Best Toy Ever

I almost fell out when I found this link on a Woot! board.  I've been studying that page and just reeling over flashbacks.

This photo is from Christmas 1973 so I'm assuming this is the original playset.  

I remember playing with this thing ALL THE TIME and not only did it serve me well, it was handed down to my sister - she came along 5 years later.  I do believe that it was still in playing condition by the time my brother rolled around

 10 years later.  (And dammit, he was the one who finally BROKE my favorite Tonka toy.  Jerk.)

I think my favorite part was the bridge holding the two halves together.  The traffic light in the middle of the bridge can be turned to change colors / directions.  I do remember it was a bitch to get the two halves joined with the bridge though.  They had to slide in just right.

The umbrella table had good "sproing" to it since the umbrella post was made out of a firm but not too rigid spring.  You could hold the base of the table and shake it like crazy to watch the umbrella bob around and not only could you hear the sproing sound, you could feel it in your hands.  The street lamp had the same awesome sproing factor except its sound was much longer and louder.  I'm pretty sure I got yelled at once or twice over that sound.

The cars that came with it all had fuel tank holes.  You could actually gas up your car at the fuel station.  If you needed to work on your cars, just drive them into the garage and crank them up on the rack.

The jail kicked ass because you could toss a Little People right into the cell and lock their ass up by twisting the knob on the top of the jail.  Twist, twist, open, closed.  This could go on for hours and HOURS.

Every single door worked and had some kind of small bump on the floors to make sure they stayed closed.

You could wind, wind and wind up the firehouse alarm.  I don't remember what kind of sound it made but I'm sure the handle had 1,000,000 miles on it by the time this village made it to baby bro.

The fireman's bed always bugged me.  It seemed like it would be very uncomfortable but the fire chief was made out of wood and plastic so I'm sure he did not mind sleeping on some cheap-ass foam.  He was so very not married because a good wife would not let you sleep on something so ugly and green.

The accessories were awesome.  There was always a steak cooking on the grill and there were several sleek captain's chairs to sit in...if you weren't busy driving a car, sitting the barber chair, laying on the jail cot or making a phone call.  The phone booth....slide open the door, slide the door closed, slide, slide, slide.   HOURS AND HOURS!!

The best, most fabulous part....check out the TOP of both halves.  There's a handle!  Chunk all the stuff inside, close her up and you're off to grandma's house with your favoritest toy EVER!

All of this fun can be yours too on Ebay.  Buy it now for $92 plus $29 shipping.  I wonder how much it sold for in 1973?  Damn, I think I want this for my birthday.