[ID: Fashion Mansion] ID Help for dollhouse

[Candice]

I'm trying desperately to find a dollhouse I had in the mid-90s, I want to say I probably got it for Christmas of 1996, possibly 1997. It was about 3 feet high and had cardboard panels that slid into purple poles that held it together. The panels were decorated with different scenes of each room in the house. The floors were also cardboard and slid into the slots in the poles. I believe the roof was also purple. It came with furniture (pictures below). It was not made by Mattel but was designed for Barbie-sized dolls. Mine was destroyed by a mean boy and I want to find it again so badly. Any help finding it or what it was called is so, so greatly appreciated. Thanks!

::edit::

One thing I forgot to add, the lady on ebay who I found the pictures from said the furniture was made by Blue Box Toys.

Pictures I found on ebay of the furniture that it came with:

(just the pink couches)

[pikapal]

I think I remember those cardboard houses being sold in like the Fingerhut catalog. Let me see if I can find a picture of it.

[EricaVee]

Ahh I had the pink couch and chair and everything else looks VERY familiar. The only dollhouse I can remember having that sort of sounds like your description was a castle--It was a non-Mattel product made for Barbie-sized dolls, as you said. I remember it falling apart a whole lot because it was three stories tall and held together very loosely with little poles that fit into boards, but it was one of my favorite toys. I had always figured it was made by a little-known company but now I don't know.

[Candice]

Yes, mine fell apart quite easily too. A mean boy took my Barbie Ferrari and smashed it into the dollhouse It wasn't very sturdy but it was one of my favorite toys too. I know definitely that mine was a house though and not a castle. Though it may have been three stories tall also. I remember it being about 3 feet tall.

[mlpMerriweather]

I have a picture of myself getting that cardboard dollhouse and it's plastic furniture on Christmas morning as a little girl. But that photo is at my parents' house.

It was a Cinderella-style castle with a clock tower over a grand staircase in front, open in the back for play, as I recall. I still have most of the furniture that didn't break. I don't think the dollhouse itself lasted too long, even though I was careful with it.

If you really need the picture, I could ask my dad to scan it when he gets a chance.

[Candice]

mlpMerriweather, if you can do that, that would be awesome! Thank you so much!

[mlpMerriweather]

Ok, Dad actually brought me the photo album, so I scanned the two pictures. There may be video of me getting this as well, but the quality is probably worse than that of the pictures.

The Castle appears to be a SEARS official Disney's Cinderella castle. We got lucky and the box is in the photos. My parents assembled it before I woke up on Xmas and put two of my Bikin Disney dolls I already had in it. http://www.donettas.com/Cinderelladollsbikin.html I still have most of the furniture in storage, and I can tell you there is more of it than in the photos you found (for example, I am holding up the vanity stool in the following picture).

Ok, in the composite image I made, the original pictures are on the left and the others are blown up from those two images. If you want the original high-res scans, I could email them to you, but I think I covered the most important bits in the blow-ups.

[Candice]

Wow thank you very much for sharing your pictures with me! It does look similar in style to my dollhouse, but I know for sure that it wasn't a castle, and it didn't have the staircase entrance. It was probably the same manufacturer though. I'm searching now and not finding much at the moment but thank you so much for your help! I'll be sure to post if I find something.

[mlpMerriweather]

Knowing my dollhouse came from Sears, I started looking through their wishbooks and such. Is this the one? Same furniture. If it isn't, you might want to look through more Sears catalogs. (http://www.wishbookweb.com/links.html)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbook/3301946684/in/set-72157613066446197/


EDIT: Another one:

[Candice]

Oh my gosh, you are so awesome! I think that top one is it! Thank you so, so much for your help, you are a godsend!

[mlpMerriweather]

Glad to be of service! I know I have been anxious to find out what some of my old toys were in the past, and I'm sure I will be again.

[EricaVee]

Wow, those old catalogues are an incredible resource...thank you for posting them, I'm sure they will be of much help in identifying other toys!

[mlpMerriweather]

No problem! I know how great they can be, because the ones I own really helped me put together my Little Pretty Pets site. I am sure there are more catalog scans out there, but that site (wish book web) was the easiest to find.

[EdenEye]

Hi, I think it was really awesome to see mlpMerriweather's old pictures up from when she was a kid and had these old toys. I think that would be a great topic of a forum. Memories of the past, where people post pictures of themselves with their childhood toys. I know I have some to post myself and would love to see other postings. Ghost of the Doll, let me know what you think.

Eden

[Ghost Of The Doll]

Sounds good to me, I'll add a new board in! I'd also love to see pictures of rooms where people store/display their hundreds of collected toys too.