Tuesday, July 14, 2009

How it all started...

I'm starting this blog to discuss all things Precious Places. When I was a child, there was another girl in my neighborhood who had the entire Fisher Price Precious Places collection. I loved going to her house and looking at them all lined up on her bookshelf. Unfortunately, she liked them to stay all neat and orderly and so never really wanted to play with them, which frustrated me to no end.

A few years ago I was going through some of my childhood things at my parent's house and I ran across the Best Friends Pet Shop and the Mother and Baby Ponies (the only two sets I ever personally owned as a child) and I decided to see if I could track down any sets on e-bay. Low and behold, there they were, just waiting for me to begin my own collection.

What about you? Why did you start collecting Precious Places? Did you have all the sets as a child? I'd love to hear from anyone else who has a love for Precious Places.

8 comments:

  1. Hello
    My sister and i had some of the sets as a child. My sister was in our parents basement on day and came across a key to one of the precious places sets. That was it for her, she started collecting them off ebay and told me about them. my sister came down this summer and gave me a present; it was the silver bells wedding chapel(the set i had as a child) so that did it for me!! now all i think of is Precious Places. Ive got a small collection of them now and im on the hunt !!
    Stephanie

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  2. I found a commerical on utube.com for you
    search: fisher price prescious places commerical
    they just spelled it wrong. I hope you like it!!!
    Stephanie

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  3. To Stephanie -

    Thanks for sharing your story. I actually had some friends over for dinner the other night and one of them remembered that her older sister had precious places. Right then and there, we got them out and she had so much fun remembering all the pieces and seeing some new ones they never had. They are such charming toys.

    Thanks for the tip for finding the commercial on youtube. Wow, those kids have crazy eighties hair don't they! So fun!

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  4. Hello,

    I had a nice collection of Precious Places as a kid. I'm going to rescue them from my dad's attic this week, where they've been languishing unappreciated for years. It's time to find them homes where they can be enjoyed.

    Everything should be in pretty good shape, though some of the adhesive wall/building decorations may be a little worn from attic dampness; I won't know for sure until later this week.

    Any tips for selling them on eBay or through other venues? Or, is there anything you're still looking for? :)

    Peace

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  5. Hi Rylee,

    I've never actually sold anything on ebay, so take this for what it's worth... :-)

    Take good pictures with the houses assembled (lights on) and everything laid out like a village (sidewalks connected and figures with their accessories, etc.) It seems a little silly, but people seem to bid more for a set that is nicely set up in the pictures.

    List what sets are included, but don't feel like you have to go into great detail about what exact tiny pieces are missing. Sets get better prices when they give some information, but aren't extremely detailed. However, be sure to list if anything is broken, rusted or if the lights don't work. (Oh, and I've actually bought sets that said the lights don't work, but when I've taken off the light cover and tightened the bulb, they work just fine, so if one of your sets isn't working, you could try that and see if it fixes the problem.)

    If it were me, I would list everything in one large lot unless I were selling the Pretty Penny Wishing Well, Sunshine Country Picnic or possibly the Tip Toe Gymnastics Show, Wendy and Her Ice Cream Cart or Andy and His Skateboard. Generally people seem to be looking for a large lot to start their collection or specific rare sets to complete their collection, so the more common sets aren't worth all that much all by themselves.

    Besides ebay, you could also try selling them on craigslist, but I'm not sure what kind of a price you would get.

    As far as my collection goes, the only set I'm missing is the Dining Room Furniture, which I would certainly buy from you if you have it. I would also be interested in Wendy and Her Ice Cream Cart if the cart has aqua colored wheels or the Mother and Baby Pony if the baby pony is pink.

    Hope that helps and I'd be happy to answer any more questions you have if you need more specifics.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  6. Something similar happened to me. I was little and went to a friends house and she had a whole bunch of the sets. The ice skater one in fact. I always wanted to play with them but she never really wanted to :( And I never was gifted any of the sets myself. That little toy has been on my mind always right up until today when I went to a Value Village in Canada. I came across a bag and it had the pink roofed wishing well set - missing the ladel, and watering cans. I also got part of the wedding set, the little rollerskating girl, and a partial bathroom set all for 5 bucks. I couldn't believe my luck.

    And this is how my collection has started. I've been looking on ebay now for other pieces but I keep getting WAY outbid :\

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  7. Exousia - sounds like an awesome find! I've never found even one tiny piece of PP at a garage sale or thrift store, so I'm always jealous of people like you who score finds like that! Maybe I just don't shop at the right stores, I don't know...

    As far as eBay goes, just be patient. The market for PP goes up and down and a whole village will go for $150 one moment and then be available for around $75 just a month or two later.

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  8. Dear PP Collector,

    I don't know if you'll receive this message one day as your blog seems to have stopped in 2012...
    I try anyway.

    Let me tell you my story. I am 35 years old. I am French.
    I used to have a Polly Pocket collection as a child. I got rid of it around my 20s. Later on, as an adult I bitterly regretted this.
    Very recently I decided to buy them back using second-hand resale platforms.

    And last night, as I could not sleep, I suddenly remembered of Precious Places playsets. It has been like a flash back.
    I never owned one but my best friend did in the 90's. And I seriously loved going to her house to play with it.
    To be honest, are there nicer toys than the ones created in the 80's 90's ?
    I had the picture of the Big Mansion in my mind and today I decided to search for it on the Internet. I didn't even know how it was called in French or in English so I looked for "doll houses with magnet caracters". And there I saw it on Google images. Oh my god how wonderful is the Internet !!! From one thing to another I just discovered you blog and it is absolutely marvellous.
    I don't know if I will be able to afford to buy Precious Places now as vintage toys are overpriced nowadays. ButI will have great pleasur reading your blog and discovering all the wonderful collection.

    See you.

    Sabrina

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