lost & found vintage toys

american girls ~ mini illumarooms

 

the american girls line made minis back in the early 2000s, including these fun illumarooms ~

lil's diner lunchcounter ~

this girl's bedroom set has a kitty with her own little house too of course ~

by 2003 they were discontinued due to product breakage & electrical lighting issues ~

i love the cool retro lil's diner set with lunch counter & accessories ~

& all the mini items that make this set look so realistic, like the tiny shakemaker ~

this reminds me of rainy afternoons spent having a grilled cheese & milkshake at toxic's old local woolworth's lunch counter ~

the light bars stick by magnet & plug into tiny outlets ~

the windows also stick by magnet & have changeable scenes you insert ~

originally these set boxes were made of wood like mine are ~

mattel took over from the pleasant company years ago ~

i still have many of the fun magnet/signs from lil's diner on my fridge ~

here's the bedroom box set before you arrange it with lights & furniture ~

see the tiny outlets ~

the wall pieces are reversible depending on which pattern you like & a dustcover sticks over the front also by magnet to protect the scene inside ~

i wish i'd gotten the horse stable set before these were discontinued, but there were only so many xmas's they were available ~

original brochures ~

for my own minis & houses just look down left in the sidebar for links ~

bren

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our game gallery

i've posted before about our youtube game gallery ~

that spans our gaming library from nes to xbox 360 & then some ~

including every cool oldie we played back in the day in our old driveway videogame camper ;) ~

check them out if you love gaming like we do here ~

now let's go back in time to the old camper ;) ~

the snes days ~

our kitties are included in many of these of course <3 ~

classics & rpgs ~

playstation ~

& n64 ~

ps2 ~

xbox ~

& xbox 360 ~

a fun short while we check out the count's countdown ;) ~

here's one where raven & i are revisiting morrowind ~

& a lengthy lookthrough of my old oblivion archive ~

if you like these, please come over & subscribe to raven & myself on youtube here & here, you won't be sorry! ~

& be sure to click on the links in this post or click on videogames in the category list in the left sidebar ~

look for more like this tomorrow too :D ~

bren

cardboard playhouses

today i'm revisiting some old cardboard playhouses i've posted about before here at the lost & found, as i just sent a newer version to my niece's little boy as an early birthday present since it's very rainy right now where he is & he needed a cool indoor toy/project to work & play with :) be sure to click the first link here which goes to my original vintage giant playhouse too, which gets lots of comments & attention :)

so several people showed interest in the vintage giant play inside cardboard house that i posted up way back in summer, but it's almost impossible to find another one these days it seems. this new one from discovery kids is really cool & kids can color it themselves ~

of all the similar products out there, this one seems to give you the most for your $$ ~

it's not very difficult to assemble & collapses back down to put it away in its original box easily ~

more importantly, my kitties approve of it ~

it has a door & mailbox on either side, plus windows & a chimney ~

almost 5' tall, it has plenty of room for play ~

an adult can easily fit inside ~

the inside is left blank ~

eco-friendly/made from recycled materials, it gets my recommendation ~

i used this house in one of my art installations ~ patchwork playhouse

note: here is the type i sent as a gift, it's noticeably larger than many of the cheaper varieties i spotted online..

check out all our mini houses too on this page :D

ghost & toxic

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lost & found toys

i had a dream last night about kid's meals & prizes ~

& i woke up with a realization ~

as a life-long collector i've been going through happy meal toy withdrawls! ~

i always use to say, if i don't get a toy, i don't eat ;) ~

we don't venture out to estate sales, library sales, fcbds, collectible shops & fast-food places much anymore ~

so i'm reduced to finding my treasure by boredshopping online these days ~

my guilty pleasure? ~

among my other creative projects ~

even our home is retro ~

of course ~

happiness is a box of books ;) ~

but it got me thinking of all the cool memories i have associated with all the years of assembling the lost & found toys blog & gumbyland ~

the unexpected finds! ~

the thrill of the hunt, never knowing what you might discover :D ~

toxic was a collector but she lost most of her old possessions over the years ~

finding & enjoying vintage toys has been a blast! ~

it is like a time machine ~

if you are a fellow vintage kid like toxic, you might also enjoy checking out my ghost toy catalogue ~

it's like an inventory of oldschool fun books, toys & other collectibles ~

& it is accompanied by a wonderful 'domestic bliss' soundtrack :D ~

so if you'd like to see more than just the posts here at the lost & found & gumbyland.. ~

just click here & let's travel back ~

bren