1991:

THE SCHOOLHOUSE: ACCESSORIES

The Schoolhouse is not only a European/UK exclusive set, it also has a lot of fiddly accessories. Though I have pictured these on the main page, I have also taken some photos with the Playschool Babies and Schooltime ponies to show scale and size and how these accessories work. I really love this playset and always have, as I think it represents Hasbro in a very creative vein of form. (Please note my set is currently missing its window frames, which are aqua, and shown in both insert photos. For some reason mine have got in a different box from the playset itself..sigh).

 

DESKS and DESK ACCESSORIES
There are two desks in total, in pink with lids that lift up. You can fit the ruler, the books and the beaters for the xylophone inside the desks for storage, but not so much the pencils which are way way oversized. There are two pencils, two books and two rulers. One pencil is blue and one is is yellow, same with the rulers. Both books are blue - one features maths sums and the other pictures. The legs on the desks are yellow letters. As I mentioned before, mine are 'e' 'e' and 'u' 'u'.These clip onto the base of the desks and slide together. They are quite sturdy but probably too much pressure would break the clips. I have never seen 'a' 'a' legs on an actual playset, so I suspect this is another case of letter changing after original production.

 


SKIPPING ROPE
I can only imagine that they made the skipping rope with Playtime in mind. The rope has a proper rope handle on one end, but the other is a clip that is designed to go around a hoof. It fits an adult pony, rather than a baby. It can go around the column in the school, but probably shouldn't as it might break it (slightly too wide).
The bell pull to the playset is also probably meant to be in the same material as the skipping rope,but mine never came with one even from new and I had to make do with a piece of wool, so I can't be sure...

 

 

 

GLOBE
The globe is distinctly different from that shown on the box, as it is in yellow and blue, not in pink and blue as the box suggests. It fits together (originally it was flatpacked and you have to assemble it) so that the world does actually turn. To me it looks about the right size for a baby pony to play with, as Baby Pictures demonstrates.

 

 

 

 

XYLOPHONE

I really like the xylophone, actually. It is made from purple plastic and the notes are a label over the top. Only one beater is shown in the picture, but there are two, which can be stored by hanging them on the side of the xylphone's long edge (by the blue note). Again, I think they made this with Musictime in mind, since it seems of the right size for an adult pony, rather than a baby.

 

 

 

 

BLACKBOARD and CLOCK
Well, it's more of a pink-board, really. It's in etchasketch style, whereby you are meant to write on it then lift the pink layer to wipe it clean. It doesn't work very well on mine, so it looks like Baby Alphabet is doodling, but you get the idea.

Above the board you have the clock. When this clock's hands are turned to 3 o'clock, it releases the bottom flap to reveal the cuckoo. In the My Little Tales episode, you see this at the start of each episode, as part of the animation. The clock does not do it automatically, but if you turn the hands to 3, you will see the cuckoo pop out as the bottom flap falls open. If you look at the picture at the top of the page, this shows the clock with the flap down and the cuckoo out.

 

 

SLIDE
Finally, the slide. As I mentioned before, although this appears as a shute in the MLP Tales episodes, it is barely more than ten centimetres long and not wide enough to take an adult pony. Baby Pictures is standing in the window that opens out into the slide, and you can just about see it going down to the ground behind her. It is definitely a slide for baby ponies!

The glasses in the foreground are those belonging to the playset. They are quite delicate, and they don't fit the ponies that well, but are definitely designed for adults, not babies. I do wonder if, maybe, originally, they might have been intended for the mysterious Lady Lessons, a character who appears in the comics but never came with the playset and of which no proven prototype exists. We can but wonder - on the box, Musictime is shown wearing them.