OT - Doll House experiences and questions (xpost)

Cathy Weeks wrote:


So, first, what do you think I should do? And, for those of you who
had dollhouses, did you like them? Did you play with them?


I think you have to make a guess about what sort of
kid you have. There are kids who play with dollhouses and
kids who build dollhouses. The former will like the Plan
Toys dollhouse or the Playmobil dollhouse better and will
get several years of enjoyment out of it while young and
then ignore it. The latter won't be interested while
really young, but will want to build a neat dollhouse as
an older child and populate it with nifty miniatures and
maybe even learn how to make wee polymer clay foods and
needlepoint tiny rugs and all that miniature stuff. I
fall in the builder category. My sister fell into the
play dollhouse category. We were obviously at odds at
an early age and drove each other crazy ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Jeff wrote:

http://puffins.com/

Cool site. I like their toys.

Ethical question: Do you think it is really honest to get a new dollhouse
and sell it? Personally, I don't see the problem with it. Before the fire,
you were free to sell the dollhouse. I don't see why you wouldn't be now.
Just a question.

No ethical dilemma. BTDT
As you say, were free to sell before the fire, lost it, and what you do
with it after the fire insurance replaces is is your business.
Is it more ethical that the insurance company saves $500?
Believe me, insurance companies aren't there to help you out, they are
there to make money.

Dawn

In article ,
says...

My husband favors getting one of those wooden block dollhouse by plan
toys, (See http://puffins.com/planpg06.html for an example) which
aren't cheap. But they are for younger kids, and my daughter would be
outgrowing it at just about the time a real dollhouse would be
appropriate.

We recently got our daughter a Ryan's Room dollhouse (more expensive,
but better made than the Plan Toys ones, it looks like). It's really
fun for both her and her brother to play with, but I also think it's
cool and wouldn't mind collecting the pieces as a collection. YMMV.

Michelle
Flutist

--
Drift on a river, That flows through my arms
Drift as I'm singing to you
I see you smiling, So peaceful and calm
And holding you, I'm smiling, too
Here in my arms, Safe from all harm
Holding you, I'm smiling, too
-- For Xander [9/22/98 - 2/23/99]

What we have here is basically a debate of sentiment vs. practicality, and
that's a VERY difficult call.

But maybe I can offer a little bit of advice:

Being male, I can't really relate to a dollhouse. However, I have something
sort of close to that. In the mid-1980's, as part of the line of G.I.Joe action
figures being produced at the time, (the small ones), Hasbro released an
Aircraft Carrier. Fully assembled, this behemoth measured slightly over 7-1/2
feet in length, with a superstructure over two and a half feet in height. This
section could be loosely compared to a dollhouse, in that it was open in the
back and featured multiple rooms over three "stories" with various functions
for the figures.

When I first had it, I didn't have a lot of room to set it up, and it didn't
see frequent use. It could be stored in component sections (the deck was
designed to slide under most beds).

But at present I have a decent-sized apartment. And I still have the aircraft
carrier. It's used as a coffee table in front of the living room couch.

Now, back to the dollhouse. Allow me to offer a few questions to consider. You
put the original one together, over a lengthy period of time. Would buying a
fully assembled and painted replacement, that you know SOMEONE ELSE did the
work on, really be as satisfying? I can understand having wanted to pass the
original on to your daughter, but tragically, that is no longer an option. Or
might there be even greater sentiment in buying a dollhouse FOR HER, and the
two of you building it together when she's old enough? She might appreciate it
more, and as such get more use out of it.

Just my thoughts. Hope it helps.

I bought and built a very inexpensive and sturdy dollhouse for my 5
then year old daughter a year ago. It was a 50$ kit from the Little
Dollhouse Store in Toronto (about 35-40$ US) - it is four rooms and
an attic - and its to standard scale i.e. 1" = 1 '. It was extremely
easy to build (the whole thing was put together in a few hours and
then painted over the course of one weekend). I used housepaint to
paint it (all five rooms are different colours, and the outside is
green and white with red shutters, and I painted rose covered vines
all over the outside. It looks just great - and since then I've been
trolling craft stores and dollar stores to buy furniture and found
some fantastic stuff for very little money. She just loves it, and it
can grow with her if she has an interest in it - i.e. because the
doors and windows are standard sized openings, as she gets older, I
can buy the fancy doors and windows, or install lights and wallpaper,
nicer furniture etc.

She is the envy of her friends. This is definitely one she can hand
down. Heck, it is so sturdy that if she wanted to use it as cubby
shelves as a teen, no problem.

If you want to see a picture of my dollhouse - here is the company
that makes the kits
http://www.littledollhousecompany.com/

Click on the dollhouse tab to see their kits, and scroll down to what
they call "the fun one" among the kits - the picture they are using is
the one I made (i.e. I sent them the pictures for fun, and they ended
up using my dollhouse as their on-line sample picture). If you click
on the picture, you can see an interior view and the outside from
another angle, although it is much more stuffed with furniture now a
year later than it was then.

Incidentally, the store is fantastic.

Mary G.

"Mary Gordon" wrote in message
om...
If you want to see a picture of my dollhouse - here is the company
that makes the kits
http://www.littledollhousecompany.com/



That is a lovely doll house and you did a fantastic job! I can see why your
DD is the envy of her friends!

-Aula

"Jamie Clark" wrote in message thlink.net...

I'm still confused why they are willing to spend $500 to replace the
dollhouse, but only $175 in cash. They're still out the money, no?

Here's the deal - they are "buying" my old dollhouse from me at a 75%
depreciation of the value (around $700). That's $175. Or, if I want
them to replace my dollhouse, they have me purchase it, and submit the
paperwork - and the replacement value is much greater.

If I want to replace it, I have to submit receipts, and do it in a
relatively short period of time. I can't just buy anything I want
with a $700 budget. I have to actually buy a dollhouse.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01

(Cathy Weeks) wrote in message . com...
I could get another kit which is more storeable (and I could get a
fancier one this time!), but I don't know when I'll ever really have
the kind of time it takes to build another dollhouse. It would be a
neat project to do with my daughter when she's a bit older, but it
would take a long, long time.

For what it's worth, I'm leaning pretty strongly toward getting
another kit. I was really looking forward to giving my daughter *my*
dollhouse. But that house is gone. Buying another dollhouse -
assembled, painted, finished really isn't the same thing. So, I think
I'll pick out another kit - one she'll hopefully like (I can't wait
until she has an opinion - insurance claims have a time limit), store
it, and then when she's old enough, we'll build it together. That way
she can pick out paint colors and other details herself. It'll be
fun, though I'm leery of a project of that magnitude again. The last
dollhouse took upwards of 40 hours of work if I remember correctly.

And since I've got more of a budget, I can pick out a nicer model this
time around (but will still cost much less than an assembled/finished
one!). And, we do have room for such a kit.

I went and looked at the Plan dollhouse today, and it's really not
what I'm leaning toward. I figure if Kivi isn't into dollhouses, I
can build the darned thing for me...since I built the first one for me
in the first place!

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01

Cathy Weeks wrote:
"Jamie Clark" wrote in message thlink.net...


I'm still confused why they are willing to spend $500 to replace the
dollhouse, but only $175 in cash. They're still out the money, no?


Here's the deal - they are "buying" my old dollhouse from me at a 75%
depreciation of the value (around $700). That's $175. Or, if I want
them to replace my dollhouse, they have me purchase it, and submit the
paperwork - and the replacement value is much greater.

If I want to replace it, I have to submit receipts, and do it in a
relatively short period of time. I can't just buy anything I want
with a $700 budget. I have to actually buy a dollhouse.

Same deal as my insurance.
Do it.
You'll kick yourself later, even if it's just because it's money lost to
the insurance industry.
If you can't find a dollhouse DD would like, buy a re-saleable one, and
even if you don't get back full value, it will be better than the $#!!&
75% depreciation.
Have I mentioned how I detest insurance companies and their related
contractors? :-P

Dawn

(GI Trekker) wrote in message ...

Now, back to the dollhouse. Allow me to offer a few questions to consider. You
put the original one together, over a lengthy period of time. Would buying a
fully assembled and painted replacement, that you know SOMEONE ELSE did the
work on, really be as satisfying? I can understand having wanted to pass the
original on to your daughter, but tragically, that is no longer an option. Or
might there be even greater sentiment in buying a dollhouse FOR HER, and the
two of you building it together when she's old enough? She might appreciate it
more, and as such get more use out of it.

Yes, I'm leaning toward getting another kit ... for exactly the
reasons you outline here.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01