9/11 toy found inside candy bags

Wholesaler recalls 14,000 bags it bought from Miami import firm

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Small toys showing an airplane flying into the World Trade Center were packed inside more than 14,000 bags of candy and sent to small groceries around the country before being recalled.

Lisy Corp., the wholesaler that distributed the candy, said Friday that the toys were purchased in bulk from a Miami-based import company.

The toys came in an assortment purchased sight unseen from L&M Import in Miami and included the toys depicting the attacks on the World Trade Center of September 11, 2001, along with whistles and other small toys, said Luis Pedron, Lisy's national sales manager. The invoice described the toy as a plastic swing set.

"I hate to blame the importer. He probably did not know what he was getting. He brings them in 40-foot containers. But whoever made it knew exactly what they were making," Pedron said.

Pedron said Lisy did not notice the small plastic figurines until two people complained, but there is no mistaking what the toys represent: At the bottom of each is the product number 9011.

"When we found out what happened, we recalled them immediately," said Pedron, who said the toys do not reflect the company's view. "I was offended by them."

The company's 100 distributors sent out the candy bags. Most are sold to small Hispanic and Mexican groceries, Pedron said. He estimated about 90 percent of the bags have been collected.

Anna Rodriguez, who bought a bag of the candy for her grandson, said she was stunned when she saw the toy.

"It makes me angry," she told television station WFTV. "I was offended because I couldn't believe that someone would give something like that to a kid."

Pedron said he is saving the toys to return to the distributor.

A woman who answered the telephone at L&M and refused to give her name said Friday she did not know anything about the toy.

I wonder where those things were made?

Those toys in particular were created in AMERICA during the 70´s, as part of the merchandise for Dino De Laurentiis´ KING KONG remake. I have a couple of those. One of em has a plane, the other has a monkey.

But someone must have added the 0911 inscription where it was originally written MADE IN MALAYSIA.

Alright now I'm confused- were they made in America or made in Malaysia? Or were they made in america and then changed in malaysia?

The ORIGINAL toys from the 70´s were molded by an american artist, and manufactured in Malaysia.

I don´t know about the new ones.

The buildings don't look like the WTC. It's just an unfortunate coincident. I doubt anybody made em to market them that way, but it just goes to show the anger over 9-11 still boils in our hearts.

H0LY CRAP! Talk about coincidences: I was looking at the toys and yes, they were made in 1976, but there IS the 9011 number on ´em! I guess it´s the code of the toy (the one with the monkey is 9006).