Vintage Fisher Price Little People #996 Airport Play Set COMPLETE with Wooden Little People/EXC ! (O)
 "Fly the friendly skies..." using Fisher Price's #996 Play Family Airport. Manufactured in 1972, this CLASSIC play set consisted of 19 pieces and afforded scores of children the opportunity to use their imagination to travel to far off places. Not only is this particular play 100% COMPLETE, it also features WOOD/wood and WOOD/plastic Little People.
The Airport play set consists of a turquoise blue airport base with a plastic control tower, a swing out loading ramp, a working baggage carousel, a ticket counter, a gift shop, a car rental agency, a travel office, a snack counter, and a passenger unloading area. The baggage carousel smoothly rotates and the helicopter's propeller blades twirl when the red handle is turned.
The base itself is in VG++ - EXC condition. The plastic surfaces are generally glossy and bright. The ONLY imperfections I can discern on this base are:
1. Some light soiling which should come off easily during the cleaning process;
2. A couple of light scuffs on the interior margins of the runways where they abut one another; these are not prominent at all and will probably buff out with an application of Armor All wipes;
3. A 1" L abrasion on the front edge of the left rear aqua column adjacent to the Ticket Window litho;
4 Numerous shallow scratches on the underneath side of the base;
5. Some "leached out" white spots on the underneath side of the yellow base; I have no idea what caused these;
6. Some extraneous gray/black marks on the underneath side of the white pillar on the "swing out" run-way;
7. A thin white mark on the front edge of the red roof on the Control Tower; I believe this will come off during the cleaning process; there is also the remnants of a black mark/scrape on the back edge of the red roof of the same Control Tower; this may or may not come off with cleaning;
8. A spot ( e.g. 1/2" L x 1/4" W) of missing plastic white "veneer" on the bottom edge of the base and to the left of the Travel Office litho;
9. Several missing or loose lithos; specifically, these include the right baggage litho, the Snack Bar litho, and the Travel Office litho;
10. Approximately a half dozen bubbles and one scratch on the Flag litho; the bubbles range in size from 1/8" L x 1/16" W to 1" L x 1/4" W; the scratch is approximately 1" L and has permeated the American flag litho; surprisingly, the scratch along with the bubbles do not jump out at you; and
11. Some possible light "bleeding" of the original factory glue showing through the yellow tarmac trim on the main runway; this may also be some light soiling; I won't know till I try to clean it.
PLEASE NOTE: The main Fisher Price logo and the Ticket Window, the Air Traffic Controller, the Car Rental, Snack Bar, and Flag lithos are the ORIGINAL lithos applied at the factory. I will be applying some Rubber Cement to re-anchor the loose lithos.
I occasionally offer replacement lithos for the buyer to apply in lieu of damaged lithos. I procure these reproduction lithos from a seller in Canada. For this listing, I will be offering replacement lithos for the Baggage carousel and the right rear tail litho on the airplane. I let the new owner attach these replacement lithos as I don't want people to think I'm doctoring original sets with reproduction lithos. I offer these replacement lithos free of charge to my customers. The paper utilized to print these reproduction lithos is a good quality "TrueBlock" paper with a sticky back. The ink is water resistant. I will cut out these lithos for you and all the buyer needs to do is peel off the backing and then apply the replacement litho in its appropriate spot. The size and color of the replacement litho is virtually identical to the original litho with the only difference being that the replacement litho is a little bit brighter and whiter than the original's (due to age).
The Air Traffic Controller window is generally clear but does display a few light scuffs/scratches. In my opinion, once this base is cleaned and the replacement lithos are in place, it will warrant an EXC rating.
Besides the airport itself, the set also includes a HTF turquoise trimmed jetliner with its original pull string (EXC-- The plane still makes a light whirring sound as it moves across the floor and the pilot still swivels his head to and fro. In addition, the door remains securely shut when in "flight." Noted flaws include a damaged right rear tail litho, a few scratches on the wings, and some minor yellowing along the seam on one side of the aircraft. The colors of this plane are bright and attractive with no cracks, chips, breaks, or discoloration; the "tires" display minimal wear. ALL IN ALL, this plane looks SPECTACULAR; a plane in this condition can fetch up to $25-30 by itself on E-bay);
Other items contained in this fun-filled set are:
1 VHTF red orange and yellow helicopter (MINTY MINT; check out the glossy patina of this piece; it looks BRAND NEW; NO CHEWS);
1 HTF red orange/yellow jet refueling tanker w/original hose and nozzle and Fisher Price on wheels (MINTY MINT);
1 yellow baggage cart with Fisher Price on wheels (MINTY MINT);
1 red/orange baggage cart with Fisher Price on wheels (MINTY MINT);
1 HTF red orange/yellow tug tractor (MINTY MINT);
1 green/white 2 seater side by side passenger car with luggage rack and Fisher Price on wheels (EXC+-some dulling of the wheel caps; I believe this will become more shiny following a liberal application of Naval Jelly; once this is done, I believe this car will warrant an EXC+++ rating);
1 white/green 2 seater side by side passenger car with luggage rack and with Fisher Price on wheels (NEAR MINT--once again, shows some dulling of the wheel caps; this should clean up nicely with an application of Naval Jelly);
2 VHTF round green pieces of luggage (one is in NEAR MINT-MINT condition; other is in VG++ condition; latter has a tiny indentation, possibly a tooth mark, on its handle); and
2 VHTF yellow square pieces of luggage (one NEAR MINT- MINT; the other piece is in VG+ condition; latter piece has a crack in the plastic under the handle; the handle itself is intact; I'm going to be using some Krazy Glue to repair the crack; once this is accomplished, the piece of luggage should be free of any additional problems (EXC+++).
The set also comes with 6 ALL WOOD or WOOD/plastic Little People that were original to this set:
1 HTF short, turquoise bodied African-American pilot (EXC++-EXTREMELY minor edge wear around bottom front brim; NO CHEWS);
1 HTF short, WOOD/plastic turquoise bodied flight attendant w/blonde hair (MINTY MINT);
1 RARE tall, blue bodied ALL WOOD Mom with blonde pony (MINTY MINT);
1 RARE, tall, ALL WOOD, green bodied Dad with BROWN heat stamped hair and metal rivet (EXC+++-NEAR MINT--minor paint wear consistent with age);
1 RARE, short, WOOD/plastic, yellow bodied frowning boy with red cap facing forward and freckles (EXC--hint of a few "nibbles" on brim of cap; you literally have to hold the piece up to within 3" of your eyes and rotate it in the light to see these; miniscule rough spot on right edge of hat brim); and
1 RARE, short, ALL WOOD, blue bodied girl with blonde braids (NEAR MINT-MINT; braids firmly attached).
This would make a fabulous set for some lucky youngster or a beginning Fisher Price Collector.
This set will be thoroughly Q-tip cleaned prior to shipping it to its new owners. I spend a MINIMUM of 1 1/2 - 5 hours cleaning each and every VINTAGE Fisher Price play set that I sell (except for those clearly marked as being in "MY ROUGH ROOM"). I use a variety of cleaning products. I pride myself on my clean sets. All you have to do upon receiving my sets is to unwrap them and put them on display or give them to some lucky child to play.
I've been "hypercritical" in my description because I don't want anyone to be disappointed by this set. Many of my former customers have stated their purchases from me FAR EXCEEDED my descriptions and their expectations. They are amazed with the quality of my merchandise, its cleanliness, and the pains I go through to pack their play sets w/TLC. I wrap each individual item in bubble wrap and pad everything with styrofoam chips, extra cardboard inserts, and white packing paper. I want these toys to last for another generation and beyond.
These are some of the best toys EVER manufactured for young children. Instead of sitting there and passively watching a toy perform for them (e.g. blinking lights, sounds etc), the children are enticed to develop their open-ended, imaginative play skills. Thus, they become ACTIVE learners. In the process, they also hone their cooperative, dramatic role-playing, and symbolic play skills, their acquisition of basic language-based concepts, and their beginning narrative or story telling skills. All of these are prerequisites necessary for future academic success.
Give them the best, VINTAGE FISHER PRICE:)
REMEMBER, THESE ARE VINTAGE FISHER PRICE TOYS! THEY WERE NOT DESIGNED FOR CHILDREN STILL MOUTHING THEIR TOYS OR UNDER 3 YEARS OF AGE.
ALSO, THESE VINTAGE FISHER PRICE TOYS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THE RECENT MATTEL RECALL OF FISHER PRICE TOYS. THESE TOYS WERE MANUFACTURED IN THE GOOD OLD U.S.A. THEIR DURABILITY AND SAFETY (NO LEAD PAINT ETC.) HAS NEVER BEEN QUESTIONED!
This particular set weighs 8 lbs., 4 oz. UNWRAPPED. My zip code is 47905 (Lafayette, IN). In all likelihood, it will probably require an over-sized box.
NOTE: I'M FINDING THAT FED EX HOME DELIVERY IS RUNNING ABOUT 33% CHEAPER THAN THE USPS (EVEN PARCEL POST) AND UPS GROUND--ESPECIALLY WHEN THE BOX WEIGHS OVER 5 LBS., IS TRAVELING LONG DISTANCES, OR REQUIRED AN OVER-SIZED BOX.
TO SHIP FED EX, I MUST HAVE A RESIDENTIAL OR WORK PLACE ADDRESS AND A CONTACT PHONE NUMBER (HOME, CELL, OR WORK PLACE). OTHERWISE, FED EX WILL NOT ACCEPT A PACKAGE FOR DELIVERY.
 PayPal is the preferred manner of payment. All payments are due within 5 business days of the listing's conclusion.  The price listed is for the item itself. The total amount due will be the purchase price of the item + the ACTUAL shipping cost to deliver your item to you. All shipping costs or extra fees (in the case of Canadian shipments) are the responsibility of the buyer. I will do everything in my power to find you the cheapest shipping rate—-whether it’s the USPS (First Class or Priority), Fed Ex, or UPS. I DO NOT PAD MY SHIPPING COSTS—-NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL! I SHIP WITHIN 48 HOURS OF A CLEARED PAYMENT.
I’m more than happy to ship selected play sets to Canada. Remember that shipping to Canada can be quite expensive so please contact me for a shipping quote before you purchase an item. I will attempt to find the cheapest shipping rate possible. Canadian customers will be responsible for any brokerage fees, Custom’s duties, or VAT’s imposed by your government. I am not responsible for these charges. Insurance is required for all international shipments.
ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO RETURNS ARE ACCEPTED. I have attempted to bring any noted "imperfections" to your attention prior to your purchasing the item. However, I'm only human. If I have missed something or you have a problem with your purchase, please contact me prior to leaving feedback.
|
