Furniture: The Lost Furniture Knockoffs

12" scale

3" scale

In this rare photo you can see the 'knock off' line of Arco brand furniture. Clearly, these were knockoffs since the style, color and inventory was nearly identical in every way, living room set not withstanding. There was a clear blue dining room table not shown here. I know because i had the dining room set as a kid, circa 1983. I cant believe Mattel didnt sue them (unless Mattel was a parent company or had some deal with Arco). This scale would just about fit the 3-D paper centerpiece posted below as they are approximately Marx scale. UPDATE: the two top photos i just found online and is a full 1:6 scale. extremely rare, each went for about $40 and are dated 1984.

Customs: Conglomerations Volume 1

In these never before seen photos, you can see the possibilities of constructing more than one together. The top photos are of my current inventory. I just keep finding good deals on evilbay and recently scored one for $9.99 plus shipping. In those photos are approximately 3 and a half a frames and one partial cottage. They are in what used to be called a bedroom. The pink one is not mine, btw.

Mega mansion and custom front walk and yard:

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

Other Products: A Frame Birthday Party Centerpiece: Volume 1

Initially, I thought this was contrived and unecessary. But if you think about it, its a birthday party, and the big gift is the A frame house, what better decoration, especially since most birthdays have a significant portion of the time at the table eating cake facing the center of the table. I do like that it shows different characters in a cartoon likeness. They sure did remember to have lots of potted plants around and it does show a banister and staircase absent in the real house. It probably didnt cost alot when new, but being so rare now it is an intersting find. I think it only went for about $10 on ebay.

Parts: The Elusive Patio Triangles...

I thought it would be good to devote an entire post to the patio floor sections. They are very rare to find when purchasing an A frame these days. I still dont know what years these extra pieces were issued. I would say less than 1/4 of the ones i see online still have the sections included. So, at this point the only way i can see getting them is to purchase one that has them ($100-140), and sell the house back without them, or for parts. You will probably net them for 20-40 bucks. I think its almost worth that since it fits the house into different configurations better. I was thinking about getting some pieces cut out of high density mdf, priming, and painting them until original ones could be obtained, but havent had the time to try this yet.


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

Other Houses: Volume 1

Newer playmobil set.

1970's fisher price playset

1970's lunby wooden/electrical house

Target 2011 Welcome Home balcony dollhouse.

Newer kit.

The wooden house is so similar to the 1978 Mattel house that it had to be knock off. I guess this is ok for toddlers, but seems primitive compared to the 35 pound plastic orange and yellow one we are all so fond of. I just thought i would throw in this post for contrast. It sure makes me appreciate the Mattel version. The house with the red roof is a 1990 Norrland Lundby house. In all fairness, it is well made, has actual electrical lights, and tons of accesories to boot. The Swedes did a good on this one (as all their houses). I still prefer the 1978 Orange and Yellow house. The upper right is a 1970's Fisher Price A Frame. it has a groovy interior with stickers, and the roof unfolds for better playing, its cute, but is scaled for wee people, so theres only so much you can do with it. The upper left is Playmobil country house and farm.

Other Topic: Every Diva Needs A Hot Ride

no website devoted to the A frame house would be complete without the wheels that went with it. The house, camper and vette had several things in common. Age, color and size. They all came out in the late seventies, were bright sunshine yellow and were GINORMOUS (well except the vette). There was a beige western version of the camper, circa 1982, and they both retailed for around $37.95. I would have liked window 'glass' for it, but i am sure by now most of it would be missing or scratched anyway. I liked the vette, but the wire made it kind of lame, remote control isnt that remote with a short cord attached. Back then the only place people had room for all these huge toys was either in the rec-room or carport.

Box: Teeny, Tiny Boxes of the A Frame Collection

Found on ebay this week for 10 bucks. i have seen the oven box this size before, but never the whole set. pretty cool. this would be a great accesory for staging the A frame house. 1:12 scale and were made in the U.S. by Farrow Industries,Inc. with Mattel's permission.

On sale for $11.....

small box collection, usually orangish, not sure why. 

Renovation: Spot Be Gone - Cleaning and Polishing the Pieces

For the second A frame I reconditioned, the floors had really bad staining. I got them 90% better with the following procedure: STEP ONE-soak in a soapy bath for a few hours. TWO- scrub vigorously with soft bristle brush (I use a natural back scrubber, it really gets in all the nooks and crannies of the roof shingles and wall detailing) in circular motion and rinse. a tooth brush can be used to clean grooves and inside corners. THREE-wipe down with terry cloth towel taking care to get all the nooks and cranies. FOUR- schmeer a thin coating of soft scrub bleach creme cleaner over all outer surfaces especially on the darkest spots. let sit for an hour or two. FIVE- scrub with a SOFT sponge (soft scrub is gritty so you dont want to press hard and scratch, its only used for its bleach content and paste consistancy). rinse while you gently massage with sponge. you should be seeing a brighter clearer yellow color now. you can drain off each panel as you go, then towel off. sometimes even just the pressure of the towel can buff of scuff marks found on the sides and corners. SIX- let completely dry, you can help it along and get any remaining dirt residue by running a Q tip along all the details underneath, inside the grooves and in the corner slots. SEVEN- there are two ways to shine up cleaned parts. one approach is to use a plastic conditioner like mothers milk or black magic solicone (auto section for both) and a clean soft cloth to massage circular motions for 5-10 minutes per floor piece. this will give it a nice deep shine again as well as intensify the yellow coloring. In a few days you can repeat the final step for a deeper shine. You can also use the above routine for deeply soiled roof panels minus the soft scrub bleach step as that would lighten the color which is a bad idea since the orange is a darker hue than the floors. the other approach to shining up old, dull plastic is to use a very light oil like the one they provide with beard trimmers. its clear and watery so will not dry or dull itself when used. i tried this on a jamie somers doll recently (hair and body) and it took 20-30 years off her in a few seconds. just use it sparingly and you will be very happy.

MIB Unkown Date:

The box with the girl in the blue turtleneck (at bottom of blog) is the same one as the brochure, so i think that this box is the second box that came out. I have found 3 different ones in a month on feebay so it seems they had a new box come out every year. Looking at these boxes is a great way to see how to reconstruct the flower boxes which almost always are partially or completely bare.On that subject I have used the pet store fish aisle as a great place to find replacement plants, it really helps round out the planters when you are trying to sell for top dollar.

Others Don't Compare

Starting off as cardboard cases, then puffy vinyl, then tall cardboard with columns, then the great A Frame, and finally collapsible plastic cottages, victorian, grandparents house, beach house etc. There is no comparison to the 1978 A Frame DreamHouse. No other had the size, weight and changability as the A Frame.