Denver stores say the recent spate of toy recalls, most recently by Mattel Inc.’s Fisher-Price division, has made them think twice about selling Chinese-made products.

While specialty shops tend not to carry the mass-produced Sesame Street characters recalled for high lead levels, they acknowledge that most toys carry "Made in China" labels.

"We’ve been going through our shelves and looking for stuff that’s made in the USA, and we’re finding it’s a very small percentage," said Linda Meyer, manager of Timbuk Toys on South Colorado Boulevard.

Fisher-Price announced a worldwide recall of 83 types of toys — including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters — because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.

The recall involves almost 1 million plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August. The company is advising parents to keep the toys away from children and to contact Mattel’s recall hot line at 800-916-4498.

Timbuk Toys hasn’t carried the toys recalled this week, but a big chunk of its business has come from selling Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway line.

In June, RC2 Corp. voluntarily recalled 1.5 million railway toys and parts because the surface paint contained lead.

"We are looking and trying to do some replacement things," Meyer said.

A customer came into the store the other day looking for a stuffed animal made domestically. The store had only one in the store with a "Made in the U.S.A." label.

Most of the big toy vendors have their toys manufactured in China, noted Kazoo Toys store manager Doris Crennen.

"Not every single one (makes toys in China) but certainly a lot of them, because everyone’s trying to keep their costs down," Crennen said.

"We have a few (products)" for customers who would like something made in the United States, Crennen said, noting that the store owner is always on the lookout for products made in this country.

"It’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out," Crennen said.

An employee who answered the phone at KB Toys on West Colfax Avenue said the store has already pulled the tainted toys it carried from its shelves. A spokeswoman for Toys "R" Us also said toys have been removed and the shelves have been restocked with other items.

"Immediately upon receiving notice of the recall, we took aggressive steps to ensure that this product was not available for sale," the company said in statement.

The Golden Triangle Learning Center in Denver said it has yet to be affected by the recent toy recalls. When it learns of problems it typically posts information on its parent bulletin board to alert people who may have the toys at home.

The center tends to have educational toys such as puzzles and toy kitchen items. The Sesame Street products in the recall are more for "at home" play, according to Lisa Chavez, assistant director at Golden Triangle.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.