Easy-Bake Loses Its Bulb With 100-Watt Phase-Out

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.

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