Slap Wraps and the Lookalikes

Region

United States

Associated With

Main Street Toy - company associated with the original branded Slap Wrap

Defining Feature

A nine-inch, cloth-covered metal strip that curled around the wrist when struck against it

Status

Historical event - documented Connecticut retail and regulatory episode

Overview

The 1990 slap-bracelet scare centred on Slap Wraps, imported lookalikes and a reported cut.

The nine-inch, cloth-covered metal strip curled around a wrist when struck against it. In October 1990, a Connecticut father said exposed metal from an imitation had cut his child's finger.

Walgreens reportedly removed the toys from sixteen Connecticut stores, and the state opened an investigation into imported copies. TIME later said its warning about cheaper imitations did not apply to the marked original Slap Wrap.

Why It Mattered

One parent’s report quickly changed what was on sale: after he contacted a Wallingford Walgreens, the company removed the toys from sixteen Connecticut stores. A complaint made to one shop had consequences for what families could buy across the state.

The Original and the Copies

• The Manchester Herald’s 11 October 1990 report associated the original branded Slap Wrap with Main Street Toy of Simsbury.
• The report distinguished the original from cheaper imported copies; the countries and manufacturers behind those copies were not identified.
• TIME’s 12 November report said its warning about cheaper imitations did not apply to the marked original Slap Wrap.

Limits of the 1990 Case

• The reported injury was a father’s account that an imitation’s cloth end had failed, allowing metal to protrude and cut his child’s finger.
• Connecticut’s investigation had opened by 11 October, but no final test result, formal recall or category-wide prohibition is established.
• The episode documents a Connecticut response, not a nationwide ban or a national injury count.

The Separate 2017 Recall

• On 7 September 2017, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled slap bracelets supplied with Studio Fun International’s The Story of Trolls storybooks.
• The notice covered approximately 79,000 units in the United States and 7,000 in Canada, and reported five incidents involving cuts.
• That product was sold from September 2016 to August 2017; no continuity with Main Street Toy’s 1990 Slap Wrap is established.

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