Another Precious Places Commercial

Thanks to A.Lewis for alerting me to another Precious Places commercial posted on YouTube:

This one has the theme song!

Precious Places Village Tour Stop 4: The Best Friends Pet Shop

Continuing on from the Pink Slippers Ballet Studio, our tour of Precious Places Village now leads us to #5155, the Best Friends Pet Shop (also called the Cuddly Friends Pet Shop according to the English and French version of the PP Village Map).

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

 

I believe my set is complete, other than the fact that I do not have the box or instruction sheet.  

This set has a special place in my heart because it was the only PP building that I owned as as child.  I can't tell you how many countless hours I spent making Cuddly Kitty pace the floor and swinging Perchy Parrot on his perch.  I think my favorite part about this set as an adult is the fish in the fish tank that you can make swim around.  All the cute little extra touches like that are what make Precious Places such wonderful toys!

When it comes to collecting, the Pet Shop is not really a hard set to find on eBay.  However, one thing to watch for if you're considering buying this set is that the litho on the cash register does tend to go missing, so check for that before you commit to a purchase.

What about you?  Did you have the Pet Shop when you were a kid?  What's your favorite thing about it?  As always, I'd love to hear anything you have to say, whether it's a question for me to answer or just an observation about the set.  Please leave your input in the comments section of this post.

Instruction Sheet Spot the Difference

Let's play "spot the difference"!  You remember that fun game they always have in kids magazines where two pictures look the same at first, but when you look closer, you realize they are actually quite different.

Ready?!?!

Here's Picture 1 - The Silver Bells Wedding Chapel instruction sheet:

Here's Picture 2 - Another Silver Bells Wedding Chapel instruction sheet:

Photo courtesy of eBay seller azmusicsales

What's the difference!?!?

Okay, there are actually several, but the one that I'm the most interested in has less to do with the Chapel, and more to do with what's out front.

Here's another hint...

A close-up of the first sheet:

And here is a close up of the second instruction sheet:

Do you see what I see?  There are heart-shaped sidewalk connectors pictured on the first set of instructions, but none on the second set!

What does this mean?  Well, nothing for certain, but I think it's further evidence that I was on the right track in my previous post about sidewalk connectors when I said that I didn't think all shop sets originally came with the little heart-shaped buggers.

My current theory (and yes, it is just a theory) is that the sidewalk connectors were in the sets when they were first produced, but then later removed, since they are completely unnecessary for the sidewalk to stay together (and actually make it harder to move figures around on the sidewalk).  This theory might be helped a little by the fact that the eBay auction that contained the second set of instructions (the one not showing the connectors) also included the box which had a clearance price sticker still stuck to it.  It seems most likely that the toy would have been on clearance in 1990 after Fisher-Price discontinued the line.  But again, this is really just speculation on my part, especially since the auction also included a Village Map showing the 1989 sets. 

So as usual, I have nothing certain to say.  You'd think that Fisher-Price would have made the same toy the same way over a brief two year production period, but clearly, that is not the case.