A Precious Places Love Affair

In honor of February, the month of love, I now give you my Precious Places love saga...

Do you know what I mean when I say that no one in my life understands how I can love Precious Places so much?  I find myself not wanting to admit to people that I collect them, that there are bins of toys in our storage room.  Why?  Because those who have found out almost always react the same way...

A good friend from childhood was helping us move a couple years ago.  As she carried a large bin of Precious Places into our new house, she asked me, "What's this?"  I told her it was my Precious Places collection, to which she responded, "I don't remember you having these when we were kids."  I replied, "I didn't.  I've been buying them on eBay lately."  She looked at me, eyebrows raised, and said, "Seriously?"

Yes, seriously...

She's not the only one who thinks I'm crazy.  My husband totally doesn't get it either.  He won't call my toys by their proper name.  He says 'Precious Places' sounds like a porno movie, so he prefers to refer to them as 'The Pink Village'.  Like, whenever a package comes in the mail from an address he doesn't recognize, he'll ask me, "Is this something else for the Pink Village?"

So now I find that my last and best hope for some support is my two year old daughter.  She thinks Precious Places are wonderful.  Like me, she is enchanted by the lights and the cute little animals, the pastel colors and most of all, the magic of watching the characters come alive with a flick of a key.  Perhaps you have to look through the eyes of a child to realize why Precious Places have captured my heart.  Maybe if everyone in my life could be seven years old again, they'd quit teasing me about my collection and discover what I already know, that Precious Places really truly are the best toys ever made.

Precious Places Village Tour Stop 3: The Pink Slippers Ballet Studio

As we move on from the Blue Ribbon Pony Stable in our Precious Places Village Tour, we come to set #5153, The Pink Slippers Ballet Studio.

Here is a picture of the set in my personal collection:

As far as I know, my set is complete.  I even have the box and instruction sheet.  (I'm planning on posting pictures of both in a different post at a later time.)

As a child I'm sure I wanted this set (what little girl doesn't dream about being a ballerina?) but as an adult, I think it's the least interesting of all the shops.  It is certainly cute, but it doesn't come with as many accessories or ways to interact with it as the other shop sets.

The Ballet Studio is probably the most common of the Precious Places shops and easiest to find with all its pieces.  However, I have noticed that the mirror is often scratched, even in sets that are otherwise intact, so that might be something to inquire about when purchasing this set online.

What do you think?  Is the Ballet Studio one of your favorite sets?  Did you have it as a child?  Please feel free to leave any questions, comments or further information about this set in the comments section of my post!