Are you ready for this?
Because oh. my. gosh. Look at what we got!
The Fisher Price Play Family Sesame Street playset, first produced in 1975, but this one was produced in the last year of production, 1977 because our Oscar the Grouch has no handle on the lid of his trashcan. (Thank you internet for your incredible minutae)
I know, I know. I kind of started hyperventilating a bit when I heard it was coming our way. You see, my Mom is probably the most active disseminator of my blog links (and if she was just a little more social media savvy I'd be all over the freakin' internet) but lets just say that among her friends and family, this blog is very well read. (Hello all my Aunts! Thanks for reading!) So my Aunt Marg saw us this summer and said "oh, I heard you like Fisher Price Little People. I have a couple of old sets that I saved from when the kids were little. I thought you might like them." Um, yes please.
So there were two sets, but I'm going to make you wait awhile for the second one. And this one deserves its very own post. Because it is AMAZING. Please sit back and enjoy while I dork out over the amazing details. ahem.
This is the Hooper's Storefront view. Note the awesome architectural details. The stained glass transom window. The moulding. The awning. The brickwork. The tiles. Ach, there is so much I love about this.
And look inside the store! There is a diner counter piece that fits in there so customers can sit, and a little magazine rack thing on the right there, with merchandise and stuff that is also a seperate piece. And of course, Mr. Hooper and Susan. SUSAN. Best FP little person ever, with her magenta dress and her natural style hair. The Best.
I can hardly stand how cute that background litho is. Cake is 25 cents. Can I get a piece of that cake please?
Then, when you go around the corner you get a litho with Luis' fix-it shop and also, Big Birds alley-way home.

And then around front is, of course, the Brownstone that you'd find at 123 Sesame Street.
And then the last side has the tire swing and fire escape stair way. I love those ripped posters. And the round window. And that light above the door. Details!
Of course, 123 Sesame Street is where Bert and Ernie live. And thier little apartment does not disappoint.
Their twin beds are monogrammed for Pete's sake. And yes, that is a framed pigeon picture up on the wall. And Ernie's rubber duckie can be glimpsed on the edge of the tub through the open bathroom door.
And there's also an apartment above Hooper's Store. I'm not sure it's where Cookie Monster actually lived (because then where would Mr. Hooper live? What's the point of having a small corner store in a big city if you can't actually live above it? I'm just sayin') but he's hanging out there, watching a little TV for now.
Yep, the inscription on Big Bird's signed and framed photo on the wall proves it. Definitely Mr. Hooper's apartment.
I'm just so pleased with this addition to our toy collection. And the Boy's just love it too! It has been played with lots, the Oscar in his trashcan in the Little Dude's favourite, and for some strange reason, the Baby just loves that white ladder/stairs thing. Oh, and the mailbox is a favourite bit too, as a little person child can fit underneath it and that is apparently hilarious. We are going to get so much fun play time out of this. And its a nearly complete sit. The only thing missing, is the chalk and earaser for that chalkboard bit in the middle, but those are almost always missing from these old sets. And the only character we don't have is Gordon. I may have to start trolling around on esty looking for a Gordon because I don't want Susan to be lonely.
This is such an amazing gift, from my kind Aunt and Uncle. The Boy's faces just lit up when we pulled this out of the bag. I'm telling you, it was like Christmas, for all of us. And I have to say a special thank-you to my Aunt for keeping it is such good condition, and keeping all of those many, many little pieces together. As a parent myself now, I know whenever I find a good quality vintage toy with all or most of its parts intact and together that there is a mom somewhere to thank for it. Because it was she who picked up and gathered together those pieces so many, many times at the end of a long, hard day. It was she who got down on her hands and knees and pulled these little people out from under couches and chairs before she vacuumed, so that they did not get sucked up and disappear along with the broken bits of crackers and popcorn and buttons and dust bunnies. It was she who, with little thanks, found stray Cookie Monsters and Grouches and herded them back into their plastic fold, to be played with another day. So its nice now, as a mom to say "Thank you Aunt Marg! Thanks for being a great mom. Thanks for cleaning up the toys and keeping these guys together. Thnaks for holding onto them, even though it was big and bulky and the kids were all grown up. And thanks for thinking of us when you cleaned out your basement. Because we love playing with them."