Sesame Street Playset - Fisher-Price 1975 #936 - Upgrade: Bob's Apartment

1975 Fisher-Price Little People Sesame Street playset still getting upgrades. This time is above Hooper's Store.  Historically, we remember that space as Bob's apartment (the additional inside wall of this toy was made from screenshots of Bob's apartment on the show).

I kept the same green trim from the playset art but sampled red and orange brick walls from photos from New York City.  I felt this gave it a "plus" to see, but also maintained the similar colors from the original toy litho.

The Hooper's Store sign is recreated from the show also.  I did an overlay and some tracing.

Upgrading the roof next.

#sesamestreet #hoopersstore #fisherprice #toyupgrades

The original front of the apartment.  I painted the windows.

The pieces to replace the front.

Keystones in place.

Hooper's Store sign added.

The wall with the windows is the one I created from watching too many episodes of Sesame Street.  I had to use a litho print to recreate the wall on the right with Big Bird's portrait on it.  Soon, I'll replace the floor which the litho sticker has torn.

Pee-Wee's Playhouse

Come in, and pull yourself up a chair (like Chairry)!

This was designed and sized to match to the NECA toys Pee-Wee Herman figures, the Chairry by Abisai Elizondo, and the Mattel Cindi Lauper.

There were no clear images online of the Playhouse, so I had to take some screen captures and piece things together.  The wall behind Mr. Window was taken from the 1980's Matchbox Playset.  The floor design had to be completely recreated as there were no good images of that floor.  The walls were recreated as well, but the door was taken from the last stage show Pee-Wee did before he passed away.

Johnny the Worm: Winner, Richard Wright Literary Award

Written by June Stephens Griffith when her kids were little, her children Tricia and Ed reached out to me to do the illustrations for the book.  Published in a limited quantity, Johnny the Worm is the story of a little worm who doesn't listen to his parents and finds himself in a dirt load of trouble.

As part of the book layout, the title and ending pages contain Ms. Griffith's own handwriting from her journal where the story was written.  

In summer 2026, the book was nominated for a Richard Wright Literary Award for the text, and it won for "Best Children's Fiction 2026!"  Ed Griffith, who was the videographer and editor for both of The Muley and Friends Show TV Specials, accepted the award for his mom, and invited me onto the stage.

For the group picture at the end, I drew a picture of Johnny so he could be included as well.  Both the award and the drawing are home with the Griffith family.

This isn't the first award shared with Ed Griffith, as our 48-Hour Film Festival short "The Spy Who Fleeced Me" won best in show, then went on to the regional competition.

New York Public Library Ghostbusters Diorama

With the release of The Library Ghost from Ghostbusters by Hasbro, it was only fitting that she gets her own scene.

The bookshelves, books, and props came from Temu.  The secret: add to your cart and let it sit.  You'll get good discounts.  

I pieced together the backdrop from photos of the Rose Reading Room of the NYPL, but at the bottom I put together a bookshelf to give it some dimensionality.  

The left wall is the stairwell going up to the second floor from the lobby.  In it, you'll see Ruth Oliver's portrait on the statue/bust, a painting of the librarian Eleanor Twitty from the video game, the Memphis Ghostbusters ad on the desk, behind which stands the founder of the library, John Jacob Astor.

The right wall features the card catalog that I built from a photo on the internet, and the second level balcony of the reading room.  The cards flying out are from a screenshot of the movie and added to this.

The floor is pieced together from a photo of red tile.

Eventually, there will be floating books and more added to the display.  I'll post those photos when they are ready.

Fisher Price Sesame Street Playset #938

The box that the playset came in has some really great designs.  There is something special about vintage packaging.