5 Fisher-Price Playsets That Every Kid Wanted

As Barbie fever took over the world, I thought it was interesting how nostalgic people get when talking about the Barbie Dreamhouse Playsets.

For me personally, I was all about the Fisher-Price Little People Playsets.

Where is the Fisher-Price Little People movie?!

Not unlike Barbie, Little People Playsets and accessories allowed kids to live out their dreams of what they would like to be — whether that be a farmer, a teacher, or a parking garage attendant.

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Fisher-Price, still based in the small town of East Aurora, New York, manufactured the iconic playsets in America at the height of their popularity. Plastic was definitely used, but the original bases and other parts were made from a very hard compressed cardboard/particle board material that resembled wood. The walls and floors relied heavily on charming lithographs with no detail spared.

Several of the sets also somewhat ingeniously doubled as convenient carrying cases, allowing kids to pack away the many, many accessories, lock them and carry them away easily using the built-in handle (seen in the photo above). This proved particularly handy when your big sister rudely forced you to vacate the basement for her silly slumber party.

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You can see some of the playsets in action in this somewhat creepy retro commercial.

These sets were also made to last, and they still do. Many original sets are readily available on Etsy and eBay in remarkable condition.

Let's rummage through the attic and take a look at the 5 Fisher-Price Playsets that kids dreamed about.

Quick note: I will be highlighting the sets that were popular in the '70s and '80s.  Click or tap on each name to jump to a current eBay or Etsy listing page for that item. These were available when this article was published.

Fisher-Price Play Family House

With his signature working doorbell and family that included a mom, dad, three kids and dog, this pretty suburban home had everything you needed to play house. The garage door opened and closed and the home came with a car (which only had seating for one so you can assume there weren't many family road trips).

Fisher-Price Play Family Action Garage

Speaking of cars, the Action Garage came with four of them because this was a, well, parking garage. The car/people elevator with its iconic "ding! ding!" made many a parent a little frustrated. No carrying handle on this one so it usually took up a specified corner and stayed there.

Fisher-Price Play Family Farm

Who didn't want to be a farmer after playing with this iconic playset with its simply fantastic "mooo" sound effect that played every time you opened and closed the barn door? If you didn't manually push the little "moo" lever repeatedly to bug your sister, then you're lying.

Fisher-Price Play Family School

With playground equipment, desks and a chalkboard you had everything needed to give your imaginary students detention. The magnetic letters stuck to the school's metal roof but inevitably got mixed in with your refrigerator magnets so you could spell more words (likely inappropriate). I don't recall the bus coming with this set so this Etsy seller is being generous.

Fisher-Price Play Family Castle

This was the holy grail of Fisher-Price playsets. If your friend had this, you can assume they had all of the latest toys, gadgets and maybe even cable TV. Complete with secret passages, a dungeon with an operational door and a drawbridge with a moat (I recall a friend filling his with real water) this was like Game of Thrones for the Saturday cartoon crowd.