Melissa & Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock
by Melissa & Doug
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Our Price: $7.46
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Category: Toy
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: Melissa & DougBrand: Melissa & Doug
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Published)
Release Date: 2006-06-12
Model: 159
Product features:
- Wood Clock
- Colorful shaped numbers
- Learn to tell time
- Recommended Age Range 3 Years and up
- Melissa & Doug Ballerina Dress-Up Mix 'n Match Peg
- Alphabet Train
- Farm Friends Stacker by Galt Toys
- Melissa & Doug Birthday Party Birthday Cake
- Large Kitchen
Toys and Games Reviews of Melissa & Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock
Customer Review: Made of MDF, Not Wood & Loses Paint Quickly
Summary: 2 Stars
This is a fairly attractive clock. We've had it around for the past couple of years and it's seen a fair amount of play. I had bought it hoping it would be acknowledged as a clock, perhaps used as a learning tool of sorts, but neither of my children have ever played with it this way. Instead they remove the pieces, scatter them about, sometimes (rarely) use it as a puzzle, but mostly they just like those small brightly-colored wooden pieces. Which is a shame. The pieces are rapidly losing paint, and Melissa and Doug just isn't a company I trust enough to have their paint chips floating around in my children's environment. Their toys are made in China, and they've already had a recall in Canada for excessive barium in toys. I didn't even know toys could have excessive barium until I read about that recall.
That's not my only gripe.
When I bought this clock, I assumed it was wooden. But when you remove the pieces, it is clear that the material the base is made of is MDF, you can see the unfinished MDF inside the holes. Later, when the pieces begin to lose paint, you find that they too, not surprisingly, are made of MDF. So my first gripe with this puzzle is one I have with a great number of Melissa and Doug products: They advertise a wooden toy, and it's deceptive marketing.
Okay, so Melissa and Doug fudged a little on their description. What might have been wood once upon a time is now thinly pressed layers of sawdust and resin, but it was wood in a previous life, and that still counts, right? It's intentionally deceptive marketing, but does any of that really matter in the practical sense?
I think it does.
Medium density fiberboard (MDF) is nasty stuff. Containing a higher resin-to-wood ration than any other pressed wood product, MDF emits VOCs for at least a few months after manufacture and emits urea formaldehyde for the duration of its life. I doubt there have been any studies on using pressed wood for a child's toy that may be mouthed and is nonetheless handled frequently and in close proximity to their faces during day-to-day play. There have been studies suggesting urea formaldehyde is a suspected carcinogen; others show that incidences of leukemia and lymphoma increase through prolonged exposure of VOCs in the indoor environment.
Bottom line, most MDF is not something you want in your home in any form, and it's probably not the best thing to make a child's toy out of. There are ways to manufacture MDF which use resins that do not contain formaldehyde which are supposed to be environmentally friendly. I contacted Melissa and Doug to find out if they use these formaldehyde-free resins in their MDF. They've got really friendly customer service, but no one available could provide me with that information. I was told they'd get back to me. I'm still waiting.
In the meantime, I think I'll just stick with the old adage: You get what you pay for.
For three times the cost of this clock, you can buy a very similar one that *is* made of wood (not MDF, not particle board, not plywood) in the USA: Hickory Dickory Dock Clock. If I had it to do over, I would do exactly that. It doesn't have the fantastic range of colors, but I guess it just depends on your priorities. I want a safer toy, one I feel good about my kids playing with. I want a toy without MDF, heavy metals, and other toxic substances. I don't feel confident this Melissa and Doug clock fits the bill.
Description of Melissa & Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock
It's time to "block" around the clock! Two toys in one, this colorful clock combines shape sorting and learning to tell time. Place the numbered and shaped pieces in their proper place on the face of the clock, then move the hour and minute hands to make telling time fun! Measures 9" x 5".Learning & Education Toys
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