Average Customer Review: ( 38 customer reviews )
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64 of 68 found the following review helpful:
 So Glad We Bought This One!! Nov 18, 2004
By Tiare Solorzano
"Mother of 3, teacher, reader, writer"
We were determined to give our daughter a dollhouse for her 3rd birthday. We considered FP Loving Family, Barbie, and half a dzoen chunky wooden dollhouses and accessories before settling on Calico Critters. She was enamored with the tiny animal families in the toy stores, which is what really helped us to decide.
I agree with a previous reviewer that the scale of the furniture is terribly tiny, but that is actually more appealing to our daughter, who is very petite and feminine and attracted to miniscule things. The house is not perfect... the rooms aren't sized appropriately for the furniture sets. However, my daughter likes to move furniture and rooms around from time to time anyway and isn't particular about such things. My biggest concerns are with sturdiness (4 out of 5) and play value (5 out of 5).
After 3 months, we are still very satisfied with this house. It is a winner with our young daughter, and even with our 5 yr. old son, as the house is NOT pink and purple and frilly, but somewhat realistic in color schemes, and he is fond of creating mouse adventures with his younger sister.
40 of 42 found the following review helpful:
 Best dollhouse on the market! Jan 02, 2007
By Amy
This is a gorgeous, well-built house, with windows and doors that open and close and other beautiful details like a spiral staircase and dormer windows. And the furniture and accessories sold separately are also adorable and well-made. I love the fact that the inhabitants of the house are animals --- they give it such a storybook quality.
My daughters (3 1/2 and 5) can't stop playing with their house and critter family. Sure, some of the accessories are tiny, but that's what seems to capture their attention and imaginations the most.
At first, I thought I'd buy a wooden house for them, but they hardly play with the one at their preschool -- it seems the boxy, generic furniture and accessories for those houses don't hold their interest for long. Not so with the Calico Critters house. They play for hours putting their critters to bed, giving them baths or setting up little picnics for them.
If you aren't sure which type of house your kids might like better, take them to a toy store where they have both houses set up. My daughters were drawn to the Calico Critters house in the toy store like magnets, so I could tell that was the one for us.
It's true, like another reviewer noted, that not all of the bathroom pieces will fit in one bathroom. Santa just took out the extra pieces that didn't fit! LOL! Also, Santa purchased some of the living room, bedroom and garden furniture from overseas because the Sylvanian Families line available there has more to choose from, including smaller room groups that seem to fit in the house better and are even cuter than what is available in the states. I hope Calico Critters expands their line in the U.S. to offer more of what is currently available under the Sylvanian Families' name.
The only complaint I have is the ladder included with the house to help the critters get to the third floor attic/nursery could have been designed better. It always falls down with even the slightest nudge because there is no way to secure it in place. Putting a lip on the ladder and a slit in the third floor where the ladder could "snap" in would be a nice touch.
Otherwise, the house is really perfect.
45 of 52 found the following review helpful:
Lovely toy! Feb 15, 2002
You know...this series of toys sounds suspiciously akin to one of my favorite comic books, Silvania families. Anyway, on with the review.It's a very fun toy, though pretty much plain without the accessories. Be prepared to spend a small fortune for your little ones. It's educational value is in it's lovely architectural design, as well as inner fixtures, etc. Get at least one or two families and 2 sets of accessories and I guarantee that this house will entertain for years to come.
29 of 33 found the following review helpful:
Calico Critters Deluxe village Dec 11, 2002
This is an amazing value.. not only do you get the house, you get a kitty cat family, dining room, nursery and a bathroom set. Pretty cool.. I wish they would've told me though, so I wouldn't have bought the accessories!!
LOVE IT
55 of 67 found the following review helpful:
 NOT FOR 3 YEAR OLDS Jan 12, 2003
This set should really be for older kids and collectors. I purchased this for my 3 year olds birthday based on other reviews -Big Mistake. I also thought that becuase the accessories were realistic and colorful, it would capture my 3 year old interest better than the wooden sets.
The accessories for the rooms are really small (think of the smallest Barbie accessories-ie perfume bottles) that YOU have to put stickers on. I don't think any 3-4 year old has the dexterity to manipulate them. So I just put most of them away so we don't lose them. Some of them also have stickers on the back for permanent placement, which for a 3 year old is not a plus.
I also found it difficult to fit the furniture sets in the smaller rooms. I still haven't found a room that holds all of the bathroom furniture.
My daughter does like the critters themselves and the nursery/bedroom/living room sets. However she plays with this toy maybe once a month. Better to invest in one of the wooden doll houses ( she always plays with them in the stores).
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