Item #0003 – Maple Town Bear’s Store Log Cabin & Accessories (1988)

Kids of any generation love seeing animals or objects act like people, and the 1980s were really big on anthropomorphic toys and children’s shows. You had The Busy World of Richard Scarry, Pound Puppies, ThunderCats, and Care Bears to name a few, but some got no love…maybe because they had no chance against a closely related rival that was birthed just a year earlier (and STILL going strong today)!!! THE SUSPENSE….

Say hello to the angelic animals of Maple Town.

According to the wise words of Wikipedia, Maple Town was a 1986 Japanese animated television series that followed the wholesome adventures of Patty Rabbit and Bobby Bear. Maple Town made its way to America via Tonka buying the rights to distribute the toys and Saban Entertainment producing the English-dubbed version of the show. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a 65-episode run ended up only being a season of 15. Fortunately, two-episode VHS tapes were made available of the show in the U.S. Unfortunately/fortunately, I have only been able to find five with intriguing titles such as “The Prettiest Dress in Maple Town” and “The House Made of Love.” (I’m sure parents loved watching those few episodes over and over and over again; I can hear the trance-inducing rewinding tape grinding into the brain of a sleep-deprived parent now.)

Understandably, there’s not much to the Maple Town toy line–especially compared to their above mentioned adversary (getting to that later). I stumbled upon a large lot of Maple Town buildings, animals, and furniture well over a year ago on shopgoodwill.com. I scooped it up, sold the majority of the lot (including the post office, school, a few playrooms, and the naked animals), and held onto the Bear’s Store Log Cabin with some furniture and (modestly dressed) animals for Doe Eyes the Fierce to destroy and lose pieces down the road. (I’m a realistic planner parent.)

So, here’s the preciousness…

***Safe Mother Advisory: All of the little pieces are just for the pictures. Those tiny accessories are put away out of her reach. (I just wish she would stop undressing the animals causing me to constantly redress them!)***

So who won the war of animal utopia in the toy aisle and on the tube?

Sylvanian Families also came out in Japan, but the medium of their creation is flipped compared to Maple Town whereas Maple Town started off as a TV series in 1986 with the toy line produced shortly after, Sylvanian Families started off as a toy line in 1985 with the TV series produced in 1987. Never heard of Sylvanian Families? Silly, that’s because we know them now by their American name, Calico Critters. They’re one of the crazy expensive toys on the shelves by that evil, temper-tantrum-just-waiting-to-happen-when-it’s-time-to-go Thomas the Train table at your local Barnes & Noble. (“I thought we just came here for books!”)

Either way, both lines are adorable and offer a great “old school” feel. You just get more selection with Sylvanian Families/Calico Critters. You could always go with the modern remake at Target, Li’l Woodzeez.

I think we’re good here in the long lost world of Maple Town. 🙂

Status: Personal item – not for sale

Random For You:

Sylvanian Families are referred to as Calico Critters in only the United States. In fact, if you go to sylvanianfamilies.com and select “United States,” you get the same site as all of the other countries except with the brand name being different.

To learn more about the difference between Sylvanian Families/Calico Critters and Maple Town (along with the rest of the Maple Town merchandise), visit http://mapletown.tripod.com/genuine.html.

What’s even more rare than Maple Town’s toys and videos? Look out for the Maple Town plastic lunchbox and matching thermos, puzzles, and activity books.