A decision by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has desk toy enthusiasts rejoicing. Buckyballs, the toys sold as a collection of 100 to 200 rare earth magnets that can be made into a myriad of designs, are legal again. And after fighting the Obama administration’s Consumer Product Safety Commission for four years, and with a coming change in administration, these little magnets stand a pretty good shot at remaining legal.
The original producer of Buckyballs, Maxfield & Oberton, is not around today to celebrate the victory. Their website now advertises a liquidating trust, offering to pay valid claims “to the extent assets are available.” In 2010, the CPSC initially worked with the company to make sure the magnets were not marketed to children under the age of 14. But the product skyrocketed in popularity, and despite ample and very clear product warnings about risks to children and pets, kids will be kids. An uptick in emergency room visits related to Buckyballs led to the CPSC getting involved.
So, in 2012, the CPSC went to war, seeking to end their business in America. After Maxfield & Oberton rejected an offer to voluntarily recall the toys, the agency escalated, pressuring retailers selling Buckyballs to pull them from their shelves. A few big retailers caved.
But Maxfield & Oberton fought back, launching a PR campaign called “Save Our Balls” where they mocked the CPSC on the company’s website, suggesting they were overreaching. Buckyballs, still available online, were an even hotter item due to the controversy.
As Law360 reports:
CEO Craig Zucker realized that the overzealous CPSC was not just after Buckyballs but after pretty much anything that posed any risk, telling Esquire:
In September of 2012, the CPSC increased their scope, publishing a safety standard that effectively would ban all of the popular small magnet desk toys. Zucker set up a trust to handle refunds and dissolved the company. The CPSC did not take kindly to Zucker’s resistance and took the rare step of suing him in a personal capacity, arguing the trust was insufficient to cover potential claims.
Eventually, Zucker settled with the CPSC, limiting his personal exposure for the recall to $375,000 in refunds. As Gizmodo reports, “The settlement agreement acknowledges that Zucker never agreed with the CPSC’s assessment over Buckyballs. Additionally, the commission is supposed to stop holding Zucker at all accountable for the defective claim, which has never been demonstrated in court.”
The CPSC’s proposed rule took standards intended for regulating magnets in children’s toys and applied them to toys for adults. The rule became final in October of 2014. And when it did, just one manufacturer, Zen Magnets, remained. So they sued.
Last week, a court vacated and remanded the CPSC’s decision—which Zen claims is the first in 33 years—because the agency’s findings “are incomplete and inadequately explained.”
Buckyballs are alive once again—only this time under the more cumbersome name of “Balls by Bucky.”
