(2000) Real Friends Fashion Doll House
BOX DATE: 2000
MANUFACTURER: Geoffrey Inc.
MISSING ITEMS: 2 chairs, flooring, clock, pot with lid, kettle (unable to find quality photos--may be more accessories)
SPECIAL FEATURES: Working doorbell; light up features; bed converts to bookshelf
PERSONAL FUN FACT: I know this might sound really silly or even kind of odd, if you have a look through my "Barbie Playsets" album and you see the hoard of doll houses I have. But even compared to my many glorious Barbie homes, this Real Friends Fashion Doll House is my favorite (yes, I think I love it even more than the Bath & Bubbles House). Colleen and I initially ogled this working house during our "Barbie boycott" of the early 2000s...which by the way only lasted a few months if that. Anyways, during that time we actually got familiar with clone doll stuff in stores. The Real Friends line in particular caught both of our attention. I have always been a sucker for playsets, and the two of us collectively always yearned for a more realistic, versatile doll house (I'm not even sure if we had a Barbie house at the time). I liked how the Real Friends line was vibrantly colored, but not drenched in pink. The first thing we bought from the line was the Deluxe Bath & Spa. After falling in love with it, and seeing that it was decent quality, I remember we both wanted to get this house. It was something we discussed ahead of time, and if I'm not mistaken, we even saved up our allowance money for it (I think it only cost about $20). This was easily our most played with Barbie playset/house. It was pretty much always set up from the day we got it until I was probably about thirteen. It took a beating, which I'll talk more about on photo of this house's interior. Anyways, what we both loved most about this house was the fact that it was so compact and easy to store/carry, plus, it was open. Doll houses that have too many walls are very limiting. Especially when there are two of you playing dolls together, it can be difficult to work with a playset that is so boxed in...not to mention Colleen has always been the queen of clumsiness. We were always more drawn to open playsets, that would allow us to expand our setups and our imaginations. This house could be used in a variety of ways, and it always looked so darn good. I think our second favorite feature, and the selling point of this house, was the front door. That might sound super ridiculous, but little details like opening doors made us bananas! Plus, the windows really opened too! Speaking of those windows, one of the doors broke off at some point, and I thought I lost it. Then in 2015, I ended up finding it beneath the storage shelves in our basement--that was an even better feeling than buying something brand new! Anyways, there is so much to say about this house, that I feel I could never capture how much we loved it in this little blurb. We used to rest it against the support pole in our basement, since it did have a tendency to fall over (its super slim frame made it rather tipsy). It was always laid out in the dead center of our basement, and behind it, our setup exploded. We also loved setting up an elaborate front yard. I can still remember all those times Colleen and I came home from school, bounded down the basement stairs, and saw the top of this house greeting us. When I look at this house, I feel at home. It's one of the things in my collection that most feels like my own--it's almost like another appendage. I'd love to have a brand new one of these bad boys someday, because ours took such a beating, but I couldn't imagine parting with this one. It hosted hundreds of hours of play, it was the backdrop for some of our most intense/infamous doll games, and it was there for me during all the good and bad times. I remember the day of Mom's funeral, Colleen and I didn't feel like playing with dolls, but it still felt comforting sitting in the basement looking at this house and all our beloved dolls set up in it.
(2000) Real Friends Fashion Doll House
BOX DATE: 2000
MANUFACTURER: Geoffrey Inc.
MISSING ITEMS: 2 chairs, flooring, clock, pot with lid, kettle (unable to find quality photos--may be more accessories)
SPECIAL FEATURES: Working doorbell; light up features; bed converts to bookshelf
PERSONAL FUN FACT: I know this might sound really silly or even kind of odd, if you have a look through my "Barbie Playsets" album and you see the hoard of doll houses I have. But even compared to my many glorious Barbie homes, this Real Friends Fashion Doll House is my favorite (yes, I think I love it even more than the Bath & Bubbles House). Colleen and I initially ogled this working house during our "Barbie boycott" of the early 2000s...which by the way only lasted a few months if that. Anyways, during that time we actually got familiar with clone doll stuff in stores. The Real Friends line in particular caught both of our attention. I have always been a sucker for playsets, and the two of us collectively always yearned for a more realistic, versatile doll house (I'm not even sure if we had a Barbie house at the time). I liked how the Real Friends line was vibrantly colored, but not drenched in pink. The first thing we bought from the line was the Deluxe Bath & Spa. After falling in love with it, and seeing that it was decent quality, I remember we both wanted to get this house. It was something we discussed ahead of time, and if I'm not mistaken, we even saved up our allowance money for it (I think it only cost about $20). This was easily our most played with Barbie playset/house. It was pretty much always set up from the day we got it until I was probably about thirteen. It took a beating, which I'll talk more about on photo of this house's interior. Anyways, what we both loved most about this house was the fact that it was so compact and easy to store/carry, plus, it was open. Doll houses that have too many walls are very limiting. Especially when there are two of you playing dolls together, it can be difficult to work with a playset that is so boxed in...not to mention Colleen has always been the queen of clumsiness. We were always more drawn to open playsets, that would allow us to expand our setups and our imaginations. This house could be used in a variety of ways, and it always looked so darn good. I think our second favorite feature, and the selling point of this house, was the front door. That might sound super ridiculous, but little details like opening doors made us bananas! Plus, the windows really opened too! Speaking of those windows, one of the doors broke off at some point, and I thought I lost it. Then in 2015, I ended up finding it beneath the storage shelves in our basement--that was an even better feeling than buying something brand new! Anyways, there is so much to say about this house, that I feel I could never capture how much we loved it in this little blurb. We used to rest it against the support pole in our basement, since it did have a tendency to fall over (its super slim frame made it rather tipsy). It was always laid out in the dead center of our basement, and behind it, our setup exploded. We also loved setting up an elaborate front yard. I can still remember all those times Colleen and I came home from school, bounded down the basement stairs, and saw the top of this house greeting us. When I look at this house, I feel at home. It's one of the things in my collection that most feels like my own--it's almost like another appendage. I'd love to have a brand new one of these bad boys someday, because ours took such a beating, but I couldn't imagine parting with this one. It hosted hundreds of hours of play, it was the backdrop for some of our most intense/infamous doll games, and it was there for me during all the good and bad times. I remember the day of Mom's funeral, Colleen and I didn't feel like playing with dolls, but it still felt comforting sitting in the basement looking at this house and all our beloved dolls set up in it.