a daughter, Genevieve.

The woman who helped start the Wichita Toy Run died in a motorcycle accident Monday.  Friends of 55-year-old Holly Potelle says she had a tremendous impact on this community. Sedgwick County Sheriff's deputies say a strong wind gust caused Potelle to lose control and crash.  The accident happened around six o'clock Monday evening in the 26000 block of K-42, near Viola.  She was ejected from the bike and landed in a nearby culvert. Her friends says she was a very experienced rider but as Kansans know, the weather can change rapidly.   "We caution riders to be prepared fro any and all conditions.

Toys "R" Us is recalling Imaginarium 5-Sided Activity Center kits due to a choking hazard. The toys were imported from China and sold nationwide from August 2009 through September 2010. More than 20,000 Imaginarium toys are involved in the recall. The multi-sided center has two triangle-shaped ends with a wooden multi-colored xylophone on one and a mirror on the other. The three sides are square-shaped and include moveable block letters, rotating gears and sliding shapes.The name "Imaginarium" appears in a blue, oval-shaped logo underneath the mirror on one end. The second 'i' in the logo is dotted with a shooting star.

A 3-year-olds rant about what toys boys and girls receive has gone viral. The video is of Riley who is in the aisle of a toy store complaining that companies only sell pink toys and princesses to girls and superheros to boys. She says in the video, "Some girls like superheroes, some girls like princesses! Some boys like superheroes, some boys like princesses! So why do all the girls have to buy pink stuff and all the boys have to buy different-colored stuff?" As of December 28th, the video has more than 2-million views.