Pa. Laws Prevent Pac-Tragedy

Video game maker Namco recently opened up an online store, Club Namco, that attempts to cater to irony-obsessed youths who wish to purchase t-shirts with Pac-Man and Pole Position on them, despite probably never having played the games. (I was awesome at Pole Position, for the record.)

Anyway, despite the fact the store offers shirts and plush toys, you can only buy the former, since the shirts are made in Japan and were only tested to meet federal guidelines. Pennsylvania is one of several states that has more restrictive stuffed-toy regulations than the government.

I, for one, would like to thank our state legislators for stopping these evil Pac-Man plush toys from making it into our fair state. I haven’t quite been able to figure out what state regulations are stricter than the governments, but according to the official regulations of Pennsylvania, stuffed toys can contain no more than 1.0% urea. How else do you think Pac-Man gets his color?

Frankly, they could be dangerous otherwise — I mean, do you really want a stuffed Pac-Toy gobbling up dots and chasing ghosts after chomping on an even bigger dot? I think not. It’s good to know our we have laws.

Pac-Man Plush Cushion [Club Namco]
Club Namco open for business [Gamespot via Joystiq]
Stuffed Toy Licensing and Labeling Laws [Toy Industry Association]