Warning! Toxic Toys!
Making and collecting miniatures has been a lifelong special interest. Toy company Zuru has been giving with an amazing array of miniatures, though not always consistent with scale. They’re relatively safe for school-age children. It’s the MGA Miniverse toy kits that are concerning.
Miniverse is a series of ball-shaped “surprise” craft toys by MGA (best known for LOL Surprise and Bratz dolls). The projects are all at a consistent, roughly 1/6th scale (fashion doll size), and are amazing with details, realism, and interactivity.
It is that interactivity that is the problem. Nearly every one of the Miniverse craft kits contains highly toxic UV resin. UV resin is something you’re more familiar with than you’d think; it’s what makes most modern manicures. A clear liquid, UV resin can be tinted to nearly any shade, and the resin contained in the craft kits tend to be clear (water or juice), opaque white, pink, or yellow (cheese and sauces).
You can assemble the craft without the resin, but it’s the resin that hardens into a plastic that connects all of the tiny pieces. Hold on, the manicurist uses a special lamp on your nails! No worries, the instructions on Miniverse kits have you placing the finished object in direct sunlight for five to ten minutes. Problems all solved! Everyone can play with UV resin!
Or not. The craft kits don’t contain everything you need; like disposable gloves. While playing with one or two of these kits will expose your child to highly toxic chemicals, it is repeated exposures that lead to contact dermatitis. Disposable gloves are the only way to remove most of that risk. When it comes to the removal of any residue on one’s skin, the ONLY thing that will remove resin completely is (high percentage) rubbing alcohol.
Contact dermatitis leaves one’s fingers with itchy skin and cysts only relieved by steroid creams. Later, the skin dies and sloughs off, very often leaving fissures and splits where the toxin penetrates more deeply. It’s painful, it’s ugly, and no child should have to worry about it!
There’s a quite simple solution to this problem, however. Clear-dry glue. Elmer’s, hot glue, Mod Podge, you can use (and tint with paint) a safe liquid to a solid substance that won’t leave painful lesions on your child’s hands! The YouTube channel @myfroggystuff has dozens of videos on how to safely play with Miniverse kits, and is recommended to parents and toy collectors alike!
