Mommy, Is My Toy Bad?

When it came to filling in for a Go Diego Go! boat/squirt gun or a neon-colored Magna Battle Armor Batman, I was out of luck. Eco toys rarely feature squirting or shooting elements or futuristic day-glo weaponry.

Parenting and environmental Web sites are encouraging a flight to quality this year whereby parents buy fewer toys and focus on known higher-end brand names, such as Lego. Such toymakers often manufacture in the U.S. or Europe, are open about their quality control standards and keep a close eye on any manufacturing that happens in countries where standards are more lax.

Treehugger's bloggers are big fans of the PVC-free plastic play figures from the German company Playmobil. Greenpeace touts toys from Ikea, Lego and Japan's Bandai for their safe plastic. Meanwhile, the Mom Go Green blog has a roundup of the safety standards and manufacturing origins for some toymakers.

If you want quality toys made even closer to home, the Association of Specialty Toy Makers, which represents small toy stores and toy companies, maintains a "best-of-the-year list of toys based on feedback from store owners. The association also keeps member companies' manufacturing safety statements on file.

Some of these toys will cost more than the mass-produced items that are the stock in trade of discount stores, where many of the recalled toys have been sold. But they'll give you reasonable peace of mind, and you won't feel like a Grinch yourself for leaving the likes of Curious George and Elmo out of the holiday picture this year.