School days, school days, dear old golden rules days, readin' and 'riting and 'rithmetic, talk to the tune of a hickory stick.....Remember those old school days. One school I attended had all 12 grades housed in one, old, two-story building. Each grade had its own room. Talking about getting to know everybody. I now look at these "mega, consolidated schools" and wonder how things might be different if each town had its own school again.
Here for your consideration is a 99% COMPLETE, Fisher Price Play Family #923 School is in EXC condition. This offering features both letter and number magnetic trays, all the letters and numbers plus the 8 EXTRA letters featured in the original set, playground equipment, desks, and the RARE ORIGINAL FISHER PRICE CHALK. The only thing missing from this set is the original eraser.
I configured this play set according to the Fisher Price specs for the 1978 version of the #923 School. The base is not the extended masonite base but the rest of the piece matches the description of the earliest sets (e.g. litho of children looking out through plastic panes etc.). With the exception of the main Fisher Price logo, all of the lithos are present and are original to this piece. This particular edition of the School did not come with an interior Fisher Price litho on the underneath side of the fold up roof. The Fisher Price specs for the 1978 Little People featured all plastic Little People. For this offering, I inserted one ALL PLASTIC girl. The other Little People are all WOOD/plastic. Everything else conforms with the 1978 specs.
ALL of the EXTERIOR lithos of this base, with the exception of the main Fisher Price logo, are STUNNING (EXC++-NEAR MINT)! After repeated inspections, the ONLY "imperfections I can spy are:
1. The flower bed lithos on both sides of the School have darkened slightly due to age;
2. The grass lithos all display some minor edge wear and/or a few small tears. The latter are seen on the left and back sides of the School. These spots are not prominent and do not detract from the overall appearance of the base; and
3. One teensy rub on the front edge of the bell tower roof litho.
That's it!!! These lithos are GORGEOUS!! They are brightly colored and smoothly adhered to their underlying surfaces. I do not see any bubbles, creases, or marks on any of these exterior lithos. These are some of the most beautiful School lithos I've ever seen.
NOTE: THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL LITHOS. I DO NOT USE REPLACEMENT LITHOS ON MY SETS. IF A LITHO IS MISSING OR DAMAGED EXTENSIVELY, I OCCASIONALLY OFFER THE BUYER A REPLACEMENT LITHO. HOWEVER, I DO NOT APPLY THESE LITHOS MYSELF. I LEAVE IT TOTALLY UP TO THE DISCRETION OF THE BUYER WHETHER THEY WISH TO UTILIZE THESE. I PROVIDE THESE REPLACEMENT LITHOS AT NO CHARGE TO THE BUYER. FOR THIS SET, I AM OFFERING A REPLACEMENT LITHO FOR THE MAIN EXTERIOR FISHER PRICE LITHO.
FYI, these reproduction lithos are the finest replacement lithos out there. The lady that makes these lithos is in Canada and has been making these for over 9 years. She uses a heavy duty True-Block paper with a peel off sticky back along with a professional grade printer. She calibrates her printer to match a set of unused, vintage FP lithos she procured from a former FP employee. These replacement lithos are as close as you can come to the real deal. Her replacement lithos are water resistant. You may see other competitors out there. However, the ink on their lithos is not water resistant and the paper is of inferior quality. All the buyer needs to do is peel off the sticky back on the reproduction litho and apply it to the clean, metal roof. Or, if the buyer prefers, I can apply the roof logo for them.
The INTERIOR lithos are similarly endowed (EXC++-NEAR MINT). The only "imperfections" I can spy are:
1. One, 1/4 " L x 1/8" W bubble under the chalkboard litho; and
2. Two, dark brown marks (or scratches) on the floor litho. These don't jump out at you. To me, they resemble variations one might see in the wooden "floor."
The plastic surfaces are in VG++- EXC condition. The only "flaws" I can discern are:
1. A few scuff marks on the roof; these are primarily confined on the hinge side of the roof; there is some minor paint loss associated with these scuffs. The most prominent scuff is is just below the red handle on the hinged side of the roof. This could probably be "touched up" with some acrylic paint but I will leave that to the buyer;
2. Some minor orangish discoloration around the seam on the lower edge of the hinged roof;
3. Some very minor paint wear on the hinge;
4. Several faint scratches without paint loss; you literally have to be holding this base up within 3" of your eyes and rotate it in the light to see these;
5. Some minor unevenness on the lower edge of the metal roof and its plastic edging; I really don't know how to describe this. Once again, I'm being super "nit-picky" here so that no one will be disappointed with their purchase.
There are no "dings," cracks, or repairs on any of the other plastic surfaces. The roof has generally retained its original creamy white color as has all of the corners of the school. The chalkboard appears to be in EXC+++-NEAR MINT condition. While there are a few faint scratches, these are extremely difficult to see.
All of the masonite corners on the base are free of any layering, smushing, cracking, repairs etc. The underneath side of the masonite base displays a couple of light, white scuffs (?). They don't appear to be white marks. I really don't know how to describe them. Suffice it to say that they don't interfere with the base's overall appearance when it's on display.
In my opinion, this base deserves an EXC++--NEAR MINT rating; however, I have lowered my rating to EXC purely on the basis of the missing main Fisher Price litho and the scuff marks on the hinged side of the roof. With the application of the reproduction litho, this base will certainly garner an EXC++ rating. I have supplied some photos of this reproduction litho tacked in place so you can see how great this base will be.
Accompanying this OUTSTANDING base, are the following accessories:
1 VHTF yellow/lime green swing set (MINT);
1 HTF lime green/yellow merry-go-round (VG++--The center bolt on the turning piece displays some rust; I believe it will brighten up with a generous application of Naval Jelly);
4 HTF lime green student desks (EXC++-NEAR MINT--light edge wear on the underneath edge of the front of the desk and on the top edges on the back of a couple of chairs);
1 RARE yellow Teacher's chair (NEAR MINT);
1 RARE yellow Teacher's desk w/litho (MINT);
1 VHTF yellow slide (NEAR MINT---faint surface scratches that are not readily visible to the naked eye);
1 VHTF magnetic letter tray (VG++--gray mark on the back side of the letter P on the letter tray; some faint red marks under the letter "Y" on the front of the tray; I believe this will come off during the cleaning process; some light scuffs on the front of the tray);
1 RARE magnetic number tray (EXC++-some faint scratches around the front edges of the tray);
1 RARE box of original Fisher Price chalk (NEAR MINT-MINT--all 3 pieces of the original chalk are unused and intact; the box possesses all of its flaps; there is some color loss on the edge of one of the flaps where someone has tried to open and close the box; in general, I would consider the box to be in NEAR MINT condition);
26 magnetic plastic letters (all labeled FP) (22 are MINT; two, " C, and possibly E" display some nibbles and two others exhibit some scratches; I would rate all four of these to be in VG+-VG++ condition);
10 magnetic numbers (0-9; all labeled FP) (seven are in MINT condition; ---numeral 4 and 5 have some teensy "nibbles" on them; in my opinion, the latter are in VG+ condition); and
8 extra letters "E, I, L, N, P, R, S, T" as specified in the Fisher Price specs (all MINT).
The play set also includes the following Little People:
1 ALL PLASTIC blue bodied girl with brown sculpted hair (MINT);
1 RARE, WOOD/PLASTIC, green bodied girl with freckles and a red bobbed hair and bangs (EXC-EXC+--minor paint loss around middle and lower edges of body; also "hint" of scuff on top of hair);
1 RARE, WOOD/PLASTIC, red bodied African-American boy with black, heat stamped hair (MINT);
1 RARE, WOOD/PLASTIC, green bodied boy with red, heat stamped hair (MINTY MINT); and
1 VHTF, WOOD/plastic, blue bodied Teacher with blonde pony (MINTY MINT).
This is an INCREDIBLE set and one that any avid Fisher Price collector would be proud to own. It would also make a great gift for some lucky child.
I will be thoroughly Q-tip cleaning this base and all of its accessories before sending it to its new owners. I spend a MINIMUM of 1 1/2 hours cleaning each and every VINTAGE Fisher Price Little People play set that I sell (except those clearly identified as coming from MY ROUGH ROOM). I use a myriad of cleaning products ----Goo Gone, Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser, Soft Scrub, Armor All Wipes, Comet, Chlorox Bleach pen, Dawn, Naval Jelly etc. to clean these sets. My sets are IMMACULATE! They're immediately ready to go on display or to give to some lucky child for play.
Remember, these VINTAGE Fisher Price toys are NOT designed for children under 3 years of age or those who are still mouthing their toys. Adult supervision is STRONGLY recommended.
Also, these VINTAGE Fisher Price toys are NOT part of the recent recall of toys manufactured in China. This play set was produced in the good ol' USA 40 years ago. They sure don't make durable toys like this any more!
This set weighs @ 6 lbs., 12 oz. UNWRAPPED. My location is Lafayette, IN (47905).
