Toys 'R Us removes Breaking Bad figures from its shelves following Florida mother's petition

'Let's just say, the action figures have taken an indefinite sabbatical,' the store has said

James Rush
Wednesday 22 October 2014 17:50 BST
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One of the offending dolls
One of the offending dolls

Toys 'R Us has removed four Breaking Bad figures from its shelves and website after a Florida mother launched a petition to ban the sale of the dolls.

The petition, demanding the store immediately stop selling the dolls, has received more than 9,000 signatures after it was launched last week on change.org by a mother in Fort Myers.

The figures are based on the TV series about Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who turns into a crystal meth dealer, and his sidekick Jesse Pinkman. They include a detachable bag of cash and a bag of methamphetamines.

The toy store, based in Wayne, new Jersey, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the dolls were being removed from its shelves and website.

"Let's just say, the action figures have taken an indefinite sabbatical," a statement from the store said.

The retailer had maintained that the figures were sold in limited quantities in the adult-action-figure area of its stores.

The Florida mother, who wrote the petition under the name Susan Myers, said the dolls were a "dangerous deviation from their family friendly values."

"While the show may be compelling viewing for adults, its violent content and celebration of the drug trade make this collection unsuitable to be sold alongside Barbie dolls and Disney characters," she wrote.

On Monday, Bryan Cranston, the actor who played Walter White, responded to the controversy, tweeting, "I'm so mad. I am burning my Florida mom action figure in protest."

The debate has also seen adult figure collectors rally behind Toys 'R US. Daniel Pickett, of Manhattan Beach, California, launched a petition on change.org in favour of the toy seller keeping the dolls. It had collected nearly 3,000 signatures by today.

"I'm a parent of a school aged child myself, but I'm an informed, responsible parent and I closely monitor the toys, TV, music, movies and games that my daughter sees," Mr Pickett wrote. "That's my job, and I take it seriously. But I also like toys/action figures and I want 3-D representations of characters from my favorite properties and I love being able to walk into a store and find them."

Additional reporting by The Associated Press

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