Between September 2006 and August 2007, Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher-Price imported a combined estimated 2 million toys that violated U.S. limits for lead in children's toys. By the time we all realized that Mattel's unpunished idiocy showed that the state of regulations in children's products was completely broken, they had recalled more than 21 million toys and we were all thinking differently about the random plastic toys you find at your local toy store, whether or not they had a major brand name on them. Mattel's actions were the largest factor that finally triggered an overhaul and reinvigoration of the Consumer Product Safety Commission under the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act, which went into effect this year.

Mattel and F-P have now agreed to pay $2.3 million for their lead-lined sins. (Error in post [missing decimal] corrected - thanks Kallie and Steph!) The companies still maintain they did not knowingly violate federal law. It's the largest such fine ever assessed against a toy company.