Question about Fisher Price Little People

[Jennifer Z]

I was so excited for ds to get to an age when he can start playing with "Little People" because it was one of my favorite toys. Last night we went to scope out the Little People at the toy store, and I was shocked at the price, but even more frustrated to find that you can't just buy the people...you have to buy a whole stinkin' set that includes a character or two, and I didn't see ANY sets that didn't require batteries. (Except for the nativity scene that my mom got us this year) Am I just shopping at the wrong place? I spent hours upon hours playing with those, all the way through puberty. I didn't have any of the "buildings" or anything, just the people...made my own buildings, school buses, ect out of shoeboxes and the like. I wanted this toy because it would help develop imagination and now it appears to be almost an anti-imagination toy...everything beeps and lights up and such. grrrrrr.

My questions:
1) Do they sell any sets of JUST people (I saw two animal sets that you are supposed to buy for the Noah's ark or Zoo sets, but no people). I am so utterly annoyed because even those sets that have quite a few characters to the set, requires you to buy like $50 or more of products to get the complete sets. What a rip!

2) Are there inexpensive alternatives to little people that would allow a lot of imagination play?

I just totally underestimated the price of toys and am now worried about having stuff for under the tree AND his birthday (2 days later). I figured that we could get his Bday gift in the after christmas sales, but dang, even at half price it would be difficult, not to mention that the stores might not have what we want at half price. *sigh* I am glad he is only 2 (well, almost) and doesn't "get it" yet about gifts at Christmas. At least I can find some puzzles for only a few bucks so he will have something, just not what I wanted for him....because it doesn't exist as far as I can tell. grrrrrr.

[QueeTheBean]

I love Little People, too. We have both the old kind (the choking hazzard kind!), and the newer ones. It has been a few years since I bought mine--just before they all started "talking" and needing batteries. At that time, I did find a few sets of people at Toys R Us. I would have thought they still had them??

When we got the house and the farm, they were probably $20 or $25, maybe? Of course, they don't make music or moo or anything, like the new versions so!

How about the school bus? That can't be too expensive. My kids still play with it every day (5 1/2 and 21 months). Good luck!

[gretasmommy]

Try ebay. You can find tons of little tikes/little people there, sold individually and in sets.

Happy shopping!
Andrea
mom to Greta 3/14/02

[ilex]

Hello Jennifer, yes you can buy the people seperately, they come in fours I think, usually with a dog or something, but I have seen them. My dd has the farm and it has minimal noises (if you don't want the sounds, you could just nix the batteries). She got it for xmas last year and I think she has played with it every single day. We also got her the Ark and she absolutely loves it, she puts all the animals together and plays with the farm and this is one of her favorite toys. So I would say that to me it was worth the money. I was thinking of getting her the train this year, but I might get her a wooden dollhouse instead. And also you don't need all the sets to finish the one, they just link together if you want. If you only have one it is fine on its own.
HTH!
~Holly

[Parker'smommy]

I was just at Target and was looking at teh Little People stuff too. This is what I saw- they have big elaborate sets like the farm, airport, Noah's ark, zoo, and house. They come with lots of people and animals.
They then have smaller sets that can or cannot accompany the big sets like a small barn ( less than $10), construction trucks, farm stand, and more that come with 2 people or so and a vehicle or 2( cant remember it all).
They also have stuff like a bus, and trucks that come with 1 or 2 people.
THey then have even smaller stuff that are like a helicopter with on little people, a race car with a little people.
They have this one cute set this is 2 cars with 2 different people, and an animal that comes in a little clear backpack. I think that would be cool for starters.

Ds currently has the farm which he plays with ALL the time and loves it. He also got the garage for his bday last year. The farm makes the animal sounds and the garage has a few sounds for it too. But not too much, and no lights that flash or anything. . I rotate the 2 every 2 months or so. We also got him the construction cars (3) with the 2 people and he loves using these with the garage and also uses them to pick up his smaller wooden blocks.He also puts the animals in the trucks and stuff too. He is 21 months is starting to really use his imagination with these.

I havent really seen anything like Little People but I dont go toy shopping too often.

I also remember playing with Little People and loved them as a child. Ds plays with my old stuff at my mom's house.

Im so sorry that you are having a tough time financially this year. I do think that most toys in general are overpriced- teh lights blinking ones and the "natural" ones like the wooden toys. Ds's wooden toys are his most expensive. But you are right, that he wont know the difference. It is tough when hsi bday is so close. Maybe some relatives can help you get what you would like him to receive. I think it will be really cool to tell him that you played with Little PEople too when you were young.

[serenetabbie]

we too have loads of little people. while all i remember having was the farm (the press board one with the goofy "Mooooo" when you opened the door), my kids have the newer house, bus and barn that do not make noise, an older farm, two circus trains (maybe 3...I think there is one at grammas too) an older bus, plane and tons of accesories I got at the goodwill and yard sales.

It seems like I am mad for these toys, but really I am not. it was sort of an accident we ended up with all of it. When Ds was one, I entered him into some contest on a whim and we won a HUGE box of little people stuff...including a bunch of extra people. A few of them came with books....like the dog...but some of them were just in shrink wrap on a card. Then a neighbor cleaned out her attic and we got loads more

Little People also can be bought directly from Fisher Price, as can all the bits and peices that might be missing from any big items you have (like doors).

[serenetabbie]

BTW jennifer, i am sure we could spare a few little people if you would like. PM me and I will let you know what we have extras of

[klenertz]

If you have a Kohl's near you, I have seen packs of just the people on sale there. They were "themed" for the barn or zoo etc, but each had I think 4 people. They were in clear plastic tubes. FWIW, my daughter (who is 19 months) has the barn and LOVES it. She plays with the animals separately or puts them night night in the barn. We never put in the batteries so the sounds aren't an issue.

[serenetabbie]

Here;s the link for you
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/littl...sp?section=PRO

[Clarity]

I bough well loved vintage little people for pretty cheap on ebay (the minivan and 6 people for like $3 or $4 plus like $3 shipping...I like them better, and dd is not mouthy so the smaller size did not concern me at all.

[jeca]

HMMM, I'm not sure what you were looking at for $50. I got DD the house and the garage for $50. Ebai is a good place to pick up extra people. Little tykes make a version of them also.

[mamalisa]

I confess, I love the Fisher price stuff probably more than ds. His birthday was yesterday and I...I mean HE got the garage and the extra set for the quarry he already had and an extra tow truck and person. We have the farm and the set that had the chicken coop and bunny house, the bus, the fire truck. Dh got me....I mean DS Noah's Ark and extra animals for Christmas. Target doesn't get much of the smaller sets, usually they just have the farmer truck+ a person and the tow truck + a person sets($4.99). Kohl's really is the best place to buy them, they don't have much in stock usually but they are always on sale and they get the unusual stuff, like the tubes of just people.

As a heads up, I know there was a recall on the farm. One of the screws on the barn door falls out. Just in case someone didn't see that

[joesmom]

Originally posted by serenetabbie
we too have loads of little people. while all i remember having was the farm (the press board one with the goofy "Mooooo" when you opened the door), my kids have the newer house, bus and barn that do not make noise, an older farm, two circus trains (maybe 3...I think there is one at grammas too) an older bus, plane and tons of accesories I got at the goodwill and yard sales.

serenetabbie, we had the barn with the goofy moo too! joe & his cousins still play w/ my old sesame street house & little people. we found mr hooper in a closet a few months ago & i was so happy to see him!

i agree ebay is the place to go!

[mamalisa]

Ok, I just went to ebay, big mistake!! They have everything! Even the Little People from when I was little!!!! And it's all CHEAP!!!! JenniferZ, you can get a ton of stuff for what you you pay in the store!! Go to ebay!!

[mamalisa]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=2527 unless clowns freak you out, this is a great one!

[Jennifer Z]

Wow..I can't believe the number of responses! Thank you ladies! I don't shop very much and was so overwhelmed because toy shopping was different in my brain than the reality. Knowing there is some stuff out there helps a lot and I will go look at the places you all suggested. Thank you again!

edited to add: ds wanted me so I closed early, so here is the continuation. lol

Yes! I remember that barn with the moo sound when you opened the door...there was one in the church nursery and I wanted it SO BAD as a kid. lol. I played with it every Sunday, even sneaking in there when I was "too old" to play with it.

I actually have a Kohls really close by, so that will be a great place to look. I am also loading up ebay in another window as we speak, so I will browse around there too. I can't believe I didn't think of that, I knew they had some vintage ones, but didn't even think that they might have some less expensive current ones.

I am glad to know there are some smaller sets, because all I saw were some really elaborate sets and I just got really frustrated because they were so much more than I can afford. I was really wanting to just get some small stuff, then "help" ds make some buildings and such since he is too young to make them on his own. (and they are out of my league). My mom has been good about getting him gifts I suggest, so he might get one of the nicer sets from them (probably the farm since they live on a farm...lol). I was also really glad to know a 21mo plays with them a lot.

[jackson's mama]

Oh, Little People! I had a great schoolhouse when I was little, with a chalk board on one side of the roof and a magnet board for magnetic letters and number on the other roof. I had forgotten about that (and the fact that I often closed my cat up in there for "class" :LOL).

[Melaniee]

Great question! I thought you could not buy just the people...I'm going to scope out eBay, too.

Ds has some things w/out noise: Construction Trucks (smaller ones), Amusement Park (THIS IS A FAVORITE), and I believe the Noah's Ark he is getting does not. He also has the barn, I actually like the sounds (a rarity for me), but you could take the batteries out and the child would never know the difference. I also wish they did not insist on putting sound in some of the others, but it seems like so many parents want toys to *do* something on their own. Ds has the zoo train, police car, big truck and they all make noise...but it's not too bad, and he doesn't usually turn them on.

One thing that concerns me is they all seem to be made of PVC, does anyone know if they are or are not safe? Do they have the Pthalates (sp?) or are they one of the companies which is making their toys pthalate-free. I'm afraid to know the answer.

Off to look for people on eBay!

[luckylady]

didn't read all the replies, but wanted to tell you to just buy animals! My DD 20 mos ignores the people and plays only with the animals!!!

the ark is silent. ironically...

oh, so is the fun park, but it's big.

[tnrsmom]

Moving this to the Toddler forum.