How TF did McDonalds approve this happy meal toy?

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
awfultoy.jpg

This is the second of these we've gotten. The other was some different character. It has a button on the back that shoots a red laser. As you can tell from the picture, the intent is for the child to shoot the laser at their eye with a screen in the middle that shows a little head. I have shot myself in the eye without the screen and, yes, it's quite bright and certainly not good for the eye.

This is truly a terrible toy. I am surprised McDonalds allowed it. In fact, I am going to email them just for being so damned stupid to release such a thing.

EDIT: I emailed them.
 

silverpig

Lifer
Jul 29, 2001
27,709
11
81
...yet you keep going back :p

Those McDonaldland cookies must have crack in them or something.
 

Safeway

Lifer
Jun 22, 2004
12,081
9
81
Yea, that is pretty stupid. I bet the laser is made of lead and formaldehyde.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,456
854
126
Originally posted by: Skoorb
awfultoy.jpg

This is the second of these we've gotten. The other was some different character. It has a button on the back that shoots a red laser. As you can tell from the picture, the intent is for the child to shoot the laser at their eye with a screen in the middle that shows a little head. I have shot myself in the eye without the screen and, yes, it's quite bright and certainly not good for the eye.

This is truly a terrible toy. I am surprised McDonalds allowed it. In fact, I am going to email them just for being so damned stupid to release such a thing.

EDIT: I emailed them.

My son got one of those. I threw it in the trash.
 

CrackRabbit

Lifer
Mar 30, 2001
16,641
58
91
The worst Happy Meal toy I have ever had to deal with was a toy cricket modeled after a character in Mulan. When you pressed on it it made cricket noises. Now imagine 15 children running around the McDonald's pressing on these toys. Drove me nuts for 2 weeks until the next toy was due out.
<--- former employee, now hates children.
 

beat mania

Platinum Member
Jan 23, 2000
2,451
0
76
Luckily for MickeyD the eyesight will only slowly deteriorate and the kids won't go blind until they're 10. By then the toy would've been long lost and forgotten.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,606
166
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www.slatebrookfarm.com
As edro pointed out - it's just an LED, not a laser.

Also, those little cheap lasers that everyone "knows" will make you blind if someone shines it in your eye... Exaggerated.

Laser pointers are class 3A (1 to 5 mW) and are required to carry a warning cautioning users to avoid shining a laser pointer beam into anyone's eye. I agree that this is very good advice--especially if the victim is driving a car"?. But class 3A lasers are less dangerous than most people think. The best supported risk estimate suggests that the retina can theoretically be damaged if someone were to stare into the beam for 10 seconds (Ophthalmology 1997; 104:1213).

But as Dr. Goble pointed out, this would be nearly impossible to achieve. In this situation, 10 seconds is nearly an eternity. The pupil, blink, and gaze-averting reflexes stop significant exposures in less than 0.25 seconds. Even in the office of an eye surgeon, with a chin rest, a target, and a machine to aim the beam steadily, it is difficult to keep a beam on a single spot for more than a few tenths of a second. So, a laser pointer in mischievous hands carries no real risk for immediate or delayed retinal damage.

Lasers can, however, dazzle the eyes. Both pain and dazzle spot images are common results of looking at a laser beam. This has given rise to panic in many individuals. Although laser pointers have never been found to do damage, they have produced hysterical blindness--people who can't see because they are convinced they can't (The Lancet 1998; 351:1291).
here

 

aplefka

Lifer
Feb 29, 2004
12,016
2
0
Originally posted by: DrPizza
As edro pointed out - it's just an LED, not a laser.

Also, those little cheap lasers that everyone "knows" will make you blind if someone shines it in your eye... Exaggerated.

Laser pointers are class 3A (1 to 5 mW) and are required to carry a warning cautioning users to avoid shining a laser pointer beam into anyone's eye. I agree that this is very good advice--especially if the victim is driving a car"?. But class 3A lasers are less dangerous than most people think. The best supported risk estimate suggests that the retina can theoretically be damaged if someone were to stare into the beam for 10 seconds (Ophthalmology 1997; 104:1213).

But as Dr. Goble pointed out, this would be nearly impossible to achieve. In this situation, 10 seconds is nearly an eternity. The pupil, blink, and gaze-averting reflexes stop significant exposures in less than 0.25 seconds. Even in the office of an eye surgeon, with a chin rest, a target, and a machine to aim the beam steadily, it is difficult to keep a beam on a single spot for more than a few tenths of a second. So, a laser pointer in mischievous hands carries no real risk for immediate or delayed retinal damage.

Lasers can, however, dazzle the eyes. Both pain and dazzle spot images are common results of looking at a laser beam. This has given rise to panic in many individuals. Although laser pointers have never been found to do damage, they have produced hysterical blindness--people who can't see because they are convinced they can't (The Lancet 1998; 351:1291).
here

Owned.
 

AlienCraft

Lifer
Nov 23, 2002
10,539
0
0
They are a multi National Corporation that employs millions of people, world wide.
They know far better than you what is good for children.
Furthermore, anything that interfers with their ability to earn a profit is against Capitalism and supports Terrorists.
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,328
68
91
Man, we are really ganging up on Skoorb!

He might shut down all of his free services!

Everyone be nice!
 

djheater

Lifer
Mar 19, 2001
14,637
2
0
Either we're being skoorbed or the mental debiliatory affects of parenthood are beginning to appear.

:roll:

(I shot one of those in my old eyes and it hurt, saw spots for an hour... 'course kids would be fascinated by that and do it repetitively...)
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Originally posted by: DrPizza
As edro pointed out - it's just an LED, not a laser.

Also, those little cheap lasers that everyone "knows" will make you blind if someone shines it in your eye... Exaggerated.

Laser pointers are class 3A (1 to 5 mW) and are required to carry a warning cautioning users to avoid shining a laser pointer beam into anyone's eye. I agree that this is very good advice--especially if the victim is driving a car"?. But class 3A lasers are less dangerous than most people think. The best supported risk estimate suggests that the retina can theoretically be damaged if someone were to stare into the beam for 10 seconds (Ophthalmology 1997; 104:1213).

But as Dr. Goble pointed out, this would be nearly impossible to achieve. In this situation, 10 seconds is nearly an eternity. The pupil, blink, and gaze-averting reflexes stop significant exposures in less than 0.25 seconds. Even in the office of an eye surgeon, with a chin rest, a target, and a machine to aim the beam steadily, it is difficult to keep a beam on a single spot for more than a few tenths of a second. So, a laser pointer in mischievous hands carries no real risk for immediate or delayed retinal damage.

Lasers can, however, dazzle the eyes. Both pain and dazzle spot images are common results of looking at a laser beam. This has given rise to panic in many individuals. Although laser pointers have never been found to do damage, they have produced hysterical blindness--people who can't see because they are convinced they can't (The Lancet 1998; 351:1291).
here

Tell that to the scar on my retina from looking at a laser. Creates a nice little blurred spot in my field of vision.
 

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,303
15
81
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: DrPizza
As edro pointed out - it's just an LED, not a laser.

Also, those little cheap lasers that everyone "knows" will make you blind if someone shines it in your eye... Exaggerated.

Laser pointers are class 3A (1 to 5 mW) and are required to carry a warning cautioning users to avoid shining a laser pointer beam into anyone's eye. I agree that this is very good advice--especially if the victim is driving a car"?. But class 3A lasers are less dangerous than most people think. The best supported risk estimate suggests that the retina can theoretically be damaged if someone were to stare into the beam for 10 seconds (Ophthalmology 1997; 104:1213).

But as Dr. Goble pointed out, this would be nearly impossible to achieve. In this situation, 10 seconds is nearly an eternity. The pupil, blink, and gaze-averting reflexes stop significant exposures in less than 0.25 seconds. Even in the office of an eye surgeon, with a chin rest, a target, and a machine to aim the beam steadily, it is difficult to keep a beam on a single spot for more than a few tenths of a second. So, a laser pointer in mischievous hands carries no real risk for immediate or delayed retinal damage.

Lasers can, however, dazzle the eyes. Both pain and dazzle spot images are common results of looking at a laser beam. This has given rise to panic in many individuals. Although laser pointers have never been found to do damage, they have produced hysterical blindness--people who can't see because they are convinced they can't (The Lancet 1998; 351:1291).
here

Tell that to the scar on my retina from looking at a laser. Creates a nice little blurred spot in my field of vision.

That's a reminder to not look into laser with remaining eye.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
The short of it is this: Toy encourages kids to shoot light at eye. I shot light at eye for a second and saw spots for some moments. The safe assumption is that if I held it at my eye for longer, it would not be good for it (at all), and that kids sometimes are dumb. I remember as a kid staring at a flashlight until it hurt because it was a strange sensation. This is what kids do, at least mine might because they share my same genes for self-destruction.
 

compman25

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2006
3,767
2
81
Originally posted by: Skoorb
The short of it is this: Toy encourages kids to shoot light at eye. I shot light at eye for a second and saw spots for some moments. The safe assumption is that if I held it at my eye for longer, it would not be good for it (at all), and that kids sometimes are dumb. I remember as a kid staring at a flashlight until it hurt because it was a strange sensation. This is what kids do, at least mine might because they share my same genes for self-destruction.

You just have sucky defective eyes, get new ones.
 

randay

Lifer
May 30, 2006
11,019
216
106
Originally posted by: Skoorb
The short of it is this: Toy encourages kids to shoot light at eye. I shot light at eye for a second and saw spots for some moments. The safe assumption is that if I held it at my eye for longer, it would not be good for it (at all), and that kids sometimes are dumb. I remember as a kid staring at a flashlight until it hurt because it was a strange sensation. This is what kids do, at least mine might because they share my same genes for self-destruction.

have you ever tried sawing off one of your legs? its a strange sensation.
 

Sumguy

Golden Member
Jun 2, 2007
1,409
0
0
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: DrPizza
As edro pointed out - it's just an LED, not a laser.

Also, those little cheap lasers that everyone "knows" will make you blind if someone shines it in your eye... Exaggerated.

Laser pointers are class 3A (1 to 5 mW) and are required to carry a warning cautioning users to avoid shining a laser pointer beam into anyone's eye. I agree that this is very good advice--especially if the victim is driving a car"?. But class 3A lasers are less dangerous than most people think. The best supported risk estimate suggests that the retina can theoretically be damaged if someone were to stare into the beam for 10 seconds (Ophthalmology 1997; 104:1213).

But as Dr. Goble pointed out, this would be nearly impossible to achieve. In this situation, 10 seconds is nearly an eternity. The pupil, blink, and gaze-averting reflexes stop significant exposures in less than 0.25 seconds. Even in the office of an eye surgeon, with a chin rest, a target, and a machine to aim the beam steadily, it is difficult to keep a beam on a single spot for more than a few tenths of a second. So, a laser pointer in mischievous hands carries no real risk for immediate or delayed retinal damage.

Lasers can, however, dazzle the eyes. Both pain and dazzle spot images are common results of looking at a laser beam. This has given rise to panic in many individuals. Although laser pointers have never been found to do damage, they have produced hysterical blindness--people who can't see because they are convinced they can't (The Lancet 1998; 351:1291).
here

Tell that to the scar on my retina from looking at a laser. Creates a nice little blurred spot in my field of vision.

How long was it in your eye for, though?

On a side note, I looked directly into the sun when I was little (through a slightly tinted car window, though) because I saw it vibrating a bit. Took me 5 seconds to realize that it was just my eyes, presumably getting owned by the sun, so I looked away. Didn't seem to have much effect.
 

jersiq

Senior member
May 18, 2005
887
1
0
Originally posted by: Skoorb
The short of it is this: Toy encourages kids to shoot light at eye. I shot light at eye for a second and saw spots for some moments. The safe assumption is that if I held it at my eye for longer, it would not be good for it (at all), and that kids sometimes are dumb. I remember as a kid staring at a flashlight until it hurt because it was a strange sensation. This is what kids do, at least mine might because they share my same genes for self-destruction.

Now with that story of "strange sensations" in mind; what would stop your child from doing the same sensation experiment as you? Confiscate all light sources?
You knew better than to look at light, yet still did it.

P.S. mine show a bunch of heads not just a singular head. My daughter calls him the "scary man"
 

RKS

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,824
3
81
There are multiple images if held just right. It is one of the more stupid Happy Meal toys.
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,328
68
91
Skoorb, you should know by now that if you assert a solid opinion, no matter how correct it may be, everyone will disagree with you.

It's ATOT's 2nd Law.