![]() ![]() ![]() The peg style was the standard for decades, but then came the release of the 1986 best-seller Toys That Kill, a book warning parents about dangerous toy recalls. Before that, the figures' bodies were straight cylinders, then square, then triangular, and one playset even had teardrop-shaped People. While most of us think of the iconic “peg” style of Little People, with the abrupt taper at the waistline, it wasn't until 1965 that this design was finalized. The name “Little People” was just a nickname used by fans and wasn't officially trademarked by Fisher-Price until 1985.) Big Changes (“Play Family” was the actual name for the toys throughout most of their history. The success of the Safety Bus inspired Fisher-Price to release more toys with removable figures, including the Snorky Fire Engine (1960), the Nifty Station Wagon (1960), the Amusement Park (1963), and the Lacing Shoe (1965), which was the first toy to feature the “Fisher-Price Play Family” name. Now, instead of just pulling a toy car behind them, children could make the characters act out pretend scenarios and let their imaginations run wild. However, it also came with six child passengers who could be removed from their seats. Similar to its predecessors, the toy was a plastic school bus with the driver permanently attached. All that changed when Fisher-Price introduced the Safety Bus in 1959. But these characters were attached to the vehicles, so they were never the main focus of play. Here are a few early sets with their set numbers:ĭownload here the complete list of Little People Playsets (PDF).Little People has its roots in the early 1950s, where barrel-bodied figures with spherical heads were seen as the drivers in pull-along toy cars. These figures are called "chunky" by collectors. After Fisher-Price was bought by Mattel in the 1990s, Little People reappeared on the markets, their figure significantly larger in size from the original Little People characters due to revised toy safety guidelines. A book published in 1986 by Edward Swartz titled Toys That Kill prominently featured a trio of original Little People figures on the cover. Most people believe that these figures were developed as a replacement for the original Little People due to the increasing concerns and pressures from parents and consumer-advocacy groups for safer toy designs. They were made "chunkier", were more bright and colorful, and were designed so that they could activate motion within the play sets. ![]() ![]() In 1991, the Original Little People figures were redesigned for younger children. Little People characters had by then been also produced with plastic products exclusively. Soon after, the Little People Discovery Airport, a hospital and a school would also be released. In the middle 1970s, Fisher-Price produced the Sesame Street town, with various Sesame Street stores, a bridge with stop lights and Sesame Street characters such as Bert, Ernie, and the only Little People toys that have been modeled after celebrities - Loretta Long (Susan), Roscoe Orman (Gordon) and Will Lee (Mr. Eventually, the toys encompassed a wide range of playsets, furniture packs, and accessory packs. Also at this time, the figures were made with plastic bodies instead of wood. In 1968, Fisher-Price introduced the first Little People playset, the famous Play Family Barn with barn doors that "moo’d". ![]()
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