Instruction Sheets: The Magic Key Mansion - Page One

As I'm sure you already know, the website ThisOldToy.com is a fantastic resource for all things Precious Places.  There is no way I could ever have put together the database of parts that they have so kindly published for all of us collectors out there.  However, one thing they are lacking is pictures of all the different instruction sheets for PP sets, so I thought I'd start a  new series of posts and give you as much information as I can get a hold of regarding those instruction sheets.

I do not yet have all of the instruction sheets, but I have a couple, and most importantly, I recently acquired the instruction sheet for the Magic Key Mansion.  Because it is a large, four page document, I'm going to split up the instructions into a mini-series of four posts (one for each page).

So, without further ado, here is the Magic Key Mansion Instruction Sheet, page one:

And because I know it's hard to read such tiny print, I've taken close-ups of the top and bottom halves of the page.  Here's the top (click on the picture to view a larger image):

Since it's still hard to read, here's what the top of the page says:

Fisher-Price

Instructions                                                            Magic Key Mansion

ADULT ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

(2 "D" batteries are required, alkaline recommended.)

CAUTION: This product contains small parts which may pose a choking hazard to children who still put objects in their mouths.  Keep all plastic bags out of children's reach.

PARENTS, PLEASE READ THIS FIRST!

No tools are required for assembling the Magic Key Mansion; however, the assembly instructions are very specific and need to be read carefully and followed exactly.  Because there are many pieces we suggest using a large clear work surface.

DO follow the steps in order.  Use the check-off boxes as you progress from step to step.  The pictures will help you recognize the various pieces.  DO take time to make sure all the snap-fits are secure.  When you have completed the mansion you should be able to lift it by the floors or by the base, but not by the roof!

IMPORTANT! FOLLOW STEPS IN ORDER!

Check off steps as you complete them.

IMPORTANT! APPLY LABELS BEFORE ASSEMBLY!

Labels are to be applied to the GREEN BASE (not bagged) and to the BEDROOM and BATHROOM FLOORS (found in Bag 5).

Step-By-Step Assembly Instructions

Find Label Sheets.
Find Green Base (Not Bagged).
Apply Labels To Base.
(Bedroom And Bathroom Floors Also Require Labels.)

To Apply Labels:
Refer to label diagrams to apply labels correctly.
Be sure the areas where labels will go are clean and dry.
Remove labels from sheet and apply as indicated.
Carefully position each label and press in the center, smoothing outward toward edges to get air bubbles out.

Okay, me here again.  This is what the diagram on the bottom of the page looks like closer up (click on the picture to view a larger image):

Besides the amusingly schizophrenic use of bold, CAPITALS, and even an occasional underline, the most interesting part of this first page to me is that there is no mention of a label (or litho) for the Magic Key.  You would have to assume that with these "very specific" instructions, they would have mentioned the litho if there was one.  I'd like to be wrong, but it seems to me that it is yet another strike against my hope of ever finding the Magic Key Mansion's Magic Key litho.

I really am disappointed that the instructions don't say anything about a litho, I was so hoping they would, but I am still excited to share more of these and other instruction sheets with you.  So, stay tuned for more posts in my Instruction Sheets series!

More Key Lithos

In my previous post about key lithos I calculated that there are 28 different Precious Places key lithos. The website ThisOldToy.com has pictures of 21 of those lithos. In addition, I have previously posted pictures of the key lithos for these three sets (click on name of set to view images):

The Sunshine Country Picnic
The Pretty Penny Wishing Well
The Playroom

Just to complete the library of litho pictures, here are the last four:

The Best Friends Pet Shop:

The Pink Slippers Ballet Studio:

The Tip Toe Gymnastics Show:

Skateboarding Andy:

These are the 28 key lithos I know about.  Please let me know if you find a different one!

In Search of the Mansion Key Litho

As I discussed in my previous post All About Key Lithos, as far as I can tell the Magic Key Mansion was sold to the public without a litho for its key.  However, I was looking through the pages of the 1989 Fisher Price Toy Fair catalog and I noticed this image:

If you look very closely at the key in the girl's hand, you'll see that it does have a litho.  I tried to get a closer look, but it is impossible to tell exactly what the litho looks like.  However, it doesn't look to me like any known litho from another set.

Obviously, since the mansion in the photo isn't the same as the one sold in stores (it has different colored parts and the gingerbread trim has actual holes in it) this is NOT proof that a litho for the Mansion ever existed.  Still it gives one hope, doesn't it?  Maybe someday I'll run across a Mansion key that actually has a litho.  I haven't given up yet.  Let me know if you see one somewhere!

All About Key Lithos

I just received this question from an anonymous reader, and since it was a topic I was planning on writing a post about anyway, I'm answering the question here, rather than in the comments section of another post.

Here's the question:

Do you have any idea how many keys there are in total? I know I don't have them all but I am confused by the number of blank ones. Some of them I have I know are missing lithos but are there some that really are blank?

To answer your first question, there is one key per Precious Places set: 4 shops, 2 cottages, the Gazebo, the Mansion, 8 furniture sets, 6 outdoor scenes, 9 figures, and 4 mother & baby sets. That makes a total of 35 keys.

However, as far as I can tell, the Dining Room set was never sold to the public, so chances are you'll never get that key, which would make the number of available keys 34.

Of the 34 remaining sets, 28 definitely had key lithos. These are the 4 shops, 2 cottages, the Gazebo, the Canopy Bedroom, the Playroom, the 6 outdoor scenes, the 9 figures and the 4 mother and baby sets. (You can find pictures of some of the key lithos on my blog in other posts and more on ThisOldToy.com.)

That means that the sets that are not known to have had lithos are the remaining 5 furniture sets and the Magic Key Mansion. (To read my post discussing the furniture set lithos, please click here.)

Now why the Mansion wouldn't have a key litho is beyond me. It's the crowning jewel of the Precious Places village, was the most expensive set when it was sold in stores and clearly is the set with the biggest 'wow' factor. However, ThisOldToy has no picture of a litho, I've never seen a litho for it on eBay and both of the Mansions I personally own came to me with a plain pink key... thus I am sadly forced to conclude that the Magic Key Mansion's Magic Key didn't have a litho.

That said, I'm always happy to be wrong about things like this and if anyone has seen a key litho out there for the Magic Key Mansion, I would love to know about it. Please leave me a note in the comments section of this post.

So to summarize: as far as I can tell, there were 34 Precious Places sets (each with one key) that were sold to the public. To the best of my knowledge there are 28 different key lithos available, which means that there were 6 sets that came without a litho for the key. Hope this helps!

The Pretty Penny Wishing Well Parts List

At last, the moment you've all been waiting for (or at least, the moment, I've been so excited to write about)... The complete and verified Pretty Penny Wishing Well parts list.

Before I begin however, I need to be sure and let everyone know that the part numbers and most of the descriptive content for this list has been borrowed from the website ThisOldToy.com. The changes I've made to their list based on what I found in my new-in-the-box set are in red. Here it is:

The Pretty Penny Wishing Well Accessories List:

* FPT6741 - Round yellow base with a ring in the center for the wishing well. There is a litho with fish swimming in water inside the wishing well circle. There is a litho walkway around the circle with pink hearts, yellow dots and blue triangles and flowers on a purple background. The base has a little entrance area with a slit on each side for the accessory lattice-simulated arbor. The opposite side of the base has several little holes for the accessory fence.
*FPT? - Pink wishing well base with a hook in the middle for the accessory water bucket and a hook on both sides for the accessory ladle and two pegs on top to attach the roof.
*FPT? - Aqua scalloped wishing well roof. There are two holes on the underside to attach it to the wishing well base. It has a half-circle shaped litho on either side showing a pink heart in the center with flowers to either side on a purple background.
*FPT6614 - White soft plastic lattice-simulated archway that attaches to 2 holes in the FPT6741 base. The archway has pink flowers and green leaves on it.
*FPT6617 - White soft plastic ornamental railings/fence that fits into holes along the side of the base.
*FPT6743 - Pink watering bucket with a hinged (removable) handle.
*FPT6744 - Pink watering bucket handle.
*FPT6745 - Pink ladle with a curved handle that fits on a hook on the side of the well.
*FPT6746 - Purple garden watering can with a handle and a round (not white) pour spout.
*FPT6748 - Precious places figure - Female (Michelle) wearing a pink dress with yellow trim along the bottom and a yellow flower in the center of her chest. She wears yellow gloves, has blonde hair and has a pink flower in her hair. She is holding a dark pink umbrella (folded up, pointing down across her dress).
*FPT6747 - Aqua key with a magnet on one end and a handle on the other end. The handle is marked "Precious Places" on one side and has a litho showing a pink heart with a circle of flowers on a purple background on the other side.
*Decal sheet with the three lithos to complete the set.
*Map - a 16.5" x 11" fold out "village map" that has full color pictures.


There you go... Now you know just about everything I know about the Pretty Penny Wishing Well. In a future post I will be addressing my remaining questions about the set, as well as posting pictures of the different pieces, so stick around for that! And of course, please let me know if you have any questions about the set that you'd like me to try and answer.

The Sunshine Country Picnic Key Litho

The website thisoldtoy.com (TOT) has a great collection of Precious Places photos, but is missing some pictures of key lithos, one of them being the Sunshine Country Picnic key litho.

Here is what I believe to be the key litho for the Picnic set:



I'm pretty sure it is the right key since it has a basket on the litho and because I don't know of another set to which it might belong.

Anyone want to confirm or dispute this claim? Please let me know!

Pretty Penny Wishing Well Key Litho

The Precious Places parts lists on thisoldtoy.com (TOT) don't have a picture of the key litho for the Pretty Penny Wishing Well. Here is what I believe to be the correct key:



The heart motif on the key clearly matches the lithos on the wishing well itself.



I'm pretty sure I'm right about this, but anyone have any objections?

Furniture Set Key Lithos

Before I get into a discussion of the furniture set key lithos, here's a little background on the sets themselves: of the eight Precious Places furniture sets, four of them were manufactured for the course of the two years the line was in production. These are the Kitchen, Living Room, Bathroom and Baby's Nursery sets. Two sets were manufactured only in 1989: the Dining Room (but see my earlier post) and the Bedroom. The remaining two sets were manufactured only in 1990: the Canopy Bedroom and the Playroom.

I think this background is important for understanding the key litho situation of the furniture sets. You see, thisoldtoy.com (TOT) has each PP set listed with a description of the key litho. For the Kitchen, Living Room and Bedroom is says that the key "has no litho". However, for the Bathroom, Baby's Nursery and Playroom it says "unknown description of litho". I would like to suggest that the Bathroom and the Baby's Nursery sets should also be listed as "has no litho" and here's why...

I believe that for whatever reason only furniture sets that were put into production in 1990 (Canopy Bedroom & Playroom) have key lithos. I agree with TOT that the Canopy Bedroom key looks like this:



and I would like to propose that the following key is the Playroom key, since the balloon motif matches the litho on the Playroom puppet show:



Other than these two keys, I have seen no other lithos that could possibly belong to the Bathroom or Baby's Nursery furniture sets, so unless I am wrong about the balloon key belonging to the Playroom or if there are lithos out there I've never seen, I will continue to assert that the Bathroom and Baby's Nursery (along with the Kitchen, Living Room and Bedroom) never came with lithos for their respective keys.

Have you ever seen any lithos that you don't know what sets to which they belong? Do you have a key with a litho for any of the furniture sets besides the Canopy Bedroom and Playroom? As always, I would love to hear about it so I can complete my Precious Places collection!