Mom Says Pirate Playset Includes Slave and Shackling Guide

By Kenrya Rankin Oct 09, 2015

Ida Lockett, a mom in Sacramento, Calif., got a huge shock earlier this week while watching her son play with his new birthday present. Not only does the Playmobil Pirates Ship come with working cannons and a crane, but Lockett says it also includes a figure with skin that’s darker than the other figures in the set, with tattered pants and bare feet—and a neck shackle.

“You cannot have this specific accessory and call it anything else,” she told local station CBS 13. “You can Google it, look it up, try to say what it is—it’s a slave collar.” The set also comes with instructions that show how to put the shackle on the figure. “It’s definitely racist. It told my son to put a slave cuff around the black character’s neck and then to play with the toy.”

News of the toy went viral this week, and local NAACP president Stephen Webb is demanding that the toy manufacturer address the issue. “This is deplorable; this cannot be accepted, and it needs to be pulled off the shelf,” he said.

Watch an interview with Lockett here.