The First Years(R) Car Seats Receive Highest Overall Rating of 5-Stars From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

OAK BROOK, Ill., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Learning Curve® Brands, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of RC2 Corporation (Nasdaq: RCRC), announced that its The First Years brand was recently recognized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with the highest overall Ease of Use rating of 5-stars for its infant, booster and convertible car seats. To date, The First Years is the only brand to achieve 5-stars for overall Ease of Use in each of these car seat categories.

The First Years True Fit™ Premier Convertible Car Seat (C670) and The First Years Via™ Infant Seat (I450) have the honor of being the only 5-star rated seats in their respective categories to date. In the booster car seat category, all four of The First Years Compass high back booster seats received an overall 5-star Ease of Use rating – again, the only brand to achieve the highest overall rating across its entire booster seat line to date. The 5-star ratings by NHTSA are for the seats' ease-of-use pertaining to instructions, installation features, labels, and securing the child. For more information about The First Years True Fit™ Premier Convertible Car Seat (C670), the First Years Via Infant Seat (I450) and The First Years Compass B505, B510, B530 & B540 Booster Seats visit www.thefirstyears.com/5stars.

"No matter which type of car seat parents want for their children, we provide them with solutions that fit their needs. We do it in a way that makes it easier for them to install and use the seats thus helping keep their kids safer," said Pete Henseler, President of Learning Curve Brands, Inc. "We rely heavily on consumer insight when developing our infant products, and insights around ease of use for infant and booster seats have helped us keep our focus on this key parent issue when designing The First Years line of 5-Star rated seats."

A division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA's mission is to "save lives, prevent injuries and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through education, research, safety standards and enforcement activity." All car seats rated by NHTSA meet Federal Safety Standards & strict crash performance standards, but differ in their ease of use. NHTSA believes "an easy to use child restraint can result in more children being properly restrained," according to agency documents. To see The First Years' car seat ratings, visit http://www.nhtsa.gov/.

About RC2 Corporation

RC2 Corporation (Nasdaq: RCRC, www.rc2.com) is a leading designer, producer and marketer of innovative, high-quality toys, collectibles and infant and toddler products. RC2's infant, toddler and preschool products are marketed under its Learning Curve® (www.learningcurve.com) family of brands which includes The First Years and Lamaze brands, as well as popular and classic licensed properties such as Thomas & Friends, Chuggington, Dinosaur Train, John Deere, Disney's Winnie the Pooh, Princesses, Cars, Fairies, Toy Story and other well known properties. RC2 markets its youth and adult products under the Johnny Lightning (www.johnnylightning.com) and ERTL® (www.ertl.com) brands. RC2 reaches its target consumers through multiple channels of distribution supporting more than 25,000 retail outlets throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia Pacific.

Forward-looking Statements

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SOURCE RC2 Corporation