Under pressure from media coverage and an online petition, Toys R Us said Oct. 21 it will pull “Breaking Bad” action figures from its shelves.
“Let’s just say, the action figures have taken an ‘indefinite sabbatical’” said a brief statement from the Wayne, N.J.-based retailer.
A Florida mother, Susan Schrivjet, started a change.org petition this month that garnered more than 9,000 signatures urging Toys R Us to drop the dolls, which included guns, bags of cash, and toy bags of methamphetamine as accessories based on the popular AMC series.
Media picked up the story en masse last week. Toys R Us, which sold the toys through a deal with Sony Pictures Television, told FOX Florida affiliate WFTX on Oct. 14 that the action figures were carried “in very limited quantities” with packaging marked for ages 15 and up and located in the “adult action figure” area of its stores.
But the company reversed course a week with its one-line comment to the Associated Press about the “sabbatical.”
“Word on the street is that they were sent to Belize,” wrote “Breaking Bad” actor Bryan Cranston on Twitter. “Nicely played Florida Mom.”
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