Same Toys, Different Continents #2: Fisher Price Garage
July 11, 2006 by Kerri Aldrich
Filed under Children's Toys, Same Toys Different Continents
Welcome to the second edition of Same Toys, Different Continents! Kerri and I both have this Fisher Price Little People garage for kids and wanted to share our experience with it today.
Generally speaking, hand me down toys aren’t a real favorite of mine because I’m one of those anal parents who can’t stand to have parts missing or pieces broken. I’m sure my son doesn’t care or even have a clue, but I do.
Some toys, however, really do hold up to the test of time in term of appeal and durability. The Fisher Price World of Little People garage is one such toy. It has a car elevator, fix up center, car wash, gas station, parking area, tire store and mini-mart stand plus ramps that are wide and sturdy enough for little clumsy hands to push the cars up and down a thousand times over. I can still hear my son’s laughter as he zooms the cars up and down, over and through the garage.
I happen to love hand-me-down toys, and I think every Fisher Price Little People playset that we own is from another family. They truly are durable enough for several children to go through, and worth every penny that someone else paid for them (thanks, friends!). And I don’t think I’d notice what pieces came with them in the first place to notice if any of them were gone. (Can you tell Hsien and I are a little “Felix and Oscar?”)
The cars are classic Fisher Price with two Little Peoples having the notches at the base so they fit into the cars without falling out. Anything that doesn’t hold together is usually a great source of frustration for little ones so I’m glad that these guys stay in their cars like they’re supposed to.
There is one part, the pumps I think, that keep getting separated from our set. That really is the only frustration with this toy. The characters are quite cute, very different from the originals of my childhood days. (How is it that we let the toy makers put a plastic ball on top of a plastic cylinder, paint on a few dots, and call it a person? We were way too easy!)
We’ve never bothered to put batteries in our hand me down garage (and I’m not even sure it has electronic sounds), but my son definitely doesn’t miss them. The garage has enough moving parts and things to turn and maneuver to make it a fun experience without the extra noise. Just looking at the picture makes me want to go play with it right now!
There is some noise effect, but our battery is dead in ours, and I don’t remember what it is, and I don’t particularly want to remind my 2 year old that it has one. Plus, I think we’re out of batteries (constantly). But I do love this set for all of its moving parts and different stations. My son will play with it for hours, and it should last long enough for his brother to do the same!
What is your favorite Fisher Price Little People playset?
This was our Grandson’s favorite Fisher Price toy. The playhouse was our girls’ and our grand daughters’ favorites. The girls played with the same one, handed down from the younger daughter to her twins.
BV
You gotta love the quality that goes into these toys! My kids also love the playhouse at their friends’ houses. Just the right size for them!
I took a bunch of stuff we got from yard sales that the kids weren’t playing with and donated it to one of the charity shops when we moved house this winter- so we no longer have the old style parking garage. It wasn’t nearly as cool as yours is though!
The biggest hits with my boys are the larger vehicles- the airplane and the schoolbus. They are excellent for conveying Duplos, people, Matchbox cars, and anything else that will fit. Usually they try to make the whole toybox fit, and then there are tears because of course there isn’t enough room. heh. Boys are hilarious.
The kids also fight over who gets to play with the circus train. We found some kind of pyramid at a charity bazaar, and got it even though it didn’t have any of the loose pieces, because it has a sarcophagus that opens and a mummy stands up. The hit with the pyramid one is the main doorway being large enough for them to drive their trains through.
Yes, there is rather a motor vehicle theme in our house these days. LOL
Our kids really liked the circus train, too, but didn’t really get that the monkey was supposed to jump on the trampoline part. That was one of the louder of the toys, too! Now that I have boys, we’re finding that the vehicles get played a ton more!
DB: I had a Fisher Price dollhouse when I was a little girl. My dad gave it to us when we first moved to the U.S. It was much loved. *sniff*
Deb: The pyramid sounds COOL!! Visiting the British Museum would be a great activity to go along with it. Come visit?
I have saved my sons’ Fisher Price toys and now plan to hand them down to my first grandson. I am going to start with the Circus Train (it is at least 30+ years old and still in very good shape, but I do not have the caboose for the train. Does anyone on this listserve have any parts to that train they would be willing to sell? I think I have all the animals- just missing the caboose.
Thanks so much.