They also had additional attributes that changed the look of Little People forever-arms and hands. The figures were now molded plastic and featured greater detail on the face, hair, and clothes. The Chunky style never really caught on, so, in 1997, Little People underwent yet another redesign. But sales dropped sharply, as older kids felt the design catered too much to their little brothers and sisters, putting Little People into the very unpopular “baby toy” category for many youngsters. The Chunky form was essentially the same as the peg body, but wider and shorter to make the parts impossible to swallow. To ease the minds of concerned parents, Fisher-Price went back to the drawing board and released the “Chunky” Little People, as collectors call them, in 1991. The controversy spelled the end of the peg design, but there's no question it had a good run-from 1965 until 1990, about 800,000,000 Little People had been sold. But because three Little People were prominently featured on the cover, the figures became the spherical face of toy recalls. If the book had merely mentioned the toy line, the public reaction might not have been that bad. Over the years, there had been reports of kids choking on Little People figures, but only after the toys had come apart-which was a rare occurrence without some form of tampering. The peg style was the standard for decades, but then came the release of the 1986 best-seller Toys That Kill, a book warning parents about dangerous toy recalls. Before that, the figures' bodies were straight cylinders, then square, then triangular, and one playset even had teardrop-shaped People. While most of us think of the iconic “peg” style of Little People, with the abrupt taper at the waistline, it wasn't until 1965 that this design was finalized. The name “Little People” was just a nickname used by fans and wasn't officially trademarked by Fisher-Price until 1985.) Big Changes (“Play Family” was the actual name for the toys throughout most of their history. The success of the Safety Bus inspired Fisher-Price to release more toys with removable figures, including the Snorky Fire Engine (1960), the Nifty Station Wagon (1960), the Amusement Park (1963), and the Lacing Shoe (1965), which was the first toy to feature the “Fisher-Price Play Family” name. Now, instead of just pulling a toy car behind them, children could make the characters act out pretend scenarios and let their imaginations run wild. However, it also came with six child passengers who could be removed from their seats. Similar to its predecessors, the toy was a plastic school bus with the driver permanently attached. All that changed when Fisher-Price introduced the Safety Bus in 1959. But these characters were attached to the vehicles, so they were never the main focus of play. With the Little People® Nativity playset, toddlers will love acting out the Christmas story (over & over & over again!), helping Mary & Joseph care for baby Jesus, flying the angel to spread the good news, or feeding the animals.Little People has its roots in the early 1950s, where barrel-bodied figures with spherical heads were seen as the drivers in pull-along toy cars. Let little ones discover the magic of that special day with this adorable stable playset and 10 figures, including Mary, Joseph, the angel Gabriel and baby Jesus swaddled and in his manger.
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