Don't toy with this industry

They were called Klick-Klacks: two acrylic globes on a string.

You held a ring at the center and swung the globes around so they clicked together with a sound that made babies cry.For most kids, "playing" with Klick-Klacks meant leaning back and wincing, trying not to hit themselves. But a few could swing them like lassos.

It took some work, but I persuaded my mother to buy me a set. And on the day I was to join the masses of leaning, wincing kids in the lunchroom, an announcement came over the PA at West Ridge Elementary: Klick-Klacks were banned.

Somewhere in America, a kid had been blinded by flying shards of shiny acrylic.

This I get.

The state ban on "toxic toys" that state lawmakers just passed and is awaiting Gov. Christine Gregoire's signature?

Not so much.

The intent of House Bill 2647 is good and true. It would reduce the allowable level of lead and set limits on the metals and chemicals in toys that have been linked to childhood-development problems.

But the "toxic toys" law would cost manufacturers too much to obey. They would have to pay for testing, as well as registering and getting approval from the state for every chemical used in every product. One toy manufacturer said that would add at least 10 percent to the cost of each toy.

Mary Sisson, who owns the Kazoodles toy store in Vancouver, said the law would close her business by scaring off the small toy manufacturers that fill her shelves.

"Have stricter standards, sure, but do it on a national basis," she said. "Not a hodgepodge of state laws that will shut down the toy industry."

Sisson opened the store just two years ago, "and I never dreamed that selling toys would be so political."

The law could turn Washington into something like the Island of Misfit Toys, a place passed over by toy companies scared off by the regulations.

We'd need a new state mascot. A crying baby, or a morose-looking boy holding a boat carved out of a sweet potato.

Gregoire knows this is no quick sweep of the pen.

Before her speech at the Seattle Rotary on Wednesday, she told me she "liked the intent of the bill," but was "still researching" parts of it.

For example, how to measure the lead in a remote-controlled toy? Is a computer chip covered by the bill?

"I'm not done yet," Gregoire said. "I'm still working on it."

That's good; minutes later, Gregoire waxed poetic about something that the law would surely impact: trade.

Toys were the second-biggest import to the Port of Seattle, and the fourth-biggest in Tacoma, according to 2007 data. If Gregoire signs the "toxic toys" bill, those numbers could drop significantly.

I suggest she veto the bill, see what the feds come up with and embrace uniform laws.

We want to be safe, but not smother our own livelihood. And, surely, we don't want to be the only ones to say no.

But then, neither did my mother. It's a delicate dance.

I found Klick-Klacks online the other day.

"*FOR ADULTS ONLY," the copy read.

Just below? Lawn darts.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Tuesday and Friday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

She didn't wear a helmet, either.