Into the Unknown
There are many Sylvanian mysteries! People often don't realise just how vast Sylvanian Families as a toy range is! There have been many many promotional and limited pieces released over the years, some with little or no promotion therefore making finding information on them very difficult. In a meeting I had with some people at Epoch, I was surprised to hear that SO many unusual and limited edition pieces were released in the 1980s and early 1990s, a time before they had to catalogue and list all releases, so not even Epoch know the information on some items! Here are a few Sylvanian mysteries!
*PLEASE NOTE* This page is to share some of the items I have seen / sourced info on over the years, please do not ask me to share more photographs and information from my private archive as some I am not allowed to publish. I am sharing a few bits and pieces to give other collectors / fans a chance to see some amazing items. The archive has taken many years and cost a lot of money to build up so I am only sharing a snippet on this page. Thank you
FLAIR SOLITAIRES & WILSON SIAMESE CATS - Added 02.07.2019
Before Epoch took over Sylvanian Families here in the UK, Flair had planned to either re-release the Solitaire cats (See prototype figures below) OR design a brand new siamese cat family, the Wilson family - see concept drawing below. Sadly neither made it to production, however the Soliatires made it to prototype stage and I am lucky enough to own one of them!!, see her Here
ICHIKAWA MUSIC HOUSE - Added 08.12.2018
This AMAZING house has a built in music box, it is totally handmade from wood and only SEVEN! were produced. They were sold in 2002 at a shop in Ichikawa, Japan. They sold for £7000GBP each! I can't imagine what they would be worth now.....!!!!!!!
CHOCOLATE MICE? - Updated 13.10.2018
I saw a few strange mice on the lovely Poco's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rilgr2/
See the first photo, they are similar to the ''Factory Error' mice, see on the line behind, that have been appearing for the past few years. I am now the proud owner of a Chocolate Mouse you can See her here It has been suggested these mice were made for employees of Epoch as a gift or are they simply factory errors...but how many factory errors can one factory have, that all seem dressed the same?! Amazing - a new SF Mystery!
JAPANESE MANOR HOUSE
This AMAZING house is top of my most wanted list!!!! Released in 2003, apparently only FIVE were made, it is wooden and was available for a very limited time in Japan as a promotion. This has to be the rarest Sylvanian house ever produced and sold.
You had to apply to be selected to even BUY this house! It would have set you back around 1000GBP! or if you could submit 12,000 (Yes, Twelve- Thousand!) Ivy Mark Tokens!
PORTUGUESE PLAY MAT!
Portugal had an independent club in the early 90s (Who knew!?) The club had loads of exclusive memorabilia items - some are very cool! Check out this gem, a play mat for your Sylvanian village!
Just some CHICKENS!?
More treasures from the design book! Sadly some of these concepts never made it but CHECK OUT the chickens!!!!!!!!!!!!There are so many amazing concepts and gems in this booklet. I will share more over time but for now I leave you with these...
The harvest mice are down as 'BARLEYCORN FAMILY' - These never made it to production
Frogs: 'WILLOWBY FAMILY'' That obviously changed to Bullrush later on.
Skunks: 'BRACKEN FAMILY' Again this changed before release and the JP skunks are pictures but the UK got the Bouquet Skunks a new design.
Water Voles: MUDDYBANK FAMILY - Flair released a similar family much later on called Clearwaters
Chickens: 'MCROOSTER FAMILY' Never released - amazing!!!
TORTOISES
I can't cope. These are the best thing I have ever seen! Tortoise pensioners!!!!!!!! I wish they had made these! These images are from a internal Tomy concept book I am lucky enough to own. I hope to share some more of the incredible prototype photos in the book over time. Mr and Mrs Speedwell..... I just can't deal.
SYLVANIAN TOWN
The Sylvanian Town range is brand new for 2017 and definitely has a vibe of the Urban Life range....Check out this interesting poster showing that the Urban Life range was to be be released in the UK under the name.....'Sylvanian Town' !!!
BROWN GOAT!!!!
Tomy originally designed this Goat as the teacher set but chose to go with Professor Merryweather in the end. How AMAZING is this a brown goat!!!!!!!!
POST OFFICE SORTING OFFICE!!
Check this OUT! The original concept building for the Tomy Post Office! I wish they had made this, love the sorting office!
MOVE ASIDE SUZETTE & BASIL!
This is the original Tomy concept design for Suzette and Basil!!
HOLY COW?!
Check out this little guy spotted on a Japanese auction a few times site recently! A promotion? Factory Error?
KAPPA FAMILY
These are CRAZY!! A Kappa is a mythical creature from Japanese Folklore (The fourth photo is a statue of a Kappa) There was two sets released, the first being a family of Kappa! The second set is called 'Catching the Kappa' and is a set of Sylvanian explorers off to find these elusive creatures! Elusive they are indeed as only ONE of each set was released as a prize given out at a special toy shop in Japan. It is my dream to own the Kappa family but I think a dream it will always be!!!!
HONEYBEAR / HUNTINGTON OLDER SIBLINGS
Older Brother & Sister Honeybear / Huntington?! We know the family has a very rare grandparent set but only recently have we seen these! As you can the brother was featured on the packaging for the Coleco (Distributed the original range after Tomy in the USA for a very limited period and are part of the reason for the name change to 'Calico Critters) Sylvanian Families School House. I believe the pair were released by under the Coleco Sylvanian Families range which very little is known about. The photo of both is from my lovely friend Candy's private collection. She is the only known collector in the world to own these elusive bears! Amazing! Check out her website here: http://www.freewebs.com/deafcandy/
CAROUSEL HOUSE
WOW!!!!! Check out this amazing Carousel House!!! Sadly this never made it to production, this is the prototype photograph from an old trade catalogue. I can only dream of owning this gorgeous piece! I wonder why it was never released.
****UPDATE! I am now the proud owner of this incredible piece, check out photos here: Here.
IVORY / PATCHES DOG TOMY VERSION!
The Ivory Dogs were released in Japan as one of the rare Urban Life families. In 2007, they were released in the UK by Flair in various figure / accessories sets, now called the Patches family. Check out this photo from a very early Tomy Trade catalogue! They were due to be released as a family in the early 1990s but were replaced with the Forrestor Dog family instead!
BROWN DOG TEACHER
This beautiful set was featured on the back of certain Tomy packaging around 1997 (second picture) and was always considered a concept piece and never released. The first photo is from a French collection catalogue from 1997 and suggests that she was released?! What do you think?
SOYOKAZE CAT FAMILY
This gorgeous family are a one-off display piece for the Sylvanian Families Museum which is located at the Sylvanian Village Themepark at Grinpa, Mount Fji, Japan. I was lucky enough to travel there and see this family. The sister is available to buy at the park but the rest of the family are only for the display. Beautiful!
JAPANESE 5th ANNIVERSARY WHITE RABBITS
In 1989 there was 100 of this beautiful white rabbits released to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Sylvanian Families in japan. This was the first ever white rabbit family and they are one of the rarest families ever released. The first photo of the father is courtesy of Maki. The second photo is from Instagram user: takabon28. . This super super rare family can be identified as they have flat hands.
**UPDATE 19.07.2017 I found TWO official photos of the 5th Anniversary White Rabbits!
DARK EYED MOSS DEER BABY
This photo of baby Charlie Moss shows him with dark eye markings, like the adults. When released, the babies did not have these markings! Somewhere out there is a dark eyed Charlie and possibly Bonnie too!
MCDONALDS PROMOTION FIGURES
I would love to find these babies in their packaging! This promotion is very rare and only available in Japan.
ART GALLERY / MUSEUM!
This beautiful art gallery / museum was featured in the 2004 Japanese encyclopedia. It was never released and I believe the one in the photograph is actually an Urban Life house painted grey. I love it though and wish it was released!
GIANT FAMILY!
There has been a few of these giant figures used as display pieces, I have a Freya in my collection and have seen a few others. Check out this whole family and their house!!!!!!!!! This is a display in Canada!
UNKNOWN HOUSE
Check out the amazing house in this special display at a toy museum in Japan. This is the only one known! Any ideas?? Possibly made for this special display but I don't know.
YELLOW FROGS
This gorgeous mother & baby set were apparently a competition prize or promotional set exclusive to Japan around the early 1990s. The baby was definitely dressed as Santa but I am yet to work out exactly what the mother's original clothes are. I have seen a few photos of these frogs they are very very rare!! Only around 10 sets were produced! The first photo shows the baby in the correct clothes but the second photo shows a better example of their colour.
MIBU HOUSE
****SOLVED! This gorgeous house WAS for sale for a very limited time in 1988 at the Mibu Toy Museum in Japan. I am lucky enough to own one and it can be seen Here. along with more information about the piece!
IVORY OAKWOOD SQUIRREL
This strange Oakwood style squirrel is a real mystery! I own one and you can see mine in my collection gallery. The first photo shows a comparison with a standard Oakwood figure. The second I have seen in a Japanese auction! I believe she was a promotional item and never released on general sale.
GOLDEN TEARDROP RABBITS
My favourite Sylvanian Mystery! After years and speculation I can now confirm these special rabbits were released but only sold in one department store in Japan around 1989/90.
****I am now the proud owner of a full set of Golden Teardrops! You can see them Here.
PROTOTYPE TREEHOUSE & TEA ROOMS
Check this amazing photos of a prototype Treehouse & Tea Rooms due for release in the UK around 1990. Maybe the Treehouse inspired the Old Oak Hollow?? The Tea Rooms are beautiful! Such a shame these didn't get released, the prototypes used for the photo is out there somewhere!!!
****After meeting with ex Tomy designers I am now the very proud owner of the prototype Tea Room! You can see it Here. along with more information about the piece!
STRANGE FORRESTOR DOGS
Check out these strange Forrestor Dogs?! The first photo is of the only known set, which belongs to Hayley, the second photo shows the standard release of the family. It is thought they are a prototype or maybe they were released towards the end of the Tomy Calico Critters era from which many unknown items were released!
ORANGE RACCOON
This photo has been in circulation for a number of years now. Check out the strange orange raccoon! Maybe a prototype but the photograph is not an advertising photo, it's from a private collection. Could it be a custom Sylvanian created by a collector or a factory error? Any information on the raccoon would be great! winkytreefellow@hotmail.co.uk
Photo courtesy of: http://cafe.naver.com/sylvanian08/1892
