By Polly Pocket dolls and houses have been around since 1989 and are a class of toys that every 90’s kid will remember. They are small, cute, and highly collectable. Chris Wiggs, who made a tiny doll for his daughter that was small enough to fit into a powder compact house, is the creator of the first Polly Pocket doll. Polly Pocket dolls and houses were first produced by Bluebird Toys and distributed by Mattel until 1998 when Mattel purchased the company and completely redesigned the dolls and houses by making the dolls larger and ditching the hinged concept for the houses. Although the Bluebird Toys Polly Pockets and Mattel Polly Pockets differ from one another, there are collectors for every kind of Polly Pocket doll and house out there. I myself collect the Bluebird Polly Pockets simply because they were the epitome of my childhood (particularly the Disney ones!)
Here we have the 1995 Bluebird Polly Pocket Cinderella Stepmother’s House. While it may not be as glamorous as Cinderella’s Castle, this is an amazing addition to any vintage Polly Pocket collection since the stepmother’s house was of course the main setting of the Cinderella movie and is home to all the loveable mice and birds. The house measures approximately 4.5” x 4” x 3.5”. When folded open, the house has an upper level consisting of Cinderella’s bedroom, stairs leading to a lower level, which is a parlour, and an extendable pull-out garden area. There are three figures that come with this set including Cinderella dressed in her rags, Cinderella in her ball gown, and a fairy godmother figure. It is a bit of a shame that there are no animal friend figures such as the mice or birds, but it is completely understandable that they could not have possibly made the figures any smaller than they already are, and even if they did, children most definitely would have lost them.
Cinderella’s Bedroom
Cinderella’s bedroom is the entire upper level of this Polly Pocket house. Considering the size of the room, it contains lots of little details and knick-knacks. The room has “wooden floors”, a large pink chair, a small indigo chair, a bed, an open w
ooden chest with a pink dress laid on it, and a closet on the wall with two moveable doors. When you open the two doors, the pink dress Cinderella’s animal friends made for her is revealed (the image is on a sticker). There is also a dip in the bed so that you can place any of the figures on the bed for a good night’s rest. A nice addition to the room is the window sticker on the fall showing the magical castle far off in the distance where dreams come true ☺.
Downstairs
Leading us downstairs is a set of pink stairs all along the left side of the lower level with two cute little plants in gold coloured plant pots. The parlour has a fancy fuchsia coloured sofa and fancy purple chair. In the corner next to the stairs there is an attached mop and bucket for when the Cinderella in rags has to do her chores and clean the house. The right side of the wall contains an image of Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters trotting off to the grand ball. Of course everything changes for Cinderella thanks to the piece in the middle of the parlour, which is a wooden stand with a rotating pillow. As you turn the pillow, one side has the shattered glass slipper and the other side reveals the intact glass slipper that saves the day!
Extendable Garden
Now of course Cinderella would never have had a glass slipper if it weren’t for her encounter with her fairy godmother in the garden after her evil sisters tore apart the dress for the ball. The house is equipped with a pull-out garden that is about the same size as the rooms of the house and is an amazing feature to the home. As you can see, there are three woodsy sections in the garden. One is a little nook with an image of a pumpkin. The second section twirls to reveal an image of the pumpkin carriage once the fairy godmother works her magic. There is a little hole in front of the carriage where you can place the ball gown Cinderella for her big reveal when the fairy godmother bippity boppity boos! The third section has a pink bench where Cinderella first finds the fairy godmother. This is an excellent seating area for the fairy godmother while she works her magic.
Whether you love Polly Pocket or not, the Cinderella Stepmother’s House is a great addition to any Disney lover’s toy collection. It is cute, compact, and looks great on display. Although they are no longer available in toy stores, there are plenty popping up on Ebay and Amazon, so keep your eyes peeled!