The Banning of Buckyballs and the #SaveOurBalls Campaign
In case you haven't heard, the government is trying to ban Buckyballs and the manufacturer is suing to stop them. They are also running a social media campaign to save them, appropriately (or inappropriately) titled #SaveOurBalls. Here is the company's page for it:
http://www.getbuckyballs.com/save-our-balls/
Some stores have stopped selling Buckyballs already, but the manufacturer says sales have gone through the roof on their web site. There's a cool video of the toy in action at this link.
http://www.bustedtees.com/buckyballs
Apparently they've been around for 25 years and Google even did a doodle honoring them in 2010:
http://www.conceivablytech.com/2650/business/google-doodle-sells-10000-b...
The issue for the government is similar to what caused some Polly Pocket toys to be recalled a while back. Magnets were falling off of them which could cause harm if 2 or more are ingested. The Buckyballs can have the same effect. But the Buckyballs company says there have only been less than 24 known incidents out of 500 million magnets sold. And they say they're not marketed to kids or sold in toy stores and they come with this warning label:
"Warning: Keep Away From All Children! Do not put in nose or mouth. Swallowed magnets can stick to intestines causing serious injury or death. Seek immediate medical attention if magnets are swallowed or inhaled."
I would imagine if we banned everything that might cause serious injury to a kid, we'd have to start banning matches, knives, swimming pools and move onto baseball, football, cheerleading, etc.
i heard about this the other day. these guys are getting effed. there's nothing more to it. someone, somewhere has it out for them. it's utterly ludicrous.
It could be true and it is scary that government regulators have such wide authority to pick winners and losers when they selectively enforce laws. On the other hand, the government might simply think they're protecting kids. The problem is we always have a line between freedom and security. The more the government dictates what we can and can't do whether they think it's in our best interest or not, the less freedom we have. If they can ban an entire product that's actually marketed to adults simply because it hurt someone in a few cases, it seems like they could justify banning almost anything. And as this company has pointed out, garden variety balloons actually cause several children to choke to death on average per year, a worse result than Buckyballs have caused. Most likely this company will have a good case to make in court, but the lawsuit against the government could damage or kill them financially even if they do win.
It's the government's fault that we have short-stacked Masterpiece Optimus Prime's and no Masterpiece Megatrons (as crappy as he is) here...
Here's a curious development for you:
America's Favorite Stress-Relieving Products, Buckyballs and Buckycubes , Donated to U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Maxfield and Oberton, the manufacturer of America's favorite adult desktoy and stress reliever, is donating 5,000 sets of Buckyballs® and Buckycubes® to U.S. troops overseas, it was announced today. The Buckyballs® and Buckycubes® will be included in gift packs sent by the Support Our Troops organization to servicemen and women in Afghanistan next month.
"Buckyballs® and Buckycubes® relieve stress and help inspire adult fun, and clearly no one deserves that more than the brave men and women who are serving our country abroad," said Craig Zucker, Founder and CEO of Maxfield and Oberton. "We want to show how much we appreciate their service on our behalf, and the way they are protecting the freedoms Americans should not take for granted. What better way to show that support than with a set of US balls?"
Buckyballs® and Buckycubes® are the number one selling brand names in high-powered magnets - recently called America's "fave desk accessory" by the Washington Post (July 13, 2012); named "the next big thing in cubicle fidgeting" by New York magazine (July 16-23, 2012); and cited as "the most popular cubicle toy since the Rubik's Cube" by Bloomberg Businessweek (July 23-29, 2012). See https://www.getbuckyballs.com.
SupportOurTroops.Org is the charity through which Americans bolster the morale and well-being of our active duty troops and their families through highly effective programs providing millions of dollars in goods and services to the military community including deployed troops, family support, kids' camp assistance, positive public support at home, and more. See http://supportourtroops.org/
They're too dangerous for the troops. They're better off sticking with hand grenades. 
Well, depending on the electronic gear of the troops in question, all those magnets could be dangerous after all.
If they had planned this before the recent government attention, I feel bad for their timing, because it kind of looks reactionary at this point.
