Childhood Flashback: Fashion Plates

Does anyone else remember this toy?  Aaaaah!!  I do and I can tell you that it was one of my favorite toys EVER!!!  And when I saw this at my ex's childhood home as we were cleaning it out for new tenants that were moving in, I calmly took it outside and put it in the trunk of my car along with the other little "donation worthy" finds that I was allowed to keep.  I just could not believe my eyes; the sheer blessing that had been bestowed upon me.  And I was so glad that his two sisters, who were also there cleaning, are not nearly as nostalgic and sentimental about their girlhood toys as I am.  In fact, the oldest out of the two sisters always made fun and looked down on my collection of Barbies.  A grown woman?  She thought it was so juvenile... but I digress.

For those not familiar with it, Fashion Plates was a toy put out around the late 70's that allowed you to put together your own fashion looks by coordinating three of the fifteen plates of tops, bottoms and faces, laying them in the frame on the right and rubbing a black crayon over top so that it would give you the outlined impression of the model.  You could then flip the plates over so that you could also add textures and/or patterns such as plaid or flowered prints onto the imprint, thus making a totally unique fashion creation.  Colored pencils completed the set.  Different versions have since been created, including a Barbie version, but of course the original is the most coveted.  When I tell you that I loved playing with this toy... man!  My original Fashion Plates was lost to me after moving from my childhood home so to find this and be able to procure this treasured item was just too much for me!  Now this set is missing five of its fifteen plates (ugh!) but I'm OK with that for now.  Not going to flip out because it's not perfect.  I'm just so glad to have it.

Right now I keep it safely hidden away in a bag until I am able to set it, along with my other toys, in a special room totally devoted to the collection of things that I used to love and still enjoy.

Sometimes it's just the little things in life that bring happiness.  The little things...