Mattel’s “the Littles” 1980 Dollhouse “A Wonderful World of Dolls and Dollhouse Fun”

By bafflegabbler

We interupt this Road Trip tale to bring you this important announcement…

My vintage Mattel “the Littles” Dollhouse from 1980 is practically complete.

In 1980, Mattel released The Littles playsets. The dollhouse was a Victorian-style plastic mansion, multi-colored and awesome. All the furniture was sold separately, and was a high quality die-cast metal with opening drawers and fine detailing. You could buy accessories separately to complete your dollhouse, including an outdoor picnic table set, rugs, dishes, pillows, plants, lamps, and even a set of light-up fireplace logs and light-up lamps that could be wired through the fireplace in the living room, and would then actually illuminate. The Littles dolls were 2 1/2 inches high, with rather tiny bodies and large heads. They consisted of Mr. & Mrs Littles and Baby Littles, Belinda Littles, Daphne Littles, Hedy Littles, Flossie Littles, and later, Kenny & Becky Littles.

As a child, I had almost all of the furniture, some of the dishes, and the baby. My mom had found the little collection of items at a yard sale or something of the like. I didn’t have the house, or any people except the baby, but I loved playing with that furniture and it was one of the toys from my youth that I have held onto all these years. I had no idea, though, that it was part of a larger collection until I stumbled across one of the pieces of furniture on eBay. I recognized it immediately, read the description, and began Googling “Mattel 1980 the Littles Dollhouse”.

All these years and I had never known that my favorite dollhouse furniture set was part of a much bigger World of Dolls and Dollhouse Fun!

Well, now I know, and a bit of eBay searching over time has led me to where I am now -the proud possessor of a nearly complete Littles Dollhouse. I say nearly because for the life of me I can not find the light-up logs and lamps to complete the fireplace. Plus, I recently discovered that in late 1980 and early1981, Mattel released a few last items -a piano & stool, Becky Little and her rocking chair, a porch swing and a dog, … and a whole damn room addition that connects to the house, expanding it, and apparently adding a gazebo, too…

It’s just as well -it gives me something to continue looking for 🙂

My dollhouse is complete with fireplace insert, chimney, upstairs heater unit, front porch entry & stairs, and both front doors 🙂

4 room house

Kenny Littles and two “Baby” Littles

I love how the little teeny kettle has a little teensy lid!

Hedy and Flossie Littles

Belinda Littles in the kitchen

Mr. Littles and Daphne Littles in the Living room

Picnic set -I actually ended up with two of each doll, so this is my older set of Mr & Mrs Littles (the other set is Mint!) and one of the Hedy dolls 🙂

I could pass this off as being a dollhouse that I have put together for my daughter, but that would be a really large fib…since I panicked when she asked to play with it…

Mrs Littles, Kenny, and a baby…

The front doors had popped off, but I fixed them and now they open and close quite nicely…

So cute!

I love it! Vintage toys outdo modern ones, every time.   🙂

Present and accounted for in my collection are:

  • Green kitchen Drop-leaf table *No 1789
  • Flossie Littles and her white Bed *No 1790
  • Belinda Littles and her green Kitchen Chairs *No 1791
  • Hedy Littles and Living Room Sofa *No 1793
  • Stove with oven (opens) *No 1794, coffee pot, kettle with lid, asst’d kitchen dishes
  • Yellow 4-cup and saucer set and red 4-cup and saucer set
  • Fireplace set -Gold Wood Log & Kindling Bin Holder with Tool Stand and tools
  • Dresser with opening drawers and tilting mirror
  • Armoir and rocking white & blue cradle *No 1796
  • Gold rocking cradle
  • Daphne Little and commode, pedestal sink, and bathtub with shower attachment *No 3225
  • icebox and sink (doors open, curtain slides) *No 1798
  • brown round tilt-top tables *No 1799
  • bathroom rugs, living room oriental rug, pictures for walls *No 3217
  • pillows, lamps, flowers, plants *No 3218
  • blue armchairs with ottomans *No 1800
  • gold bed with removable pillow and cover
  • Picnic set with table and two benches *No 3560
  • Kenny Little with rocking horse, wagon, teddy-bear, pillow, and blanket *No 3563
  • Mr. & Mrs Little with Baby Little *No 1925

Missing from my collection are:

  • Fire lights *No 3216
  • Becky Little, rocking chair with cushion, kitty, dollhouse, blanket *No 3564
  • Piano & stool (music roll spins) *No 3565
  • China cabinet with opening drawers and doors, teapot & platter
  • Porch swing and dog (swing moves) *No 3566
  • the Littles Family Room with light-up ceiling light and fan, and porch light (A “Starter Home” or an extra room for the Littles home) *No 3747
  • Play & Carry House -Playtime case for storage, display, and carrying dolls *No 3984

 

The elusive piano & stool -currently $100+ on ebay!

Becky Little… hard to find!

Play & Carry House

Starter House

 

Great webpage with links to the model numbers and year of production:

http://www.oldtoys-on-line.com/littles.htm

 

74 thoughts on “Mattel’s “the Littles” 1980 Dollhouse “A Wonderful World of Dolls and Dollhouse Fun””

  1. I am green with envy!! I absolutely loved this as a kid. My dollhouse was left at a house while moving by accident. I was devastated and always would wonder what happened to it (sounds kinda crazy huh), but it was very dear to me. For many years I would always look for it at garage sales and such. Then I have internet and here recently thought I would google The Littles Family. I was really surprised to find so many things for the dollhouse that I had once owned. I can pretty much get all of that back but many people want to sell it so high that there is no way I could ever afford all of it. It’s sad that people are so greedy with money to make them so expensive. I’m not a collector, just a 33 year old kid that wants her dollhouse back:(

  2. They do tend to sell at somewhat high prices; I found that ebay was the best bet, and even then I had to wait awhile before a house came up that didn’t bid over the price I was willing to pay… The light-up logs are proving to be hard to find -they have come up only twice on ebay that I have seen, and went for over $50! For an item that sold originally for $1.89… sigh 😦

  3. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have the little blue cradle and I want the baby sooooo bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How did you manage to not lose the baby?

  4. Well, I don’t know, kept it in the cradle, I think 🙂
    I’ve actually seen the baby for sale on ebay quite a few times, either by itself or with the “family” set (mom, dad, and baby Littles) for pretty reasonable!

  5. My mom still has my house and I am hoping to go over soon and get it. I am super excited to see it again. I have seen things listed here and ebay that I didn’t have. I did have that fireplace and light set. i don’t know if she still has it or not, but I loved the way it looked. I hope i can get the few things I need to complete my house for my little girl.

  6. I absolutely adored this playhouse when I was growing up. I really miss mine. It was great how sturdy the furniture was on these. I wonder what happened to mine…?

  7. I had kind of the same histoy than you.
    My santa Clous present when I was 7 years all was the storage house.
    I never got the big one.
    I kepp it until today, I am sorprice I only lost one coup. But this year for mistake I google the littles and I found the ebay have a lot.
    I am far far far from you collection. I would like to ask you for help. Now I live in Holland mattel didn’t send it here, just belgium and Italy.
    I am from Mexico and I didn’t found nothing there.
    If you know a place to buy more or if you found some, let me know.
    Best regards.

    Maria

  8. I just found this post today when I googled The Littles. I’m looking for the elusive Becky Littles too. I have the conservatory/gazebo that I bought from an Italian ebay seller years ago. Unfortunately it was incomplete, but I still use the conservatory part. I’ve never seen it come up on ebay again. Do post again if you ever find Becky.

  9. Oh wow I have never come across anyone else who had this dolls house.
    i got it for christmas around 1984. I loved it and played with it for many years. I still have the house and the side extention with clear roof. I also have load of furniture and the people. I still have the lights and logs for the fireplace although they have come away from the fire place over the years. My 3 yr old son likes to play with it but i hate pulling it out for him to play with – I just want to keep it! Not sure why I don’t have any girls to pass it onto.

  10. This was by far my most favorite childhood memory and my prized childhood possesion. My mom got a secod job the year I turned 4 to buy me this dollhouse with the family and lots of the furniture and accessories. I am not exactly sure what happened to mine. My mom became ill with terminal cancer in march of 2008. By the time I got over the shock of her illness and thought about the dollhouse she could no longer remember what happened or where it might be because her cancer had spread to the brain. I lost her and the hope of finding my house last year. She was the best and I have amazing memories of playing with my Littles house! I am 33 and I would sit down right now and play with mine if I had it!

    • Still have yet to add anything new… I have seen the light-up log set on ebay a time or two, but it is consistently priced around $50-60 and I just don’t want to get CrAzY ~lol. Last week I was on the Oregon Coast and saw the little piano with stool in an antique shop, but it was $45, and if it comes to buying the kids dinner that day on vacation, or owning the Littles piano, I guess I had to feed the children… hee, so no piano just yet 🙂

  12. I still have my set! I have added to it over the last 30yrs thanks to ebay! My girls have tried to play with it..but much like you, I just couldn’t do it! I did find the starter home on ebay, but they packed it too tight and broke the gazebo 😦 maybe one day I will find another! Thanks for sharing with us!

      • Like the rest of you, I am 33 and had this dollhouse as a kid. I still have most of it. I remember playing with it from time to time, but what I remember most was my mom didn’t let me play with it very often because she didn’t want it messed up! The baby was her constant worry … she didn’t want me to misplace it. Most of my memories of this dollhouse is of my mom NOT wanting me to play with it!!! hahaha …. if you don’t want your kids to play with it now, put it away … out of sight, out of mind. =) Or else they will turn out like me! hahaha =)

  13. HolA!Mi mamá le regalo esta casa de muñecas a mi hermana cuando tenia 8 años, sinembargo fué mi madre la que se enamoro de esta, y era ella la que la jugaba. Cuando yo creci la jugue a más no poder así que me encargue de desaparecer cada una de las piezas, ahora ando en busqueda de la casa, ya que mi mamá esta grande y le gustaria regresar a jugar con ella. Si saben donde puedo conseguir sus piezas avisenme, en verdad le daria mucho gusto volver a verla. Saludos a todos.

  14. My daughter had the house, dolls, furniture, dishes, lamps and fireplace logs. The house cracked in moving, a long time ago. I saved some of the furnishings. I decided to google search ” THE LITTLES ” DOLLHOUSE, today. Ebay opened a door to memory lane! I bid on a house and lost by $2. But not to despair, My husband, kindly, BIN, a dollhouse. I am looking forward to sharing this purchase as well incorporating my daughters “stored” LITTLES furnishings. My daughter was 5 yrs old when she received the LITTLES. She is now 35 and the mother of 10 year old twin daughters! I am looking forward to another road trip with our newer generation! I must admit. I am probably more excited than they will be!
    Connie

  15. My mother has my doll house stored away. I played with it for hours, as did my little girl. It’s still a special treat! I have all the pieces except the baby.
    I used to put him in my pocket and take him to school with me, so I’m sure he’s long gone 😦
    This is one doll house that proves that things that are made with quality, are cherished, loved, and saved for many generations!
    Thank you Mattel for all the wonderful memories!!!!

  16. This warms my heart. I LOVED these pictures. I got it from Santa one year and he actually delivered to our door! My dad would drive past an old house in Charlotte and tell me that they lived in that house!! So magical! I wish I could find one for my little girl!

  17. I have this house. Omg. I had no idea there were extra sets. I’m 36 now and I’m afraid my 4 year old daughter will not be allowed to play with this. Hahahah!

  18. I bought this for my daughter when it first came out. I still have and is one thing my granddaughters have yet seen. When it went off the market, I bought a lot of extra pieces at sale prices. I even bought a couple of pieces directly from Mattel. The salesman at Mattel told me the house and dolls were not on the market very long because they did a poor job of marketing it. He also told me there were pieces that were planned that were never sold retail. The pieces I purchased directly were not in many stores. My daughter loved this set, and I am so glad I have it.

  19. Did anyone else have the paper dolls of the father, mother, and the four main girls? You didn’t dress them up or anything, but they had stands to display them. Also of interest was the fact they accidentally switched Daphne and Flossie’s names on them, meaning I have been calling them the wrong names all these years (since that was the only way of knowing stuff like that when you were a kid). I don’t know where they are, but I wonder what they are worth…

  20. I have fond memories of receiving this dollhouse from Santa when I was 5 years old. I have always called them the Littles, but thought it was just the name I gave the little dolls! The house and most of the furnishings are still at my mother’s house, and my 2 daughters(now 17 and 11) and even my nephews and 3 y.o. son have enjoyed playing with it. How wonderful to find your post- hoping you find those fireplace logs, I know i’ve always thought mine were THE coolest thing about the house!

  21. I love everything about this post. And I’m also jealous — I also had the Littles dollhouse as a kid, but unfortunately my dad apparently threw it out years ago. Now that I have a daughter, I’ve been scouring eBay and buying the furniture and dolls bit by bit so I can have the complete collection (again) to give to her when she’s 4 or 5 years old. Of course, if she doesn’t want it all — although I can’t imagine that she wouldn’t — I’ll be more than happy to keep it all for myself. 🙂

  22. The Christmas I got the dollhouse, furnished with quite a few of the sets, was the most memorable Christmas of my childhood. Sadly, I was so young, I didn’t take care to keep track of all the pieces – they were soooo tiny! I often think I might have taken better care of my toys if I had had some of the organizational items that we all have now; tubs, bins, or one of those great playtables with drawers. My folks were always after me to clean my room, and I was like, “and do what with everything?” So many precious things got destroyed, vacuumed or pitched. Very sad. Ebay is such a hit, because of all the big kids trying to get their old toys back!
    I have my Little’s Dollhouse in my room at this very moment.

    • Amy — It’s a miracle I didn’t lose any of the pieces when I was little. Of course, my dad ended up tossing the whole shebang in the trash anyway, so … 🙂 I figure I’ll give it to Coraline when she’s 5. That seems like a good age for this kind of toy.

      • Your Dad threw the house in the garbage… with all of the furniture AND the dolls?! Aghhhhh!
        That is all the more surprising, because the whole shebang was a major purchase back in the early eighties. Most toys now are poor quality, and there are SO MANY of them, that they seem pretty expendable. When we were young getting a popular toy was a big deal.
        Of course, donating to thrift stores wasn’t as much a part of life then, as it is now. We all know what men are like when they are on a mission to clean out a garage or an attic… sit still long enough, and you might just get chucked in the trash.

  23. I wonder if anyone has ever done a lead test on the paint and metal of the furnishings? I think you can get kits to do it. It’s worth checking out.

  24. Yes, some of the furniture pieces were recalled because of the high lead content in the paint. You can google a Mattel list of recalled toys. Hope you have patience as the list is quite extensive. The earlier pieces were alright if I remember correctly. It was the newer addidtions and, it depended where they were manufatured. I bought my first piece in 1980 at 30 years old (green kitchen drop leaf table) and that was all I intended to buy. It reminded me of my dear grandmother’s kitchen table. I did buy other pieces every payday until they discontinued them. Bought a few things on ebay but never received them, so be careful. If it looks to good to be true, it probably isn’t. All in all, I love The Littles collection.

    • I find that searching ebay completed listings to see what your items are selling for gives you a good idea of what they are worth -or at least, what you can hope to sell them for 🙂

  28. Loved reading your post. On the starter house (also known as ‘veranda house’), did they ever make the ceiling fan and porch light? I had that house (over 30 years ago!) but can’t recall ever seeing a ceiling fan or light for it. Though there was a strange gap in the porch roof!

  29. You’re house looks amazing! Oh the memories! Becky Little was practically impossible to find. I know because my name is Becky and I looked high and low for her when these were sold. I still have several of my pieces and my dolls will find themselves in lovely new home (dollhouse) I am building for my daughter for Christmas. I’m having a bit of a crisis because my Kenny is missing. I have his rocking horse, but they boy has wandered off.

    I have the yellow piano with the stool. Not in the box, but it’s in very good shape and the music roll spins. I would be willing to trade it for a Kenny and a baby if you happened to score any extras while establishing your collection.

  31. This is the best thing I have seen in so many years! Looking at your house, I now realize I had the brass bed. My dad bought the dolls for me as a Christmas gift when I was a small girl. I did not know they were part of a set so I often used them with my Barbie set. I imagined them as Barbie’s snobbish cousins (they were, after all, very well dressed). Thank you for such a fantastic trip down memory lane! I still have the mother, father, and Flossie waiting for my daughter (if I can bear to let them go)!

  33. I had the people and the furniture as a child & it was my favorite! I played with it in a wooden dollhouse that my grandmother made me. It was by far my favorite Christmas gift and my favorite toy growing up. My dollhouse and all of the furniture was left at my Mom’s when I grew up and moved out and was subsequently stolen. As someone previously said, I’d play with it now if I had it still. But I’m not sure I’d let my 4 yr old daughter near it! LOL

  34. I had this dollhouse as a child and still do. It is in perfect condition with all of the furniture , working fireplace logs and fireplace side lights. I haven’t taken it out yet for my grandkids to see, but I should so they, too, can enjoy it as I did. They get sooo much enjoyment playing with what was once my kids’ Fisher Price toys, including the Talk to Me Books and player, the Little Peoples village and house. These things are still very special to me and bring back lots of good memories and it’s awesome seeing my grandkids enjoy them. Maybe someday I’ll see my great grandkids playing with them.

  35. Could you send me a pic of just your dolls? I woke up from a dream where my daughter had shrunk and it reminded me of the dolls similar to this like many things over the last 30 years has. I decided I needed to look them up. The dolls I remember there was a light haired baby in yellow sleeper, what I think was the mom with Med/dark brown hair with little auburn in it and a teenage girl I don’t remember her look. Prob my absolute favorite TB toys ever. Could have been a diff set than this. I will have to start looking for these things. Memories are bittersweet!!!

  37. I have this house. I have MANY items that belonged to it as well. I also have the original Strawberry Shortcake figures and items, Rose Petal dolls, car and house, Cabbage Patch Dolls, McDonald oldies ect….Many items. I’m so glad I looked up the littles. I have several vintage items that I HAD to keep good as a kid. I am willing to sell items if someone is willing to pay a reasonable price. I’ve been finding it hard to find the ones who are die hard fans and true buyers. I have the furniture for the love boat too. I loved my littles house and was NOT allowed to let any of my friends play with it. I never thought i’d find someone else who loved it like I did. 🙂 If you guys know any serious buyers I would love to talk with them. Thanks alot. I’m glad your house is complete. It’s a really nice one for sure. I remember purchasing all the pieces at the Pickering Market.

    • Amanda Chinery: What would you say is a reasonable price for the house? I still have the Littles furniture sets I purchased for my daughter’s birthday in about 1983, but I never knew about the house. I’d love to have the house for my 3 year old granddaughter to play with.

      • Joan, I noticed that a fully loaded dollhouse, with dolls and furniture, in very good shape, sold on ebay in the last few weeks for $115 + $25 shipping. Just the dollhouse alone can usually be purchased on ebay from $30 -$75, depending on condition of the house… If that helps? There are a couple listed on ebay right now…

  39. What a memories!

    I received this house at Christmas when I had 6 years. Latter I learned that my mom pawned a very expensive gold bracelet in order to give me my beloved house. I still have the furniture, but i lost the house. I hope it can be obtained later. But i have a question. In my memories the house was bigger (or maybe i thought it was because i was a very little girl), someone knows if was sold in Mexico or any other country a bigger house with another floor?.

    Thanks for bring back those memories to all of us!

  40. My daughter received the house and every piece of the furniture that I could find in 1980. It was her big present from Santa that year . She was 5 years old. She played with it many years. The little house survived many moves and a couple of divorces. I got it out this week and I am going to hog it out. I am not sure if she would want it back now because she has no children and now 39. Regardless I will enjoy doing it for myself!!

  41. After searching “strawberry shortcake doll house” online I stumbled upon a picture you posted of your “littles” doll house. My heart leaped for joy! I took a picture and sent it to my mother, who immediately text me back. I started telling my girls 13 and 11, “this is it!”, “this is my doll house!” I knew in that moment what I needed to do. I set my tablet down and at 9:30pm started rummaging through the attic for a box I had not laid my eyes on in years. And then, there it was, the box that held fond memories of a much simpler time. Sadly, my house is a little broken and I, like you, are missing some pieces but the memories this house holds are of innocence and warmth. Needless to say this house is not going back in a box or the attic. Thank you for your blog and the information about the house from our past. Would you happen to know how I might get the house repaired?

  42. Hi I have one of these houses with a conservatory and furniture, lights needs cleaning up and little piece of plastic missing on roof scollaped edge chimney fireplaces how much do you think it would be worth, I bought it for my daughter in the 80’s

  44. Hello There,

    Just been doing a search as I have many The Littles items to list on ebay UK and came across the thread.
    Not sure what you have now but I have the Firelights No3216, 2 packs new and sealed..
    I have many items and a new and sealed unfurnished house and a new but not sealed starter house..
    Anyway Happy Collecting

    Adrienne….

  45. I still have a littles dollhouse that my mom got me at a yard sale in the 90s! I didn’t have any of the actual littles! I remember really liking the little greenhouse attached to the house!

  46. Bought this set for my daughter the day before Christmas on sale about the time it was being discontinued. The kids misplaced the baby after 5 or 6 years. Found the baby just recently in the chimney! Yay!

    • What awesome news! I have my (my daughter’s) old set and every time my gkids and I finish playing with it, I make the sure the baby is in the crib!

  47. I had never heard of The Littles until just five minutes ago and I have fallen deeply in love! A friend just dropped off her old dollhouse furniture and mesmerized by this tiny set of die cast furniture. Now I’m afraid I have to own every piece! They are delightful! Q: How hard would it be to find the pipes for the tub? Probably pretty hard. But now I have a new collection!

    • I had most of the set originally from 1982/3, but the few I didn’t have and a some duplicates to fill our dollhouse (not a Littles) I have easily found on ebay. If you keep checking you can find them more reasonable, IMO some people seem to be ridiculously high, except for the scarce items, like the electric logs that I’ve never seen. I even found a spare family set with the baby for a reasonable price. Good Luck, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have playing with first my daughter and now my granddaughter!

  48. Has anyone ever seen the Littles tiny telephone? There’s one on Etsy at the moment! I guess it must be very rare? I love the Littles… I had inadvertently been buying the furniture (in lots) for my 1:24 scale wooden dollhouse that I was building but I lost the enthusiasm to finish building it after moving several times. Now I just want to collect the Littles! I have just bought a house to put my collection in. I live in Australia.

  49. Hi again… I just thought I’d add this to my last message. The seller on Etsy couldn’t verify that the phone was a “Littles” as it had no markings on the back. If it was a genuine Littles; shouldn’t it have Mattel 1980/1981 underneath??

  50. Hi! Not sure where you are in your collection but you can find the carrying case quite easily on ebay. Also as of today 4/13, there is a MOC China Cabinet being offered out of the UK that ships to the US.

    I’m currently missing the piano & stool, Becky set and the starter house. I know use can but the piano loose, but when I started buying, I was purchasing everything on the card, so looking for new. I even have the cling forms that you picture in the your post.

  51. I had no idea what this was actually called. I just knew that I had the doll house as a kid and I loved it I had most of the set not all.

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