Saturday, February 4, 2017

Old Dreams and New Ones: Comparing the Classic A Frame with the New Dream House



So, just why do we love this house so much? There are many reasons we could describe. For me, the most obvious answer is the open, moveable lay out of the 1978 house. It is large, open, beautiful, easy to change around what room is where. Thus, every person's house will be a little different. To contrast, the new house is bright and eye catching for sure, yet it the rooms are small, cramped, forced, static, and uncustomizable. While the original house has separate lanterns, the new one has stickers, the older one has 360 degrees of play, the new one is one faced. So, I could go on, but I think the winner here is crystal clear. Another thing I noticed is the price. While I think the 1970's house is a great value for the $110 it was back then, this new house is comparable priced, but in 40 years will grown up children who played with this one collect it and adore it as we do the A Frame? I'm guessing not as much. While the vintage home can be completely disassembled, cleaned, repainted, reimagined, and be restored to factory mint again, will the 2016 house have that same ability? How will the stickers, cardboard, electronics and myriad of small pieces withstand the test of time? Hmmm, that remains to be seen, but I suspect I will still have my pristine 1978 Dream house in my collection. =-) 


Something about these large, bulky, well made, pass down able toys captures my imagination so much better than today's cheap, flat, quickly donated products. 

6 comments:

  1. I have just recently gotten all of my old Barbies out for my little girl. She has gotten several new Barbies, which I will not be wasting my money on. They are so cheap. I am really disappointed that they have done this to her and all of her things.

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  2. What brand and color of paint do you use for roof and floor?

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    1. I have not yet painted a yellow and red A Frame to match its original color, just cleaning and polishing the roof and floors along with whitening/brightening the white parts is sufficient. The one time I acquired one that was very faded, I switched the colors to green (see post). I think it was Velspar, or whatever Lowes has on the shelf as their spray paint. I did prime first (lightest color primer) when switching colors and that helps give you a good looking finished product.

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  3. There is a nice one on Ebay now with tons of stuff, Barbies and the Corvette. Item # 152814904096

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  4. The only thing I like about the new house is the garage.

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    1. I noticed that, too! I always tried to make one of the downstairs side rooms a garage for the yellow '78 Vette. Never quite worked though, lol.

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