Fisher Price Fridays - Main Street

Welcome to another week of Fisher Price Fridays.  Today I'd like to show you one of our newest additions the Play Family Main Street #2500.  It is one of the last original (smaller size) Fisher Price Little People sets and was made from 1986-1990.  It is a newer and smaller version of the #997 Village (1973-1977).  The Main Street base has quite a few attached features (doors, windows, seats, etc) but that means that many parts can be lost or broken.  Fortunately I have a set that is completely intact!  There are quite a few loose pieces in this set as well (signs, people, vehicles) although most of them are not original to the Main Street.  The set has some lithographs but also objects molded into the plastic such as paver stones on the roads and shingles on the roofs.

The bottom level has a Market, Ice Cream Shop, Post Office, Fire House and Bank.  It has roadways to drive vehicles. The top level is really a pull out billboard that has storefronts of a Barber and a Pet Shop.  The top level also has roadways and places to connect the ramps.  There are six street signs and accessories that fit onto the base.  The child can choose where they want to put them, as each item fits each square.  There is also a yellow triangular crossing swing gate that fits on the bottom and can move back and forth to direct the flow of vehicles from the blue ramp.

The Market has a lithograph of fruits and vegetables and another of a grocer stacking cans inside a "window".  The shop has a green door that opens and shuts.  The man pictured is the shop keeper.  He looks a lot like a Sesame Street character (Mr. Hooper), but has white hair.  The slot in the door is for the #2 Market envelope to fit (there is also a #2 on the Market sign).  We'll have more on mail later.

The yellow accessory pictured is a phone booth.  A little person can stand in the booth to make a call.  The green knob on the top of the set (in the middle) makes a whirring/ringing sound when you twist it.  

The Bank has a deposit window that folds down when you press the yellow button on the roof.  When the window folds down the sign to the right changes from "$5.00" to "THANK YOU".  Notice that the Bank is #1 and also has a mail slot in the deposit window.

With the top view you can see where the blue ramps connect.  You can also see a little bit of the blue sewer/storm drain that opens and shuts (the taxi is going over it).  A little person can fit through it to the fire station below.

Inside the Post Office is a lithograph of a boy bringing in a package, also PO boxes and a big bag of mail. If you look close you can see a little poster that says "Collect Stamps".

The set came with a mail truck, mail man and 7 pieces of mail.  The word "MAIL" can be written in either red or blue. 

This set has 7 pieces of mail while the earlier Village #997 had only 6.  Another difference is that this mail has the Shop and the number written in the same color, while the village had alternating colors.  Mail continues to keep a high re-sale value (relative to other pieces) as they were the easiest pieces to loose.  I regularly see mail sold on Ebay or Etsy for $6-8 a piece.  That may be why I am afraid to let my 4 year old play with them.  Ha!  Each of the shops in Main Street has a letter slot as well as a number that corresponds to their mail.

One of the accessories included is a blue mailbox.  

The Ice-Cream Shop has a slide out snack counter.  When it is pushed in a "closed" sign comes down (as seen in photo before this one).  There is also a place for the ice-cream man (or woman) to sit.  The lithograph shows a yummy banana split and the #4.  The roof has a cute canopy over the top of the shop.

The Firehouse is in the middle of the set.  It has a red door that slides up and down.  In this photo you can also see the fire truck and fireman.  They are the same ones in the Firetruck #124 set.  Now I have one with a working ladder! :)  You can also see the fire hydrant, which is the same one as the Fire Truck #2361.

Inside the fire house is a lithograph of a fireman sliding down the pole, and of course his trusty dalmatian.

The billboard on the top slides up during play and slides down for storage.  It can also be removed (fits into notches).  There are slots for the Barber and Pet Shop mail.

Even the back of the billboard has detail, showing toys in a shop window, a parking meter, pay phone and a hydrant.

The set came with three vehicles; a mail truck, fire truck and a taxi.  The yellow taxi holds 2 little people and is either yellow and white, yellow or green and has the word "TAXI" on the front.  You can also see more of the street signs and accessories including the stop sign, parking meter and traffic signal.  The traffic signal colors rotate when you move the red knob.

There were 5 little people figures in the set.  The mailman (can be short, tall, black or white), fireman, shop keeper, red mom with a blond bun and green girl with a blond bob.  All of the original people are pictured.

Both of my girls love this set, in fact we chose to get rid of another set (play family action garage) to make room for it.  The baby likes picking the street signs and accessories off the set.  My 4 year old loves putting the mail in the slots.  We love the Main Street!