Fisher Price Friday - School Bus

School's back!  Here in Arizona school has either already started or is starting next week.  Despite the 110+ degree weather kids are packing up their backpacks and catching the bus.  In honor of school starting I thought I'd share the Fisher Price School Bus #192.

The School Bus #192 was made between 1965-1990 and is the longest running Little People toy.  The bus changed quite a bit over the years and the little people inside changed too.  However since it was made for so long it isn't too hard to find one (or two) for your collection.

Each bus came with six different little people and one dog.  All of the little people were girls or boys, no ladies or men.  The FPLP shown are all bus figures but would not have been on the bus at the same time.  Some are from earlier versions (the all wood ones) and some from newer (all plastic).  A few pieces were exclusive to this set and are very rare (none of the ones show though as far as I know).  For example the earliest bus had a tan colored Lucky dog.  I've seen him sell on eBay for $50! 

The bus driver is permanent and can have a plastic or wood head.  His head moves back and forth when the bus is pushed or pulled.  I like to think that he is saying "no no no" which would be appropriate for a bus driver!  The front of the bus has eyes for headlights and they move when the bus is pushed or pulled as well.  From 1965-1973 the bus included a fold out stop sign.  It came out of the driver's side of the bus near his window.  

The inside of the bus has lithographs around each "seat".  There are pictures of school books, a chalk board, baseball, apple and mittens.  The bodies of the kids are designed to correspond with the color of their seat.

The sides of the bus have lithographs of children.  This side has the kids going to school.  They are carrying their books, crossing the street and running to be on time.  

Notice the grumpy boy pictured with his hat on sideways, just like the FPLP figure.  Some of the other kids match up too.  For example if you look close you can also see the black cowboy running, the red head girl with braids and the boy with a pan on his head. 

The other side of the bus has lithographs of children (and the dog Lucky) sitting in class.  There is also a teacher and a globe.  The bus door is on this side and it opens and shuts.  There are also steps for the kids to go down just like a real bus. 

The back of the school bus has a lithograph of stoplights and a stop sign.

Most of the buses had wood bases.  It did not switch to plastic until 1989.  You can also see where the yellow pull chord is attached.  Like many other Fisher Price pull toys the bus makes a clacking sound when pulled around.

Time for school!  My 4 year old will be starting pre-school next week.  So bittersweet! 

If you want to see more buses check out this post here on the mini bus #141.  See you next Friday for more Fisher Price fun!