Thomas and His Poisonous Friends

There are certain things a parent never wants to hear. Certain things like "Your child's favorite Thomas & Friends train could have dangerous levels of lead paint on it." Lead paint aside, have you ever tried prying one of those trains from the firm grip of tiny, three-year old fingers?

RC2, the maker of the popular wooden trains, made a deal with parents when they first recalled some of their toys earlier this summer. Return your train, and we'll send you a new one, as well as a free gift.

At as much as 20 bucks a pop, plenty of trains were likely sent back by frustrated but loyal parents who carefully explained to their children that the trains needed to go to the mechanic. Their kids were likely thrilled to see their trains return home from the shop, each one along with a new friend as a consolation prize.

But there are still more things a parent never wants to hear.

Things like "That free bonus gift we sent to you could have dangerous levels of lead paint on it."

Last week, RC2 recalled five more of Thomas's friends. It seems that the black cargo car, the Toad vehicle, the olive green Sodor cargo box accessory, and the all-green maple tree top and signal base accessories could have excessive amounts of lead paint on them.

The press release issued last week tells parents they can return one of these recalled items in exchange for a replacement and a free gift.

But there's one thing the press release doesn't say. Some of the Toad vehicles were already sent out as free gifts from the June recall. It seems RC2 separately reached reach out to the recipients of the potentially contaminated Toad vehicles via email.

"Unfortunately, the discovery that certain Toad vehicles could be potentially unsafe was made in August, after Toads had been sent as bonus gifts to some families," the email reads. "Many of the Toad bonus gifts are safe, however some may not be. If you received a Toad vehicle as a bonus gift from us, please check its underside for the tracking code 1656OW00 to determine if it is one of the recalled toys."

It's not clear if parents who return their free gifts will get a replacement for the gift as well as an additional free gift. Calls to RC2 went unreturned as of press time.

There's one thing that is clear, however. Your three-year old isn't going to buy that mechanic story a second time.

by Megan Barnett