Bunchems building sets

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Jun 27, 2017 · , sent to the company Jul 6, 2017 · , published by CPSC Jul 27, 2017

   The product, in the report: Bunchems are little colored plastic balls that have little spikes ended with hook, about the size of a quarter that stick to each other (and hair)

   Hello,

   My 7 year old daughter received a gift for her birthday - “Bunchems” (made by Spin Master Ltd in Canada). She was playing with her 6-year old friend, when a 4 yr old friend’s brother ran up to them, picked up several bunchems off the floor and before my daughter had a chance to react, he threw these at her. Bunchems got immediately stuck in her hair. She has beautiful, waist long, curly hair. The bunchems tangled her hair so much, we struggled for two hours, just to remove 5 bunchem balls from her hair (we used coconut oil, conditioner, nothing was helping). But that’s not the end of the story, removing bunchems from her hair left her with a huge, cocoon-like knot, that is so tight, it’s impossible to untangle, and we are left with no option, but just to cut if off. This is going to leave a hole on the side of her head right above her left ear. This has caused us so much distress, pain, tears, I can’t even describe, I am actually shaking as I am writing this statement. My daughter (and myself) is devastated as her hair is ruined and it’ll take years to grow back. This toy should be banned from sales and the company should be deemed responsible for all the damage this toy is causing. I am actually considering taking a legal action, I just don’t know where to start. Your feedback is much appreciated.

   Best regards...[REDACTED]

   Model

   i don’t know

   Bought from

   target, Illinois

   Bought

   Jun 24, 2017, about then

   Where

   Norwood Park, Illinois: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 7, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand Bunchems, made or sold by Spin Master, Ltd

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

2. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Jun 26, 2017 · , sent to the company Jul 5, 2017 · , published by CPSC Jul 26, 2017

   The product, in the report: Bunchems - those small plastic balls with little “spikes” that attach them together AND TO KID’S HAIR.

   I bought Bunchems for my daughters. They got stuck in both my 8 year old and my 6 year old daughters hair. My 8 year old has long hair, but my 6 year had shoulder length hair. I had to cut both of their hair to get the Bunchems out. It was awful! Neither of them even put them close to their hair, they just kind of “attack” themselves to hair (and carpet fuzz, etc.)

   I returned the product to Target and let the salesperson know what happened and that they shouldn’t sell them anymore. I can’t believe they are still on the market. There are utube videos now warning of these toys!

   Bought from

   Target, Arizona

   Bought

   Aug 27, 2016

   Where

   SCOTTSDALE, Arizona: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 6, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand Bunchems, made or sold by Spin Master, Ltd

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

3. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Feb 16, 2016 · , sent to the company Feb 24, 2016 · , published by CPSC Mar 9, 2016

   The product, in the report: Squish, Connect and Create with Bunchems! The colorful little balls that stick to each other and build like no other. The Bunchems Mega Pack allows you to build 36 amazing 3D creations including: owls, bears, octopi, cars, monkeys and more! Bring your creations to life using your imagination and 36 accessories. Eyes, wings, hats and feet, to make everything you build look super neat! The possibilities are limitless with Bunchems; they stick and stay then pull apart for endless play! Use over 400 Bunchems and accessories to build Mega Pack animals, then take them apart and re-build them as anything you want! There’s no limits to your creativity! And clean up is a breeze; they stick to each other with magical ease. Squish ‘em, connect ‘em and create ‘em – the anything’ems, it’s Bunchems!

   Purchased for my granddaughter age 6, Bunchems-mega pack. Manufacturer-Spin Master LTD, 450 Front ST. W., Toronto, ON M5V1B6 Canada. I purchased this toy at my local Walmart in San Diego, CA.

   Unfortunately, 4 pieces of this toy got tangled on my granddaughters’ long hair. We tried hair conditioner and cooking oil in order to remove them. That did not work and it was painful for. This product is dangerous to anyone who uses it.

   I did call the manufacturer, 1-800-622-8339, 3 times and was on hold for more than 20 minutes and no one answered.

   It does have a statement on the box and brochure- Caution Keep away from hair. I do have pictures and video of the agonizing pain my granddaughter went thru.

   They do have a two offices in the United States. Spin Master Ltd. 3401 SW 2nd Street, Suite 107 Bentonville, AR 72712

   Spin Master Inc. (Marketing, Brand Management, Spin Master Studios)

   5880 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite A Los Angeles, CA 90016 Tel. (310) 826-4914 Fax (310) 736-3543

   Model

   20069727

   Bought from

   Walmart, California

   Bought

   Feb 4, 2016

   Where

   San Diego, California: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 6, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Other Relative

   As this report names them

   Brand Bunchems, made or sold by Spin Master, Ltd

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

4. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Nov 21, 2015 · , sent to the company Dec 1, 2015 · , published by CPSC Dec 15, 2015

   The product, in the report: Bunchems. These are small balls that have tiny “spikes” covering them (kind of like velcro). they are designed to stick together to create different objects and shapes. They come in all different colors and we had the megapack which contained over 400 bunchems.

   My 7 year old daughter and her friend were playing with the latest toy, Bunchems, which are supposed to be used to stick together and build things. They are kind of like velcro balls. while they were playing, her friend made them into a big ball. She wanted to see if they would stick together if she threw them in the air. When she threw them my daughter had her back to her and they all landed in the back of my daughters hair. Not realizing how damaging they could be, the girls tried pulling them out themselves. By the time I heard the screaming and got to the room, her hair was matted and tangled around the balls, most of which were stuck together along with hair wrapped around them. It took 3 adults over 4 hours to remove all of the Bunchems from the hair. You can imagine the screaming and torture it put my daughter through. After they were removed, we spent over an hour in the shower trying to detangle and comb out her hair. Kids have hair and to think that while playing, these things will not accidentally get into their hair is ridiculous. They should not be on the market.

   UPC

   7898812171

   Serial number

   20069727

   Bought from

   Target, Virginia

   Bought

   Nov 3, 2015

   Where

   Gainesville, Virginia: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 7, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand Bunchems, made or sold by Spin Master, Ltd

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

5. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Nov 19, 2015 · , sent to the company Nov 30, 2015 · , published by CPSC Dec 21, 2015

   The product, in the report: Art and craft bristle balls that get stuck in hair

   I wanted to share an awful experience we had tonight with a new toy product that Target has named a top toy this holiday season. We bought a toy called Bunchems from a Target store near us and within an hour the little bristle balls got stuck in my daughters hair. It took 2 hours trying to get them out. We also ended up cutting most of them out. My daughter was in so much pain the whole time we worked on trying to get these out and screamed and sobbed in pain. When I went online to look at the reviews I was shocked to see that almost all of the reviews on target.com and amazon.com were from other people who had the same experience yet this product is still being sold in stores-and right during the busiest shopping time of the season! If you look at the reviews on amazon you can see how many kids this has happened to.

   Model

   I don’t know

   Where

   Unspecified: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 5, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand Bunchems, made or sold by Spin Master, Ltd

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

6. No one hurt

   Made Sep 30, 2015 · , sent to the company Nov 16, 2015 · , published by CPSC Dec 1, 2015

   The product, in the report: The consumer noticed on the packaging it indicates the toy contains 60 + pieces and it is intended for ages 4 and up.

   On 8/31/15 (estimated) the submitter’s grandson and granddaughter played with the toy for the first time. The submitter’s grandson threw the pieces up in the air and they fell in her granddaughter’s hair. The submitter tried to remove the pieces from her granddaughter’s hair but she was not able to.

   On 9/1/15 (estimated) the submitter took her granddaughter to a hair salon [REDACTED]. The submitter states the hairstylist; [REDACTED] took 7 hours to remove the pieces from her granddaughter’s hair. The submitter states some of her granddaughter’s hair was cut. The submitter paid $158 to have the pieces removed from her granddaughter’s hair.

   The submitter believes there were about 100 pieces in her granddaughter’s hair.

   The submitter states the hair stylist posted a picture of her granddaughter’s hair on Facebook.

   On 9/29/15 the submitter contacted the firm (800-622-8339) to inform them of the incident and spoke with a rep named [REDACTED]. The submitter asked for a replacement toy or a reimbursement since she had to pay to get the pieces removed from her granddaughter’s hair. The submitter states [REDACTED] refused to provide any assistance.

   The submitter contacted the NY Consumer Affairs Office but they referred her to CPSC.

   The consumer believes there should be a warning on the packaging to warn consumer about keeping it away from hair.

   Model

   Unknown

   UPC

   778988121603

   Serial number

   Unknown

   Bought from

   Toys”R”Us, New York

   Where

   West Islip, New York: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 7, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Other Relative

   As this report names them

   Brand Bunchems, made or sold by Spin Master, Ltd

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources