Mall of America Recalls Plush Toy Due to Choking Hazard

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #10736) was formally reported on May 17, 2010. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. MOA Entertainment Co. LLC, of Bloomington, Minn. is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 1200 produced, 11 sold units are affected, a scale large enough to require multi-state distribution tracking.

The documented reason for this recall is: Young children can remove and ingest the squirrel's nose, which poses a choking hazard. Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Consumers should take the toy away from children and return it to the Nickelodeon Store, Spongebob 4U, or NU Stuff stores in Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America to receive a full refund. Consumer… — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls, of which 6 were also issued by CPSC. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 16 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.