Furniture: Foreign Issue: Dream Furniture From Across the Pond...

Courtesy of Flickr.com, you can see the alternate color versions of the dream furniture collection.

Of course the orange and white dining set is the bomb. Blythe collectors are big on the Dream collection including it in bookself dioramas. I definately prefer these color choices to the pink and blue of the yankee versions. UPDATE: as unbelievable as it sounds, a Canadian recently sold a desk and wardrobe (without boxes) on feebay and they each sold for $270 plus shipping. =-O

Complete bedroom set from Germany. Currently on sale on a foreign site if you google it. They also have the complete dining room set in white and orange, but the picture would not load. 

I am told the pink versions of the cottage and dream pool are from the Philippines. Anyone know anymore about this? 

I'm not sure if these are custom, foreign, or final production but I like them: 

The Deutche version: SOOOO cool! 

Other Products: Late 1970's Barbie Scale Boat and Trailer

Fair enough, this has no direct link to the A Frame house we all love so much. I included this post for several reasons. One, its just a cool unusual toy that I had never seen before a few weeks ago, two it IS yellow, orange and white, like the house, three, it could make a cool addition to an A Frame set up and lastly, I have received feedback to include more related toys on the blog. I think this set came out around 1970 or maybe a bit after. It looks like it matches the original 1972 camper. UPDATE: I have since found out that this is a reincarnation of a Big Jim set. Big Jim if you dont know was sort of a Brawny Mountain Man for little boys to play with. He had a camping 'friend' and they did things like go fishing, hunting and other 'manly' stuff together. Kind of like the two fellows from Brokeback Mountain. Anyway, some of the sets were molded in different colors for Barbie and Ken, for example the Western Barbie Horse trailor and truck for Dallas was first a desert truck for Big Jim. I had a 1983 Alvin and the Chipmunks tour van that when I sold it to a comic book/toy store the owner recognized it as a re-do of the 1970's Big Jim Camper (for 2) funny, they never did make a girlfriend...

Trading Cards

You can just barely see near the upper left corner of the layout the A Frame house. I had never seen these cards before. They were a bit more than I could budget for, but still an interesting addition to 1978 house collection. I cant imagine too many kids trading Barbie cards.

Custom Repaints: Diff'rent Colors and a Home Made House

I am all for freshening up and subtle customizations on an old, worn out toy, but I cant stand behind these renovations. For starters, the 1982 Cottage version of the Mattell A Frame house is rare enough as it is, two it matches the A frame and needs no color change and three, there are enough Hannah Montana/Bratz/etc modern homes out there for those who want something 'new'. The pink one, I cant figure out how they moved the walls around, but thought it was interesting enough to include here. These were of course on feebay, I saw it on my weekly cottage hunt and was briefly intrigued, then dissapointed. The green and brown large 1978 House I can't figure out. The pictures aren't that great, and they marked it up for their 'improvements'. I can only hope that the windows were in such poor shape that spray painting them black was only a lateral movement. The yellow to green color change is not bad, but anything that is white should stay white, the only variables should be the terra cotta roof and yellow floors/doors/windows. Color me perplexed.

Grey and blue.

Renovation: Fading to Brown

this house gets first place, or i should say, 'worst place' winner. 

Just wanted to put up another brown Barbie doll house. As a restorer of these well made homes, I am always fascinated at how far gone they are after cooking 20+ years in an attic that probably gets to be 150+ degrees in the summer. I forget what this one went for, but people sell these things an absolute wreck. Everytime I bathe a new one it always leaves a serious ring around my tub, plus takes several cans of white spray paint to conceal the aged patina. I dont know why the plants are so frequently missing, but at least they are the most easily replaced thanks to your neighborhood petstore aquarium section. The right side picture is a different house, but illustrates the lack of care most evilbay sellers have towards these nearly 35 year old toys, throw it on the floor, get as much money for it as you can, and if you can't get what they want then its trash and not worth their time to pack it up. my last house of course was shipped with NO PACKING material whatsover so it saved the cheap and  lazy seller a couple of bucks (maybe). As a former chemistry student I still have no idea why the fading is so hit and miss, and wether its heat, ultra violet sunlight or both.

white spray paint should fix this. 

Really bad fading, of course the walls and post covers can be repainted white,. for the doors i would recommend yellow tape from the automotive dept at walmart, autozone or even at micheals. just trim around the edges and it will look much better. 

Nothing a few bottles of spray paint cant fix. 

1978 Mattel A Frame Barbie Dream Doll House Red roof yellow floors mod groovy 1970s 1980s custom OOAK

Ebay: Record High Sale Price, was it worth it?

At first glance this looks like just a boxed up A Frame Dreamouse. This is actually a FACTORY PACKED furnished house. In this rare opportunity you can see how it came originally back in the 1970's from the Mattel factory. Believe it or not the winning bid was $1025 plus $100 for shipping. Pretty amazing, huh?

Perhaps the best way to get a steal of deal these post covid inflationary days is facebook marketplace, depending on how far you are willing to drive and how long you want to search, here is this week's finds: 

The same seller has all 3, so one stop shopping at less than half of what you would pay on ebay and you get to inspect before you buy, get it same day, no damage during shipment (or shitty packing), etc etc, these are about 30 minutes from me, if I hadn't already upgraded and restored everything I have I would be the buyer on these, too bad! 

Real Life Examples: Decorative Iron Security Doors and More!

the stove...

It might seem excessive as this is my third post about real life examples of the infamous DreamHouse, but everytime I go out driving I find more better stuff, especially the yellow wrought doors in the top left corner. This is why I say that this house is California Contemporary, not technically an 'A Frame'.

Other Houses: The Purple Elephant in the Room...

I had seen this house over the years here and there online, and hadnt thought too much about it. After seeing some posts on Flickr.com I decided it was worth a second look. It has the weight, girth and presense of the legendary A Frame though it is visually dated to the late 80's early 90's. It does command far more money than the 1978 house as it is so much rarer. I suppose it is made with high density board with plastic supports, which is okay, but again I just prefer the changability and overall look of the orange and yellow house. But if the A frame had competition this would be it.

Okay, so our house doesn't 'light up'. I don't know there is just something that got terribly dated with this house in the early 90's and not in a good way. 

Generic wood kit version. 

Foreign Issue: Guten Tach, Damen Barbie

These are european issue furniture, townhouse, cottage and beauty salon toys. If you look closely, you can see the dining room butler cart, a living room lamp, and the furniture in the townhouse is pink and black. Cool. Also, the floor pattern of the salon is similar to the yellow floors of the '78 Dreamhouse.