Welcome to Imagine That on Wednesdays.
I’ve been going through some old boxes of toys and finally getting rid of stuff. The excuse that I’ve been saving them for my own children is a crock since I don’t plan on ever having any.
Anyway, I came across these beautiful little castles. They’re called Star Castles and are something like a Polly Pocket toy. The figurines are so tiny you could pinch them between your thumb and forefinger. Each castle has a key hidden in one of the turrets that opens up the castle. Inside there are hidden passages and walls that fold out. Other pieces detach. These things are delightful.
This castle opens into a carnival. There’s a Ferris Wheel and a moat with little boats to ride in. The clock gears in the tower come out to create one of those spinning teacup rides. There’s a hot air balloon that moves up and down and little doorways to hidden compartments.
Inside this carousel is another moat with swan boats to carry the princess. The central turret comes down and expands into another spinning ride. There are little amusement park type rides in the back too.
They don’t make these anymore, and as far as I can tell, hardly anyone remembers them (according to Amazon and E-bay, they don’t exist!). I had to search Google several different ways before I found *one* website that knew what they were called and had pictures. So I’ll be holding on to these. I may not plan on kids of my own, but as my friends get married and start families, I’m sure there will be some birthday parties in the future. And these castles are just too much fun. There’s no manual. You have to discover all it’s little secrets on your own.
Have you heard of Star Castles? Did you have any; did your kids? What was your favorite toy growing up? I love hearing from you!
Blog Mash-up:
“9 Ways to Get Your Novel Ready to Market“–Guest post by Donna Galanti on Stacy Green’s blog
“Your friendly Friday kick up the backside“–Words of advice from bestselling author Robin Hobb on Katy’s blog
“Describing Your First Person Narrator“–Great tips from Janice Hardy
“Guinea Pig Diaries: Little Darlings Anonymous“–Kristen Lamb and guest Piper Bayard talk about Little Darling Addiction when it comes to writers and their precious novel. It’s okay, you’re not alone. We have t-shirts.
Angela Wallace, Author 
What absolutely charming toys. Inspiring, intriguing, mysterious, and wonderful. Would love to get them for my granddaughter. And, no, I’ve never seen them before. Be sure to hang onto them.
Beautiful toys. I don’t remember these. I loved Barbie. Anything Barbie.
Barbie will live forever. I remember having the camping set with the tent, bbq, and jeep. Which is kind of ironic because I hate camping, lol.
What a delightful toy. I would have loved these as a little girl. Thanks for showing them to us.
Wow, that is so cool! I loved stuff like that when I was a kid. I’m sure you had many hours of fun play with it. Thanks for sharing. It is too bad they don’t make those anymore.
I don’t remember these at all, and I’m shocked because anything fairy-sized was on my radar. I’ve no idea why miniatures appealed to me (still do) but I’d have wanted one of these. In every color. Very cool. Good thing I’ve outgrown that. Uh huh.
They had several. I actually already gave one away. The dad later said he and his daughter sat down to discover all the hidden things and had such a blast together. So sweet.
I have a box of 1996 Trendmasters 1996 made in China with a ton of little pieces. I could send you a picture
Oh my goodness, no I’ve never heard of Star Castles but I would have LOVED playing with them. Anything that involved a mystery, exploration. I’m glad you are holding onto them.
I didn’t know these were called Star Castles, but I do remember them. I was never fortunate enough to have one, but I did have a gigantic Barbie Dreamhouse. LOL
My favorite toy growing up? Probably a 3-ft tall chalk board – it definitely got the most use. I pretended to play “school” all the time with my books. I still love books, but I could never be a teacher. Not in today’s world. That’s got to be one of the toughest and most important professions out there.
The toughest job in the world is being a mother.
Ooh, a 3-foot chalk board sounds big for a kid! I bet that was lots of fun.
These are so cool! I would have loooved one as a kid! I still have my Polly Pockets hidden away in the cupboard somewhere…
Haha, sometimes it’s just so hard to let go. I’ve been holding on to My Little Ponies all this time.
My daughter had a few of those! I bet we still have them tucked away in the attic with her old toys I’m ‘saving’ for grandkids (which may not happen since both my children say they aren’t having kids).
She had several of those castles and these spinning toys where you pull a string and a fairy launches off into the air. Ahhhh, such sweet memories.
Thanks for bring a smile to my face. As the kids get older you forget the quiet moments when they were young. These castles are lovely.
I remember the spinning fairies! So much fun.
I held on to a few things thinking I’d pass them down to my children. Never had a girl so the few dolls I had are still sitting on a shelf with a vague hope for a granddaughter but I gifted most of the girly stuff to my niece. My boys do play with my original Lincoln Logs though.
Those castles look really cool. I’d never heard of them. Thank you for sharing them 🙂
Oh, you have a good point that there’s a 50-50 chance my nonexistent kids might not even be girls! I remember Lincoln Logs too! I loved those. Ah, memories. 🙂
I had a neighbor that had something similar to that toy. It was so pretty and pink and sparkly…ah memories. My favorite toy as a child was the American Girl dolls and the period piece stories that came with them.
I loved reading the American Girl books. American Girl is still really popular, though I can’t believe how expensive that stuff is! Makes me feel guilty I ever begged my parents for it.
Thanks for commenting!
I remember those! I never had one, but I think my best friend did.
I think you know what MY favorite toy was 😉
Of course I do. And I think it’s *still* your favorite toy. 😉
Damn straight! 😉
Hi! Thansk for your fab blog. I just found my own version of the Carousel Star Castle but the key has no teeth and it’s locked. Is there any chance you could please take a photo of your key and possibly some measurements of the teeth? So I can maybe fix it? (or try?) Thanks so much 🙂
Lauren
Hi Lauren, I’m sorry, but I packed up the castles and put them in storage. I think the key only had two teeth, and the measurements were very small, probably 1/2 cm. If you have another castle, I think the keys might even work on each other. It’s not a high-end toy; maybe you can pick the lock. I hope you’re able to fix it! 🙂
Hi! I just found your blog while searching for this castles, I had them when I was little but sadly gave them to a friend, and now I’m desperately searching for one to buy, do you happen to know where I can get one? Thans in advance
Hi Hiromi!
Unfortunately, I have no idea where you can find them nowadays. When I was writing this post and searching for their proper name, it took me a while just to find one website that even knew what they were, but it was only informational, not selling any. Good luck though!
I had something very similar to this. It was a mermaid castle that opened up and had a tank that you could fill with water, and two mermaid dolls could swim in there. It was my absolute favorite toy!! Wish there was more information about it now!
But here’s a picture of it! http://www.ghostofthedoll.co.uk/Toys/Starcastles/Stardancer/Unknown1c.jpg
I had the mermaid one too! After years in storage, that water tank sure got nasty, though, lol. Thanks for stopping by and reminiscing, Danielle. 🙂
OMG i had the one in the last picture when i was younger. i reciently remembered about it and it really annoyed me not knowing what it was or where it got to. i loved it, and could play with it for hours
I had that particular one! Along with the Cinderella castle, and the other carnival one that actually attatched to the one you had…along with many others, including a small candy themed one. The Cinderella castle was my absolute favourite, and I am only 20…I know I bought the candy style one when I was in Australia (I’m a New Zealander) and I would have been either 4 or 9 when I did. Love these!! ❤ Thank you for reminding me of what used to inspire all of my stories!
I had one!!! It was my favourite toy! I think it’s actually still at my mom’s house somewhere…
Oh my goodness! I had these and COULD NOT figure out what they were called. Probably my favorite toys over all. Thanks for posting this!
I’m glad I could help so many people put a name to a favorite childhood memory! 🙂
I have this exact one!! So many happy memories! I aldo had a couple others, one was a tea set (a little bigger than this) and the other was…a garden or something like that. It came with a princess, a sunflower person, and a chicken. I loved playing with these along with my pokky pockets 🙂 Hail to the little toys!
Polly Pockets*
The garden one sounds lovely, Whitney! Maybe some day these toys will make a comeback.
I have 7 of these! The cinderella one and the beauty and the beast one were my favorite.they’ve been sitting on the headboard of my bed probably since I first got them, their soo dusty but I just can’t seem to find the courage to put them away.
They’re certainly beautiful enough to want to leave out to admire! Ooh, a Beauty and the Beast one. Does it have the giant library? 😀 Thanks for stopping by, Nancy!
I had one of these when i was little. I actually went to look for it a today for my little girl. Only to remember I threw it out a year or so ago. 8(
Aw, ain’t that always how it goes? We hold on to things, but after so long of not using them, we finally let go—only to find a need for them shortly thereafter!
I had these when I was young! The carnival one you pictured and a beach one. I just called my mom and asked if she still had either of them and she will look for them for me. My kids just turned 2 and 4 so I was hoping to hand them down.
I found your blog when I was trying to figure out what they were called. I knew it was something specific, but at first I thought they were “Crystal Castles”. You can imagine how that search turned out.
Glad I could help! Yeah, when I first wrote up this post, I struggled to find their proper name. It’s too bad they’re not made anymore, because they’re great toys. Hope your mom is able to find your old ones!
I’m from Holland and I have a big box off them.
I’m nou 29 years old, and I’m waiting till my daughter is old enough to play with them.
I remember loved to play with, they’re so prettty to see.
On the Internet is nothing to read about them,sadly.
Ahh, I had this exact set! Thank you so much for this post. I was having trouble figuring out whether or not I ever owned a Starcastle as a kid, since there’s so many. To make it more difficult, I got mine from goodwill, so I wasn’t sure if mine was an amalgam of pieces or even existed at all! But there’s no mistaking that Ferris wheel. Thank you for helping me relive a nice part of my childhood ❤️