Fed Light Bulb Ban Forces ‘Easy Bake Oven’ Redesign!
- Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:05pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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An early version of the classic Easy Bake Oven.
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) — This is not the Easy-Bake Oven you remember.
The latest version of the famous toy oven first marketed in 1963 with a carrying handle and a fake stove top is now all curves and purple and snazzy graphics. And — perhaps most shocking of all — it comes with a new instruction: No light bulb necessary.
Chalk it up as an unintended consequence of the federal government’s move to phase out the incandescent light bulb. The compact fluorescents that are becoming the new standard for household use are so energy efficient that they’re useless in baking a brownie — or any of the other miniature treats the Easy-Bake has been cooking up for nearly 50 years.
Initially, news of the death of the 100-watt bulb prompted rumors that the Easy-Bake might be going the same way. Instead, the toy got its 11th redesign, at the heart of which is a new heating element much like that of a traditional oven.
The forced re-engineering also handed Hasbro an excuse to give the Easy-Bake — which in the 1960s and 1970s came in the era’s popular kitchen décor colors — its most modern makeover yet.
“This gave us a reason to do it completely differently,” said Michelle Paolino, a vice president of global brand strategy and marketing at Hasbro.
“We wanted it to look more like a real appliance, not a plastic toy,” she said.
About the size of a big bread box, the Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven is clearly designed to fit on any kitchen counter, assuming a parent is willing to shell out $49.99, a steep hike from the last model’s price tag of $29.99.
The new, redesigned Easy Bake Oven. (Photo: AP)
“It looks sort of like an Art Deco toaster with wings — a purple one,” said Patricia Hogan, curator at The Strong, which includes the National Museum of Play and the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y. “It’s just so cool.”
The oven targets girls between 8 and 12. The beauty of the oven, the company and users say, is that children can mix and bake mostly themselves — the food gets pushed in one end of the oven, cooks, then comes out the other side. Still, Hasbro says parental supervision is required.
The company says the cooking chamber temperature of the new model can reach approximately 375 degrees; the outside of the oven remains only warm to the touch.
Hasbro says the product, voluntarily recalled in 2007 because of reports of burns, meets all safety regulations. Nearly a million ovens were recalled after reports of children getting their fingers or hands stuck in its opening and suffering sometimes serious burns; a 5-year-old girl was injured so badly she had to have part of her finger amputated.
Inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2006, the Easy-Bake Oven has become something of an icon, spawning at least one “gourmet” cookbook that includes recipes from Food Network chef Bobby Flay. Some families, to be frugal, would use regular, less expensive cake mixes than the Easy-Bake ones, or create their own.
Jenn Romig, 31, of Denver, got an Easy-Bake for Christmas in the 1980s and loved it. Her favorite was the heart-shaped pan, which she used to make little cakes that she served to her two brothers.
“I think they wanted to” use the oven themselves, she said, “but it seemed girly. So they just would eat whatever I made.”
She didn‘t know at first what was behind the oven’s magic — until one day the bulb needed changing.
“It was kind of sad for me,” she said.
Joe Cacciola, president of Fuzion Design Inc., the Pawtucket-based firm that worked with Hasbro on the Easy-Bake’s redesign over the last two years, says having to eliminate the light bulb has been something of a blessing.
(Photo: AP)
He says the new heating element allows for more consistent heat — no hotspots near the bulb — and an overall better bake. There’s also no need for parents to open the insides to screw in a bulb.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the redesign has also brought an up-sizing of portions. Cacciola says the heating chamber is about 50 percent larger, and the new rectangular cooking pan, a departure from the traditional round one, can hold more and bigger snacks.
Cacciola knows a thing or two about the Easy-Bake, having worked for Hasbro himself, including on that toy line. (He also helped launch the Queasy Bake Cookerator, an ill-fated attempt to get boys in on the fun by allowing them to bake grossly named edibles like Chocolate Crud Cake and Dip ‘N Drool Dog Bones.) He says the approach designers took on the new Ultimate Oven was a blend of evolution with revolution.
The first Easy-Bake, manufactured by Kenner, now a division of Hasbro, came on the market in 1963. It was turquoise, boxy and cost $15.95; parents bought 500,000 in the first year alone. The oven has always reflected the times, at least in part: In 1965, Hasbro introduced TV-dinner-like trays that were split into three sections. The kid-cooked mini-meal consisted of beef and macaroni, peas and carrots.
By the 1980s, the oven was white and had a high-low setting switch. By 1993, it had gone pink.
In 2003, Hasbro introduced a version of the oven without a light bulb, called the Real Meal Oven, which looked less like an oven and more like a microwave. But it opted to go back to the light bulb with the next redesign.
Along with the latest model comes a new line of Easy-Bake mixes; Paolino says they’re trendier snacks. There’s a pink-and-brown “checkerboard” cake, for instance, along with whoopie pies, party pretzel “dippers” and cinnamon twists.
The cook time is about the same with the new heating element, about 15 minutes on average.
“It’s just like a real oven,” says Paolino, before reflecting on the Easy-Bake the way it once was: “It’s pretty amazing what a 100-watt light bulb can do.”
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Comments (63)
johnj1952
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:06pmIt now comes with a liberal that gives a speech into the TOY and after they stop talking you have a piece of cake that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Report Post »WeeDontNeedNoSteenkeenBadges
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 10:52pmIt is the PATRIOTIC DUTY of EVERY RED-BLOODED AMERICAN to buy your Easy Bake Oven on eBay (or some other 2nd-hand market) and stock up on 100W bulbs for this and future generations!
Oh … and impeach, arrest, try, and hang for high crimes against America … Barack Hussien Obama, AKA Barry Obama, AKA Barry Soetoro (illegal alien, Kenyan national).
Oh … and nuke Washington DC from orbit (just to be sure).
Report Post »Renalden
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 12:11amI already have bought 5 4 packs of 60 watters, kids too old for easybake, lol. But hate supporting china for watts. Or my money, sounds a bit harsh, but true.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 9:40amNot only are we banning light bulbs, but, now we are banning things JUST BECAUSE THEY CONFUSE PEOPLE ! The obama admin now wants to ban electronic cigarettes on planes because they are, “confusing”. So, instead of EDUCATING airline employees… instead of posting a sign for passengers… We are going to infringe further on rights and ban things that are “confusing”??
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hLJZ3B9DhGlmn-onXVrSJRHGHiJg?docId=ebcb85871a304eb4aaaa0d0976c3a090
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 9:36amBut…
…PURPLE???
Report Post »Bill in Texas
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 9:28amI think they’re trying to be gender nuetral.lol
Report Post »seejanemom
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 8:49amBetcha two Whoopie Pies and a pink and brown “checkerboard” cake that it carries a Federally mandated fine print warning somewhere in or on the box that states, “THIS IS NOT A TOY.”
Report Post »johnj1952
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:28pmNo its a tool, like the leader in Washington.
Report Post »AzCowboy
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:51amHas anyone wondered if this requires more energy than a light bulb. The reason for the light bulb demise is it’s energy usage. I bet this requires more power? I luv Omerica (opps, America)..
Report Post »jH…
Carol Ingian
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:23amI loved my old Easy Bake, I had one back in the 70′s.
Report Post »This new one looks more like a radio than an oven.
Meyvn
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 5:11amI plan to use fire to light and cook with when/if they ban the conventional light bulb.
Report Post »jenlem
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 2:18amA glorified toaster oven. Great. No thanks.
“Cacciola says the heating chamber is about 50 percent larger, and the new rectangular cooking pan, a departure from the traditional round one, can hold more and bigger snacks.”
I am pretty sure this new oven will be short lived. This oven is 50 percent larger and makes bigger snacks. Snacks that make kids fat so Mrs O would surely would be against it.
Report Post »scjeff
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 9:18pmThat was exactly what I saw. For $49 you can buy a real toaster oven and bake real cakes and cookies.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:17amWhat about the popcorn poppers that use lightbulbs?
What about heat lamps for bathrooms and for food warming?
What about stadiums?
What about office buildings where the ceiling is 40 feet off the ground?
What about egg incubators?
Lightbulbs serve MANY purposes aside from providing light.
THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.
We have a bunch of spineless representatives who won’t even stand up to a ridiculous thing like a lightbulb ban.
On the other hand, I have just invented an INCANDESCENT HEATING ELEMENT !
It happens to emit light, but it is actually a heating element.
It fits all older easy bake ovens, and all popcorn poppers. Coincidentally, it WOULD fit into a high ceiling light fixture or into a stadium fixture, but, it is clearly labelled that it is not for use in those!
Whose with me?
Report Post »Any orders?
piper60
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 8:09amI am with you. Another item that we’d have to wonder about: The old nightlight. I have used one for years. Only needs a 3 watt bulb, and really makes a difference when you need to see your way to the bathroom.
Report Post »zoro51
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:41pmex sister had one many moons back it worked made stuff but had cold spots in it. back in the 60s now it looks like a modern printer.. if it wasnt labled easy bake oven.. this looks kinda cool.. wonder if it works the same??
Report Post »RA0725
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:29pmWow. The Easy Bake Oven has been redesigned into a……toaster oven.
Report Post »stinkybisquit
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:52pmMy thoughts exactly.
Report Post »Infidel49
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:11pmPassing a law about the light bulbs we use. How long before you pass a law we can only eat peas and veggies. the closest we will come to a cheese burger is watching the hypocrite obama’s stuffing them down their necks. 2012 cannot come fast enough, then it will be bye bye to the commies.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:20pmHere in Texas, I guess that soon, illegal aliens, terrorists and drugs won’t be the only things being smuggled across our border…..soon it will be “kilos” of 100 watt lightbulbs……I’m really gonna hate having to go to back alleys in the middle of the night, to “score” my bulbs from someone in a trench coat.
Report Post »ScienceIsNotEvil
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:30pmYea! A true conservative would only pass laws that restrict what we say, read, hear or who we sleep with and in what fashion…
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:51pmHmmm, how many CFLS does it take to heat a chicken hatcher/incubator? At 3-10x the purchase price of incandescent bulbs, how much is really saved? How much mercury ends up in the landfill, along with all the unhatched eggs when such a contraption is discovered not to work worth a chicken poop?
Report Post »FEMALL
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:28pmSave Solyndra. Solar panels for Easy Bake Ovens.
O=Half Billion $ Solyndra Pay Off
Report Post »ScottIvlow
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:28pmYou know! I can picture Glenn Beck dicussing this story on the radio program tomorrow. By Friday Glenn will have one one of these ovens in the studio for his show or the 4th Hour with Stu & Pat where Glenn will be the taste tester. From there Mercury Arts staff will have access to it when it gets put in the breakroom. Where it will be in constent use. Neil Cavuto had a chef you one on his TV show today, it was a good segment.
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:36pmMrs. Imus will be there watching him, with a wooden spatula (from Spatula City) ready to stike the second he even dares touch anything in the Easy Bake Oven.
Report Post »tyler2000
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:25pmrepublicans cost us too much energy and too much in heath care. got to the gym and save us some energy. don’t be such idiots.
Report Post »Socialism_Is_The_New_Black
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:32pmHow about trolling responsibly and post something that makes sense.
Report Post »jroar
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:07pmEither your using reverse phycology or your compose points in your ear. Try to shed off the liberal BS and learn something.
Report Post »Infidel49
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:08pmYou are really lost, aren’t you?
Report Post »Aloneonahill
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:50pmAre you trying to prove something, other than your inability to communicate clearly?
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:12amActually, it is the welfare recipients who do not have healthcare, so THEY are the ones costing us too much in healthcare, using emergency rooms for common colds and the flu, and never paying their bills, while bloating the welfare rolls – along with illegal aliens who have anchor babies and receive housing allowances and food stamps.
Report Post »SO, you can blame all your whining on the DEMOCRAT base turned SOCIALIST to take care of their base so their base will keep voting for them. The problem is, after they are accustomed to receiving one level of freebies, they demand even MORE handouts in order to keep them happy and voting. After all, not even a socialist democrat would dare TAKE AWAY a welfare handout, so it is there forever.
cassandra
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:23pmso let me get this straight now because of government invasion we are suppose to let a child play with a toy that uses a mercury filled light bulb in it, and if it gets broke I have to call a special clean up crew to clean up the poison from the broken bulb, thats how the government works NO COMMON SENSE
Report Post »Constructionist
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:14pmInstead of a lightbulb, the new easy bake oven runs on audacity and hope. And with a price tag nearly double that of the old model, its a victory for union labor as well…
Report Post »ProbIemSoIver
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:34pmI just hope they don’t get raided by a huge squad of armed feds in riot gear, because I think that roller was made of plastic, and was NOT that rare Madagascar wood !!!!
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:55pmI actually thought they might go under when somebody mentioned Easy Bake Oven.
Great — I wonder how much this FORCED redesign cost them. they gottan pay various skilled people to design it, from drafts to electrical parts, build test models, even test market potential designs and beta models.
At least it doesn’t use curly-tail light bulb, otherwise it would come with an Easy Hazmat Suit.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:10pmYou can buy the kiddies a real toaster oven .. cheaper and will probably work better .. you need parential supervision on either .. even the originals did .. will parents want to get ripped off .. just to satisfy the government … I hope all people who have originals go out and buy a ton of old bulbs now! Pass them down to grandchildren and great grandchildren ..etc.
Report Post »Rob
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:50pmDamn these liberal basturds to hell!
Report Post »Tek
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:47pmUnfortunately, dietary regulations will only kill the new oven later!
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:29pmThis is classic.. use MERCURY instead, like the new light bulbs, I guess?? HAHAHAHAHA 12 step hazardous waste disposal.. COOL!
Report Post »ares338
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:27pmI hate having the government telling me I have to do anything.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:12pmI wanted to get faucets on my tub/ shower .. plumber could not do it .. because I don’t have a “scald protector” on my shower … he lost the job and I will live with a faucet that leaks when I turn it on! I refuse to buy something that I DO NOT NEED .. the new hot water heater that I bought doesn’t get water hot enough to scald — thank the government for that also!
TEA!
Report Post »mattwakulik
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:24pmyou know what the sad truth is?…. nothing surprises me anymore with this administration!!!
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:02pmUh, sadly, it was the BUSH administration that passed this legislation! Yes, for all he did RIGHT during his administration, and there is little for which he earned any real criticism, ‘W’ blew it on this one! He got bad advice and he did not question it with boldness and we got screwed! What THIS administration, the ObamiNation adminstration, and the current batch of ‘law’makers, is that they had the incredible shortsightedness to NOT pass a repeal of this poorly thought out and ill conceived interference in privat commerce by government. What really happened is that GE was no longer making sufficient margin on its incandescent product line and it went to the government to manipulate the market by having incandescents banned! Few people really understand the implications of this, but it is serious and gross interference in the private, free marketplace by government, an example of exactly what is most wrong today! Our government needs to get back to governing and stop trying to be in business and our businesses need to get back to business and stop enticing government to interfere with the marketplace! Other than a level playing field (the referee role), government should NOT have a hand in business! We have lost significant checks and balances and completely upset the marketplace by the light bulb ban, by the GM takeover, etc. And, we are about to lose our country as a consequence!
Report Post »Abraham Young
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:16pmIf only the FEDS could resist the temptation to interfere with all of our commerce, we could get many more innovations than we are currently – collectivism is driving away entrepreneurialism and innovation faster than you can bake an Easy Bake pop tart.
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:18pmThat is an honest assessment Abe.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:26pmIndeed it is, indeed it is. True words indeed.
Report Post »Old Truckers
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:28pmWhy not just teach the young girls to use a real oven? If it requires parental supervision, why bother with this mickey mouse oven and just use a real one?
I don’t get it!
Report Post »ProbIemSoIver
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:20pmThis is a fairly large company. The Administration would not let them fail. Obama would swoop in and seize this company like he did with GM. He would appoint a Kiddie Oven Czar. The Military / Industrial Complex and it’s Neocons could also use this technology and implement it to spread democracy around the world.
We sure as #ell don‘t like the idea of Muslims spreading Shari’a around the world, but we have no problem spreading Democracy around it !!!!
RON PAUL 2012 !!!
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