It's hard to miss the news when a popular toy is recalled. Barbie, Polly Pocket and Thomas the Tank Engine are headline stories.

But what about all the other toys and children's products recalled each year that don't get any news coverage? What happens to them?

A KOMO 4 Problem Solvers investigation has revealed kids can still get their hands on a number of those toys that have been recalled.

We don't hear about most of the 400 products recalled each year, which could be why less than 20 percent of them are returned to the store or the manufacturer.

Some are donated to thrift stores and some are sold at garage sales. Many find a second life on eBay and are sold to people who are completely unaware of their danger.

We know it's happening because we went online and had no problem bidding for, and buying hazardous toys and children's products.

Evenflo's Happy Camper was a real bargain on EBay. Our winning bid was just $24.99.

But the portable play pen is a death trap. If the hinges aren't fully locked into place, the sides can collapse and trap a child.

The Happy Camper was recalled 10 years ago after those collapsing sides killed two toddlers.

At that time, Evenflo offered free repair kits to keep the hinges locked in place. The crib we bought on eBay a few weeks ago did not come with the safety fix.

Keri Brown Kirschman is an assistant professor at the University of Dayton who specializes in pediatric injury prevention.

She studied online auctions and found that a significant number of recalled children's products, including toys, are on the auction block on eBay.

"I was surprised. I was surprised that they were easy to find," she said. "A recall is a recall, meaning that we need to get those items off the shelf."

Kirschman and her colleagues picked 141 children's products that were recalled between 1992 and 2004, and searched for them on eBay. The list included dolls, infant furniture, baby walkers, bassinets and riding toys.

The team found these recalled items were for sale at 190 different auctions.

"Some of them were recalled for small parts, some of them for lead. They contain excessive lead levels," Kirschman said. "Some of them were recalled to to strangulation hazards, asphyxiation hazards, fractures, head injuries, fall potential."

Kirschman's study, which was published this summer, was conducted in 2004, but she says the results remain valid. She knows that because she has been shopping online.

"And I did find a number and have purchased a number of toys online that have recent recalls as well. So the problem appears to still exist," she said.

We found the same thing. I bought that deadly crib online a few weeks ago. I also had the winning bid on a Fisher Price baby jumper seat. The item was recalled seven years ago in July of 2000 because the spring that suspends the seat can break, sending the baby falling to the ground.

EBay says it can't possibly police the millions of items listed for sale on its site. But its policy is very clear: it does not allow the listing of recalled products on the Web site.

Earlier this month, eBay informed its members that they could be kicked off the site and lose their fees if they sell recalled merchandise.

With so many recalls each year, no parent could possibly keep track of them all.

Parents should search the Consumer Product Safety Commission's database to see if the item has been recalled. But that's not always easy to do due to the limited information available on the auction sites.

Here's the bottom line: buying a used toy or baby product online is risky. It's hard to tell whether it's dangerous. I'd think long and hard before buying.