Number of Slinkys sold since the toys invention in 1945:
300 million Slinkys were invented by a naval engineer named Richard James after he saw a spring fall off a table and “walk.” His wife Betty was so unsure of the idea that she asked a friend to go and buy one when the first 400 were offered for sale at Gimbels. There was no need to worry -- they sold out in 90 minutes. Mrs. James named the toy, picking the word out of a dictionary because she felt the word "slinky" best described the toy's sound and movement. Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/8/2005
Toys recalled in the U.S. in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007:
25.6 million Source: Forbes Asia, 1/28/2008
Photo: Jason Cartwright (Dec. 7, 2006 flickr)
Percentage of Mattel's toys which are made in China as of Aug. 2007:
65% Source: New York Times, 8/15/2007
Largest toy recall in history:
July 2004 In July 2004, four companies announced the recall of 150 million pieces of toy jewelry sold in vending machines because of concerns over lead poisoning. Source: Kansas City Star, 7/8/2004
