Six Retailers Announce Recall of Buckyballs and Buckycubes High-Powered Magnet Sets Due to Ingestion Hazard
Home product recall 13-168. Announced by CPSC on Apr 12, 2013.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own notice is on cpsc.gov.
The short answer
Announced by CPSC on Apr 12, 2013. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
These products contain defects in the design, warnings and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury and death to children and teenagers.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
Consumers should take the high-powered magnet sets and all associated individual magnets away from children and teenagers and contact the retailer from which they purchased the product to obtain instructions for their remedy.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
- How to reach the firm: Barnes & Noble, toll-free at (855) 592-2993 , www.barnesandnoble.com Bed Bath & Beyond, toll-free at (800) 462-3966, www.bedbathandbeyond.com Brookstone, toll-free at (866) 576-7337 or online at www.brookstone.com Participating Hallmark retailers, toll-free at (800) 425-5627 or online at www.hallmark.com/recall-product/ Marbles the Brain Store, toll-free at (877) 527-2460 or online at www.marblesthebrainstore.com ThinkGeek, toll-free at (888) 433-5788 or online at www.thinkgeek.com/buckyballs/index.shtml
Which ones are recalled?
Imported by Maxfield & Oberton LLC, of New York, N.Y., Buckyballs and Buckycubes consist of sets of numerous, small, high-powered magnets. These sets vary in the number of magnets included and come in a variety of colors. Individual magnets in the set are about 5 millimeters in diameter. Individual magnets in Buckyballs are spherical and individual magnets in Buckycubes are cube-shaped. Retailers Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Brookstone, certain Hallmark retailers, Marbles the Brain Store, and ThinkGeek have agreed to participate because Maxfield & Oberton has refused to participate in the recall of all Buckyballs and Buckycubes.
About three million sets units, as CPSC gives them.
Buckyballs and Buckycubes high-powered magnet sets.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
CPSC’s photos
CPSC shows 3 photos on its notice. Hearth Record doesn’t copy them; each opens on cpsc.gov.
Who made and sold it?
- Imported by Maxfield & Oberton LLC, New York, N.Y.
- U.S. retail stores nationwide and online since 2010 for between $5 and $100.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
CPSC has received 54 reports of children and teens ingesting this product, with 53 of these requiring medical interventions.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.